I decided to race Kansas simply because I needed a race on
my schedule in June and this one was still open. I headed out to the Land of Oz
alone and hoped I could handle all of the logistics on my own. I was pleasantly
surprised at how easy the trip was. I take back all the jokes I made about
Kansas. It was much better than I expected. Some of the perks:
-there is NO traffic. Like none at all
-the speed limit is 75
-a gallon of water is $1
-parking downtown is a quarter
-everyone is very friendly
-there are tons of vegan, gluten-free restaurants
-it is really pretty (I forgot the sky can be so blue and
clear)
Race Morning:
I arrived at the race at 5am but still found I was too
rushed. The parking is a good mile from T2 and from there T1 is about another
half mile or more. It just seemed like everything took longer than normal and I
found myself with 7 minutes to get my stuff ready in T1 before getting kicked
out. Agh! It definitely was not a stress-free morning.
Swim-
The swim course looked like it would be incredibly simple to
follow and I was ready to have a great swim. It was an in-water start and I
seated myself in the front but as I sat there treading water I realized it was
pretty choppy. I kept swallowing water and the race hadn’t even started. Uh oh.
The gun went off and I had my cleanest start ever. After a few minutes I
realized I was leading. Sweet! I kept thinking I was going to have a great swim
until something strange happened. Due to the chop I was taking in a lot of
water. Suddenly some water went down the wrong way and I started choking. I
pulled my head out of the water and proceeded to tread water as I coughed my
head off. Then my throat did that weird spasmy-thing that happens when you are
coughing hard. CRAP! I couldn’t breath so I certainly couldn’t swim. As I sat
there treading water I watched at least 15-20 girls swim past me. I was trying
not to panic but I started to worry that I wouldn’t even finish the swim! I
flew all the way to Kansas in hope of winning and I was going to get pulled
in the first 5 minutes.
After what seemed like forever I put my head in to swim but
could only breaststroke with my head above water as I coughed. I had a
flashback to my first triathlon when I had to breaststroke the entire swim.
Eventually I stopped coughing and was able to start swimming but I was pissed
and also afraid that the cough/spasm thing would return. I decided to swim
pretty easy for a few minutes and make sure everything was ok before picking up
the pace. The rest of the swim went well although I was fighting hard to put
the negative thoughts out of my head about the time I had just wasted. I was 4th
out of the water so at least I was able to make up a lot of time, although I am
annoyed that those precious minutes were wasted (it would prove to be really
important in the last few miles of the race).
Bike-
Coming into T1 I was nervous that I would see a ton of bikes
gone after my rookie swim performance; but from what I could tell, I had to be
in the top few so I took a deep breath and told myself to leave the swim behind
and focus on the bike.
This bike course is SO MUCH FUN! It’s much hillier than I
thought (again another misconception about Kansas, it’s not all flat) and it
was really pretty. The course reminded me of Vineman 70.3 with lots of rollers
and fun down hills. After looking at my
power file from Wildflower my coach’s plan was for me to ride much more
consistently (I tend to have very erratic power files that usually start off
too hard and die at the end) and to avoid big surges that zap my legs. I felt
great the whole ride and was pretty confident that I was meeting my power
goals. Coming back into the race site with about a mile to go a girl came up on
my left and passed me. I hadn’t been passed by anyone the whole ride and I
wasn’t going to get passed at mile 55! I quickly re-passed her and we both killed
ourselves trying to come into T2 first. Luckily I was able squeak out a few
seconds on her to be first off the bike (first time in a big race that has
happened)! But now I knew I had competition right on my heels.
Run-
I was first out of transition and since I was feeling good I
decided to take the first mile a little harder than planned in order to put
some distance between myself and the other girl. Thankfully there was a female
pro starting her 2nd loop at the same time so her and I ran together
for the next 6.5 miles. I was feeling better than I have running off the bike
in quite awhile. However, once the 2nd loop started and I lost my
running partner things started to slow down and the wind started to pick up. By
mile 10 my legs were done and I started grabbing coke in hopes it would help
(it did not). For some reason I had completely forgotten about the women that
came in right behind me on the bike. Around mile 11 I was reminded of her as
she flew by me at a pretty good pace. NOOO!!!! I realized if I didn’t catch her
I was going to lose the lead I had been holding for the last 4 hours! These are
the moments I think about in training but in my mind I find some super human
speed and I am able to surpass my opponent and win. I tried everything I could
but my legs just weren’t cooperating. I had nothing left and I watched as she
ran away from me. Running those last 2 miles knowing I had just lost yet
another race in the final moments was tough. I also couldn’t help but think of
the time I gave up in the swim. Thankfully former LA Tri Member and cheerleader
extraordinaire, Liz Kollar, was there motivating me and pushing on til the end.
After getting over my initial disappointment, I was pretty
happy with my race. It was my 2nd fastest time (4:46) and I had a
blast the entire way (until mile 10 of the run). Since my focus is still on my
bike fitness, I was happy to learn that my power was 10 watts higher than at
Wildflower and completely consistent (this is the first power file my coach has
ever liked)! I am still working on being able to run hard after a harder bike
effort. It’s slowly coming along but it’s frustrating to be putting up such
slow run splits this year.
I was able to grab my Vegas slot and finishing 2nd
in my division and 5th OA amateur isn’t the worst thing in the world
(although first is still a lot better). I highly recommend this race as it is
such a great course, I will definitely be back!
