Race Preview: Lawrence Triathlon

This is a new race put on by an experienced race director.  Since KC Tri got rained out, they offered free registration to KC Tri participants.  I highly doubt this pleased the KC Tri people but all it does is benefit area triathletes!

I signed up for this race back in June but didn't decide to actually participate until a few weeks ago when Brian and Dane had both registered.  I've decided to change my race strategy quite a bit for this because:

• It's a new race.  Yes, it's an experienced race director who does multiple triathlons at Clinton Lake but it is a new site in terms of location on the race.
• It's a FREE Race.  'nuff said.

So my strategy?  I'm going to ride a unicycle!!!  OK, maybe not, but that would be pretty hard core.

Something I've discovered and enjoyed during my training are my brick workouts (bike ride immediately followed by run).  In fact, my favorite workout is my Wednesday morning session.  I get to the downtown airport at 5 am and ride the 3.66 mile loop around the airport four times.  I then hop off the bike (throw it in the back of the truck... gently) and do one loop running.  I generally have to hold myself back when I start running.  I just want to take off hard.  During the run my heart rate is usually in the 140s even though I'm pushing 7:40 minute miles (FYI, that's very fast for me considering the HR).  This isn't just at the start but near the end.

As I mentioned in my race report for Shawnee Mission Triathlon, I just wanted to fly out of transition 2.  I'm sure it has a lot to do with my improved running but also the bike makes a huge difference since it's forces you to ride in a position that mimics running.

SO... here it is...

Swim: 1500 Meters
No goals.  I will probably just treat it as a training swim at around 70% to 80% perceived effort
Time: 30 minutes

Bike: 40k (24.8 miles)
Time trial and PUSH HARD.  I want to push my legs to the limits.  I don't know what the elevation map looks like yet but I hear it's annoying rolling hills.  Let's just say I'm hoping for 23mph+ average.

Time: 1:05

Run: 10k (6.2 miles)
The purpose of this is to simply see how my running reacts when I push the legs to the limits on the bike.  I'll simply listen to the body and see what happens.  I'm not expecting anything amazing here.  In fact, I won't be surprised if I jelly-leg walk the first mile of the run and end up with +9 minute pace.  I just simply want to see how my body reacts after a hard ride.

Time: 50 minutes (8 minute miles)

Total: 2 hours, 30 minutes (adding some time for transitions)

So there you have it.  I'm going to give my running a skills a... run for its money.