Friday morning, Beth, Eric, Jeff, and I all left Lexington in route to Lawrence, Kansas. Beth had the amazing idea of borrowing her mother's full size van so we could all squeeze our bikes and gear into one vehicle. This turned out to be an amazing idea. All 4 bikes fit perfectly with the wheels still on the bikes, along with all of our other race gear and luggage. We left about 7:30 am Friday morning and were prepared for the worst. Casey made some homemade granola bars for the trip, Jeff put together his usual pre-race travel trail mix, Jeff's g/f made some muffins and cookies that we all got to share, while Beth, Eric, and Jeff all packed enough Gatorade to hydrate a football team. We made it to Lawrence faster than we expected to, and with all 4 of us taking turns driving, it made the trip to by faster. I didn't drive on the way there, but I drove from Kansas City back to St. Louis after the race on Sunday, so I did do my part. Eric drove the most. Thanks Eric.
Anyways, we had dinner at "Old Chicago" Friday night close to the campus of KU (I got some weird stares wearing my UK t-shirts around). We went back to the hotel and called it a night around 10 pm. We woke up and decided we wanted Panera for breakfast which is what we all eat pretty regularly. This Panera in Lawrence was a "serve yourself" Panera. They handed us bagels in which we had to do whatever we wanted to do with them, as opposed to having them slized and toasted for us like they are at every other Panera I've been to. After breakfast, we drove the bike course, went for an easy bike ride, run, and swim, got lunch, and went back to the hotel. After dinner that evening, we went back to the hotel and were all in bed by 8 which is extremely unusual for me, but we watched "The Dark Knight" until about 9:30 so that was fine with me. I don't like to go to bed super early.
Race morning we woke up and headed down to the race site. This was a 2 transition triathlon which is the first that I've ever done. We had to drop our running stuff in T2 and then head down to T1 to put everything we would need for the bike portion. It was a little hectic and I do not prefer this type of transition, but it wasn't bad. The water temperature was 71.6 degrees that morning (warmer than the Austin race) but because it was a longer race, the wetsuit "cut-off" temperature was 72 degrees as opposed to the new rule of 68 which will be in full effect next year at all swim distances under 3k. I proceeded to get everything ready, and then head down to the water. There were only about 30 Pro guys starting and they blew the starting gun promptly at 6:30 am.
I sprinted out like I usually do, but this swim start wasn't as crowded as some of the other pro races I've done this year. I didn't get out with the lead pack, but I found some feet that were almost the same speed as me, and I just stayed on those feet in the second pack. I came out of the water somewhere around 16th place or so in a group of about 6 guys. I had an average T1 and headed out onto the bike course where I was hoping I would make up some ground. Luckily, I was right and I passed my first 2 victims in the first 2 miles of the bike. I caught a few other guys in the next ten miles, and we all went about the same speed for about 20 - 25 miles. We weren't drafting, but we were working together to catch some of the lead guys. I got some momentum throughout the ride and ended getting away from the group I was riding with. I ended up about 1 mile behind the second group of guys. I was only about 5 minutes down from the lead group and only 2 - 3 minutes back from the second group. I ended up into T2 in 9th place and about a minute in front of the group I was riding with for a while. I had one of the fastest T2's in the race (only slower than the top 2 finishers) and headed out onto the run, not feeling very good at all. I was tight for the first 2 miles, then I felt great until about the 5th mile. I caught one guy before the mile marker, then I did not see another guy until I got passed by Simon Thompson around mile 4. Once he passed me, Andrew Hodges didn't wait too long until he came flying by me around mile 6. Once I made it to the second lap of the run, I was all by myself. I haven't experienced pain like that since the last few miles of Clearwater last year. I was on the verge of blowing up, but was somehow managing to hold just over 6-minute mile pace. I held this pace until the 11th mile when the wheels came off. I got passed by one more guy at about the 12.5 mile mark of the run and there was nothing I could do. I was in survival mode and was just hoping the finish line would come soon. I managed to pass Tim Deboom about 600 yards from the finish line and crack into the top 10.
I heard the mile splits were not accurate, but if they were, I ran the last 2.1 miles in 14:40 pace which is about 7 minute mile pace, which is slow compared to the 5:55 pace I was holding through 11 miles. But a lot of my mile splits were around 6:05 and my avg. pace for the 13.1 miles was 6:06, so I'm assuming those last 2 miles were a bit long even though I know I slowed down significantly. I finished in 4:02:57 and in tenth place.
After the race, we drove to the nearest Wendy's to get a "Toffee Coffee Swirly Frostie." We then drove to St. Louis to spend the night at the Miller residence. Thank you Miller family for hosting us after the race. Monday morning we woke up glad to only have a 6 hr drive ahead of us instead of the 10 hours it took us to get to Lawrence from Lexington.
I'm extremely pleased with my effort on Sunday. I had a decent swim, a good bike, and an average run. I need to really work on my run in the next few months, but I'm really looking forward to some of my upcoming races. But most importantly, I'm looking forward to going to the lake tomorrow and playing golf all weekend. And congrats to Eric, Beth, and Jeff who all PR's for that distance and to Jeff for qualifying for the World Championships in Clearwater. Congrats to my brother for placing third overall at a local race in Shelbyville, KY and qualifying for Nationals in Alabama in August.
Thanks for Reading. Up next: Waterfront Chattanooga Triathlon - July 12th
Tony
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