It seems every race I have been disappointed with my swim. I took a different approach this time and positioned myself to the front of my wave. It was a wade start with the whole wave inching forward anticipating the start. I was determined to be aggressive and do my swim. I'm not sure this strategy was good or bad. I quickly was overtaken by the superior swimmers, but kept my cool. For much of the race, I felt like I was by myself. I was behind the better swimmers, but ahead of the slower swimmers so after the first 300, there wasn't much traffic and I didn't see many light blue caps. The swim seemed long. I heard alot of scuttle about different measurements. My race was 1:53 / per 100 which is about 10 seconds slower than what I would have been shooting for, but not awful either. I heard someone say they measured the swim at 1.2M and there's no way that is true. If it was 1800 yards my average would ahve been about 1:43 which would have been an acceptable time. None of that matters. I finished in the top half of my AG. Even though I want more, I'm ok with this portion of the race. I need to work harder in the pool and take that portion of the training more seriously.

Would not really change anything.

39/220 rank

My T1 was pretty good. As I entered transition, I saw Josh running out with his bike. Not sure how he beat me in the swim (AGAIN) but he's proven to be a much better game-day performer than me. I'm improving though.

In looking at my ranking in Transition, I'm pretty happy with it. I did struggle a little getting the wetsuit off, but not too badly. I ran with my bike but pretty much stopped completely at the mount line getting on.

There were lots of complaints and concerns about this bike course being too crowded, too smelly (underground), and too technical. I think all of these concerns were unwarranted. I really enjoyed the course. It was very very flat. When exiting Lower Wacker, there was a bit of a headwind, but for the most part the course was quite fast. I was able to really relax and it was nice seeing my family multiple times on-course. The U-turns were not too bad. I'm sure times suffered as a result, but there was plenty of opportunities to hammer. The course was crowded, but not overcrowded. I'm amazed by the number of people who pass closely without ever saying a word. I passed many people and tried to yelll out whenever anyone was close.

I used one "bottle" from my fuselage with a Nuun tab and didnt' take any other fluid. I could ditch the BTA bottle, I think. I also took one Gu at the end of lap 2.

Always feel like I could increase the effort, but overall am fairly pleased with my bike time. This is my best time by far in a race, and so I can't complain. I heard some comments that the bike course was short. That may be. Even if I adjusted it a mile or so short, I still had a pretty good time based on past performances.

My T2 rank was a respectable 51/220. This was a VERY long transition, with a long run with the bike around and through the transition area. If the bike/run course were short, it was made up for with a pretty long transition area.

Overall, no troubles. Shoes went on easily (with no socks, as usual) and I was off. I did not wear a hat and just went with the Halo headband and two Gu's in my race belt.

My run turned out to be GREAT. But, it didn't really feel great. I was immediately confused by the course/laps.

My fan club was cheering for me and I saw them several times, which was a huge boost. My son was waving the "Suffer!" flag for me which I really loved. They got after me later on because I "refused to smile or look at them". That's true. I did look at them (behind my sunglasses) but try to keep pretty relaxed during the run and steady pace.

Sometime, during the first part of the race I looked at my watch. It showed 1:40 . I immediately started doing the math and realized that I was closing in on a finish time in the 2:30's. This didn't seem possible and my run was not feeling great so I dismissed it. I thought: a) for some reason, again, my watch malfunctioned and didn't get the swim which would put me on a 3hr pace. b) my multiple page screen on the watch was actually on the "1/2 marathon pace screen" and so the data was meaningless. Anyhow, I didn't know what to think so I just decided to run. I felt like I was having a good race, but 2:30's seemed too good so I just blocked it out and ran.

My right ankle really started hurting early on. I had twisted it on Thursday night carrying suitcases down the stairs and it was really bothering me. It didn't hinder me and I kept moving. I took Gu during the run and only water. Unfortunately, it was getting hot and all of the water was warm. No ice that I saw, so my usual "stay cool" strategies didn't really work. Fortunately, it didn't seem to be a huge factor for me.

As I closed in on the finish, I spotted a guy in a Canada team onesie. I decided that I was going to close on him and pass him -- For God and Country. USA USA! I caught him at Buckingham Fountain and dropped him. Canada had been put in its place.

Not much. I ran the best that I could and finished with my best run time ever. Prettty happy about that. I think some of my run training changes are paying dividends.

I entered the finish chute and was greeted with my medal. There wasn't much finish line extravaganza. The "show" was at Buckingham Fountain, behind me. It was pretty exciting running through the finish area, but just beyond the finish line was...not much. A medical tent (where I found a bottle of water) and that was about it. I still didn't know about my time, so I went searching for the official timing tent. Didn't find it immediately so I soon met up with my family. After getting my bike, and my gear-check bag, I looked for the timing tent again. I found out that I had to jump through many hoops (or over fences/barriers) to get it, so I waited until I got back to the hotel.


Not too much. This was my best race. It gives me a great benchmark and much hope for further improvement. I think the bike/run courses were a bit short, but my wife gets mad at my when I bring this up. The course was what it was and I have gone (well) under 2:40 which was a landmark for me. In fact, going 2:31 puts me in a new category, close to the 2:20's which (in my mind) is "fast". It's pretty exciting.




This was a GREAT event. I felt that it was very organized and well run. Many of the complaints people had proved to be unwarranted. While the finish line was not dazzling, the overall event and the Expo added to the "big race" feel. Being able to run on the blue carpet was awesome and the scenery was great. Better signage and clarification on the run course would have made the race just that much better.

ITU Chicago is the host of the 2015 World Championship final in September 2015. I definitely want to go back! It was pretty awesome being a part of such a big, professional event. It was also very cool to see Javier Gomez and the rest of the pros race later that afternoon. It was an unreal experience and so exciting.