Everyone is lined up by their reported swim time, but it becomes obvious fairly quickly that some people don't report a real accurate time. I passed two people on the first two laps, but I swam about a minute faster than my reported time (so I guess I'm one of those people). All in all this is run about as well as they can for the pool and it worked out great, as once I passed the two people I had a clear pool in front of me.

I probably went out a little too quick. Since this was my first tri ever, I think I let the adrenalin get to me.

I went slow in the transitions intentionally. I just didn't want to make a mistake here. The changes all were quick and didn't run into any issues.

Going forward I know I can shave off time here. Just didn't want to screw up the first one.

I felt great on the bike and the course was to my liking. I bested my training pace by about 2mph, and my time ended up being about 3 minutes better than I expected. Can't speak highly enough of the traffic coordination by the Glenview police.

As with the swimming I probably went out too fast. I felt great on the bike, but my heart rate was higher than I trained at. By the time I tried to reel it back in I think the damage was done.

Again, went slow on purpose.

I have regular tie shoes, so some speed laces amongst other things would be an easy way to save some time.

I know I'm a horrible runner, but this event drove that home even harder. Within about a tenth of a mile both calves cramped up. I thought I had hydrated on the bike (18oz of Heed), but apparently it wasn't enough. I got through that at about 1 mile, but then the hill crushed me. I probably had to walk a half dozen times in the last 2 miles. I know I'm slow, but I didn't expect to be this slow and this out of gas.

I probably needed to pace myself better in the first two portions, and I just need to lose weight and improve my cardio fitness. I knew that was the case coming in, but this makes it all the more apparent.

Walked around, had a bagel and cheered on the remaining racers.


This was my first event and while I've been training for 19 weeks, I'm still not in the shape I need to be in to be reasonably competitive. I've always disliked running, but I need to commit to it and get over the hump.


This is a fantastic race for the beginner. The distances are short, the limit the number of entries to keep the field manageable, and the course is relatively easy (except for that darn hill). Everyone was very supportive and was well planned. I'm very happy I made this my first race and I can't wait to get back here next year.