IM Kansas Race Report: A bitter sweet day…
I had one goal going to Kansas and that was to qualify for Clearwater. I decided to go to Florida about 4 weeks prior for the 70.3 there in hopes I could snag a spot or at the minimum get a good intense session in some hot and humid conditions to prepare me for Kansas. I finished Florida in 5:02. Had a good swim and a solid ride and ran the best I could without be acclimated to the heat and humidity. All in all it was a good training day just not good enough for Clearwater on that day.
After arriving back home in Colorado I was not to optimistic about a good result in Kansas with the cold spring that we continued to have. I decided to keep the layers on as I was training while others seem to be peeling them off in hopes of warmer weather. I just made it warmer and more uncomfortable. You can't acclimate to the heat unless you train in it or at the minimum simulate it. The training for the next few weeks was good and consistent but nagging little injuries started to plague me. I seemed to shrug them off but never had those good deep quality sessions I had been longing for.
I felt good in the week leading up so I decided to do an open water swim and 5k run here in Colorado known as the Stroke and Stride the Thursday night prior to Kansas. We call this the endurance version of the Thursday night bowling league. As usual with the first time out in a wetsuit I got that hyperventilating constrictive panic attack about 500 meters in but managed to shake it off and have a really good swim. The swim training was right on par. I exited the water and slapped the shoes on and cruised out on the run. The intent was to just cruise and take it easy which I did. I was so relaxed that on the way back to the beach I rolled my right ankle in a pot hole and strained the tendons on my right shin. With 2 days to go to Kansas I was not optimistic I would even start the race let alone race it and I was sure there would be at least one DNF on the day…me. Not good when your lively hood is around race finishes.
I did all the things to help heal it…ice, compression, elevation and ibuprofen. No go. It was Saturday evening and I was still hobbling in pain. At this point I started to question if I had a stress fracture or not. I decided to palpate the area deeply to determine this so I could decide how to proceed on race day. Well during my palpation (yes I did study to be a massage therapist for about 4 months) I managed to release whatever was ailing me and for the rest of the night I did not have any pain and alas I woke up on race day with no pain. The day was starting to get better. I always say that race day somehow has a way of shaking things out.
Race Day: Zero Expectation’s
I really did not feel I had a chance at Clearwater so I jokingly said I was going to swim hard and bike harder and then shuffle the run. Well I wasn’t really joking. To race a good ½ Ironman you need to race it like an Olympic. The weather on the day called for showers early and clearing late. The start was overcast and relatively cool albeit humid. As we got in the water awaiting the start of our wave I decided to go right to the front. My swimming has been exceptional so I figured I would go out hard and find some fast feet and hang on. This proved to be the perfect strategy because the big barrel chested guy with the orca wetsuit pulled my arse all the way around the course and straight as an arrow. I exited the water with a PR swim split. A quick transition and a long run out of T1 and I was ready to slap it into the big 54 and go for it.
For anyone who thinks Kansas is flat…think again. Lawrence has some good rolling hills and I think they found every hill and put it on this course. No worries though because how I have been training these hills felt like bumps. There was only a couple of short nasty’s that I had to leave the 54 for but I was quickly back in it. The goal was to push super big gears, save the HR and give it a go on the run. I lost one of my bottles of nutrition about a ¼ of the way into the ride so I had to play damage control. I decided to save what I had left for the last 45 minutes of the ride and use Gatorade up until that point. My special sauce does not upset my stomach so I figured I would have that in my belly going into the run. Off the bike in what felt like a fast split (it was a PR in fact) as my bike was only one of a few in the racks when I arrived. Now that is a good feeling considering we were the 3rd from the last wave for the day. In fact I do not recall getting passed by to many folks during the ride (except the cheaters riding in packs) which meant I had a good swim and was holding them off on the bike.
Onto the run the legs felt great. I decided to wear my compression sleeves for the swim and bike to ensure my shins were in good shape. The goal of the run was to build every 3 miles or so and take a salt tablet every other aid station swapping with Gatorade for the first half and then the brown juice (coca cola) for the second half. There was a couple of hills on this course that we had to do twice. Again, they felt like lumps for how I had trained. At about mile 4 I got my chance to get some good Karma and Mojo for the rest of the day. Chrissie was on her way in for the win and waived me over for a quick high 5. I took the opportunity and this would prove to be the motivation I needed. I paced the run and built through out. The nutrition was spot on and when I saw Jim and he said 4:50 I thought he was busting my chops. I peeled the duct tape of the watch when I hit mile 12 and realized he was right. I turned on the turbo and finished in 4:51 for a new PR of over 9 minutes. My medal was placed around my neck by none other then Chrissie Wellington and I managed to get a quick photo with her as well (courtesy of www.asiphoto.com). It truly was a perfect day.
The only thing that would cap this day off was a trip to Clearwater. With only 5 spots and me being 34th overall in the AG that was not going to happen. Well, as the saying goes, it ain’t over till its over. I should have stuck around because they ended up giving my AG an extra spot and that would have (and did) rolled down to me. Had I been there to accept it I would be going. Oh well…it is what it is…a PR day in all 3 sports, a picture with Chrissie, another finish in the books and the knowing I could be in Clearwater because I earned it. What could be better then that?
I had one goal going to Kansas and that was to qualify for Clearwater. I decided to go to Florida about 4 weeks prior for the 70.3 there in hopes I could snag a spot or at the minimum get a good intense session in some hot and humid conditions to prepare me for Kansas. I finished Florida in 5:02. Had a good swim and a solid ride and ran the best I could without be acclimated to the heat and humidity. All in all it was a good training day just not good enough for Clearwater on that day.
After arriving back home in Colorado I was not to optimistic about a good result in Kansas with the cold spring that we continued to have. I decided to keep the layers on as I was training while others seem to be peeling them off in hopes of warmer weather. I just made it warmer and more uncomfortable. You can't acclimate to the heat unless you train in it or at the minimum simulate it. The training for the next few weeks was good and consistent but nagging little injuries started to plague me. I seemed to shrug them off but never had those good deep quality sessions I had been longing for.
I felt good in the week leading up so I decided to do an open water swim and 5k run here in Colorado known as the Stroke and Stride the Thursday night prior to Kansas. We call this the endurance version of the Thursday night bowling league. As usual with the first time out in a wetsuit I got that hyperventilating constrictive panic attack about 500 meters in but managed to shake it off and have a really good swim. The swim training was right on par. I exited the water and slapped the shoes on and cruised out on the run. The intent was to just cruise and take it easy which I did. I was so relaxed that on the way back to the beach I rolled my right ankle in a pot hole and strained the tendons on my right shin. With 2 days to go to Kansas I was not optimistic I would even start the race let alone race it and I was sure there would be at least one DNF on the day…me. Not good when your lively hood is around race finishes.
I did all the things to help heal it…ice, compression, elevation and ibuprofen. No go. It was Saturday evening and I was still hobbling in pain. At this point I started to question if I had a stress fracture or not. I decided to palpate the area deeply to determine this so I could decide how to proceed on race day. Well during my palpation (yes I did study to be a massage therapist for about 4 months) I managed to release whatever was ailing me and for the rest of the night I did not have any pain and alas I woke up on race day with no pain. The day was starting to get better. I always say that race day somehow has a way of shaking things out.
Race Day: Zero Expectation’s
I really did not feel I had a chance at Clearwater so I jokingly said I was going to swim hard and bike harder and then shuffle the run. Well I wasn’t really joking. To race a good ½ Ironman you need to race it like an Olympic. The weather on the day called for showers early and clearing late. The start was overcast and relatively cool albeit humid. As we got in the water awaiting the start of our wave I decided to go right to the front. My swimming has been exceptional so I figured I would go out hard and find some fast feet and hang on. This proved to be the perfect strategy because the big barrel chested guy with the orca wetsuit pulled my arse all the way around the course and straight as an arrow. I exited the water with a PR swim split. A quick transition and a long run out of T1 and I was ready to slap it into the big 54 and go for it.
For anyone who thinks Kansas is flat…think again. Lawrence has some good rolling hills and I think they found every hill and put it on this course. No worries though because how I have been training these hills felt like bumps. There was only a couple of short nasty’s that I had to leave the 54 for but I was quickly back in it. The goal was to push super big gears, save the HR and give it a go on the run. I lost one of my bottles of nutrition about a ¼ of the way into the ride so I had to play damage control. I decided to save what I had left for the last 45 minutes of the ride and use Gatorade up until that point. My special sauce does not upset my stomach so I figured I would have that in my belly going into the run. Off the bike in what felt like a fast split (it was a PR in fact) as my bike was only one of a few in the racks when I arrived. Now that is a good feeling considering we were the 3rd from the last wave for the day. In fact I do not recall getting passed by to many folks during the ride (except the cheaters riding in packs) which meant I had a good swim and was holding them off on the bike.
Onto the run the legs felt great. I decided to wear my compression sleeves for the swim and bike to ensure my shins were in good shape. The goal of the run was to build every 3 miles or so and take a salt tablet every other aid station swapping with Gatorade for the first half and then the brown juice (coca cola) for the second half. There was a couple of hills on this course that we had to do twice. Again, they felt like lumps for how I had trained. At about mile 4 I got my chance to get some good Karma and Mojo for the rest of the day. Chrissie was on her way in for the win and waived me over for a quick high 5. I took the opportunity and this would prove to be the motivation I needed. I paced the run and built through out. The nutrition was spot on and when I saw Jim and he said 4:50 I thought he was busting my chops. I peeled the duct tape of the watch when I hit mile 12 and realized he was right. I turned on the turbo and finished in 4:51 for a new PR of over 9 minutes. My medal was placed around my neck by none other then Chrissie Wellington and I managed to get a quick photo with her as well (courtesy of www.asiphoto.com). It truly was a perfect day.
The only thing that would cap this day off was a trip to Clearwater. With only 5 spots and me being 34th overall in the AG that was not going to happen. Well, as the saying goes, it ain’t over till its over. I should have stuck around because they ended up giving my AG an extra spot and that would have (and did) rolled down to me. Had I been there to accept it I would be going. Oh well…it is what it is…a PR day in all 3 sports, a picture with Chrissie, another finish in the books and the knowing I could be in Clearwater because I earned it. What could be better then that?
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