5150 Kansas City Triathlon Race Report

The 5150 Kansas City Triathlon took place on Sunday May 20, 2012 at Longview Lake, MO. It was the 4th year for the race, but the first year under the WTC corporation (aka Ironman).  The race itself saw a 185% increase in participants when compared to 2011, and the course had to be adjust for the increase in athletes.  The bike course was changed 2 weeks prior to the race to accommodate for the need to be closed to vehicular traffic.  Other than that, the course was the same!  The weather was absolutely perfect on race day, with temperatures in the 60s with little wind!  With that, let's dive right in!

Pre-race:  

The alarm went off at 4:35am on race morning! Damn, that's early for me!  It didn't really matter because I usually sleep terribly the night before a race, and this was no different.  I shot out of bed, and quickly grabbed a cup of coffee, brushed my teeth, and put my "game day" kit on. I quickly packed up my car and headed out with Rach!  In the car, I finished my coffee, inhaled a white bagel, and ate half a Clif bar.

We got to the race site at 5:30am, and was surprised at the amount of people there.  I usually get to the race as early as possible because I like to have plenty of time to set stuff up and warm up.  Apparently, there were many just like me for the race!

We walked about a mile to transition, where I was promptly marked by a 14 year old girl with incredible sharpie skillz.  Once done, I found my transition spot, got set up, talked to a coworker and pee'd twice.  In a porta-potty...

Transition: Rack Rack City

I felt surprisingly calm before the race, despite two things:  1).  This was my first race of the year.  2).  The PA announcer guy was telling everyone there that TRANSITION CLOSES AT 7:00!!!  He honestly probably said it every 5 minutes... 

Swim course

Once I got out of transition at 6:45am, I headed down to the beach for the swim start.  My wave started at  8:07am, so I had plenty of time to chat with Jon, Patrick, and some others I saw around.  Rach's parents showed up soon, and got to see the professionals start at 7:30am.  One cool thing about the race were the pros.  It was my first race were professional triathletes competed, and this one was especially cool because Laura Bennett aka LONDON OLYMPIAN TRIATHLETE was there!  Very cool!

Laura Bennett! USA! USA!!!

Cordial greetings with Jon

After a brief warmup in the water, my heat got ready to go, and at 8:07am, we dove in!

Just about GO time!

Swim:

The swim started out pretty smooth, but it didn't last....  I positioned myself 3 rows from the front, and near the far side of the starting coral.  It was a beach start, so I timed my water entry a bit slower so I didn't get kicked in the face by the guy in front of me.  Mission accomplished.  

Everyone quickly spread out, and as I tried to hang onto the lead pack, I quickly realized their pace was too quick for me.  I slowed down a bit, and kept waiting to see another pack form so I could get some drafting in.  This didn't happen.  What did happen was a group brawlfest, aimed at my legs.  I don't know what the hell was going on behind me, but every second or two, I would get a fist to the back of my calves/hamstrings.  No matter what I did, whether it was slowing down or sprinting, I couldn't get the guy/guys off my ass! Literally!  

Once we got to the out section, we turned and headed north.  This is where the swim began to suck.  I could deal with the constant hammering to the back of my legs.  I could deal with the fact that I wasn't sighting as well as I had hoped.  What I couldn't handle was a lengthened swim course.  Once we got to the midway point in the race, lifeguards were telling us to head out further away from shore, as one of the buoys became unattached to it's anchor and began floating away.  Since we were the second to last wave to go, it had floated a decent ways away.

Swim course with the rogue buoy

Physically, I was fine.  My pace was good, my breathing was controlled, I could handle the extra distance.  Mentally, however, was different.  I wanted to get the hell out of the water.  I was sick of swimming, and just wanted to start the bike.  Once I got to the "Rogue Buoy", I turned around back to shore and hammered.  I finally lost the guys on my legs, and began to catch people two waves in front of me.  Eventually, my hand felt sand, so I stood up, and ran out of the water. 

Swim exit

STRIPPIN'!

Time: 29:16

Distance: 1500 METERS

Pace: 1:47/100 YARDS

AG:10/52

T1:

I had a decent run up the beach to my transition spot, about 200 yards if I had to guess.  While running, I was able to get my goggles and cap off, unzip my wetsuit, and get my torso and arms out.  I found my spot pretty easily, and yanked the rest of the wetsuit off.  It always gets stuck on my ankles, so I took a bit extra time to get it completely off.  After that, I just put my glasses, helmet, watch, and shoes on, and hauled to the bike exit!

Struggling with my shoes

Time:  1:56

AG: 13/52

Bike:

I can't really say how happy I was to be on the bike.  The swim didn't go as planned, but I quickly forgot about that once I got pedaling.  The bike started off slower than usual, mainly because I wanted to get my heart rate down from the all out sprint finish of the swim.  But I quickly found my pace and just zoned out.  The first lap went by quickly.  The only eventful things were getting a 20.5mph split at the end of the 1st lap, and seeing that my buddy Jon crashed.  He was okay, just scraped up pretty badly, but before I knew it, he was right by me finishing the race! Tough guy!

"Aero" wave

The second lap of the bike was a bit different. The entire second lap was PACKED with people. I spent most of the lap weaving around slower riders.  I couldn't get into a rhythm, and had a hard time maintaining my pace.  There was even a segment of road were there were 4 riders across going fairly slow, not letting anyone pass.  Crazy!!! Move over!  Sadly, the second lap was also a draft-fest.  It was looking like a criterion race on some of the flats.

Cruising

Soon enough, the second lap was over and I was at the dismount line.  After a successful flying dismount, I was onto T2!

About to dismount!

Time: 1:17:30

Distance: 40 kilometers

Pace: 19.3 MPH

AG: 29/52

T2:

Nothing much to say here, transitioning from the bike to run is going really well.  I don't wear socks for short races, so all I did was rack my bike, threw off my helmet and kicked my bike shoes off, and then slipped into the run shoes while grabbing my race belt and gel!  I wanted closer to 1:00, but I did have a fairly long run to the run exit.

Time:  1:16

AG:  11/52

Run:

This was the most uneventful run I've had in a race.  My legs were initially heavy, but that subsided by the end of the first mile.  I quickly got into a groove, and kept at more of a tempo pace.  I did notice that crowding or congestion on the run course was non-existent, which was something everyone was worried about.  I held my pace till around mile 5, when a Mizzou student came a knocking...

Pounding the trails

I was going along at a controlled pace, not insanely hard but still working, when this guy wearing a Mizzou race kit runs by and yells "Come on, KANSAS!!!" At this point, I went into a different race strategy: Screw tempo, BURY THIS GUY (so Dave Scott...)!!!  I quickly got on his heels and got a feel for his pace.  After a minute or two, I realized this was nothing, and I picked it up significantly.  He didn't match my pace, and he was long gone.  I didn't know this because I didn't turn back around, but I kept asking all the spectators, "IS THE A MISSOURI GUY BEHIND ME?!?! (gasp for air...)".  I never got an answer, so I hammered to the finish line.  Turns out, I beat him by a couple minutes, and the last mile I ran was 1:55 faster than any other mile on the day!   As soon as I saw him cross, we fist bumped for the effort, I thanked him for the motivation, and he probably went ans cried to the SEC... haha.

FINISHED!

Time:  47:59

Distance: 10 kilometers

Pace: 7:45/mile

AG: 23/52

Overall:

I thought it was an awesome race.  I loved the course, the distance itself is probably one of the best I've done, and the competition was STACKED!  I didn't end up qualifying for the Hyvee Championships in September, but honestly, that would have been impossible with the guys that showed up.  I also thought that the RD and staff did a great job on race morning, despite all the commotion before race day.  The communication sucked prior to it, but they delivered a top notch race.  

I also thought I did pretty well.  I thought my swim could have been better, but turns out my goal pace of 1:45/100 yards didn't take into account the extra distance I had to swim...  I was pretty happy with 1:47/100y.  The bike went well on a packed course, and I have a new PR bike split!  Transitions were great, and the run was pain-free!  I definitely could have pushed significantly harder on the run, but I didn't know how my legs would feel at this distance.  I will be going much harder next time!

Time: 2:38:36

AG:  22/52

Overall: 235/707

Again, it was a great race, I'm pleased with my progress, and will continue to work on getting faster this summer!!!

And here are some "unbecoming" photos from race day!

Race day tradition!

Sexiness

Thanks for reading!!!

Kansas City Triathlon 5150 Series- Race Preview

Sunday, May 20th will mark my first triathlon of 2012!  The Kansas City Triathlon, part of the 5150 series put on by WTC (the "Ironman" brand), will take place at Longview Lake in Missouri.  I will be doing the Olympic Distance, which officially is a 1.5km swim, 40km bike, and 10km run!

Although not my A-priority race (Ironman Kansas!), I still want to perform well in my age group. With the race being put on by WTC, the top 15 in each age group are qualified to race at the Hyvee Triathlon 5150 US Championships in September.  The "Ironman Branded" race has brought in significantly more athletes when compared to previous years.  Last year, I heard there were about 700 people doing both the Olympic and Sprint distances.  This year, the totals should be almost 1400.  Quite the increase!  And this will be the biggest race I've done!

Packet Pickup:
Packet pickup went really well for me. I purposely arrived at 3:30, in the hopes of avoiding the 'afterwork' crowd.  This was a perfect plan!  There were actually more volunteers than athletes, which is kinda rare...

The packets themselves contained the usual ingredients:  Swim cap, race bib, bag/tote, lots of coupons and other race information, Gatorade water bottle, and T-shirt.  The shirt wasn't "tech", which clearly pissed off some lady in front of me, who apparently was really hoping for a new tech shirt.  I could care less, but they did say they would have tech tees for race participants, so maybe the psycho chick was justified.

I ball so hard 24/7. 356!!!
PS if you are racing and see this, slow down please...

I was more irritated from the lack of information contained in the packets themselves.  If you follow Ryan, aka the Godfather of KC's multisport blogging scene, you are quite aware of the problems with the Race Director/staff communication to athletes.  In the race packet itself, there was no race day information WHAT SO EVER!!! That's just crazy to me!  I've had to rely on a few briefly worded emails from the RD, and their Facebook page!  Thank goodness I spend most of my free time on some type of social media outlet!  Okay, that's enough ranting, but I just hope this isn't a sign of things to come raceday.  I just seems incredibly unorganized for an event this size.

After picking up my packet, I practiced transitions. My girlfriend made fun of me...

Practice makes perfect, daaayummn...

Race Goals:
I have a few goals that I'm hoping to shoot for in the race.

1.  Most Important- I don't want to re-injure my hip... and it hasn't been feeling great since my last 10 mile run on Wednesday... I have been icing, foam rolling, and stretching like crazy, but I'm hoping a 6 mile run won't re-aggravate the injury.  
2. Swim- I would like to see <1:45/100y average, but honestly, I wouldn't be against something slightly slower.  I care more about sighting better, holding a straight line to the course markers, and  drafting efficiently. 
3. Bike-  Although this will be my longest race to date, I would like this to be my fastest bike split at a race.  Currently, my bike split PR in a race is 18.02 mph (average over 9 miles) at the Shawnee Mission Triathlon last year.  The race Sunday will be just under 25 miles, and I hope to break 19 mph, depending on wind conditions and needing to slow down/speed up around other athletes.  I would REALLY like to see something close to 20mph, but I'd settle for 19 mph if it set me up for a good run!
4. Run- See goal 1.  I have a time goal (keeping it to myself), but I want to have the mental strength to back off if I start to feel my hip hurting.  I have a LONG race in June that would SUCK to do injured... Another problem with my specific run goal deals with the amount of people on the run course.  The gravel path the run course takes place on is about 5 feet across, and MOST of the 1400 athletes should be hitting the run around the same time. Could make for some intense traffic jams...
5. Transitions- I will be wearing a wetsuit for the 2nd time in a race, and hope that my first transition (T1) is faster than my first go around.  My T1 time from last year while wearing a wetsuit was 4:41.  I need to be that SIGNIFICANTLY faster. My second transition (T2) usually goes smoothly, mainly because I wear no socks.  Under 1:15 for sure!
6. Overall Time- I need to have a time goal, right?  I'm shooting for 2:37:00.  I wouldn't be surprised if I went faster or slower, depending on what's going on in the race, but that's what I'm gunning for!

That's it for my goals!  I would like to say that I want to qualify for Hyvee, which I do, but that depends on the other athletes. If I do what I know I'm capable of, I should be close to qualifying.  I will say, though, if I see someone in my age group close to the finish, I will be hunting them down... But I definitely would anyway (like a lion...)!

Other than my somewhat achy hip, I feel pretty good heading into the race.  I know finishing won't be a problem, which should allow me to push a bit harder, especially on the bike.  My training has been fairly consistent, and I'm ready to see where I'm at!

Follow me on Twitter for my race status and results!  If not, check back soon for a race report!  

Thanks for reading, and wish me luck!

A weekend to remember!

The last few weeks have been crazy!  Training has taken some substantial time and energy, but for the first time this year, my 'life' has played a bigger role in 'staying busy'.

The past 2 weekends, I've attended 2 graduations:  Rach's and my own.

I had so much fun at both, and became even more aware of how lucky I am to have incredible people in my life.  I once read that accomplishments mean nothing if you have no one to share them with.  Needless to say, this won't be a problem for me (now I just need to keep accomplishing stuff...)!

Rach is such a smartie pants!
And no, that's not my 'ear ring'

Getting my hood, yo!

Getting ready to walk down the Hill!

Inside the KU Campanile!

On the football field!

I ran a 4.4 40 yard dash!

Training
I am currently in my last training cycle for the Kansas Half Ironman in June, with my taper starting in a few weeks.  Training has been going pretty fantastic, and I'm finally seeing some speed come back on the run.  In the last 10 days, I've had 2 50+ mi rides, a 56 mi ride + 6 mi run brick workout (the longest I've ever done), a straight 2500 yard swim (half ironman distance), my first open water swim of the year, my fastest 5K time trial (6:52/mi average), and a few 8+ mi runs. I'm definitely putting in some serious volume, but knowing that this is the last chance I have to put some miles in before the race is helping my motivation! It seems like everything is coming together!  About time!!!

This weekend I have my FIRST RACE OF THE YEAR!!!!!!!  The 5150 Kansas City Triathlon will take place this Sunday, May 20th at Longview Lake.  I cannot wait!

I will be doing the Olympic Distance course, which consists of a 1.5km swim, 40km bike, and 10km run.  I was able to get into the water yesterday at the lake, and also rode a lap of the bike course. I'm hoping to get out there again on Thursday and Friday to ride a few more loops of the bike and run courses.  After that, I should be good to go!

Be back for my pre-race info for the KC Triathlon and what I'm going to try and shoot for! The race itself is going to be HUGE!  Big enough, in fact, to warrant a change to the bike course a week ago to make sure there is no vehicular traffic.  The last I heard, the totals were 1300+ for both the sprint and olympic races! That's a lot of peeps!

Have a great week, and thanks for reading!