Okay so it's been a month...I don't know where the month went but I figure I'd better report on the 2nd annual Ironman 70.3 Kansas. The bottom line: Rianman had a great race and PRed by 24 minutes! He wanted to come in under 6 hours and he did it - he finished in 5:56:50.
We started the morning by luckily arriving very early--if they don't change the venue for next year, plan on getting there first thing or the parking will be a nightmare. While Rianman got ready, I found a great place to set up camp and started letting Carlene (supporting Carl), Christy and Marcus know where I was. After what seemed like hours, my co-Trisupporters showed up and Christy had coffee for me - awesome. I often wonder why there isn't more at 5 am for spectators at these races. To race organizers: COFFEE please!!
The morning was really cool for June (60) and as usual the weather looked a little threatening. It was so cool that we were actually in need of extra clothing. This is great for the racers but for the spectators - brrrr. As the bike turned to the run for many, the sun came out and the temps climbed quickly resulting in a lot of sunburned athletes.
The excitement this year was not only that Rianman and Carl were racing but that Chrissie Wellington was there. It really was fun the for the fans cause as she would bike or run by, everyone would cheer. It was great fun to be close to a triathlon goddess. I have a good picture but I'll have to post it later.
So all in all, a great race day. Carl kicked butt and finished about an hour before Rianman. Rianman was making great time on the bike and we cheered our butts off when we saw he was hurtin' on the run and slowedconsiderably. We knew the PR was certain but the under 6 was risky--so we did our parts by screaming him in. It wasn't pretty at the end...he was hurtin' but the ice bath was a help..and the bigger help was that he PRed.
As Carlene said, "You're either gonna feel good, or do good." Rianman did good!
