Accenture Chicago Triathlon - Olympic Distance - TriathlonOlympic

1st Olympic distance swim! Very excited by the comfort level in the water. Rested on my back and doing elementary backstroke to keep moving. Started taking 20-30 strokes and then a 15-20 second break toward end of swim. Very excited to complete swim without feeling completely spent and still having solid legs after getting out of the water. Long trip to transition area from water exit seemed longer than described, but it was filled with spectators which was great.

Not much, but definitely keep working on swim endurance. Started 6-swim a week program a couple of weeks before the tri to focus on swim improvement (per Triathlete mag). Unbelievable progress and improved endurance and comfort in the water. Will now work on speed and endurance. Very excited to get going again in the water.

Very excited after completing swim. Very concerned about distance and number of people going in. Just so excited about getting out of the water and feeling very good for bike leg.

I would try to get over (i.e., contain) my excitement for completing the swim. I actually started to send a text message to my wife and friends to let them know I made it out of the water and felt great. Put phone down and got back to work. Not really sure how the swim and T1 times are measured. I had a different time for the actual swim portion on my watch, but the nearly 500 yard walk from the swim to transition counts in the swim time. I didn't feel like I spent 6 minutes in T1.

With the exception of the road conditions, a very fast and mostly flat course. No serious hills to speak of. Headwind going north on Lake Shore and a tailwind coming south. Really liked the course and can imagine that you could fly on the course with good conditions and with fewer people out there. Tough to always pass on the right, but really liked the ride overall. Losing water bottles stunk, but tried to re-hydrate on run. Kept positive 'hydration' thoughts in my head throughout ride to avoid desire to stop and pick up a random bottle on the course. :)

I would pick a line and just stick to it on the course. No way to avoid the bumps and not sure what I could do to speed up. Time slowed down by break tapping on occasion, but nothing else I could do to avoid riders and course 'debris'. Would not change much, overall.

Felt good after bike ride, but needed to hydrate. Losing water bottles could have been worse, but for cooler morning conditions and steady wind. Got out of shoes and off bike easily. Couldn't get out of left shoe, so ran to T2 with one bare foot. :)

Nothing.

Felt good at the start. Took off slowly and enjoyed the transition into the run course. Very good spectator support and the out and back layout allowed me to see lots of people I had spoken to in transition or while waiing for the swim start.

Go a little harder/faster at the beginning. Had done plenty of bricks, so no real concern for legs adjusting to run. Had some legs left at the end of the run and picked up the pace over last mile and a half. Lack of bike hydration had me concerned about cramping (never actually cramped), so took in fluids at a number of stations.

Cooled down with cold wet towels (provided by race) and stretching. Walked around a good bit to col down and ate at the site picnic. Pasta, fruit, and a burger. All followed by a quick jaunt to Wrigley for the Cubs vs. Nats. Great game and great race!


Loss of water bottles on the bike course and swimming as a newbie. Wanted to get one Olympic distance race under my belt. Will now work more on swimming and running speed while also improving my bike speed.


1st Oly-distance race! Can't begin to describe my excitement after completing swim portion. Will definitely do this race again (if not annually). Less than a year has passed since 1st sprint race and very happy with progress. Already looking forward to 2009 race season and continued swimming improvement. Great race and fabulous city!