Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Ironman Kansas 70.3 Race Report

 This past weekend I went down to Lawrence, Kansas to race the Ironman Kansas 70.3.  It was Chad's brilliant idea to head back down to Kansas to take another crack at the race down there.  So Friday as soon as school let out for summer I got a quick run in and hopped in the car to meet Chad and Andy for us to drive down to Lawrence.  It's a long way...you wouldn't think Kansas seems that far, but let me tell you it is!!  We got down there and checked in about 10 on Friday night.  Since the race wasn't until Sunday morning this was perfect.  We had a little drama on our way down with bikes...but it's all good and nothing is wrecked!

Saturday morning I couldn't sleep anymore and decided to take my morning run through the University of Kansas campus.  Nice campus, but super hilly.  At least for my standards it was full of hills, and especially so for the day before a half ironman.  Anyway I ran a quick 5 miles with my last mile a little faster than planned race pace and I was feeling good.  After breakfast we packed up our stuff to head down to Clinton Lake State Park which is where the race would take place.  We checked in, took the bikes for about a 30-40 minute spin to shake out the legs and to make sure everything was working properly and then checked our bikes in.  The rest of the day was pretty chill with some pool time, and an early dinner before watching a movie and heading off to bed.

I slept well on Saturday night and woke up right before my alarm at 4:15 a.m.  Thunderstorms were in the forecast for Sunday morning...and some looked nasty, but we got really lucky and didn't end up getting the nasty weather!  After my steelcut oats, banana and bottle of Zym we were on the road to the race.  Kansas has a two transition set up, which is no big deal.  I got T2 set up and then headed down to the lake where I would pump my tires and set up T1.  Once I got down there I realized that I had forgotten my Garmin 500 which I use on my bike.  I decided not to go look for it up at T2 (which is good because it was still in the hotel room) so I would just have to not worry and race by feel.  I've done this in previous races so I knew I could do it, although I do wish I knew how fast I was going on some downhills. 

The Race:

Swim - 36:11
I was not good...not much else to say.  Things were going well on the way out as I reached the turn around in 15 minutes, I thought I was set up for a good swim.  That's when things went wrong.  I'm not sure what happened, but I was no where near the buoy's, and I felt like I was swimming in an endless pool...going no where.  It was choppy out there but I'm sure it's been worse.  Bottom line, when I get done with this post I'm headed to the pool!

T1 - 2:06
Not bad, not great, just tried to keep the HR down and get out of there onto my bike.

Bike - 2:16:50
Without a computer I just had to go by feel, and since I started in the 3rd or 4th to last wave I had a lot of people up the road...so I used them as motivation.  I felt good pretty early on in the bike, but felt stronger as the ride went on.  I would say that I really settled in towards the last 25 miles or so.  I was 4 minutes faster than 2 years ago, so I'm happy with that improvement, and I felt good coming off of the bike!

T2 - :59
Zoot Speeds...need I say anymore?

Run - 1:22:32
Coming off of the bike I knew that I wanted to run a 1:22ish half marathon.  I knew that I should be right there based on my training.  I went through the first mile in 6:24.  After that my legs settled in and I was able to crack off quite a few miles at around a 6:16 pace, definitely where I thought I should have been.  I had one bad mile which was coming up a hill from the lake (you have to do the hill twice, and the second time up sucked for me) so when I got to the top I gave myself a pep talk and said "the faster you run...the faster you're done".  Seemed to work because I snapped out of my funk and got back into my groove.

Total - 4:18:38

10 minutes faster than 2 years ago.  I ended up 2nd in my age group, 7th amateur and 29th overall.  I qualifiied for a spot to the Ironman 70.3 World Championships in Las Vegas which will be held in September, but I turned down the spot as I need to focus on Kona and save a little cash.  One of these days I'll head to that race!  I am happy with my race, and it's exactly where I thought I would be.  Now it's taper time to get ready for Ironman Coeur d' Alene.  I know where I want to be for that, and honestly don't see why I can't reach my goal.  The difference between now and Arizona is that I'm not "telling" myself that I can do something, I BELIEVE that I can do it.  I know what I'm capable of, and I'm pumped!

I had a great time with Chad and Andy, and they are going to do some damage later this season for sure!!  It was great to race with some more Zoot Teammates this weekend, Dana, Adrianne, and Diana had awesome races.

Thanks have to go out to Zoot, they're just awesome!!!  Jake, you're the man!!!!  Thanks also to Zipp, Ridley, GU, Garmin, Cylceops, Endure It, AXA Financial.  Thank you everyone for the calls, texts, emails, messages ect...it's always appreciated and motivating to me!  Thanks also to Diana's husband for a few pictures that he took out on the course. 

End of the Bike

The Run...obviously



The Zoot Crew with some hardware



Chrissy Wellington on the mic


It's less than 2 weeks until Ironman Coeur d' Alene, the money is in the bank.  Can't wait!!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Great race and congrats on qualifying for Vegas!! You're having a great year!!