Lake Michigan Triathlon - Olympic Distance - TriathlonOlympic

Conditions were fairly good except some chop and undercurrent mostly near the turn around.

I would still go wide around the first turn to avoid carnage, but I would not have proceeded to head 100 meters out to sea. This left me pulling up to find that I was all alone. Fortunately, I picked a distant buoy and angled back in. Given my predisposition to wandering in open water I should have remembered my previous 6 strokes on a side and look ratio.

This being my first triathlon I did not try the shoes on the bike trick. I just took the time to put everything on in the order I had it laid out beforehand. Things went pretty smooth.

Nothing really

I was really happy with my performance on the bike; especially given the road conditions. I thought this would be my weakness, but it turned out to be the swim. I actually just enjoyed zipping along on a sunny, summer day.

Very Little

I was a little slow as I forgot to take my shirt off until just before setting out.

Have a better order of steps in mind; I was so worried about T1 that I really did not think about T2.

I really held back the first lap and even part of the second. I have a habit of going out too fast otherwise (My one and only marathon 8 years ago). I was determined to only walk for a 20 yards at the water stations on 2-3 occasions and otherwise keep a steady pace.

Since I now have my first triathlon complete I would take more risks in the next one and push the pace earlier.

4 bananas, 3 nectarines?, 2 muffins, and water. Oh, and I waded back into Lake Michigan too. That felt great.


Inexperience and poor swim navigation. The 15-20 extra pounds I carry around probably did not do me any favors either.


I love the fact that my first triathlon had only 82 people (less risk of carnage). I really wanted a race that took the swim in Lake Michigan. We ended up having a nice day despite the rainstorm overnight. The concept of multiple laps really did not bother me at all, but the pavement was a disaster, but it is a cute little venue without traffic or crowds.