XTERRA Illinois Wilds - Triathlon

After I saw my time for the swim, it didn't matter how well I did in the other events. This was a HUGE success for me. I haven't been able to get the hang of OWS and this was the first race swim I've had that was close to showing what I know I can do. I know I can do much better, but this is a HUGE step. For some reference, last year, I did this swim in 25:52. That's a 9 minute improvement. I did 1/2 mile swim in a race at the end of June in 18:50. That means I did 2 minutes better this time. I am very pleased with how this swim went.

More diligent about sighting. I think I could have shaved nearly another minute off of this time with better sighting.

I felt good about this transition. I got just about everything done quickly without troubles.

Maybe look at having the shoes ready to go on the bike.

I wasn't so pleased with the bike this time. Last year I went 1 minute slower on much worse fitness. Perhaps I've learned more about pacing. I think I need a lot more work on the bike. This winter will be a bike trainer winter! I think this is one of the areas I have the most room for improvement.

I wasn't that big a fan of this course. It is very tight and twisty. I had a very hard time finding a rhythm and keeping it. The downhills and fast sections were shortened by sharp turns and extremely rocky sections. These aren't usually a bad thing, but for some reason, it felt excessive on this course.

More biking.

Tough time sliding into the running shoes. However, the time spent getting them on was saved during the run. I wore my faster trail shoes and this helped.

I did well on this run. My goal was to focus on a quick turnover for the first mile or so, then a nice smooth stride to the big hill at the end, which I wanted to run up (no walking), and finish hard. I did exactly that. I had planned to not drink anything on the run to save a few seconds, so I hydrated well on the bike. I think this plan worked well, although if it were any hotter or the run any longer, I would have stopped for a drink. I passed a LOT of people here. Improved on last year's time by 4 minutes. All to being properly prepared.

Push harder longer. Focus on turnover through the whole run. I'm a good enough runner to gut it out longer and I will have to next year.

Crossed the line and sat down on the grass for a bit. Drank a bottle of water. Then a bottle of Gatorade. Then another bottle of Gatorade. Then another bottle of Gatorade. Then ate a veggie burger with fruit salad with some water. Then went back to the cabin and had a sandwich a bottle of water some fruit, pretzels, and chips. I was hungry.


Not being a strong biker. I'll focus on this more.


Overall my performance was MUCH improved. However, I was disappointed to not be top 2 in my age group. I compared this year's times to last year's times (overall participant times) and this year's top 10 were MUCH faster than last year. There were a lot of talented people at the race this year. Last place in my AG was 22nd overall. Fast crowd this year.

While this isn't my favorite XTERRA course, the race is organized, offers a lot, and lets me spend time with my family. I will probably do this again next year.