Kuota K-Factor Triathlon Bike

In January of 2016, I ended up upgrading my bike from a Nishiki Maricopa road bike to a used 2008 Kuota K-Factor triathlon bike.  I spent all last year getting accustomed to the different geometry of a tri bike and absolutely fell in love with it.

Tri bikes vary greatly from road bikes.  The overall geometry is different - you are more aggressively positioned on a tri bike than a road bike.  The intent of a tri bike is to make the aero position more aero and, hopefully, more comfortable than on a road bike.  The more aggressive geometry leads to faster times on the bike.

The bike took a bit of getting used to.  It stands higher than my road bike, and the different geometry threw me for a loop at first.  I was very wobbly getting into and out of the aero position for the first few rides, something that wasn't the case on the road bike.  Since the frame is made of carbon fiber, it was also much lighter than my road bike, which also took some getting used to as the bike felt more responsive than my road bike.  That's not a bad thing, but it did take me a few rides to get used to it.

I credit a couple of friends - Scott and Anne - with really helping get me used to the bike.  They contacted me one day and wanted to go for an eighteen mile ride.  I'd never been anywhere near that distance on the tri bike to this point, but I also didn't want to turn down the opportunity for a group ride.  

I met up with them and we road on public roads, which was also fairly new to me.  I'm used to riding at the downtown airport, which is technically still on public roads, but the vehicular traffic is minimal and is typically comprised of either airport security staff or other cyclists, both of which have a good respect for cyclists and give you plenty of room.  There are also no real intersections there to deal with as the road is one 3.7 mile loop - all you have to do is turn in our out of the parking lot, and that's really the only intersection you have to deal with.

The ride with Scott and Anne was on regular roads that had stop-lighted and stop-signed intersections and normal traffic.  This is not something I would have tried to ride by myself, but since I was with them I had to swallow my nervousness and just get it done.  While riding, they offered me many pointers and tips, and by the time we were done I felt 100% more comfortable on the bike.  The wobbliness with the aero position was gone, and I felt like I could handle regular public roads in the future. 

I've fallen in love with the Kuota K-Factor.  I've added my aero bottle to the aero bars, and have upgraded my pedals to the Speedplay Zero pedals.  I have new tires on the bike (the new tires aren't in the pictures), but that's the only upgrade I've done so far.  The different geometry - which was alien at first - is now second nature.

If you're a triathlete that is on the fence about upgrading to a tri bike, I can't recommend it highly enough if it's something you can afford to do.  This bike is much easier and much more enjoyable to ride than my road bike is.

Half-Ironman Training

Last week, training for Ironman Wisconsin 70.3 officially kicked off.  With this race, I'm trying something new and have gone with a training plan from Training Peaks.  A week in, I've been very pleased with the plan and with the Training Peaks platform in general.  It imports all my workout data from Garmin Connect, and the premium edition shows me more graphs than Garmin does, which I like.

I've also started group training with Endurance House Kansas City, a multi-sport store that is set to open in the Northland at the end of January.  I'm friends with the two owners, and did group open water swims with them last summer.  Right now we've been running on Tuesdays, but once the store opens the plan is to incorporate track workouts and spin nights at the store as well.

Another cool option from Endurance House is the fact that they have official teams.  Joining with them (for a cost) gets you some pretty sweet bonuses, including a tri kit, store discount and priority scheduling for bike services.  It is something I'll be taking advantage of to get in shape for this race.

Overall I'm really looking forward to the race.  This is a first-year race; WTC bought out the old Wisconsin Milkman Triathlon.  From what I understand, it will be the same, or a very similar, course.  WTC is known to put on well supported events, so there's that to look forward to.

The swim is the only portion that I'm worried about, and solely because it is projected to be wet-suit legal.  I need to get some practice swimming in a wet-suit, because if not experience has taught me the swim will not go well, regardless of my level of fitness.  Hopefully I'll be able to get a few open water wet-suit swims in before the race.

It feels good to have something big to train for again.  My level of fitness is such that I can out and do a sprint triathlon on any given weekend.  I'm not saying I would do particularly well in that event, or that it wouldn't end up as a sufferfest once I got to the run, but I could finish it.  That is not the case with the half-ironman, so having this race on my calendar really crystallizes my training for me, and that has made all the difference in the world.

Garmin Half Marathon

On Saturday, we ran our second half marathon in one week: the Garmin half marathon. This one took place near the Garmin headquarters in Olathe, Kansas.

This race started at 6:45, forty-five minutes earlier than Rock the Parkway, meaning we were up at 4:00 to get out there on time. The weather, however, was much better as it was considerably warmer pre-race. Not uncomfortably warm - around 55 degrees instead of 30 degrees. I've heard from a friend that she preferred the temperatures at Rock the Parkway, but I much preferred the warmer temps at this race.

This race was much rougher than Rock the Parkway. I don't think I was 100 percent recovered from Rock the Parkway, which lead to me getting sore earlier. I know some people have no issue doing these kinds of races back-to-back, but my training hasn't been what it should be and I'm not in as good of shape as I should be to be doing this series.

I finished in 3:16:30, eight minutes slower than Rock the Parkway. As stated, I wasn't quite ready for this race, and the course was very hilly, much more so than Rock the Parkway. 

I did well the first nine miles or so. Somewhere in the middle of the ninth mile, my right foot really began aching again, just like last week. This week the pain was far worse. I struggled through eleven and a half miles, but then had to throw in the towel and walk the last mile and a half. By the time we reached the finish, I was very glad to be done.

Overall, though, I actually enjoyed this race more than Rock the Parkway. It was much more scenic and there seemed to be more spectators than at Rock the Parkway. I simply found it to be a more enjoyable race. This race I would do again, whereas I could take or leave Rock the Parkway.

With this race down, we've got one more left to complete the Heartland 39.3 Challenge. The last race is on May 14th, so I've got time to rest up and get a little more training under my belt before then.

Garmin 920XT Review

For our Christmas gifts last year, my wife and I got each other a Garmin 920XT GPS watch, and after a few months with it I feel I've got a good enough feel for it to review it. Before buying this watch, I used the previous generation, the 910XT, so I'll compare the two watches here.

The 920XT comes in two color combinations - black and blue and white and red. Garmin also offers a tri bundle, which has a black and silver watch and some extra heart rate bands. My wife got the blue and black version, and I got the tri bundle.

The watch itself is a good triathlon watch. It lets you select from six different workout types: Indoor Run, Run, Indoor bike, Bike, Pool Swim and Open Water Swim. It also has a Triathlon mode.

Each mode is fully customizable in terms of which statistics are shown on which screen. Each screen can show up to four different data fields. If you want to show only your overall distance on your run, so be it. If you want to see the distance for your current lap, your current pace, your current heart rate and your time in each heart rate zone, that's doable as well.

Running
The running modes are pretty straightforward. Select the mode, wait for GPS to connect (if you're doing an outdoor run), then go. As stated, you can customize the screens to show whatever stats float your boat. I tend to go with overall distance, current pace and overall time.

The main difference between the Run and Indoor Run modes is the GPS connectivity. The Indoor Run mode does not connect to GPS and uses wrist based detection (abbreviated WDR; don't ask me why) to determine your pace and distance. WDR is, obviously, less accurate than GPS. How much less accurate I can't say, but I've used it on the treadmill and did notice it was quite a bit off from the treadmill mileage estimate - about a tenth of a mile over one mile.

Biking
The biking mode allows you to track bike-specific metrics. You'll see speed instead of pace, and it'll be displayed in either MPH or KPH (MPH is the default here in the States, but is easily changed via the settings menu; while I have no proof of this, I'd imagine KPH is the default everywhere else in the world). You can also connect to and get statistics from ANT+ power meters and speed/cadence and other ANT+ sensors.

I do not own a power meter and thus cannot comment on how the watch works with these types of meters. I do have the speed and cadence sensor, and I can say it works well. The speed sensor mainly comes into play during the Indoor Bike mode, while you are not moving (GPS is used to determine your speed when you are biking outdoors). It estimates your speed and does a decent job of it. The cadence portion of the sensor tells you how many times you pedal per minute, and is equally useful both indoors and out.

Swimming
I have not yet had a chance to use the Open Water Swim mode as it's been far too cold here for any kind of open water swimming. The Pool Swim mode, however, I have quite a bit of experience with, and I like it very much.

The Indoor Swimming mode is, in my opinion, a huge improvement over the same mode on the 910XT. The mode on the 920XT seems to just be more intuitive than in the previous generation, and a new rest screen helps you to better time intervals. Overall, this mode is a huge improvement from the 910XT.

For the first time, Garmin has included heart rate monitor support in the swim mode. See the Triathlon Bundle section for more info on this.

Triathlon
As mentioned, this mode is designed to be used during races. It allows you to switch between modes with one press of the Lap button. You have the option of including transitions or not. Since this mode is to be used during triathlons, you cannot change the order of activities in this mode. It goes Swim/Bike/Run, with transitions between the Swim and Bike and Bike and Run if you choose to include them.

I haven't had the chance to use this mode on the 920XT yet as my first triathlon this year isn't scheduled until August, but if it's anything like the Triathlon mode on the 910XT, it will be good to use during races.

Triathlon Bundle
The triathlon bundle offered by Garmin is actually a pretty good deal. It nets you a quick release kit (see the Quick Release Kit section) and two different heart rate straps - the HRM Swim and HRM Tri. The two straps are designed for two different things. The HRM Swim is designed to mainly be used in the pool, whereas the HRM Tri is designed to be used during open water swims, cycling and running.

Don't expect any real-time heart rate statistics, however. All of Garmin's heart rate straps are ANT+, and ANT+ sensors cannot transmit through water. These heart rate straps save your heart rate data, then transmit that data to your watch when you exit the water and save your workout.

The HRM Swim is much wider than the HRM Tri, and will not capture running dynamics, whereas the HRM Tri will capture that data. The HRM Swim also has a sticky-like material on the band that helps it hold to your body when you push off the wall.

The HRM Swim works very well in the pool. It stays in place on my chest well when I push off from the wall, both during open and flip turns. The HRM Tri doesn't work as well. Lacking the sticky stuff on the band the HRM Swim has, it has a tendency to slip off the chest when you push off the wall.

Overall, I'd advise you to use the HRM Swim only in the pool and only during open water swims when you're not planning on running or biking afterwards. You certainly can wear it when you bike or run, but, as previously stated, the HRM Swim will not capture running dynamics, and, out of the water, it's not nearly as comfortable as the HRM Tri or the regular HRM Run.

I'd use the HRM Tri when I'm doing open water swims. I also use it when I'm biking and running. I do have the typical HRM Run strap, but I tend to prefer the HRM Tri for most things.

Quick Release Kit

The quick release kit is something I quickly fell absolutely in love with once I got it installed. To use it, you have to remove the bands from your watch, then attach a small plate to the back of the watch (the second piece from the left in the picture). You attach the watch bands to a different plate (the left most piece in the picture), and that piece will then attach to the plate you placed on the back of your watch. It is a simple connection - rotate the watch ninety degrees to the left or right, place it on the plate with the watch bands, then rotate it ninety degrees back and it is locked in place.

There is also another connection you can place on your bike (the upper right piece in the picture) using the provided elastic bands. You simply disconnect the watch face from the bands by rotating it as described above, then simply connect it to the connection that is mounted on your bike. I have mind connected to my aero bottle, which places it directly in front of my face.

                                    

I love the ability to be able to do this during bike rides. I did not have anything like this with the 910XT, and when I got aero bars, I found I had to position my watch with the face of the watch about ninety degrees from normal just to see the face. This placed it right on my wrist bone, which was a bit uncomfortable, but I couldn't do much about it. Now, I have it right in front of my face, which is very nice. I doubt I'll use this feature during sprint distance races, as I don't really need to see my stats on that short of a ride, but during a half ironman, when I'm going to want to control my heart rate, I will almost certainly take the time in T1 to place my watch up here.

Parting Thoughts

Overall, I've been really impressed with the 920XT. My wife also really likes it. She has the Forerunner 620, a running-specific watch, and she prefers the 920XT to the Forerunner 620 for every activity, even running. She's not a triathlete, but she does run and bike.

The GPS connects very quickly with the 920XT, much faster than on the 910XT. With the 910XT, I typically had to wait anywhere from two to five minutes to get connected to GPS, but am typically connected within thirty seconds with the 920XT. 

If you're looking for a new triathlon watch, give the 920XT a look. It's well worth the money they're asking.

Rock the Parkway Half Marathon

Yesterday, my wife and I did the Rock the Parkway half marathon here in Kansas City. The day started off very cold, about 35 degrees. We showed up early to meet up with some friends before the race, and the wait for race start made me wish I'd brought gloves. After we started running I was glad I hadn't bothered with them.

We were in wave F, near the back, which meant we started about fifteen minutes after the first runners. Once we finally got to the start line and began the race, I warmed up considerably and really enjoyed the race.

I decided I was going to stay with my wife this race, as opposed to taking off without her like I did last year at the Nashville half marathon. I really had a good time running with her. We matched paces pretty well, and while I sometimes got ahead of her while I was running, I always slowed my walk down and she caught up to me on our walk breaks. 

I was doing very well until around mile 8.5, when my energy levels started flagging. I wasn't in any pain at this point, but could tell I was gettinb very tired. I pushed it aside and kept going, but around mile 11 the pain started to set in. My right knee was aching a bit, and my right foot was sore, which is still the case today.

The knee was no big deal to me. I've dealt with knee pain my whole life, and this was nothing new. I could tell it was nothing to worry about, and sure enough, after I had a chance to sit down for a little while, the knee felt fine.

I think my foot was due to my new running shoes. I never had this problem with my old shoes, and I had the same issue in the exact same area of my foot on my first run in these shoes, which was only 3 miles. The more I've run in my new shoes, the less foot issues I've had, but this was my longest run in them to date, so I'm hoping the pain will fade and , as I get more used to the shoes, the pain will eventually never come back.

We walked alot the last two miles, as we were both sore and out of energy, but still managed some short runs. We ran across the finish line together and got out medals. Our overall finish time was 3:08:20.

This is the first time I've done this race, although I've spectated it a few times, and it's a very well-managed race. If you're looking for a good first half, this is one you should consider. It's not exactly flat, but nothing is in Kansas City, and this is one of the flatter courses in the area. The course is picturesque and I was happy it wasn't located in the downtown area, simply because Ward Parkway is easier to get to than downtown. 

My wife and I are doing the Heartland 39.3 series this year, which is a series of three half marathons over the course of six weeks. Rock the Parkway this weekend was the first, and the Garmin half next Saturday is the second, followed by Running With the Cows on May 14th. We'll see how the Garmin goes next week. Neither my wife nor I have ever done two half marathons on back-to-back weekends before.

I know this site's been dead for a long time. I got really busy with overtime at work last year and typically had to make a choice between training, spending time with my wife or updating here. It wasn't even a choice as to which got cut. After the overtime finally cooled down, I didn't want to start updates again with simple trainer workouts, so decided to wait until I could the race reflection on Rock the Parkway. I don't know if I'm going to do posts for every workout, especially since it's early in the year and my biking posts would read "I did half an hour on the trainer and it felt good," but I'm going to try to update at least weekly with how my workouts that week went. I've also got a two or three equipment reviews in the hopper that I'll write up and post over the next week or two.

                                  

                                                   The medal from Rock the Parkway

Post Race Training

Since the triathlon two Sundays ago, I haven't done a whole lot. I swam the Monday night after the race (May 18th), and went biking for 14.76 miles on Tuesday the 19th, and I swam on Wednesday the 20th and Saturday the 23rd, then ran 3.1 miles tonight, Wednesday, May 27th.  I also played golf with my dad on Memorial Day, but that doesn't really count as "training." Ironically, though, it'd been so long since I played golf that the repetitive swing motion made me sore the next day.

The reason for my reduction in training is due to the simple fact that I've been very sore recently. Mainly saddle sore. I'm not used to all the miles I've been putting in on the bike.  Part of it has to do with my ride on the 19th. 14.76 miles is the longest I've ever been on the bike, and come the Thursday after, I could tell I'd likely been biking a bit too much. The back of my thighs ached constantly, likely from all the time in the saddle, and that ache continued thru Memorial Day. It was far less than pleasant, and I decided to back off a bit and let my body recover from the race and the extra miles I've been doing so as to prevent sickness or injury.

That said, the bike ride on the 19th went very well. I met up with a local triathlon group at the downtown airport to ride, and did four laps around the complex. Not only was this the longest I've ever done, it was a new record for average speed - 15.7 MPH. My goal is to get my average speed up to around 17 or 18 MPH for the half Ironman (HIM) in October, so this is a step in the right direction. I'll grant that this course is mostly flat (two short, but steep, hills), but I'm hoping if I train well here it will translate come race day.  I'm also glad I met with the group - had I been on my own, I likely would have stopped after three laps instead of getting the extra 3.7 miles in.

I don't have much to say about the swimming workouts. I did the yardage and felt OK doing it.

Tonight's run went well, however. I did 3.1 miles in 39:19, which is a new record for me. I ran .5 miles and walked .1 to rest for the entire run, and it worked out well. When I first started running last summer, I was doing .1/.1 splits, so to come back after a long layoff and still manage a .5/.1 split for 3 miles felt good. I'm confident that after a few more weeks, maybe a month, I'll be back to running upwards of 5 miles without walking at all.

Overall, I'm glad I scaled back the training a bit. I'm in the beginning of my HIM training plan (it's a twenty week plan) and I think that for my current fitness level it's a bit ambitious. My plan currently is to do what I can, sticking to the plan as closely as I can, and hopefully eventually do all the workouts it's calling for. Even if I never get there, I'm firmly in the "You have a HIM coming up, it's time to train for it" mindset, so I should be able to work up to the distances needed by October and be ready for this race, even if my progress to those distances is slower than my plan would like.

My main focus now is the HIM. I'm planning on doing a 5K on the 4th of July, and I have the Matt Mason Tri at the beginning of August, but both of these are pretty minor races for me right now. I'm doing the 5K mainly because it's going to be a cool, patriotic race, and the Matt Mason tri will really just be a tune-up for the HIM, giving me one more chance to practice my transitions and open water swim skills for real before the big day in October. Of course, the Matt Mason tri will also be really patriotic, which really appeals to me (it's a memorial race for a fallen Navy SEAL, who was killed when the helicopter he was in was shot down in Afghanistan on a mission). In fact, the race's patriotism is what inspired me to sign up for it last year. I'm looking forward to actually experiencing it this year, provided Mother Nature doesn't have other plans again.

Kansas City Triathlon Race Report

Fair warning: this is a long entry. The race was last Sunday, but I purposely took a few days to get this up here because I wanted to let the entire experience sink in a bit before trying to write about it.

This past Sunday, I participated in the Kansas City Triathlon. It was my first outdoor triathlon, and I spent the entire week before the race obsessively checking the weather, hoping that we wouldn't have a repeat of the Matt Mason tri last August and end up with another rain-out. The rain came down in torrents on Saturday, and Sunday dawned cloudy, but the weather did not actually do anything on Sunday.

They offered both a Sprint and Olympic distance at this race. I chose to do the Sprint distance, the shorter of the two. The Sprint consists of 500 meters of swimming, 12.4 miles of biking and 3.1 miles of running.

I got out of bed at 3:30 am to make sure I had enough time to get to the lake. The transition area was set to open at 5:00, and I wanted to leave by 4:15 to get down there. I'd packed most of my stuff in my car the previous night, so all I had to do this morning was get dressed, air up my tires and put my bike rack and bike on the car. We ended up leaving right on time, and got down there and parked almost right at 5:00.

The first thing I did was take my bike off my car and went looking for chip pick-up. After getting my timing chip, I found my way to the entrance to the transition area. Upon finding it, I got my body marked by the volunteers there (my race number, 523, on my left arm and my age on my left calf) and entered transition.

Everyone in transition had an assigned rack based on the race number. Every rack had a range of race numbers, and where you placed your bike on that rack was a first-come-first-served system. I found the rack that contained my number and was lucky enough to get the spot right next to the center aisle (a very enviable position as it limits the distance you have to travel in transition and makes spotting your rack that much easier).

I'd brought a shopping bag with me to help me keep my stuff organized once the race started, and was planning on using it mainly as a place to stash my wet suit after the swim finished. I ended up being very glad I had it with me; it made finding my bike that much easier as all I had to look for on the ground was a grey rectangular bag.

I placed the bag and my towel behind my bike, put both pairs of shoes and my camelback in front of my bike, and placed my helmet directly beneath my bike. My helmet contained all the miscellaneous items I would need for the ride - my sunglasses, my cycling cap, my gloves and my spibelt which contained my cell phone.

Below are two photos of my transition area before the race started. I apologize for how dark they are; I took them before the sun rose and didn't think to take any more once it was light outside. Not shown here is my shirt - I ended up draping it over the aerobars before the swim.

After getting the transition area set up, I had a bit of downtime before the swim warm-ups started. I walked around and looked at some of the vendor tents, then got into my wet suit. I got into the water and did some warming up after they opened the beach, mainly to get accustomed to the water temperature, which was at a chilly 64 degrees.

After warm-ups, ready to start the swim

The race start was done in waves, based on which race you were doing and your age group in your particular race. The Olympic race started first, followed by the Sprint.
As the Olympic triathletes took off, most of the Sprint racers gathered on the beach to await our turn to start. Watching them was very sobering. The water was very choppy and many of them were calling over the kayakers or the people in the pontoon boats and being pulled from the water as they were unable to complete the swim.  Getting pulled out like this is a big deal - by asking to be pulled out (or just getting pulled out without asking), you're disqualified from the rest of the race. No bike, no run, no finisher medal. You're just done for the day, and seeing some of these athletes tapping out made me a bit nervous.
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In no time at all my wave was next to start. We were called up to the corral and entered the water, moving out about five to ten feet from shore. I went in barefoot (I'd worn swim shoes in the warm up) and the cold water quickly infiltrated the ankles of my wet suit. As I stood there in the cold water for the fifteen to twenty seconds it took for the race director to blow the horn and send us on our way (if felt more like fifteen or twenty minutes), I was very nervous. I'd just seen a bunch of people get pulled from the water, and didn't really know what to expect since I'd never done an open water swim before. Thankfully, before I could think it over too much, the air horn sounded and off we went.

My wave (I'm the one in the black wet suit and green swim cap)

The first 100 to 200 yards of the swim went well. I was surrounded by people but had enough space to swim without being smacked in the face by someone's feet, and I was getting my sighting down and heading in a pretty good line for the first buoy. Then I turned to take a breath and sucked down a lungful of water instead of the air I'd been expecting. I, of course, stopped dead, coughing and sputtering and trying desperately to keep some form of forward movement going so I wouldn't be plowed over by the people behind me.
A few seconds later I'd recovered enough to resume mostly forward movement, but the effects of that one bad breath were telling. I couldn't confidently do freestyle. Every time I put my face under and tried to take a normal stroke, I felt like I was choking again. I resigned myself to doing breaststroke, a little bit of backstroke (which usually ended pretty quickly after waves splashed my upturned face), and a weird hybrid of the two where I was on my side, doing a breaststroke kick and pulling with my lower arm.

Overall, my swim was not what I wanted. I expected this to be my best event. After all, I swam competitively for almost a decade, and for four of those years my main event was the 500 yard freestyle (the swim here was roughly 550 yards). This should be a walk in the park, old hat, easy as pie. Never have I been so wrong.

The open water really got to me. I know that happened when I sucked in that water: I tried to take a breath at the exact instant a wave was in my face. Obviously this is never a problem in a pool, so I didn't think too much about it until it happened. Had I been more practiced at bi-lateral breathing, I would likely have been breathing on my left side at the beginning of the race (the side away from the wind). However, for my entire swimming career, I've always breathed on my right side, and undoing all those years of habit is just plain hard and exceedingly uncomfortable (it's akin to attempting to write with you non-dominant hand). But, now I have something I know I need to work on in training.

The swim ended up taking 16:31. Had I been in a pool, I could have completed this in about 10 minutes at my current level of fitness. When I exited the lake and looked at my watch, I wasn't really pleased with my time, but I was very pleased that the swim was behind me and that I was out of that cold water. I headed up the beach to transition just as fast as I could, stripping the wet suit off my upper body as I did so.

Once I reached the transition area, I found my bike easily, thanks to having that nice end spot on the race. I had to sit down to get the wet suit the rest of the way off, then threw it into the shopping bag and quickly toweled off, concentrating on my feet, trying to remove any sand and mud that might still be on them so that wouldn't be a factor once I got my socks and shoes on. I got my socks on as quickly as I could with wet feet, then got my shoes slipped on and threw my shirt on. After my shirt was on, I donned my sunglasses, biking cap, gloves and helmet, then took my bike off the rack and walked towards the bike out area. All told, I spent 6 minutes 59 seconds in T1, which is a little bit too long. This is an area to work on for next time.

Exiting T1

The bike portion actually went pretty well. I've said before that swimming is my best event, but biking is my favorite. I really enjoyed the ride at this race. I went a bit past the bike mount line and got my right shoe clipped in and then took off, getting my left shoe clipped in fairly easily, which is not always a given. The bike course was very well marked in terms of where to turn and where to go, and there were plenty of volunteers (both civilians and police officers) to help direct you in the right direction.

There were some hills, but only two really stand out in my memory. The first really bad hill came at the worst time - right after a 180 degree turn. We headed down the hill, then had to slow to turn around at the bottom of it and go right back up it. Now, obviously, the main strategy for hills is to build up as much speed as you can on the downhill and then use the momentum going up the next hill so you don't have to work as hard. This doesn't work when you have to brake to turn at the bottom, but I made it back up the hill and pressed on.

The second killer hill came in around the ten mile mark or so (guesstimating here, not exactly sure what the mileage was). This time there were no gimmicks or tricks with turns - it was just a really steep, really long hill. As soon as you managed to climb it, you had another 180 degree turn to go right back down it. I will admit that the downhill here was fun, but also pretty scary. I reached a top speed of 39.8 MPH going down this hill, and more than once felt like I was going entirely too fast for comfort. I wish I could have gotten another 0.2 MPH, but I also think that extra little bit of speed would've ended with me laying the bike down. Not a good thing at that speed.

I was able to stay in the aero position for long periods of time on this ride, something I've been unable to do before now. I really like the aero position. I'm hunched down low over the handlebars and can get quite a bit more power to the pedals. I know I'll be using this position alot.

I finished the bike portion in 54 minutes 59 seconds with an average pace of 13.6 MPH. Heading into T2 after the bike portion I was feeling good. Tired, of course, but overall pretty good. Two thirds of this thing were down, and all I had left was a 3.1 mile run. I knew I could walk some of it if I needed to, and that there was no danger of either drowning or crashing, both of which would have likely ended my race. I hopped off my bike a bit before the dismount line and struggled to get my right foot unclipped, almost falling in the process, but I managed to get my foot disengaged from the pedal and planted firmly on the ground just in time.

I walked my bike back to my rack, using the grey shopping back to quickly identify where I needed to go. I quickly re-racked my bike, then removed my helmet and gloves and switched my biking shoes for my running shoes and headed towards the run out. T2 took me 2 minutes 39 seconds to complete.

The run was pretty typical for me. It's my least favorite event, and I ended up walking some of it, but I ran more than I walked, which was the goal. Nothing really special to say about the run; it was a run. I finished the run in 42 minutes 30 seconds, with an average pace of 13 minutes and 43 seconds per mile.

Heading towards the finish line

Almost there!

The next thing I knew I was across the finish line and a volunteer was hanging my medal around my neck. I felt elated that I'd finally accomplished my goal, and relieved that I was finally finished for the day. My first stop after finishing was at the Tri KC tent to get a cookie, then I sat down at a table and waited for my wife to find me. We found each other pretty easily (hooray for cell phones!) and both sat for a few minutes, talking about the race and taking it all in. After we sat for a few minutes, I went back to the transition area, packed up my stuff and took my bike to the car and headed for home.

Finished!

Overall, the race was great. I had a really good time doing it, and never once thought "I don't know if I can make it," The race itself was very well organized and executed. From talking to some of the other triathletes, I understand that this is one of the tougher tris in the K.C. area, mainly due to the cold, choppy water and some of the hills on the bike leg. Everyone I talked to agreed that the swim this year was the roughest they've experienced at any tri in the area for the past half decade, so I don't feel so bad about my swim time now as I did right after I finished. I should have realized it would be a rough swim beforehand based on how many people were pulled out of the water, but I didn't think about it that way then. 

Still, a great first tri for me. If I can do one of the toughest tris in the area for my first tri, I'm confident that I can do my next tri without issue. 

I'm now proud to call myself a triathlete.