Chicago Triathlon - Olympic Distance - TriathlonOlympic


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Chicago, Illinois
United States
Capri Events
73F / 23C
Sunny
Total Time = 2h 43m 14s
Overall Rank = 433/3859
Age Group = 35-39
Age Group Rank = 73/396
Pre-race routine:

Woke up and showered and waited for my friend Louis to show up. He got there promptly at 4am. The goal was to get to transition by 430 and be home by 5:15-5:30 and sleep for another 1.5 hours. That didn't happen as we had to wait for Louis' friend down by transition entrance so they could give him his packet. Didn't get home til about 6 and slept for another half-hour before gettting up, getting ready and heading back down.
Event warmup:

We timed it perfectly and didn't have to wait long. Walked from the condo to the race start (about six blocks), dropped our stuff off at the CPD tent (Louis is a police officer) and put on the wetsuit on the way to swim start. Got in the corral and we were ready to go. He and his pals were in the First Responders group and i was in the wave behind them, so we chatted while waiting for our turn.
Swim
  • 37m 28s
  • 1640 yards
  • 02m 17s / 100 yards
Comments:

This swim is always fun. The first couple hundred yards are a battle. As usual it took at least that long to clear and get some water. Breathing was all good and nbody around me really freaked out though I saw one dude make a beeline for the safety of the ropes on the wall. When we got to the buoy it was a nightmare. Everybody was stopping and trying to figure out how to get around it, as if swimming suddenly became a bad idear. What the fu** people! Get out of the way if you're not going to swim. So after that it was mostly smooth sailing. Lots of contact, caught a few feet, got ran over by the wave behind me eventually. The usual.
What would you do differently?:

Start more in the middle rather than the back.
Transition 1
  • 03m
Comments:

The transitions are HUGE here so that was fun to run from swim exit, about 500 yards to transition, get changed then find transition exit and get to it. Not bad, though. Nothing went wrong other than having grass all over my feet and having to clean them off a couple times before putting on socks.
Bike
  • 1h 13m 31s
  • 24.85 miles
  • 20.28 mile/hr
Comments:

Not a bad bike considering it's the Chicago Tri and it's on Lake Shore Drive. I did see one dude who'd crashed being loaded into an ambulance. I learned later it was an NYPD officer who'd hit a pothole and went saddle over handlebars and was OUT when paramedics arrived. As usual people were doing stupid things. I, and no joke, saw one girl on a cell phone. One guy after the turnaround was trying to get back to northbound Lake Shore (he'd missed the turnaround and decided to just flip a U-turn in front of four of us who were flying, nearly wiping us all out). People must not know their left from their right because very few people were adhering to the `stay to your left and pass on your right' policy. I just stayed mostly all the way left and cruised.
What would you do differently?:

Mount some sort of deathray on my bike to eliminate stupid people.
Transition 2
  • 02m
Comments:

Good transition. Again it's HUGE so trying to find the rack and run-out is always fun. I did take a second to wash off my hands as Infinit had splashed all over everything coming into T2.
Run
  • 46m 41s
  • 6.21 miles
  • 07m 31s  min/mile
Comments:

The run was FRICKIN HOT! A couple times I was thinking `I need some frickin' water NOW!' so when I got to the well-timed aid stations I was all about one cup of water in the mouth and two over the head. I was putting off heat like a champ. I decided to dial it back a notch after mile one because I was worried about bonking. So I just picked a comfortable pace and got it done. I was surprised at my time, I felt as if I was going a LOT slower.
What would you do differently?:

Run faster?
Post race
Warm down:

Got a soaking by the kids at the finish line who were drenching people with cold water. That was nice. A bit shocking. Then waited for Louis to finish (he came in about 10 minutes after me) and got our photos taken together. We met up with his girl and then went to the food area and got some grub. Then walked back to the CPD tent, got our stuff and then to transition and packed up and rode home.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

A crowded swim, stupid people on the bike and the heat on the run. Oh and a severe lack of swim and bike training this year may have had something to do with it. ;)

Event comments:

This one was actually fun. Knowing it's the last time I'll do it for a long time really made me sit back and appreciate my adoptive city. Coming south along Lake Shore and seeing the skyline really energized me. And the beauty of the lake and even ugly ol' Soldier Field -- I'm going to miss all of it a lot. Chicago's been good to me and I'm glad I did this race one last time. I was singing this song for at least part of the race, not as well as Clapton or Guy, but I was still singing:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7dNeI74DlA




Last updated: 2010-08-30 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:37:28 | 1640 yards | 02m 17s / 100yards
Age Group: 0/396
Overall: 2371/3859
Performance: Average
Suit: Full suit
Course: Along the wall south toward the aquarium then back south to Monroe Harbor.
Start type: Wade Plus: Waves
Water temp: 73F / 23C Current: Low
200M Perf. Bad Remainder: Average
Breathing: Good Drafting: Good
Waves: Navigation: Average
Rounding: Below average
T1
Time: 03:00
Performance: Average
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
No
Wetsuit stuck? No Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: No
Getting up to speed: Average
Biking
01:13:31 | 24.85 miles | 20.28 mile/hr
Age Group: 0/396
Overall: 986/3859
Performance: Average
Wind: Some
Course: North on Lake Shore and back, two loops.
Road: Rough Dry Cadence:
Turns: Good Cornering: Good
Gear changes: Good Hills:
Race pace: Comfortable Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 02:00
Overall: Good
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike
Running with bike Good
Racking bike Good
Shoe and helmet removal Good
Running
00:46:41 | 06.21 miles | 07m 31s  min/mile
Age Group: 0/396
Overall: 108/3859
Performance: Average
Course: South along the lakefront path about 4 miles then back the final 2 to Columbus and Balbo.
Keeping cool Below average Drinking Not enough
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 4
Physical exertion [1-5] 3
Good race? Ok
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Good
Race evaluation [1-5] 4