Accenture Chicago Triathlon - Olympic Distance - TriathlonOlympic


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Chicago, Illinois
United States
Capri Events
72F / 22C
Sunny
Total Time = 3h 11m 16s
Overall Rank = /
Age Group =
Age Group Rank = 0/
Pre-race routine:

Got up at 3:30, shower, cofee, pb sandwich, the usual.
Walked downstairs to pick up my brother who miraculously was up and ready. We put our bags on and rode on sidewalks to the lake.
The transition opened at 4:15am and we arrived there around 5:00am. It was huge! Probably 1km long, the number of bikes was amazing, but surprisingly there was enough space for everyone. Did the prescribed walk up and down trying to memorize the location and finally took food and the swimming gear and walked to the harbour.
Event warmup:

The sun warmed us up as we were sitting on the pier for something close to 4 hours!
Swim
  • 35m 32s
  • 1500 meters
  • 02m 22s / 100 meters
Comments:

Finally the time came and we were lined up in a que for the start. My brother 2 waves in front. This was the last time I saw him before the end of the race. Amazing organization of all the people, again - everything went really smooth. Finally we're in the water, the gun goes off and the madness starts. I'm at the back waiting for the fast guys to go and gradually started swimming. The area designated for us was too narrow and inevitably sooner then I thought I was getting bumped and also hit few people. Nothing serious, just an interuption to the regular rhytm and an opportunity to sight properly (which was kind of easy as the pack never really thinned out).

And so we swam around the buoy and headed North. After we went past the starting point the water widened, but it was still crowded. I was catching up the wave in front and getting overtaken by the fast guys from the one behind. Tried to draft, but it just didn't seem to work good, as the swimmer in front had to stop many times because of the traffic. It seemed like long swim for some reason... Finally the stairs appeared and some volunteers helped me the get out.

BTW, the swim time incudes 4 minutes of slow jog to the transition, it's just the way the swim finish was positioned.
What would you do differently?:

Be more careful not to drink the water since it wasn't clean and you could see some nasty algae/ weeds growing on the bottom.
Transition 1
  • 04m 29s
Comments:

Wetsuit off, took time to fold it and put in in the bag - with this crowd didn't want to lose it - people were kicking things around there...
What would you do differently?:

Put the sunscreen on!!! I really have to remember this one - got burned pretty bad on the shoulders. Dumb.
Bike
  • 1h 28m 17s
  • 40 kms
  • 27.19 km/hr
Comments:

From the transition we started on a ramp up, small chainring, then as we hit the Lake Shore still easy spinning but in the big chainring. Tried to go really conservatively even for me and I guess it worked. Still passed lots of people, but the fast guys were flying by too. Lots of potholes, cracks, bumps etc, bottles on course and slow riders going too far to the right. Spectacular scenery though with the fans on the side, like TT of TdF... OK, maybe not, but still great energy around. This part went really quickly and I felt like riding more. Maybe because I've been along this route so many times I knew every turn and bridge, the mind didn't have to work overtime. Spent all the time against the wind in aero and some of the downwind part too. The tricky part was - it was so incredibly bumpy and aero just didn't work, specially when going faster.
What would you do differently?:

Maybe I should have brought my mountain bike instead...
Transition 2
  • 03m 40s
Comments:

It was easy to find the bike, the walk before the race paid off. Took bike shorts off I had on top of the jammers (comfort first), belt on, grabbed the bottle and went to the start out. Forgot to take bike gloves off, no biggie (glad I took the helmet off...) Now, this transition area was at least 1km long and with lots of people changing between the bikes it was hard to run.
What would you do differently?:

Nada.
Run
  • 59m 6s
  • 10 kms
  • 05m 55s  min/km
Comments:

The legs felt fine after the bike, no problem at all. Was a bit careful at first thinking the quads might not like it, but no, everything worked just fine. As it was hot and sunny now I decided to save my energy at the beginning and didn't try to be a hero. Still was passing some runners and felt quite good. Again, this is the path I have run most of all my running and knew every bump in the road. People around looked really tired and sweat was literally pouring from most of them. At this point I decided not to go faster at all and just enjoy the day with my family afterwards. After all it would only save a couple of minutes if any. I still had to play with the baby, go to a post race party, have few beers, have some fun with others and walk back home with the bike and the bag.

And so we were all trotting along the lake, sweating and drinking happily and time just went by. Soon the turnaround point came and now it was the last part of the race. The pace was still the same, no walking at all, slowed down only once to get some water (I had 24oz bottle with me with 2 gels dissolved and some lemon juice and that was working fine). Soon we entered into the last stretch, tons of people around, cowbells, cheering, the works... I sped up to an all out sprint and passed all the people in sight like never before (true!) The announcer called every runner passing the finish line by the name and sometimes made some funny comments, which felt nice.

Picked up the medal, some bananas, water and a wet towel.
What would you do differently?:

Should have picked up two or more towels...
Post race
Warm down:

Called my wife (yes, I had the phone with me on the run), found them in the crowd and we sat on the grass near the finish waiting for my brother. This took more than one hour, but so what? He finished, was really happy about it and thanked me for 'dragging' him into it. Then we went to get some pasta and beer... I don't remember much aftrwards... no, only kidding, had a few but the light kind so it was like drinking water (right...). That was also the last time I saw my brother for the day as he mixed up with some familiar crowd from the yacht club, he also mixed some vodka and whiskey with that beer and really didn't remember the 'ride' back home. Oh dear...

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Didn't really want to go any faster, this was fine for the level of training I did.

Event comments:

Great race with spectacular scenery, but seems like it is getting too big... I had a good time though and if my brother wants to do it again, I will sign up again.


Profile Album


Last updated: 2007-10-21 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:35:32 | 1500 meters | 02m 22s / 100meters
Age Group: 0/
Overall: 0/
Performance: Good
I looked at the HR thing few times and to my amazement it showed 145-150... I couldn't believe it - in the pool it was usually 110 or so.
Suit: sleeveless Neosport
Course: The swim was in Monroe Harbor along the shoreline 350m South from the start, then 1150m North to the finish.
Start type: Deep Water Plus: Waves
Water temp: 72F / 22C Current: Low
200M Perf. Good Remainder: Average
Breathing: Drafting: Below average
Waves: Navigation:
Rounding: Average
T1
Time: 04:29
Performance: Average
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
Wetsuit stuck? No Run with bike: No
Jump on bike: No
Getting up to speed: Good
Biking
01:28:17 | 40 kms | 27.19 km/hr
Age Group: 0/
Overall: 0/
Performance: Good
Within 130-140 all the time.
Wind: Some
Course: Lake Shore Drive North to Foster, then South and again another loop. The surface was really bad, bottles everywhere, people walking bikes all the time. You were not supposed to fix flats as there was no space to work on the bike, but some did anyway.
Road: Potholes Dry Cadence:
Turns: Cornering:
Gear changes: Hills:
Race pace: Comfortable Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 03:40
Overall: Good
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike
Running with bike
Racking bike
Shoe and helmet removal Good
Running
00:59:06 | 10 kms | 05m 55s  min/km
Age Group: 0/
Overall: 0/
Performance: Good
Between 150-160
Course: This was my usual running route South to the 31st Street Beach along the lake. It goes past the famous Soldier Field, Mc Cormick Center and is very scenic too. It is also flat af flat can be.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 4
Physical exertion [1-5] 4
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge
Organized?
Events on-time?
Lots of volunteers?
Plenty of drinks?
Post race activities: Good
Race evaluation [1-5] 4