Shawnee Mission Triathlon Race Report

Sunday was the hottest day I have ever raced on (of the four days I have raced... big pool to choose from).  I was geared up for racing the Shawnee Mission Triathlon, though!  It is definitely one of the tougher courses around, equipped with a very steep graded hill that you get to hit on the bike (at least twice) and once on the run AKA "the Dam Hill".

Pre-Race:  Alarm went off at 4:55am.  Surprisingly, I slept okay the night before.  Usually I don't, so definitely a plus!  I hopped right out of bed, made some oatmeal with blueberries and had some OJ.  After I finished eating, I started the Gatorade drip, packed my bag and bike, and hit the road by 5:45am.  We wound up getting to the park at 6:05am, mainly due to construction and having to back-track a bit.  Once we parked, Rach and I started our long journey to transition.  It had to be over a mile away, and took at least 20 minutes to get there from where we parked.  I quickly got in line for my chip, racked my bike, and set up my transition.  As soon as I was done, I got in line for the porta-johns which had grown to quite the length.

After the 15 minute wait, I rushed back to my bike to grab my swim gear because I was concerned that they were going to close the transition area.  Usually, they close the area a few minutes prior to the race starting, mainly so there aren't any people in the way when the first waves get done with their swim.  This was not the case, thankfully, because my wave started exactly an hour after the first wave.  I walked the Ins and Outs of transition, and made sure I knew where my rack was.  Once comfortable, I headed down to the beach to watch the early waves and eventually swam to the beach for my own.

Swim:  The swim was a 500 yard "J" course, although it was rectangular.  Yeah, doesn't make sense, I know...  The start was at 8:00am, and was a wade entry for me, and a beach entry for others.  I positioned myself in the front, dead center.  It was actually pretty easy getting to the front.  Normally, I struggle to position myself NEAR the front.  It was weird/awesome, just being able to look out in front of you and see the last wave that started, and thinking "I'm about to catch those people."  The gun went off, and so did we.  There was quite a bit of thrashing around.  I definitely kicked the guy behind me right in the face a couple times (sorry...).  I actually kept getting ran into by people not keeping a straight line. The "battle" stopped a little before we got to the dock (about 1/3 way through the swim).  

The swim was a lot tougher than I thought it would be.  I knew I wasn't going to be able to get in my best time, considering I swam 10,000 yards the last month (aka not much).  I was in good position, though, about the 4th person out.  I started passing several people from the previous wave, and had to start weaving in and around the slower groups.  

At the turn, I made the mistake of following a guy from the group ahead of me.  I ended up making a good turn around the first buoy, but missed the second, due to poor sighting.  It was my own fault for not knowing the course, but the long course buoys were still out on the water and made it difficult to see where I needed to turn.  Turning back around and going around the buoy probably only tacked on 15-20 seconds, but it definitely threw my rhythm off.  Oh well, no penalty.  

I ended up being the 10th out of the water in my wave (according to Rach).  As I exited, I looked at my watch and immediately was disappointed.  It was much MUCH slower than I expected.  Come to find out there was a pretty strong current that day, and judging my time with the entire race field, it was still pretty good.

Time: 10:23

AG: 2/15

Overall: 28/298

Transition 1:  The run out of the water to my bike was long.  My guess it was close to 300 yards, up hill.  I wasn't expecting this, but checked it out when I got there.  After finding my bike, I quickly got my shirt on(not so quickly), sunglasses, helmet, Garmin, and shoes on and was out!

Cracking a smile as I struggle with the shirt :)

Time:  2:27

Bike:  The bike course was a 9 mile, 2 loop course around Shawnee Mission Lake.  It is notorious for having a tough climb (Dam Hill). The short course athletes (me) only had to go up twice, as opposed to the long course athletes completing 4 total laps.  Don't know how that can be possible...

First lap on the bike

I was really pretty happy with my bike splits. I completed the 9 miles under my race goal, and felt like I still had more in the tank for the run.  The course itself wasn't as crowded as I would have thought.  All the racers rode the same course, regardless of distance.  That means that all 700 athletes would have been close to being on the bike course at the same time.  I was concerned about the traffic caused by slower bikers before the start, but never had any issues.  Everyone seemed to be staying on the right, and passing on the left.  I commend the race director for educating all the racers on etiquette!

End of 2nd lap and unclipping for my flying dismount!

I was especially pleased with how I rode the hills.  My road bike doesn't have any aerobars, or anything aero related, really.  This makes me push a little harder on the flats, just to keep pace with those in more of an aerodynamic position.  BUT on the hills, I was passing people like crazy!  And I'm not talking about only mountain bikes and cruisers.  I mean everyone!  I didn't get passed once on the bike course.  Can't say that's happened before.  This can be due to my late start time, as most of the "elite" racers would have been close to finished by the time I started...

Time: 30:04/ 18.0 mph

AG: 4/15

Overall: 58/298

Transition 2:  I really have got my T2 time down pretty well.  Going sockless for the runs have helped cut my time, and also just grabbing my bib number to finish putting it on during the run.  What seems to take the longest is unfastening my bike shoes.  I may start practicing slipping my feet out on the bike, but I need to install some new cleats on my shoes first because my shoes come unclipped pretty easy.  Overall, I thought my time was great, and I made up A LOT of time on the other racers in my AG.

Time: 0:55

Run:  The run course is where I started noticing a few things:  The course terrain was MUCH hillier than I anticipated, or at least I was noticing it more; and it was getting HOT...

Just leaving transition!

The run was only a 2.4 mile course, but we had to tackle the Dam Hill one more time, and finish the last mile with several hills.  To add more pain, the finishing shoot was on a nice steady climb up!  Sucked...

In the back, on the finishing hill.  I barely got by everyone right at the finish!

As usual, I felt like my calves were about to cramp up immediately starting the run, but that had stopped about 5 minutes into the run.  I felt good with my effort on the run, but my pace was awful.  I just couldn't keep a manageable temperature, despite dousing myself with water at every aid station (there were 3! and only for a 2.4 mile course!).  I was never passed, but knew the heat and humidity was really slowing my pace.  I could have also used a bit more hillwork in my training.  All in all, I was a bit disappointed in my run, but still managed to have a strong finish!

Making my move...

Finished!

Time: 19:53/ 8:16 pace

AG: 6/15

Overall: 41/298

Overall:  I thought the race itself was great.  There were plenty of volunteers, the race was very organized, and there were plenty of post-race festivities (although I did not stick around).  As far as my performance, I was initially somewhat disappointed.  Despite the decreased training load, tough course, and weather, I thought I was going to do better.  I wasn't bummed for long.  I quickly went from disappointed to humbled.  That course was challenging, and with the heat and humidity, I was okay with my finishing time.  I know if the race had been in different conditions, I would have performed better.  That's the best thing about races:  Despite how you train, who you race against, where you race, it doesn't really matter.  You just go out there and give it your all.  I fell short on several of my goals, and was 3 minutes off of my total time goal.  I did, however, accomplish my bike goal. I have been working hard on the bike after the Tinman race, and was glad to improve.  If I hadn't met that goal in particular, I would have been disappointed in my effort because I have been putting some extra time in to get better on the bike. 

Post race, admiring bikes other than mine...

After flying through the finish, I immediately thought I was about to pass out from the heat.  I found some shade, grabbed some cold drinks and tried to cool down.  Once I got my composure, I got my finisher's medal and found my family. We ended up leaving before the results were posted and the awards ceremony.  I didn't think I was even close to placing in my age group, so we went to breakfast and showed the parents our new place.  

Found my family!

Photographer: How'd it go?
Me: HOT!!!!!!!!

After breakfast, I checked the results when I got home and got quite the surprise:  I placed 2nd in the 25-29 men's short course age group, my first time ever placing ( Other than my first tri, an indoor race.  I was first out of 2 people. BOOM!).  I was shocked.  I actually checked a couple times because I thought there might have been an error. There wasn't.  Apparently the conditions affected every racer, and I actually did much better than I originally thought.  Now, this comes as some sort of a bitter sweet award. I know many of the "more seasoned" racers in my AG were racing the longer course.  I also didn't get the times I know I'm capable of.  However, it was still freakin' sweet! My secret to placing?  TRANSITIONS AKA the 4th Discipline.  Look at my splits.  The only one that stands out is my swim.  I made up the extra time during transitions.  Keep them simple, and PRACTICE!

Total Time: 1:03:40

Age Group: 2/15

Overall: 37/298