My daughter was 3rd out of our heat in 7:45, I happened to be just reaching the wall, so I stopped to cheer her on.

Swam probably the first 150 meter free, then switched back & forth between back & free for the rest. I wanted to start out slow, so I waited until my lane partner started, but felt pretty good, cause I passed him in about the 1st 25 meters.

What was really weird for me was the calmness of the water, I was in a lane that was far from the wall, & I'm used to swimming right by the wall where it is more choppy.

Goggles leaked a some, which might have not bothered me as much if I hadn't worn my contacts. Once on the lane rope & twice on the wall, stopped to shake them out.

Overall, I had much more energy coming out of the water than my 1st Tri, & didn't swim a lick of side-stroke.

Still much work to be done, but when I look back to my first Tri swim, it's been slightly less than a month.

Not wear my contacts, adjust goggles. Relax more & swim more freestyle.

Time is by my watch, as they recorded splits, but not transitions. Felt like I took my time, but everything went well. Walked the short distance from pool to bike so I could get my bearings after being in the water.

One thing I've noticed about me, & heard of others coming out of the swim is that you feel unbalanced if you try to hurry. It was only about 20-30 yds to the bike, so I just walked it.

Nothing really, small tri, low stress.

Probably should have not pushed soo hard against the wind & up the hills. If we'd just had wind or hills, it prbly wouldn't have been soo bad.

The turn around was a section where the road widened, & I used the whole section to turn around; probably a bad idea as the wide section isn't driven on much, & goat heads are bad here. Anyway, about 200 yds later I flatted in the front. I'm used to changing flats out on the road, so I was prepared, but it's agonizing when you've worked soo hard to see 5-6 riders go right past you; not that I needed any help; the 1st couple by me were willing to stop.

But then, of course, I worked way too hard trying to catch these people that had several minutes gap on me.

What was funny though, was the cop at the turn around could see me off the road bent over & he thought I needed help cause I was puking. I said, "No, if that was going to happen it would have been during the swim portion".

Have the flat during my training rides instead - like I have a choice (:

Freeze the water bottle with water instead of gatorade. The gatorade kept me from drinking as much as I probably would have. It was about 90 degrees for part of the bike section, & when my body's in sprint mode water just goes down easier

Actually forgot to dismount, & about rode my bike to the rack. Probably took a little extra time here to let my heart rate settle a little.

Get off my bike at the dismount line, it was only about 15 yds from my rack.

Ran through the sprinklers they had going to try & cool down, as it was 90 degrees by now. Didn't drink anything during the run, as the gatorade had given me kind of an acidic stomach.

Run felt really slow, felt like I was just plodding along & I walked twice for about 20 yds each time.

I think heat & humidity were a factor today, & most of my training is either early morning or in the evening, so I don't think I could have pushed it any harder; after the fact I feel I should have, but looking back at my HR, I don't think it would have been beneficial.

The best part of my cool-down, was meeting the local Community College Cross Country coach, who had already cornered my daughter & offered her a scholarship to come run X-Country & track for him. I guess he knew her name from my wife cheering her on, & had started watching her from the time she came out of the water. Bad thing is she's only got a few days to make a decision.

Walked around ate a banana & several bottles of water & Replenish, a sugar free/electrolyte powdered drink I found at WallyWorld.

Visited with all the local's I'd never met & a few who weren't so local; we hope to all meet again in a month or so at the next small Kansas Tri.

Even talked to the cycling coach from the Kansas Team In Training chapter to try & get a local group started.



Bike flat, heat & humidity. Need to get my body acclimated. But I did feel good though, cause several people told me they prbably would have just packed it in if they flatted.


Race is put on by the local YMCA, & the young lady does an excellent job; this has been their biggest year so far. Race bags were nice with a shirt, local info, & Kansas made products.

The only thing I would change was actually "man" the aid stations, instead of a cooler & cups sitting on the table. Their was supposed to be a water station at the bike turn around, but I didn't see it. This didn't hamper my race any, but with the climate, I just think it's important.

Otherwise, a great "small" triathlon with about 50-60 participants.