My family went with to this race again we left on Saturday morning with a super packed car. We got to Lawrence and the campground at about 1:30 found our campsites got setup along with the other 5 tents at our site. We spent the afternoon checking in to the race and dropping our stuff off at T1. The Kansas race has separate transitions witch logistically causes everyone a little confusion. We were lucky though as our campsite ended up a short hike through the woods right to T1. We had a nice dinner which was supposed to be in the AC since it was only 95 out on sat., but the place we went to had the upstairs AC broken. Anyway it was a nice dinner with people from three different triathlon teams. We all tried to get to bed early but it was still hot out. Luckily a cold front rolled through at about 2AM which cooled things off at night and for the race Sunday.
We all woke up a little later since all we had to do was drop off T2 gear and get T1 ready. I made some nice coffee, ate, and headed to T2 and the race start. My wave was not slated to start until 7:26 the pros at 6:30, I was third wave to last so I had some time to kill. I stretched and watched the pros exit the swim. I tried using the rubber bands on my shoes this race but as I found out did not work at all for me.
The start was delayed 15 min or so too, so I got to talk with Brandon from my team who was in my wave. We heard them announce our wave next and hurried over I got in the water and moved to the deep water start swim start. The water was easy 80 degrees but they called 77.5 so it was wetsuit legal. I wore my full suit and was super hot in it. The swim was very crowded and I found myself dodging people and running into others. I tried to keep the pace even and strong and the whole time I was hoping to keep up with Potts split of 23 min that I heard them announce when he exited. When I got out of the water I looked at my watch and it said 23 min as well, I was off to a good start.
T1 was really slow as I passed my bike 3 times looking for it, I will bring chalk to the next race. I took off with my bike and somehow one of my shoes hit the ground in a crowded transition and broke the rubber bands I had all setup. So my shoes drug on the ground yet again trying
to get them on.
The bike in Kansas is surprisingly hilly, nothing extream just lots of long rollers. Since we were one of the last waves there were a lot of people on the bike course. Right through the park in the beginning of the bike a guy a few bikes in front of me almost nailed a deer running across the road. When I passed him I said "dude you better watch out for those deer" he looked at me like i was crazy, apparently he did not even look up to see it. My goal was to average 280 watts for the course, which was kind of hard to determine since it was hilly. I ended up just holding back a little on the bike averaging 278 for the course. I saw a few others that I knew on the course including my sister, it was a few out and backs so you passed people going the other direction a couple of times. There was one section of the course that someone had spilled a few gallons of oil on the road and we were all forced to dismount and walk around. No big deal though as long as everyone had to do it. I heard that it was deliberate but that is unconfirmed. There were three water stops on the bike course, the first I used the water to put on my head, the second I got some Gatorade, and the third I got water to replace the Gatorade. I poured the Gatorade into my aero drink only to realize it was like syrup and had to suck it out of there spit it out and replace with water. The last hill was a little tough, but the bike I kept a little easy for the run. It was starting to get a little hotter out but really not too bad for the middle of Kansas. The bike ended up 2:16.56 with and average of 24mph. T2 was quick as I found my stuff no problem and headed off on the run.
The run was the best part of this race it is two laps around the campground with one hill in the middle. It was great seeing someone I knew every mile or so, each cheering the other on. I had told my sister who started exactly 32 minutes before me that I would try and catch her on the run. This proved to be great motivation for each of us. We ran right by our campsite 4 times with everyone cheering and my wife and kids there as well. Though I did have to tell them I was coming by a few times as they were playing each time. Because of the course layout has a ton of people watching and cheering, it was great.
I saw the pro women and all the folks from each of the teams we were with at the race with, both of which made me run faster. I managed to catch a few of them, but my sister was still just out of reach. I saw her the last time at about mile 11.5 and I think she knew I could not make it up at that point. She told me I better get moving, I tried but ended up 1:15 behind her in the end. The last mile seemed quite long, but I had a good run at 1:18.05, 5:58 per mile. Though I think the run course was 1/4 to 1/2 mile short. Overall time of 4:01.27 was a PR for me at the 70.3 distance.
We hung around the finish talked with all of the people we were with which I think took home 4 if not more age group wins.
Christine, Thomas Gerlach, and myself
I spoke with Andy Potts, Chrissy Wellington, Pip Taylor, and others after the race as it was a strong pro field. Come to find out Andy ran a 1:07 trying to chase down Lieto, but was a few seconds shy of catching him. And Chrissy put down a 4:07 to place 10th overall, which meant I was the only amateur to not get "Chicked" by her.
We camped again Sunday night, went to dinner, made smores with the kids, and left early Monday morning as there was a storm coming in.
Kansas 70.3 was a great race with tons of support from lots of different people including my family, I had a great time and it did not hurt that my sister and I both had great races there too.
Swim - 00:23:55 1:15
T1 - 1:42
Bike 02:16:56 24.5mph
T2 - 0:49
Run - 01:18:05 5:58 per mile
Total - 04:01:27
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