More KC Triathlon Photos

Here are some more photos thanks to Action Sports Images (as if you couldn't already tell that...haha)

Kansas City Triathlon Race Report

Yesterday was my first olympic distance race of the year at the KC Tri. The event was huge! This is only the second year it has been held but it is quickly growing into one of the best events in the midwest. There were easily a thousand participants between the two races (olympic and sprint). As for my performance, it was a day of a couple of positives and one very glaring negative. To begin with the conditions were not ideal. The weather was gorgeous, high seventies and partially overcast but the problem was it was really windy (15-20 mph) and the water was a very chilly 62 degrees. The wind slowed me down a little bit on the bike, even though I managed to PR anyway, but where it was really tough was during the swim. The swim course was your standard rectangular 1500 meter course with two left turns. Swimming along the backside was great because the wind was at your back, but going out and coming back the wind was blowing across my body which also meant the water was getting really choppy, making it hard to stay on course (the numb face, hands and feet didn't help). Also, my swim fitness is just not where it needs to be and I had trouble maintaining my form after about 1000m. In the end I came out of the water in 35 minutes, some 5-6 minutes longer than expected. Like I mentioned earlier the bike went pretty well, even with a head wind for a majority of the two loop course. Once I got on the run it took a little while for me to find my legs and I had to deal with a little bit of stomach cramping but I still managed a 38 minute 10k and ended up winning my age group. All in all, it wasn't too bad of a race considering it was my first of the year and I'm looking forward to getting a few good training weeks in before the

Hy-Vee Triathlon in early June. Oh! and by the way, Pip Taylor (google here, she's a pro from Australia) was the women's overall winner and she beat all but one of the guys. Apparently she lives in Lawrence during the summer, how cool is that?

Here are some race photos with more to come later in the week:

This was right after I managed to rip my wetsuit slightly... great start to the morning

Coming out of the swim, was definitely not in a good mood at this point...

Headed into T2 I finally starting to feel like the race wasn't going to be a total bust

The run might have hurt a little bit more than expected but I'm glad is stuck with it

More Race Pictures

Here are some more race photos from this weekend thanks to www.seekcrun.com...

mass start... definitely something I'm not used to

coming into T2, I was so happy to make it back without crashing out

had to take a pic with my biggest fan and exclusive photographer... thanks mom!

(check out the fact that she's sporting the GIZMO hat, way to represent for me mom!)

Bike Source Triathlon Race Report

This morning's race was a bit of an adventure. Thanks to a week full of crummy weather the water quality was not good enough to allow for a swim leg so the race was changed to a duathlon. I was pretty disappointed by this because I was really looking forward to getting a good indication of the state of my swim fitness. Oh well, guess I'll just have to wait until next weekend's Kansas City Triathlon. As far as the actual race is concerned, it went pretty well. I felt pretty strong on both runs and on the bike, even though the bike course was really slippery which caused me to lose some time. I have never seen so many people pulled over on the side of the course fixing flat tires in my whole life. There must have been at least a dozen if not more, which only added to my sense of caution when it came to navigating the course. I ended up winning my age group and finishing in 9th overall. A top ten finish at my first race of the year is pretty good especially considering the state of my training in the weeks leading up to the race. This gives me some confidence and I'm really looking forward to getting a good week of training in before next weekend's race. The competition will be a lot higher so hopefully I can bring something more resembling my A game, plus the weather looks to be worlds better (80's and sunny!) so one can only hope.... Here are a few action shots from the race:

trying to stay warm before the race...

trying to push it on the bike without crashing out, got a little squirrely a few times...

putting in what little kick I have into the finish. thanks to my mom for the pics!

Back Into Training Mode

Now that I have been home for almost a week I have finally been able to put together some consistent training days. I was getting really frustrated over the last month or so because travel and illness were keeping me from developing anything in the way of advanced fitness. It was a bit of a struggle for the first few days but I have been able to build up to my regular routine and now I must say that I am feeling pretty good about where I am physically. I'm certainly not at the level of fitness I could have been had I not gotten sick but it's still pretty good. The Bike Source Triathlon this weekend will be a good test of how fit I really am... hopefully this all doesn't blow up in my face! Anyway, the job search continues and I'm starting to fear that I will be spending my summer at KU Catering just like those glorious high school days.... (enter sarcasm here). I'll post a race recap and some pictures after the race this weekend...

Home Sweet Home

So I made the seemingly endless drive home yesterday. 8 hours of basically nothing but I-70 has to be one of the worst drives possible, but I made it in one piece and without falling asleep behind the wheel (more of an accomplishment than you might think). Now that I'm home it's time to handle a couple of things. First of all I need to get back into my training schedule now that I'm healthy again and evaluate where my fitness is and when I feel like I will be ready to start racing. My first race was suppose to be at the Bike Source Triathlon next weekend but depending on how training goes the next couple of days that may not be a real option. Maybe more importantly though, I need to figure out my employment situation for the summer. Hopefully I will hear back from Sunflower Bike Shop or Gary Gribbles running store in the next few days or it may be back to the dulls of K.U. Catering for me... money is money I guess, and I need to make some. Anyway, update on the status of my training and race schedule will follow in the next couple days.

Homeward Bound

So I will be packing up and shipping out this afternoon and finally heading back to Lawrence for the summer. It's a long trip (9-10 hrs) and about as dull as any drive can be but I'm looking forward to seeing the fam for the first time since January when I left for Australia. My infection is totally cleared up and all that is left is a little soreness. Also, my fitness seems to be reemerging, even if ever soooo slightly. Hoping to get home and put in a solid couple of weeks of training and maybe salvage the Bike Source Triathlon. Having a job would be nice too! Sunflower and Gary Gribbles need to call me back!!! By the way here is the link to a really cool video of American Olympic Triathlete Matty Reed racing an STI!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GL5pw8_sqnM&feature=player_embedded

Post Numero Uno: this is fun

Soo this will be my first post on this new website. pretty exciting... just an update for those who have been following my recent exploits. Australia and New Zealand over the last 3 months was awesome!! Got in some great training and saw some amazing things. Unfortunately for my early race season, I caught a staph infection on the way home and haven't been able to train for about the last 2 weeks. It seems to have pretty much cleared up at this point but with my first scheduled race only 2 weeks away I'm not sure if I will have the fitness to compete... I think I would rather wait and be more competitive later than race too soon and get blown away. Anyway, here's a look at some of the Aussie, NZ highlights:

This is a view up to Lennox Head point right outside where I lived in Australia

Hobart, Tasmania: Beautiful city with Mt. Wellington in the background

View down to Christchurch, New Zealand from the Summit Road. Best cycling day of my life!