Keith Shireman's 1st Ironman Kansas 70.3 Race Report
Triathlons were something that I've always thought about even when I was in high school many moons ago. LOL! Naturally while I have been competing in half/full marathons. But there seemed to be something missing as the 'final ingredient' in being competitive age grouper. So triathlons gained more interest 2 years ago for me. Onto my Kansas report........
Swim:1:08:01 Bike: 3:12:03 Run: 2:24:39 Overall: 6:51:05
The week leading up to the race I made sure I took the week off from work to rest, train and plan everything out the best I could. I was excited that this would be my first Ironman 70.3 race. In my heart I knew I could finish this race in the allotted time. EN helped me with all the training and support to get the job done.
Friday was travel day and when we got there we went to athlete check in and attended an athlete meeting as well. Saturday was a rest day and a little more recon of the course before we took our bikes to T1 for check in. Once everything was taken care of we went back to the hotel and off for some dinner and early to bed. Tomorrow was going be an Ironman day!!
Race Day: My swim wave was at 6:50am so 3am came very early. Eat, stretch, shower and head to the course. I wasn't nervous about the swim as I had been at previous races just focused. Coach Patrick sent me a text message the night before and said 'be patient and determined' and that's exactly how I felt. After the swim start I made it about 200m before I had some allergy issues come up and I couldn't catch my breathe. So I keep moving and turned over on my back and tried to relax and be calm. It was a struggle but I knew I could make it by not giving up. Finished in 1:08:01. I was shooting for 45 min like I had practiced but not everything goes perfect on race day.
T1 went well with a 3:38. As I came out of the water an official reached and unzipped my wetsuit for me. 20 yards up the hill there was a wetsuit stripper there waiting to help get my suit off. Cool!! I had a long run to my transition site because it was near the exit of T1. Great spot to be in for sure! Got on the bike and headed out for the 56 mile bike ride.
Bike: The bike went awesome! 3:12:03! It took around 6 miles before we got out of the park and onto the main course. Once we were out of the park it was mostly flat so I hammered down and stayed within HR/cadence where I should be. I felt like busting wide open but I knew I would pay for it on the run if I did. Nutrition plan worked perfect! Just need to find a different bar to eat. Powerbar was hard to chew on. I used them in training and didn't want to change up what I had started on race day. I never did have to pee on the bike as I have been told I should do. Not that I didn't want to, just that I've never had to even in all the training rides I've done too. All the hill work I had trained for helped ALOT! I passed and pulled by a lot of folks on the hills. The course in Kansas is not FLAT. So I think was in my favor. I didn't have an expensive tri bike and all the fancy bells and whistles you could have on a bike. Just a good road bike and some clip on aero bars. I can't help but wonder what my time would have been like with a full on tri bike setup. Oh well maybe in the future.....
T2 was a bit of a disappointment as I went down the wrong row to get to my spot. After I found it, I racked the bike, put on the shoes, number/fuel belt I headed out for the run and finish this bad boy! That was probably my biggest mistake all day. 2:44 in transition.
Run: I knew it would take a few miles to get my legs back but I couldn't get into a rhythm until the last 5K of the race. I finished the run in 2:24:39. Now I can run a half marathon under 2 hrs, it's just a little harder after a 56 mile bike. (LOL) My strategy for the run was to do the best I can to keep running without stopping. If that didn't work I knew I had to run to each aid station and walk the length of them to finish. I kept drinking Perform from my Fuel Belt and using Power gel along the way. Finally by the time I reached mile 9 THEN the urge hit me to pee! Nothing like waiting till the last minute! (LOL) So I darted into the porta-a-potty and took off for the finish.
When I crossed that finish line I started crying because all the training over the last 6 months had paid off! I was so excited and the cool part was that I didn't cramp at all during the day! I can't thank Mariah Bridges for hooking me up with Coach P and the EN staff for a great preparation for this event! The one thing that kept me going was on my Road Id band on my wrist......Never ever give up! This was a respectable finish for my first 70.3 and I'm ready to make improvements for the next one!
Comments
Hey Keith,
Congrats on your first HIM! So much of successful HIM racing is learning just how much you can push yourself, especially in the last 4 miles of the run. You'll do much better next time, as a function of having gained that valuable perspective from this race.