This is a two transition race and my bike was stationed almost at the Swim Out arch. I run well in b

Ok, I m notoriously bad about putting down my races on paper but since all my friends are doing it blog-style, disney cruise ship jobs I better bow to the peer pressure and join in. Here is my experience at the Ironman Kansas 70.3 in Lawrence, Kansas held June 10, 2012. We didn t sleep in the same place two nights in a row. Me, Katrina, and Brett left The Sport Factory in Roswell, GA on Thursday at about 12:30pm and made it through St. Louis by sunset.
We got to our first stop, Columbia, disney cruise ship jobs Missouri, late that evening. We got some solid rest in and headed to Manhattan, Kansas to meet up with Janet. Chilled Friday and checked out two local breweries for some quality carb loading. The tasting room at Tallgrass Brewing Company was closed for remodeling but Little Apple Brewing Co. was open and pouring so we each got a taste testing flight and sampled some very good beer.
Saturday morning, we drove to the race site at Clinton Lake Recreation Area just south of Lawrence, KS. Parking was not a problem and we were quickly directed to a spot. Tip 1: Do not allow your bike tires to contact the grass at any time. There is grass stubble (it probably has a name but I don t know what it s called) that will poke straight disney cruise ship jobs through your tires and tubes. Have good shoes to protect your feet. Seriously. We all did a pre-race duo, checking out the bikes and getting disney cruise ship jobs accustomed to some running legs after all that time in the car. Swimming at the race site isn t permitted but there is a beach adjacent, one cove over, where swimming is allowed. From the parking field, disney cruise ship jobs you pass a hut which has showers and bathrooms and walk down concrete stairs to this beach. Something about the sign that read No Nudity Allowed cracked me up, as all I could see was No, Nudity Allowed! Swam a couple of hundred yards without disney cruise ship jobs the wetsuit, as indications were that temperatures were on the line for whether or not they would be legal. The water was crisp but not uncomfortable, a little murky, and there was some chop. Upon exiting disney cruise ship jobs the water I was promptly pooped on by a bird and had to head back into the lake to clean off. I was told this is good luck. The wind was already whipping and temperatures climbing, but the humidity was comfortably low. Check in was a breeze, there was no line. No line at the store either so I got my usual water bottle, hat, and sticker. We then took the bikes down to T1. The hill between T2 and T1 is the largest on the run course, by the way.
This is a two transition race and my bike was stationed almost at the Swim Out arch. I run well in bike shoes so this wasn t a problem. Thank you Katrina for having disney cruise ship jobs me rack my bike by the bars and brake levers, disney cruise ship jobs the wind was blowing bikes off the transition racks. Satisfied, we headed out to the bike course and drove it. 56 miles is a long way to drive in a car, let alone ride on a bike. We talked strategy, watched for false flats, disney cruise ship jobs big climbs, anywhere dangerous, and saw race folks sweeping intersections of gravel disney cruise ship jobs and debris (thanks!) Then off to Topeka, KS to stay the night. The Ramada there is only about 25 minutes from the race site.
Alarm set for 3:30am, usual breakfast of an Ensure, Strawberry Pop Tarts, water, and coffee. Out the door and on our way by 4:30 and at the park by 5. Parking was not a problem. Due to the two transition nature of the race, I brought 3 bags with me, a Run Gear for T2, a Bike Gear for T1, and the Morning Clothes, which was provided during check in and would be brought back to T2 for you at the conclusion of the race. Had about a half mile walk to T2 from parking. It was here that we were told that wetsuits would not be legal for qualifying purposes. The lake temperature was measured at just under 77 F. Got T2 set up first, then walked another half mile to T1 and set it up. Stuffed everything extra, including the wetsuit, into the Morning Clothes bag. Tip 2: Plan well. Do not forget anything in your vehicle disney cruise ship jobs or at either transition or you will be doing some extra walking. Tip 3: Use the Port-a-Pots in T1 before you leave it, there were not enough outside and the lines were long. Again, be careful to avoid the grass. The asphalt and loose stones by the swim start were rough so I would suggest flip flops, which I did not have. The male pros, Wave 1, went off at 6:30 and people were being hustled out of transition with increasing urgency up to a couple of minutes before that. Since I was in Wave 14 I had plenty of time to wait as we did not start until 7:18. It gave me 45 minutes disney cruise ship jobs to see more sun, a choppier disney cruise ship jobs lake, and climbing temperatures. When announcing the waves to the start, the announcement was made by age group not wave number. Most athletes found their way to the edge of the boat ramp at the right time as the schedule was kept well and there weren t enough people racing to make it all that confusing.
As you make your way through the Swim Start arch, you re told to watch your step because there s some nasty jagged concrete. The wave before you gets the horn. You make your way down the boat ramp and into the water. Don t walk for long as the rocks off the ramp aren t smooth. disney cruise ship jobs You swim into position (anywhere disney cruise ship jobs between buoys is fine) the horn goes off and you go. The swim is one loop, counterclockwise. I took the swim long and strong. The first couple of hundred yards were not very rough and the wave spread out fast. Not nearly as much contact and jockeying for position disney cruise ship jobs as I expected. The sun is behind you at this point and sighting wasn t difficult, even as the lake got rougher. Soon, though, I began to catch the stragglers in the wave ahead of me, and then the bulk of the wave ahead of me. The lake also became more difficult to swim in. Since it was not wetsuit legal, my tri-top was scooping water (note to self: speedsuit purchase in future). Made the turn and was swimming more into the sun now though still not directly. Had visions of IM Florida here, where you make the turn and stare right into the sun for a couple hundred yards. Another turn and it s back to shore. Here I deliberately swam on the inside of the buoys as traffic had gotten bad. It was a difficult swim, given the wind, but the back was easier than the out. Still, disney cruise ship jobs I think I passed swimmers from 7 different waves during the swim. I was out of the water in 33:51 (AG 10th, OA 89th). Reports were that the swim was slightly long. Given the waves, lack of wetsuit, and my metered pace, a good swim. Volunteers steady you and help you out of the water, which was very helpful. I look happy here!
My bike was located disney cruise ship jobs about 30 steps from Swim Out, on the fourth rack, about 7 bikes in. Without a wetsuit, transition was easy. Helmet and sunglasses on, race number belt on, slip on the shoes, then a considerable run to Bike Out. T1 took me 2:09.
To say that the bike course was challenging is an understatement. I had been warned by enough people that the course was not flat, so I was ready for the terrain. At the start, I felt like I was passing, passing, passing people but no one in my AG. Then someone blew by me. Oh yeah, that's because I had a good swim I'm going to spend the day getting picked off and watching my Vegas chances dwindle. I had done the math before disney cruise ship jobs hand and figured disney cruise ship jobs there would be 13 slots allocated disney cruise ship jobs to my age group. One thing I was going to make sure of during this race was that I would not be brought down mentally. In the face of wind, heat, course difficulty, whatever, I was going to stay positive. Tip 4: Whenever you start feeling bad, negative, or doubtful, eat and drink. I followed my nutrition plan exactly and it was one of the things that saved me: I ate at 10 mile/15 minute intervals gel-gel-Stingers-gel-gel-Stingers. Though I have gotten much better at hills over the last two years, I have not had nearly as much opportunity to train in wind. Winds were brisk from the south at 20 to 30 mph, with gusts to 36.
The route out of the park is rolling with a couple of climbs disney cruise ship jobs that will wake up your legs. Expansion gaps make for a thunky ride while in the park. Crossing the dam (Mile 4-6) is beautiful, if a little hard, and you are rewarded with a solid climb at the far side. Cross winds, rolling hills, and chip seal ruled the next 30 miles. Even in the chip seal there is smooth road, you just have to be blocking to use it. The 5 mile stretch between miles 35 and 40 was probably the most difficult on the course, there being some serious climbing into the very strong wind. The turn around was welcome and finally the wind was at my back. It seemed like the course was more generally downhill from this point on, and having the wind more at my back definitely helped. Things got quiet; I realized how loud the rushing wind had been. You proceed to reenter civilization after miles of pastoral surroundings. At mile 45 there is a T-intersection that is a dangerous one to negotiate: make a left from Diagonal Road onto E 800 Road, and yes, all the roads have such interesting names. Still enjoying disney cruise ship jobs some of the downhill from the out and back, you have to brake hard for the turn or let the sign stop you. While the roads are open to traffic, I think to this point I had only seen two or three vehicles. It was here that riders were finally spread out enough that I could do my business without disney cruise ship jobs interfering with anyone (read: pee on the bike). I put it in the small ring for the dam hill at mile 50 so I could spin my way up it. After cresting this hill, it was back across the dam at a pace better than 30 mph for the two mile stretch. Back into the park to meet the rolling hills, and into T2. In retrospect, I definitely overcooked the bike course. I glanced down at my monitor plenty, keeping track of heart rate and power, though I am very new to power. My average heart rate was 160 (with a high of 177). Averaging in Zone 4 is never a good thing. Average power 181 watts (ack, my power meter needed calibration and I probably rode 30 to 40 watts above this, which explains some of my miscalculated effort), average cadence 83, average speed 19.7 mph for