Illinois Triathlon Championship - Olympic Course - Triathlon

Time trial start and they lined us up by expected finish time. I seeded myself at 30-ish minutes. The single file line moved fast. They verified your number and away we went. I got into a good rhythm right away. Not too crowded. Sighting was pretty good for the most part, but being unfamiliar with the lake and course, I felt I was off for a while. Then I sighted the next buoy. At one point I stopped and popped up and noticed I was at the straightaway to the finish. Kept my nice steady stroke and swam until I could touch. Got up and started walking, but the water still seemed a little deep. Swam some more and ran to the beach. Timing mat a bit away from beach but not far.

Nothing. Good swim for me since my swim training has been lacking lately. I said I would be happy with 30 minutes and I just made it!

There was a kiddie pool right after the timing mat to wash our feet. A short run to transition followed. My wet suit got caught on the timing chip and I had to sit down to get the legs off.
I am not fast at these as I make sure I have everything in order, so I am happy with the time.

Giddy up!

Got going up the hill out of transition. On the initial loop, it was pretty wide open. I got up to a good pace and felt great. No wind and overcast. Perfect. As I came around to start my second loop, the course got crowded in the no passing zone. I never checked my speed, but I bet we were down to 10 mph. Sun came out on the second loop. Heading to the turnaround in the no passing zone again slowed down. Same for the start of lap 3. Saw my wife driving on 14 at this time. Saw her again near Pingree and Rakow on my third loop. Fourth loop was better traffic wise. Turned into the park, down the hill to T2.

I felt my pace was better than 19.3 mph. They officially have me at 19.1 average, so the bike course was somewhere around 24.5 miles. I bet I was above 20 mph for most of this ride but the no passing zone really cut into that. Overall, happy. I can do better.

Fairly quick for me. It was sunny and humid so I took a minute to wipe my sweaty head and face. Got socks and shoes on and was off.

Move faster!

This is where the wheels fell off. I felt fine starting out, but it was getting a bit steamy. The run started off up a hill on a paved path, then flat. We turned back on a grass/rock trail that was flooded in spots from the overnight rain. First lap time was 9:02, about right. Ran past the beach pavilion and out onto a second gravel path. I knew from my scouting that this path ended with a grass uphill section to the next part of the course. Second mile in 8:50. I walked/scrambled up this hill, which was slippery. The toboggan hill was next. Another uphill grassy run, through the mud at the top and a slick downhill section. More cross country/paths to the second lap. Ran through a chute next to the finish line.
Then I started walking the second go around up the hill. Just started feeling hot and sweaty. Switched to a run/walk mode as my legs just didn't want to go. My pace was slow. The second loop was survival, and I was happy to see the finish line.

Not sure. I expected my run pace to be right at 9:00 for a 10k after swimming and biking. Normal race pace is 8:30. More bricks and maybe run out in the heat more.

I was a sweaty mess. Got my finishers glass mason jar and immediately gulped done a glass of water and 2 glasses of HEED. Went and sat down under the park shelter. I was not hungry at all. They then let us into transition so I packed up and loaded the car. Left and was home before noon.


Overall, my training has been inconsistent, so I knew I should not set any unrealistic goals. If the bike course would have been the extra 2 miles, I would have been right at 3 hours. Happy with my effort.
Not a fan of the 4 loop bike course or the run, but I would potentially do the race next year. They are promising a new bike course and I'll be more prepared for a cross country run next year.


I was worried that this first year race would be unorganized. They did a really nice job. Plenty of volunteers too. The bike course is what it is and nothing they could do about the fog delay (Bigfoot was the same day and their oly swim was shortened to 750 m)