June 2013 Kansas City running races

Amy Thompson Run 8K, 5K  Loose Park Pavilion, Kansas City, MO  May 27 @ 8 am A Memorial Day event, the Amy Thompson Run for Brain Injury will be held May 27, 2013 beginning at 8 am, marking its 26th year! You will have an option of the 8K or 5K run/walk course in Loose Park and surrounding neighborhoods.  In addition to these certified, chip-timed courses, there will be a 1 mile benefit walk and a Kiddie Dash. Enjoy food and music after the race. Proceeds from this event fund programs through the Brain Injury Association of Kansas and Greater Kansas City.

Bark N Blues 5K - June 8 @ 7:30 am Brookwood Elementary, Leawood, KS

Bark N Blues is a family friendly day of great food, live music, and activities kicked off with a 5K and 1 mile dog walk. By participating in this event, you are helping the animal rescue cause. Foster homes for animals are a necessary part of preparing pets for good, loving homes. Caring for these animals is costly; Bark N Blues is a day of fun activities to help offset the costs animal foster homes face. Bring your dog and enjoy the race! Jazz in the Woods 5K/10K - June 8 @ 7:30 am Corporate Woods, Overland Park, KS Support local charities by running or walking in the Jazz in the Woods 5K or 10K. Start your weekend and the Jazz in the Woods festival with a morning run through Corporate Woods.  Run 4 Ron 5K - June 8 @ 9 pm Zona Rosa, Kansas City, MO With personal knowledge of the financial and emotional burden of cancer, the Run 4 Ron foundation works to help those currently fighting against cancer - especially the uninsured, underinsured, and those using alternative treatments. Support this cause and enjoy the 5K!    Boots and Daisy Dukes 5K - June 9 @ 7:30 am Bass Pro Shops, Independence, MO Join us for a one-of-a-kind country experience. Run the Boots and Daisy Dukes 5K while your kids participate in the Lil' Critter's Fun Run! Both courses run through the picturesque Waterfall Park. As a participant you will receive a shirt, vintage trucker's hat, finisher's medal, free photos, chip timing, and awards for top finishers; for the kids - a shirt, medal, free pony rides, petting zoo, and face painting!     Dirty Duo Run/Bike - June 15 @ 9 am Kansas Speedway, Kansas City, KS A unique running/biking event, the Dirty Duo is a 6 mile race where teams alternate biking and running. At each mile, you will encounter a fun obstacle. To finish the race, you will crawl through a 40-foot mud pit! Kids ages 5-11 can participate in the Dirty Duo Jr. which is a similar course, but the distance is one mile.    Kevin Gray Father's Day 5K - June 15 @ 7:30 am Sporting Park, Kansas City, KS Bring your family out to celebrate Father's Day by running or walking in the 5K event. Proceeds from the event go to three worthy causes - the Kevin Gray Family Education Fund, the University of Kansas Cancer Center, and the Greater Kansas City Sports Commission and Foundation.     DEA Fallen Heroes 5K - June 22 @ 9 am South Creek Business Park, Overland Park, KS The inaugural DEA Fallen Heroes 5K run/walk supports the DEA Survivors Benefit fund for families of DEA employees and task force officers killed in the line of duty. Stay around after the race for awards, food, drinks, live DJ, and more. Putting the Boots to ALS 5K - June 22 @ 8 am Rockhurst High School, Kansas City, MO Be a part of this annual event. The run/walk will start at Rockhurst High School. Project 5 for ALS is an organization dedicated to funding research for a cure for ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease). All proceeds go directly toward research and none toward administrative costs. Show your support and participate!     Spirit Race 5K - June 22 @ 8 am Community America Ballpark, Kansas City, KS Making high school athletics safer is the focus of the SAF-K. Run or walk in the Spirit Race 5K to show your support of this cause. A portion of this year's proceeds will go to purchasing AED's for athletic trainers to have at all high school sporting events and practices. Air It Up Fun Run - June 23 @ 7:30 am - 1 pm Shawnee Mission Park, Shawnee, KS Run/walk through a 2.5 mile course of 8 inflatable obstacles, slides and other fun challenges. For children 9 and under there will be a ½ mile mini course with 4 inflatable obstacles. Participants will receive a shirt, finisher's medal, and post race fun including photos, DJ, face painting, and more inflatables! Wave starts will begin at 7:30 am; the last wave will be at 1 pm.    Greenwood Freedom 5K - June 29 Greenwood, MO    Glow Run 5K - June 29 @ 9 pm Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City, MO  Join thousands of GLOW Runners for the Glow Run 5K and post race dance party at Arrowhead Stadium! Awards will be given to the best GLOW MAN, GLOW GIRL, GLOW MAN DANCE CHAMPION, GLOW GIRL DANCE CHAMPION, and a team award to the GLOW WORM DANCE CHAMPIONS. Along with event prizes, hundreds of giveaways will be tossed out during the AFTERGLOW dance party. You will not want to miss this party!!

2013 5150 Kansas Olympic Triathlon Race Report - 5/19/13

Before we dive into the nuts and bolts of the race report, lets deviate for a minute...

Life is full of choices.  You can choose to work the same job that doesn't inspire you, or you can let your satisfaction supersede your possession driven lifestyle and do something you have a passion for.  You can choose to hit the snooze button in the morning and skip an early workout, or you can choose to get going at first alarm.

No, I didn't oversleep and miss the race... but where am I going with this?

Triathletes have a choice to do racing and training.  Ultimately the world will still go on if triathlons didn't happen and triathletes didn't "tri".  If cops and fire fighters chose to do something else, we would be screwed.  I may have chosen to be a triathlon and endurance coach, but life goes on if it doesn't succeed. I have other skills.  The point is, I try and not take the triathlon "hobby" so serious that it clouds my judgement.

The matter of choice dictated my race performance Sunday.


The weather was not cooperating.

2:30am started off with a flash and bang.  Some nice thunderstorms with hail rolled through KC, but by the time I was in the car to pick a friend up for the race, conditions improved and pavement was drying.  It was looking like we may catch a break and race on.

Nothing out of the ordinary for this race morning.  I was eager to get the first race in and anxiously looking forward to test my training and diet improvements to see if there were any measurable race day gains.

Well, 6:30am hit and so did another round of light thunderstorms.

View of the rainy lake.  It was darker than this came out and the light is from the portable spot lights, not sunshine... sadly.

Race was suppose to send off with the pros at 7:30am.  After a consistent downpour and lightening the RD postponed to 8am start to allow the storm cell to pass.

Then, around 7:45am, the RD chose to eliminate the swim and start the bike time trial with the pros at 8am.

There's the decision point.  5 minutes before the pro start, it was still raining pretty good and standing water on the pavement.  Transition was set up, wetsuit was on (I put it on before the swim was cut and left it on to stay warm) and I was ready to race.

Ultimately there were many points to consider and pro's and con's to racing or packing it up.  I have no issue with no swim.  I started in endurance sports in duathlons, so had it been dry and no swim, I would have been all over it.

But, I decided personally that I did not want to risk a bike wreck, damaging my bike or hurting myself on wet pavement.

Props to the RD for finding a way to salvage a portion of the race.  It's always nice to have choices.  A lot of people stayed and raced, but a fair amount hit the road.

Ironically I was wondering how the KC Tri on the other side of town was faring.  Two races in KC area on the same day... but were they experiencing the same weather?  The sites were around 60 miles a part.  There's a high probability that the could have had sunny skies.  Turns out, they didn't.  Their race was cancelled all together.  I guess technically 5150 KS won on the finisher count.

Hopefully next year the races are on two different days if they both happen again.  That way, if one gets rained out, you can sign up for the other one.


And, in a smart move by the RD's for Jackson County and Midwest Meltdown triathlons..

They offered $15 any or both of their races for those that didn't get to race or got shorted.  Just an FYI for any of the racers reading the blog in the KC area.

I've done both triathlons, and Jackson County is the same location as the KC Tri, but different bike route.  The Midwest Meltdown is an awesome flat course.  It's a PR maker and is contained around a small lake, eliminating a lot of traffic hassles.  Both quality events worth considering.

Use RAINYDAYDISCOUNT13 at checkout.

Sandra Billinger from KU Medical Center and her son attempt to walk 570 miles across Kansas

Sandra Billinger, PT, PhD, FAHA,and her son Michael challenge themselves to walk across Kansas starting at the Colorado/Kansas state line (about 2 miles west of Coolidge, Kansas), and trek to the Kansas/Missouri border at KU Medical Center in Kansas City. The two will roughly follow the portion of the American Discovery Trail that cuts across the state. In Kansas, the American Discovery Trail follows the Sante Fe Trail. Dr. Billinger's walk across Kansas starts May 16 with a goal of reaching the eastern state line in 23 days which is an average of about 25 miles per day.

Dr. Billinger’s hope is for Walk Across Kansas to be the "first step" in helping move stroke research forward with the goal of improving recovery from the effects of stroke. Her personal story of a car accident that lead to her eventual recovery and move to Kansas City serves as inspiration for the walk.

The goal for Walk Across Kansas is to raise $50,000 needed to acquire the technology and further work at KU Medical Center. They want to lead this understudied area of research. They aim to understand if and how early mobility/physical activity is beneficial for brain health following stroke. The REACH lab research team is working closely with physicians, nurses, physical therapists and other researchers in this endeavor. As of May 14, 2013, they have raised $9,590.00. The funds raised here will also support the initiation of an early physical activity program for stroke patients at KU Hospital.

Dr. Billinger was recently recognized by the Journal of Neurologic Physical Therapy for one of her published studies on stroke and cardiovascular health. She and lab team co-authors received the Golden Synapse Award which recognizes the most outstanding article published in the journal during the 2012 calendar year.

For information on sponsorship opportunities, please email Dr. Billinger (sbillinger at kumc.edu). Walk Across Kansas also has a Facebook page. "Like" them to stay in touch and follow what they're doing.

REI selling Garmin 910XT for $340 with the HR Strap, $300 without

Word on the street is that REI is have a short sale on Friday, May 17th, 2013 for the Garmin 910XT for their REI Anniversary Sale.

Supposedly the unit will be $340 with the HR Strap, $300 without.  They are also having some killer deals on some other items.

• GoPro HERO3 Black Edition Bundle $399.93 - Includes free battery, chest mount harness and frame mount. 
• Garmin Oregon 450t GPS $199.99 
• Garmin Forerunner 910XT GPS HRM $339.99 
• Suunto Ambit Watch $374.93 
•  SteriPEN Ultra Water Purifier $69.99 
• 25% Off all TimBuk2 Bags 20% Off All Yakima and Thule Racks and More (plus Yakima Rebate) 
• 20% Off All Superfeet Insoles

Check it out by going to REI.

2013 Kansas 5150 Olympic Triathlon Preview

There's been a battle brewing in Kansas City's triathlon scene...

The Kansas City 5150 Triathlon from 2012 and a few years went away, sort of.  I raced the event, thought it was all good, and looked forward to 2013.

Early in the year, word got out that the RD from the KC 5150 tri was parting ways with the event.  That's when I wrote THIS article on Examiner.com.  That rubbed some people the wrong way, but at the time it was what thought to be accurate and the only information anyone had.

Flash forward 6 months and it's a little more clear.  The Kansas City 5150 Triathlon went away.  Instead, the RD went with WTC and the 5150 series and took it to Lawrence, Kansas, on May 19th.  Hence, the Kansas 5150 triathlon was born.  It's basically Ironman 70.3 Kansas, light.  It's the same boat ramp and swim area, same transition at T1, the same bike course (with the turnaround at mile 12) and the same camp ground road run.  It came out first and due to early bird restrictions and the need to secure my race season, I signed up early.

Then, around a week or two after the 5150 Kansas announcement, the Kansas City Triathlon was back without it's 5150 connection.  Some KC area businessmen bought it up and are running it.  Guess what?  They made it the same day, May 19.  Sounds reasonable to me.

Are you kidding?

I understand event logistics, securing venues and organizing a large scale event, but two large scale triathlons in the same region (Kansas City area) on the same day?  Talk about cannibalization.  What could have been a major coup for KC triathletes turned into a constant "which race are you doing" conversation.

What's also interesting is that my article stirred up some ill-will directed at yours truly.  I know, something I wrote pissed someone off, gasp.  Looking back at the article, it all held true except the part where I stated the RD and 5150 parted ways.  They stayed together, just parted Longview Lake.

I digress.

What does hold true is a forum comment about the excitement of the events being over which hopefully leads to the KC triathlon stopping it's barrage of emails every day trying to get people to sign up.  The KC Tri suggests they have around 1000 racers, and I'm not sure what the KS 5150 boasts.  It will all come to light after the final used GU packet is picked up and the finish line is dismantled.


All I know is that I'm gunning for an A race.

I know the course.  I know the conditions (could be storms, could be rain, could be dry, could be hot, could be windy).  I know the directions to Clinton Lake without having to look at a map, score.

The problem arises when I have to head to Des Moines, IA, for the USAT level 1 coaching certification.  The clinic is Friday and Saturday and I don't get out until 5pm Saturday.  Race is 7:30am Sunday.  It's going to be a short night.  Oh what, what are you going to do?

I don't sleep well the night before anyway.  It just cuts into my tossing and turning time in bed.


Goals, I need goals...

It's always hard to know what to realistically expect going into the first race of the season.  Did I train right over the winter?  Did I spend too much time on volume and not enough time on speed?  Did I loose fitness?  Did I do the right workouts without overtraining?  All questions an inquiring mind wants to know.

The KC Tri 5150 last year was a 2:36 affair.  I wasn't all that flattered with my 212 of 707 overall and 35 of 90 in my age group.  I averaged 19.7 on the bike, which was decent, but I was looking for more.  My 7:40's on the run weren't too shabby, but hold room for improvement.

This year has held more consistancy for the long workouts.  I've sacrificed some BRICKS and misc shorter workouts here and there, but the long high zone 2 workouts have been a staple.

I missed my half marathon PR by 40ish seconds a few weeks ago, and while I wanted to do better, I knew I wasn't trained up enough at the time to kill the old PR.  What's encouraging is the last few long runs have been at a higher pace at the high zone 2 range.  My body is adapting to the workload and becoming for effective at speed at the high zone 2.  I'm hoping that carries through when I want to push zone 3 to 4 on the run at KS 5150.

I'm crossing my fingers for a 2:25 day or better, but there are so many variables such as a new course, Clinton Lake waves, Lawrence cross winds and heat.  We shall see, but I'm looking to leave it all at the lake this Sunday.

Stay tuned for the recap next week and like my coaching site on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/SetThePaceMedia.

Bulu Box from @BuluBox vitamin and supplement subscription sample box review

Have you ever picked up your race packet and goodie bag and gone through all of those samples? Stash the butt’r, bullfrog and icy-hot sample for later and maybe check out the rest after the race. It’s almost like Christmas for the triathlete. You never know what you will get and sometimes you get a lump of coal, diamond in the rough or nothing at all (with today’s virtual race bags).

If you find yourself jilted by not getting any samples or goodie bag, or wanting more, then there’s an option for you.

Bulu Box (www.BuluBox.com) contacted us to review their novel concept of vitamin and supplement subscription sample box. Basically for $10 per month, you get a sample box shipped to your front door to try out the latest and greatest on the market. When you receive your sample, for the most part the amount of product per shipment exceeds the value of the $10 you paid to get the sample box. Consumers shouldn’t have to worry that they are getting shorted for their money.



When the review sample was peeled open, staring back was a litany of energy supplements in the form of capsules and FRS energy chews, advertisements for deodorants and more. It was reassuring to see items like FRS that is a common player in the energy/nutrition industry for triathlons. We have used them before as a reliable source of supplements.

There might be a little trepidation when it comes to the energy capsules, which seemed to make up a large portion of this shipment. If you come from the stance that the less chemicals you put in your body, the better, these supplements might not be for you. That’s not to say the next shipment may contain more energy or protein bars that may be more appealing. That’s a little of the gamble with Bulu Box.

They do offer exposure to products that most triathletes will never see or experience. You may find that niche company that doesn’t have the horsepower to advertise at a national level, but they can get in with Bulu Box to reach a new customer base. There may be more opportunities to find that little guy amongst the giants that may be just as good, but a little more obscure.

They have 2 options for the Bulu Box. They have the standard Bulu Box that includes a sampling of vitamins and supplements that help in all areas of health. Each box contains 4 to 5 premium samples plus lifestyle extras from time to time. Bulu Box Weight Loss was designed with the specific goal of weight loss in mind. Each box contains 4 to 5 premium weight loss items such as vitamin and supplement samples, fitness gear and healthy eating tools. It’s good to have options, but maybe in the future they could go even further and have the Bulu Box protein bar sampler, recovery powder sampler or energy chews sampler. Maybe a better fit is for consumers to have a little more control over what comes in their monthly sampler box.

For this review, only one sample box was shipped. Unless there’s a sophisticated tracking system, there might be the opportunity for doubling up of samples per month. If you are not interested in a particular sample and get it in another shipment, it might be frustrating to have products you don’t want to use.

In addition to the sample box, they have a entire storefront dedicated to the full size containers or the samples they provide. The theory is that you find a sample you really like, so you order the full size amount through their site. It’s like a try it before you buy it, sample version. They carry some not-so well known brands in addition to items from CLIF Bar, GU and more. It’s not just a wacky supplement site.

Bulu Box is a novel concept. It’s all the fun of samples without the signing up for races. When RD’s are going to virtual race bags to control trash and samples going right into the trash, it’s nice for triathletes to have an option. The pros and cons of the service almost come to a draw for this reviewer. About one third of the samples in this particular shipment were viable options for what we would use on a daily or race basis. There is a higher risk that a sample shipment may be a bust for the subscriber depending on what they want and expect. But, Bulu Box offers a service that’s pretty rare at the moment and there’s also the opportunity to receive products that people have never heard of and didn’t know existed. There may be that rare gem in a shipment that cures that ache or scratches that itch that no other product would. It’s a bit of a gamble, but we appreciate Bulu Box’s efforts and will monitor their maturation into this market to see how they develop and utilize the potential that sits in front of them.

* Writer’s note - Bulu Box supplied a one-shipment sample box for this review and in no way influenced this review.