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 Swim
Comments: I was pretty happy with the swim. It was real cold, with 68 being the announced water temperature, but I think it was closer to 65. Still, I seemed to pass more people than I ever have before and I think it was because I stayed relaxed and focused on my swim. People bumped me and kicked, but I just kept in a zen state. The time may not impress anyone, but it was darn good for me. What would you do differently?: I could work on my overall speed in training, but this was a darn good swim for me.  Transition 1
Comments: I was shocked to see so many bikes in my wave area, which meant I had a good swim. I considered swim to be my worst event by far. Transition times at Chicago are skewed compared to other tri's because it is so darn big. I am not entirely sure when my swim time ended and the transition 1 started, but you have to run 400 yards to the transition, and then through a maze of bikes. Regardless, I took too long getting my bike shoes on. I need tri shoes instead ones that lace with velcro straps both length and width. What would you do differently?: I need to get tri-shoes and work on jumping on the bike. I am not sure I want to mess with running barefoot through muddy transitions with the shoes clipped in for now, but I should learn that eventually.  Bike
Comments: I was shocked to see so many bikes in my wave in the transition area, which meant all the people I passed on the swim passed me on the bike. I need a bike with a better engine on it. I hear you can buy one with time in training. I watched a lot of people pass me, but I focused on keeping my heart rate around 160, which I think I did well. The time wasn't very good but I am not unhappy with my strategy or execution of it, just my ability. What would you do differently?: Train better for the bike. I also need to work on not slowing down so much while getting drinks or gels. I normally have to stop so often on training rides that I drink then. I maybe could have stepped up the heart rate a little bit as wel. Transition 2
Comments: I could dismount better but I would not run without shoes in the muddy mess that was transition. Overall, I think it was a pretty good transition. I didn't screw around much at all. What would you do differently?: I stopped and threw a gel and sport beans below my bike, which I could have done on the run.  Run
Comments: That hurt, but for me, that was a darn good run. I started out feeling pretty good and tried to stay relaxed throughout. I drank a little at almost every water station, which hurt the gut, but I think was necessary in the sun. The ground somehow got harder around mile 3 and my stomach was unhappy about mile 4, to the point where I was worried I would see the gel again. What would you do differently?: I need to train with more bike-runs and keep my heart rate down. It was in the high 170's, I think, for most of the run. I stopped looking after a while, but my natural pace is pretty fast these days, at least for me. Post race
Warm down: Ate a little, drank a little, looked for friends, borrowed cell phone to find out where they were. What limited your ability to perform faster: I need to train better on the bike. I executed my strategy pretty well. Event comments: I have to say that it is impressive to move that many people through three sports that efficiently. It is tough that we have to wait so long after transition closes before our race starts, but they do a great job overall. They could have used more porta-potties and better stocked them with TP near the start. My brother got screwed when one of the water stations ran out, but he probably should have hydrated better as well. Last updated: 2007-08-27 12:00 AM
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United States
Capri Events
75F / 24C
Sunny
Overall Rank = 1715/3928
Age Group = M35-39
Age Group Rank = 297/521
Got up ridiculously early, 3:30 a.m., wondered about another sport that lets you sleep in, ate half bagel with peanut butter. I drove to Chicago with friend, where she dropped me off near transition. The Accenture is the world's largest triathlon, and transition looks like a triathlon factory, with masses of people and bikes. I found a great spot in the area reserved for my wave, right near bike-out. That was strange because people in my wave were avoiding the spots closer to bike-out, preferring to drop stuff closer to the run out. Anyway, I needed to hit the porta-potty badly, so set up my stuff pretty fast.
I lounged around for 2 hours, meeting up with my friend and brother, who was in the Clydesdale. I stretched pretty well, used plenty of bodyglide and got my mind into relax mode for the swim.