Glenview Park Center Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

Snake swim with a new swimmer starting every 10 seconds. I caught the person in front of me within the first 50, but he turned right before I got to the wall, so I had to wait until the end of the next length to pass him. Once he knew I was there, he was very cool about letting me pass. 1 minor pile up in the 3rd or 4th lap, when someone who seeded themselves too agressively held up a few of us until he was pulled over. Managed the flips under the lane lines just fine. Overall, especially with the passing/pile-ups, I was happy with the swim.

Maybe seed myself a little higher next time.

Overall, got everything but the shirt (see below) just right. Ran to bike - race belt, glasses, helmet, go. Mounted up with shoes already clipped in and chuckled a bit as I took off on top of my shoes listing to an "Oh sh!t" behind me as someone had some trouble getting their shoes clipped in.

No shirt (or just use a tri suit)! I know it's a rookie mistake and I've seen the advice against wrestling on a tight jersey over a wet body, but I blew it. I think I might have been out of T1 in less than a minute had I just blown off the shirt.

Given the fitness that I brought into the race, I don't think that I could have done much better. I've only had 2 semi-serious rides in the last month, and it's been at least 6 weeks since I was really riding much. I had gone easier for a while because of my stress fracture, and than work got busy.

Other than training more consistently, nothing.

Pretty good out through T2. I could have shaved a few seconds without socks, maybe I'll give that a try someday. One other gaffe (see below) that cost me.

DON'T DROP THE PHONE! Or for that matter, don't even bring a phone. Transition was going to be closed off after the race until the last runners were out of T2 and heading out to the run, so I brought my phone so that I could coordinate with my wife after I finished. When I thought I was slipping it into my rear pocket, I was really only slipping it under my race belt, right past the pocket . . . phone on ground in pieces. Lost at least 15-20 seconds picking up the pieces (literally and figuratively) and putting them back together.

Well, I knew the run was going to be more of a weak spot in this race, but overall, I can't complain. This was my first time running in any shape or form since I stopped due to a stress fracture 7-8 weeks ago. Even though I didn't push it too hard (given coming back from the sfx) none of it felt great.

Don't overtrain and get a stress fracture!

Water, food, massage, more water and food. What's not to like?


Stress fracture and lack of serious traning in anything but the swim for the last 6 weeks.


This is a great home-town race. Actually it's better than that. It's a great Chicago-area sprint, and it's a fantastic home-town race. We're really lucky to have it in our backyard. Everything was phenominally well-organized. Tons of volunteers and they were all great (especially the drummers on the hill and at the turn around - you guys were awesome). Great guidance/annoncements before, during and after the race, good music, a lot of fun. STAY HEALTHY AND FINISH LESS THAN 1 HOUR NEXT YEAR!!!!