First at Mudwater

After spending several weeks back in base training my legs felt fresher for the July 19 Mudwater Tri here in Wichita. Thanks to some great dolphining I led the first, oh 100 yds or so before being over taken by some young swimmers. Again I was hoping for a better showing on the swim, but overall the day went much better than the previous race. I was especially pleased to have some of my smoothest transitions of the year after finally spending some quality time practicing them. My bike was also back up above a 25 avg with the legs responding much better and I cruised it home with a 17.25 5k for a 1.5 min gap over 2nd in my comfy new Brooks Racer ST 4's that have eliminated my foot pains.
Enjoyed my 1 week training camp in CO; on to Hutchinson Salty Dog, Aug 8, 7am at Carey Park.

HyVee

Well, a little late getting to this post. Partly from being busy, partly due to the outcome. I choose 2 or 3 A races each year to focus on. This year my early season was on HyVee. I knew by choosing to do Kansas 70.3 2 weeks before that it would be a tough double, but that it would be adequate time to recover. Although my swim didn't go well this has happened before, the real trouble came when I got on my bike and found I did not have the power I usually have for this type of race. I forced my legs through an average ride and being 8 minutes out of the lead at this point decided to cut my losses due to a nagging foot injury I had been having while running. I jogged it home in 32nd, 8 minutes slower than 2008. Of course you always learn more in the races that don't go well, and I have since re-thought my tapering strategies, race planning, etc. in regards to big races. I hope to implement these changes for the US Open. Until then I have changed my schedule to include 4 local races, a possible appearance at the club championships in OK, and the Open. Check out the locations on my website and come see a race. First off is this Sunday at Lake Afton by Wichita, 7:30am.