Setup:
Forecast of mid to high 80's, sun, and some PM thunderstorms.
0.62 mile swim, 18 mile bike, 4 mile run
Pre Race:
Packed up the night before and was able to sleep in a little later due to the squirt and Emily staying home for this race. Emily wasn’t doing so hot with morning (afternoon, evening, night….) sickness. She needed the extra sleep so she was excused for this one. =) Ate the trusty oatmeal, orange juice, 1 slice bread with PB for breakfast. I looked a little for the Gatorade prime the day before but couldn’t easily find it so I went with GU Roctane to prime for the swim.
Arrival:
Transition is assigned, so there was no need to be in a huge hurry for a spot, however, they parked us in the theatre in the park and it was a nice 20 to 25 minute walk to transition. After the IM KS flat tire, I wasn’t about to ride the bike down and risk a flat again! I decided to get there with plenty of time and take it all in (and also to take some photos for my Examiner articles). Shawnee Mission Park is about 5 miles from my house, so leaving at 4:55am got me there and in the third row of cars on the pavement! In retrospect this wasn’t the place to park – more on that later. It was a hike for sure down to transition and it was a tense moment when a skunk made a mad dash across the service road.
Pre Race Port-a-potty:
Getting there as early as I did, the port-a-potty issue wasn’t an issue. No lines for the first visit and I only waited 5 minutes the second go-round. They provided two groups of port-a-potties with about 6 to 7 each and for the most part, that seemed to serve the crowd. After 26 years, I guess they know the demand and they limit the field to 700 so it’s pretty much and exact science by now.
Warm Up:
A nice part of this swim start is swimming from the boat ramp to the start at the swim beach. It’s maybe 100 to 150 yards and away from the main course so you can warm up while other heats are starting the race. Bummer of it was the air temps had been low lately but the water was 86. No wetsuits allowed. Warm up swim meant shivering in the cold (low 70’s) air before the start.
SWIM!!!:
This is the first time swimming the SMP Tri on any level. I really don’t have anything to compare it to for the long course (KCCC and the SMP Tri short course would be the same). It felt good but I felt like I was at a 10k or something where the 10 minute mile people start with the 7 minute mile people causing all sorts of problems. I’m not the fastest swimmer but I was catching people that could not swim straight lines so I spent too much energy weaving and trying not to be kicked coming up on people.
BIKE!!:
NO FLAT TIRE TO START THE BIKE! Woo hoo! Felt good. The bike adjustments I made to the tri bike seemed to make me more efficient on the ride but I’m more down on the bars causing me to have to use more neck muscles to lift up to look ahead. No big issue, just need to get more time in and get the neck strengthened up. I had no real issues with the course as I ride out there all of the time so I knew what to expect.
RUN!:
So this is where THIS triathlon falls apart… weather.com didn’t get it right and storms moved in early and around 8:30am the course was shut down. Race was over due to lightening and approaching severe weather. Luckily I got the whole ride in, but no run. Some lucky long course guys got out in time but the race was closed up when they finished. So, I didn’t have a chance to test my fortitude on the run since SMP is pretty hilly. I would like to think I’d average 6:30 minute miles… in my dreams.
FINISH!!!:
Seeing that there was no run leg, I was done after the bike. I felt solid and ready to run the 4 miles, but Mother Nature wasn’t going to let me get to that part.
RESULTS:
Onlineraceresults.com listed the race, but no data. I guess they aren’t going to even throw up the splits of the portions of the race everyone completed. The long course people could have at least competed for an Aquathlon…
My trusty garmin 310xt listed the swim at 21:51, T1 at 1:40 and the bike leg at 53:15.
That works out to 2.2 min/100 yard swim pace and 20.2 mph average for the bike leg.
RESULTS ONE STEP FURTHER:
Since this was the first year for the SMP Tri for me, I don’t have much to compare to. I’m not exactly excited about the 2.2 min/100 yard swim pace but I was sufficiently satisfied with the 20.2 mph average. This was better than the KCCC Tri over the same course averaging 19.8 mph - but that was only two laps. The bike average would have been more telling if I had the run to look at. If I could get 7 min/mile or better pace, I would have been happy. 7:30 min/mile would have been ok.
MY TAKE:
The JCPRD did a great job, and they should have after 26 years of practice. The course has been paved in certain places for a nice smooth ride but they could use some new surface at the Dam Hill and a few other spots. Just nit picking. It’s a great course, the temperatures were perfect but Mother Nature struck for year 2 in a row. The organization was great. You knew where you had to be and the transition was marked great for entrances and exits. I have to admit the Tri Tats they gave out for markings worked great and looked sharp. Goodie bags were superb. The event dry fit shirt was well designed and dark blue, which is a nice change from the usual gray or white from other events.
POST RACE:
Since we got squashed early, I had enough time to jet home, clean up and get some churchin’ in. Problem with the getaway was where I parked I was the furthest from the exit of the park. Thanks to EVERYONE being done at the same time, there was a monster traffic jam getting out of that place. Being early didn't pay off for the exit!
That’s a rarity during Tri season to get church in on Sunday morning. Maybe it was divine intervention so I’d go to church???
PHOTOS:
Pre-race EARLY morning
Tri Tats
Goodie Bag
Race Over Early
More photos on Examiner Article .
4 comments:
Major bummer to hear that mother nature ended another triathlon early for you. So frustrating! Nice speed on the bike. Do you feel a little better about the fact that you got to ride at least and put up a solid split?
Any more chances for races this year?
What a thorough report! I am sorry you did not get to finish but at least you got to race part of it. Congrats on that!
Luckily I have another tri this Sunday. It's more of an A race and I'm doing the sprint in hopes of a top 3 AG finish... we shall see.
Ya, at least I got on the bike this time. I saw lightening on the 2nd of 4 laps and was nervous that we would get shut down before I got the entire bike leg in but made it to the end. It's amazing what you push your speed to during race conditions compared to a training ride.
They did post the results for the Shawnee Mission Tri, just not at onlineraceresults.
The results are at: http://jcprd.com/special_events/smp_triathlon.cfm
It has been a trying season for my son also.
It has rained at 3 of the 4 races he has been in so far this summer. 1st race, they changed from a tri to a duathlon, third race was shortened because a severe storm was on it's way and the 4th was the SM Tri. He was out on the run course and no one told him the race was cancelled. He finished.
Hopefully the rest of the season will be better for you and for him.
Good luck!
Post a Comment