Our trip to Ironman Kansas 70.3 last weekend was definitely a memorable one.  We brought the boys again and lucky for Nikki and I we were both able to race, something that rarely happens anymore, so we enjoyed every minute of it.  We left Friday night and stayed in Salinas, KS.  Saturday morning we went on a 20 min run on a rural road through some wheat fields that probably saw more tractors than actual cars.  We arrived in Lawrence, checked in our bikes, and headed to Kansas City to stay with our friends.  

The 3:15AM wake up call came sooner than later.  We got to the race on time and we both were ready to go.  When I began the swim, I was in the 2^nd to last wave.  With a race of over 2000, I did my best to navigate through the swimmers.   I made it through in 25:20, which is within 20-30 seconds of my usual 1.2 swim time.  Going through T1 was also a little tricky as well, but right away started my 56 mile bike.  Fully equipped with my Bontrager Speed Bottle and Aero Race Pack (http://www.bontrager.com/products/accessories/water_bottles_and_cages), I was appropriately hydrated the entire time.  The race pack has a nice pouch for gels that were easy to access.  I was really pushing hard on the bike as I was feeling good.  I liked this course better than last year and simply riding through the wheat fields was fantastic! I got to see Nikki for the first time at the mile 25 turnaround where she gave me a small “fist pump” letting me know that she was having a great time on her new Trek!   Speaking of, I saw Trek after Trek out on the course and several of them were the TTX 9.9 SSL, their top end model.  Welcome to the Midwest, right?  After a little rain at mile 30 or so, I made it back to T2 with a new PR bike split for 56 miles at 2:18.

Right around mile 4

The run was 2 loops around the campground and was very spectator friendly.  I felt great off the bike which has been a consistent feeling over the last 2 half- Ironman races.  I really believe the secret to a good run in a triathlon is to get set up properly on your bike.  It’ll make you more comfortable riding, hence being stronger and having more power for the run.  The 1^st 2 miles were great and after mile 7 I saw Nikki heading out onto her 1^st loop of the run, smiling from ear to ear.   The last 5k was very tough because for a moment there I thought I could finish very close to 4 hours even.  I managed to finish with a new PR run of 1:19:29 placing as the 3^rd amateur overall and 1^st in M35-39.  Overall time was 4:05.53 also a new ½ Ironman PR.   After the race I congratulated former pro, former Timex teammate, and current father of one, Curt Chesney on his well achieved 1^st place amateur placing.  It was too bad the top 3 amateurs were all in different age groups as we were only 85 seconds apart!

A happy finisher!

Way to go Nikki!

As Nikki finished, I was so happy for her as she said she enjoyed her race so much and felt great.  Her right knee has been giving her some trouble recently, but luckily the pain subsided for the day.  After a great dinner with our friends back in Kansas City on Sunday night, the family and I headed out for the 8 hour drive home on Monday.

We had a fun time.

 A huge shout out to fellow Timex team members Andrew Hodges, Trista Francis, Gabriella Loskotova, and James Cotter whom also raced in Kansas!  One of the great things about being on the Timex team is consistently seeing our quality athletes at many races across the country and world!

 Tim

 By the way, here is a great 2000 yd. (or meter) swim workout that I made up and used the week before this race:

4 x 200  (150 fast/50 steady) :15 rest

4 x 150  (100 fast/50 steady)  :10 rest

4 x 100  (50 fast/50 steady)    :10 rest

4 x 50    (25 fast/25 steady)    :5 rest