Thursday, May 31, 2012

Kansas City 5150

A couple weeks ago on May 20th I raced the Kansas City 5150. Although I had decided to focus mostly on ITU racing, I wanted to test out the non-drafting waters in the pro field. I went into this race on a short taper, and without any real expectations since I was mostly focusing on the Dallas ITU race on June 2nd.

The positives I took from this race (decent swim, good transitions, solid run, had fun!) outnumber the negatives, but the negative (slow bike leg) was heavy enough to place me 16th... *ahem* out of 16 in the pro field *cough*....

At least I beat all the age groupers, and all the pro women! (Phew!) So I can say I got 16th overall in what actually turned out to be a very fast and deep race.


I actually had a pretty good crew come down for this race! Anna and some of her friends were going to Kansas City anyway to celebrate one of their birthdays, so I had a few hot twenty-somethings to cheer for me. Also my parents, being as awesome as they are, made the drive to watch their baby boy.


Dad struttin' on the bike course before the start. That's right ladies, this is where I get my rugged good looks. No, he does not drive that motorcycle. But yes, he does have a mustache. Teach me how to Dougie!


This bag from Kompetitive Edge is awesome... it literally held everything I needed except my bike! 

The swim was not wetsuit legal for the pros, which was good for me being a swimmer. (Wetsuits only level out the playing field, they help bad swimmers a lot more than they help good ones!) I was something like 6th coming out of the water, and passed the two guys with me in T1 with an aggressive- borderline panicky -approach to transition that I took from the ITU.

The bike is where I lost the race. Now, I have not trained this year as a time trialer, and these guys probably spend a lot more hours (and a lot more dollars!) than I do on my bike. As a result, I averaged significantly slower than all of the other pros on the bike. Getting passed 12 times on the bike hurts. 

If I was going to focus on non-drafting racing, I would switch to more of a cycling focus in training, buy some sick race wheels, and a better TT specific bike. Until then, I'll do what I can with what I've got. 

Full disclosure here- I probably should've kept a couple guys in sight and then tried to run them down... Oh well, ya win some, ya LEARN some!


The run was pretty good again! I ran a 35:45 off the bike, which is almost a minute faster than I have ever gone. The amazing thing was, once I saw I wasn't really catching anyone after the first lap, I let up a bit so as not to dig too much of a hole going into Dallas, but I still split it evenly and was able to have a PR run... I used to be a swimmer, when did I become such a triathlete?




After the race, Anna admiring my guns and telling me how sexy I looked while racing, and me talking about how sick my race kit is and asking when we can get some BBQ.

Ok so only like 50% of that is true...


My two best sponsors, biggest fans, and some pretty cool roommates as it turns out! I know they will always be there for me after every race, good or bad. Mom will be looking at the positive, and Dad will be reserved, only asking questions that someone who's been there would know. I hope this was a fun trip for you guys as well since it was right after Mother's Day and right before Dad's birthday!

After the race we went to Jack Stack for some Kansas City BBQ at the recommendation of my friend Matt. Oh man, I haven't had a meal that good in a while! First of all, the service was great. Then, the food was amazing! The ribs and brisket were smoked perfectly, the sides were made from scratch, the carrot cake was unreal, and the burnt ends... oh lord, the burnt ends! Seared, smoked, and seared again, they were the juiciest, most flavorful bites of meat I have ever eaten. If you get nothing else at Jack Stack, get the burnt ends... ok and some carrot cake too! Unbelievable. 

Well, I hope this satisfies your craving for knowledge about my life... wait, you weren't craving any? Ohhh you're just craving barbecue, did I mention Jack Stack is good? Stop drooling, go getchaself some, and FOLLOW THE PACE RABBIT!