The tri started with a 300m swim in the indoor pool at the University of Illinois rec center. It was a snake swim and we had to swim 50 m and then duck under the lane divider and swim back 50m and repeat. I was a bit nervous because I hadn't swam in several weeks but I think I did pretty decent and was able to hold a comfortable freestyle pace. After the swim it was heading outside and up a flight of stairs to the transition area.

I had a very quick transition. I decided against cycling shoes and just put on socks and my running shoes. Grabbed my helmet and bike and took off.

The first 5 miles I was flying. Even without cycling shoes was averaging around 18 mph. Then there was a long stretch and I tucked into the aero position and was doing around 22 mph. Then it happened. I didnt even see the pothole because it had rained the day before it it was full of water but the dang thing popped both of my tires. I kept pedaling and pulled over near a volunteer.
I didn't have a repair kit or any tubes because I figured it was just a sprint tri anyway. I waited 10 min for the road crew to come but all they had was an air pump. I made a tough decision and decided to keep riding. I had come too far to quit. I know that it might not have been the smartest thing to ride on two flats and I had 5 miles to go at that point but I did it.
My bike pace wasn't the greatest but the sad thing is if I hadn't stopped for that 10 minutes to get help my time might still have been good.

Off the bike and ditched the helmet. Very quick. Def was under a minute.

Not much to do differently. Had one of the fastest T2 times.

The course said it was a 5k but it felt more like 2.9/3. I took off because I was determined to make up for the disappointing bike. I passed a lot of people up on the run who had whizzed by me on the bike and that felt good. It was one of my fastest runs of the year.

Overall it was a fun race and next time i will be prepared for flat tires.
I'll be back next year for some revenge!


Good for a student run first year race. Can only get better.