Accenture Chicago Triathlon - Olympic Distance - TriathlonOlympic

crowded all the way around. Fought through the mass of arms and legs on the start, around the turn bouy, opened up a little bit on the return past the start bouy, but still swam around (and over) people the whole way. Very difficult to get into a good rhythm. The channel you swim in is very narrow, so it's difficult to get too far off course. My sighting was OK, noticed myself drifting a couple of times, but overall a good swim. This time includes the 02:58mins it took to run down the bike path to the swim-in timing mat. So a 26 min swim for that distance is very good for me.

Not sure; I started myself at the start of the pack, and still fought my way through multiple waves of people from earlier starts. I guess just be better prepared for the fact that it's a fight all the way through this whole race. Play more hockey to sharpen pugilistic skills.

had a hard time clipping into shoes on bike, but was after passing timing mat so this foible cost me time on the bike, not T1.

next year: get triathlon biking shoes and have clipped into pedals. Learn how to start by riding on top of shoes until comfortably able to slip feet into them and velcro closed. I will practice this a lot over the coming year.

OK, so I know its the biggest triathlon in the world and some people want to just come experience the thing, finish it and be done with it, but then STAY IN THE LEFT LANE!!! It was way too crowded on LSD with people eating their powerbars, drinking leisurely from their bottles, and generally hanging out in the passing lane on the right. Saw several teams of people drafting each other through the race. Ended up hugging the orange cones on the right side of the passing lane most of the way yelling a steady stream of "on your right!" (mixed with internal cursing). Saw several blown tires from the massive potholes in the road. View was beautiful though.

Have to do a better job of figuring out how to hydrate/eat efficiently in preparation for the run (while on the bike). I did pick up a ProfileDesign aerodrink container at the Expo and loved this little device; didn't have to take my hands out of the aerobars to drink. Will have my bike serviced before every race next year; gears slipped a few times so I lost cadence several times.

Not too much to improve on here; lock-laces are a beautiful thing.

Not much; practice more.

Totally blew it. Was nowhere near my training pace of between 06:00 and 06:30 min/mile. Left calf cramped during the first mile of the run and had to slow way down to keep it from tearing. Was able to work my way back up and finished with a strong sprint to the finish line. But the time it took to work out the cramp in my left leg cost me significant time. Very disappointed with this run.

I need some expert assistance on how to avoid cramping in my legs during the run. This is a problem area for me. What I've been able to read and discover on my own hasn't solved the problem so I need the assistance of a coach or nutritionist who can help me out.

ate a couple of bananas, had some granola. walked around a lot with family and friends who cam in from Seattle for the race.


poor nutrition hampered me on the run; the massive amount of people on the course and sheer size of this event makes it a difficult race to do if you really wnat to do it for a time. It is a fight from the second you arrive downtown (finding a good place to park), enter the transition area (finding a good place for your bike/stuff), and through the events. Prepare to be jostled the entire day.


Make sure to bring:
- throw away flip flops to walk around in during the long wait for your wave to start
- your own toilet paper (they do not re-stock the toilet paper in the porta pottys)
- newspaper to read
- before you enter the transition area, they check to be sure your race number is on your helmet, and on your bike and that you have already strapped on your timing chip. If you are missing any of these things, they will make you step out of line to go get it; there were several people right behind me that had left their chips in the hotel and had to go back to get them.

Great race overall; will do again if I can figure out how to qualify for the age-group elite wave.