This past weekend I traveled to the Ironman event in Lawrence Kansas to compete for the first time since racing St. George. I usually give myself six weeks after doing a full-distance event before I jump into another one, but this year the span between the two was only five weeks. Still, after spending the last four years going to Boise, I was eager to get out and try a new course and test myself again before the bigger goal of defending in Muncie. Turns out I made the right choice, as Boise was hit with some cold weather that forced a change to the bike leg, and even saw some pros wear their wetsuits on the bike!
Even though Kansas is the next state over, it’s still 600 miles of driving. This was not a fairy tale story, and I could not just click my heels to get straight there. Not to complain though, because armed with my radar detector and wide-open roads, I made good time in the VW. Really good time. Arriving at the reservoir in the evening, I shook the legs out with some of the race crew on the awesome trails that run all around the Clinton Lake State Park. I really dropped the ball by not bringing my mountain bike, but won’t make the same mistake next year. After some great barbecue and beers with the carnies, I called it a night.
Friday and Saturday were some course recon, a visit to a local school (4 and 5 year olds) to talk about triathlon and lifestyle, and more hanging with the race crew and family at the park. In hindsight, I definitely spent a little too much time on my feet and in the sun leading up to the race, but I was there with the primary objective of enjoying myself (and revealing the new kit!), which I did.
Well, I enjoyed myself before and after the race! During it was a little different story. Race morning found us staring out at a very choppy lake, with high winds hitting from the southeast. This wasn’t exactly a flashback to St. George, but with a non-wetsuit swim, it was certainly challenging. I got off to a decent start, and swam right where I should have. Clayton, Joe, and Gavin were gone, but Paul and I took turns and came out about a minute down. After I gumbied around in T1, Paul was gone, and I took off chasing alone. The bike course in Kansas is an honest one, and was made more so by the strong winds. I pushed and pushed, but the power and extra snap simply weren’t there. The Shiv was the perfect bike for the crosswinds, but the engine was not primed for the task, and I found myself down about 4-5 minutes starting the run.
At this point I was a little demoralized and physically just didn’t feel that good, but I had been working hard to put myself in contention for the podium, so I fed off the crowd, and the support of my mom and Kelsey to keep on the gas. There was a short time near the end when I felt 2nd was a real possibility, but I came up short, finishing 3rd about a minute back of second and about 4 minutes off the winner from start to finish, Clayton.
Even though I would have rather won the race, I am happy with my effort on the day, and making a podium with one of the fastest runs was encouraging. With more energy focused on Muncie in 3 weeks, I hope to defend the title and feel a little more spry. A huge thanks goes out to the whole Silverback/Carnie crew for some memorable times in Lawrence, the Robinson family for taking great care of me, all the volunteers, my parents (who celebrated their 34 year anniversary at the race), girlfriend, and all my sponsors who give me the support and equipment to compete race after race. I’ll be back next year with an eye on the top step…