Volume 35: Race Recap #4--"Keep Showing Up" and a Podium Finish!

     

    Well, that was an unexpected (yet very satisfying) finish at the Shawnee Mission Triathlon.  1500-meter swim, 27-mile bike, and 10K run.  I went in with a goal of sub-3 hours, and I hit that mark.  But the unexpected part was where that time put me in my age group.  Spoiler alert, it was a pretty good spot.....FIRST!  All the training is paying off and this week's training was no different.  

Weekly Stats:

• Swim (5x)
• 4.01 miles (7,060 yards)
• 2:27:22
• Bike (4x)
• 83.72 miles
• 4:32:44
• Run (4x)
• 19.24 miles
• 3:18:15
• Yoga (2x)
• 50:04
• Strength (1x)
• 18:12
• Other (2x)
• .19 miles
• 5:45
• TOTALS:
• 18 workout sessions
• 107.16 miles
• 11:32:23

Shawnee Mission Tri Race Recap:

   

    Triathlon #3 of the season is in the books.  My goal heading into Shawnee Mission was to have a sub-3 hour time.  I was basing that off of the hills on the bike (almost 2700' total) and the run.  I'm not sure why, but as I stood on the beach waiting for the gun to go off (the lady yelling "Go!), I was nervous.  After the work I have put in and my results from 70.3 Eagleman, I'm not sure why.  I was telling Chad this on the beach and I guess it's more nervous jitters and not really being nervous scared.  Also, nervous about wanting the training to work for this race and the race to go off well.  

    I woke up at 4:15 and left the house at 4:55 and headed to the park. Once I got parked I headed down the road on my bike to the transition area. My bike was in a prime spot, two racks away from the bike in/out and just diagonal to it.  I met up with the OW Triathlon Club and got a quick pic or two then wandered toward the water.  Chad and I swam the short stretch from the boat ramp to the beach to get the warm up in (and so we didn't have to walk all the way around) and the water like bath water. Then we lined up in our expected swim paces, and just like Eagleman, it devolved into a  mass group.  No real order once we were ready to get into the water.  I was in the second group as there were lots of men in the Olympic distance.  

    As I entered the water, we were supposed to keep the kayakers and lifeguards on our left
and the buoys on our right. There were only 3 big buoys in the line, and I was aiming for the far one, almost to the road that crosses the dam at the lake.  I couldn't really see the buoys so I tried to sight on the kayaks.  The problem with that was the first kayak was way out of the line, probably due to the amount of swimmers right at the beginning. As I passed that boat, I realized I was swimming way out of the line to the first buoy.  I wasn't the only one either.  All I could see was green swim caps all around me.  I felt good on the swim, just got into a comfortable cadence and pace.  Since the water was so warm, I just swam in my tri suit, no wetsuits allowed.  So I knew that my pace would be a little slower, but I don't really pay attention on my watch.  I just go by perceived effort.  I made the far buoy, came back to the boat ramp and came out of the water.  Right at 30 minutes so I knew that was under 2:00/100 yards. Felt strong and ran up the ramp into transition.  Last year I had to walk that path.  

   

    Got geared up for the bike and headed out.  Six loops around the park, with the first half or so of each loop containing most of the elevation gain.  The first loop I will admit was a little defeating.  With the big hills right at the beginning I was sitting around 17 MPH avg for the first loop, but then on each subsequent loop that average went up. On the backside of the loops were some serious downhills.  I hit 40.1 MPH for my max but saw high 30's several times!  At the end of the bike, I averaged 19.3 MPH, which 1.3 faster than I had ridden last weekend.  The biggest difference is that there was absolutely NO wind on the course.  I felt strong, but time would tell on how my legs would hold up after the 2700' of elevation gain.  I was hoping that the downhills would counter the hard uphills.  

    Changed out into my running shoes and visor and
hit the trail.  The first mile was straight uphill, on the biggest hill of the course.  Just a tough way to start the run, but the good news was there was an aid station at the top. Then it was a 6 mile run through the park trail system.  All paved, no off-road on this race.  After the first big hill, my goal was to keep my pace around 9:15 per mile.  Walking through the aid stations for water and gatorade then resuming the run put me at 9:22 average for the 10K.  The last mile or so was also uphill, but just not as steep.  I finished the run out and crossed the finish line in 2:57:20, right where I wanted to be!  

    When I came up to the finish line I could hear people cheering my name and couldn't figure out how someone knew my name.  Then I saw that Dad, Cat, and Rick came out to see me at the race.  Always a great feeling when folks come out and cheer you on. Thanks for coming and supporting me--it meant the world to me that you guys took the time (and the long walk from the parking lot) to see me.  

    With my barely sub-3 hour time, that wasn't going to be good enough for a podium spot, and I was OK with that. I had looked up the last few years in my age group, and a 2:45 would have put me in the running but I was 12 minutes behind that time.  And the results app didn't show Age Group results. Chad said the results showed me in 1st but there was only me in the age group so that didn't make sense and the app was glitching with the times not loading right.  

    I headed over towards the OW Triathlon Club kids and one of them told me that the results were showing me as 1 out of 4 in my age group!  No. Way.  I wasn't ready to accept this yet, thinking that the app would update some of my age group times, but as time went on the results stayed the same. So for the first time in my "career", I waited around for the age group awards.  (Last year I came in 2nd out of 2 on a storm-shortened course--I'm not really counting that!)  But sure enough, I took FIRST in the M50-54 group!  Unbelievable....I have always told people that the only way I would podium is if there were only 3 people in my age group.  Never would I have thought that I'd take the top spot.  It's still mind-boggling.  And I'm proud of this, but I also know that it is a stepping stone towards Ironman Florida.  Still though, first!? Gold medal on top of the regular medal.  Pretty sweet end to the race.  

   

    The OW Triathlon Club killed it too.  Out of our small group, we took 12 total podium spots including some overall 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places.  Wednesday we'll know how we fared with the HS club standings, but I'd say we have a great shot and taking the state title. That would be icing on the cake for a great race day! This was a state championship race as well, so there will be several qualifying for the USAT (USA Triathlon) Nationals in Wisconsin next year.  Not sure how that all works, so we'll see!  

Daily Life:

Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord will personally go ahead of you. He will be with you; he will neither fail you nor abandon you.”

Deuteronomy 31:8 (NLT)

    As I reflect on beating out the other guys in my age group, I keep coming back to some things we've been talking about in the Everyday Ironman Podcast regarding World Championship qualifying slots.  Of course this was before they changed the way they'll do them, but the general conversations were:   Just show up.  To the race.  To the awards ceremony.  You never know. If you don't show up, you weren't going to get a slot no matter how well you did.  I didn't get into triathlon to win prize money (but is it an option now?....NOPE!), and I didn't ever really expect to be in the top 3 (unless there were only that many).  But this year has shown me to just show up.  Show up everyday to train.  Show up when it's hot, when it's cold, when I'm tired, and when I just don't want to do it.  And showing up then has paid off when I put it all together on a race day.  Yesterday I showed up and did the best I could.  I had a time in mind (10 minutes faster) that would put me in good chances of a podium spot, but I did what I could and did it exactly how I would do it again. But then it turned out showing up for the last 6+ months everyday got me to to the top of that set of boxes.  

    I have to show up everyday for the other parts of my life too. Show up to be a husband. Show up to be a good dad.  Show up and do the best I can at work.  Show up and serve those in my church.   I just have to show up....over and over and over.  God does the same thing daily in my life.  He shows up on the good days.  He shows up on the bad days.  He is ALWAYS here with me, and always will be.  I couldn't do this life on my own.  When I show up it's because He has shown up for me first.  And I can rest in that.  

Final Thoughts:

    16 weeks to go until Ironman Florida.  I still can't wrap my mind around the distance of that day, but as each week of training goes by, it's becoming more of a reality.  I can see myself at the start and finish line, but the middle is still to be written.  But if I just keep showing up, the middle part will take care of itself.  Onto week 5.  As always, thanks for following along, for the encouragement, and for the support.

Show Up, Keep Fit, Stay THE Course, 

and Keep Moving Forward

CPC

Olathe, KS

7/15/25

156,505 minutes until Ironman Florida