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South Shore Tri - Triathlon


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Chicago, Illinois
United States
RAM Racing
Precipitation
Total Time = 1h 23m 5s
Overall Rank = /
Age Group =
Age Group Rank = 0/
Pre-race routine:

Packed the car in the pouring rain. Drank some water.
Event warmup:

Parked, had trouble getting air into my tires, and walked over to the transition. It was pouring. Got my chip and got body marked (neither thing was mentioned on the website and there was no information in the race bag). Michael came with me and braved the rain.

A girl asked if she could rack next to me and it ended up being a girl I know from volunteering! That was great and I hung with her until we went into our own swim waves.
Swim
  • 10m 16s
  • 500 yards
  • 02m 03s / 100 yards
Comments:

This was bizarre. Water was so shallow we all ran for awhile before swimming and that raised my heart rate. Lots of people ran the entire swim. I swam it all but it was tough with people running through the water. Then there was the long run through the water again to get out. Blah. Was supposed to be 800 meters but I guess the city puts the buoys out. Not sure exactly how long the swim was. Could have been shorter than the 500 yards I recorded.

On the bottom waving in the blue top.
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What would you do differently?:

Start swimming earlier and not run in the shallow water? I donno.
Transition 1
  • 00m
Comments:

Not very fast but I was glad I put my gear in a garbage bag and my sneakers stayed dry. Took off my yellow swim cap and stuck it on the end of the bike rack so I could find my stuff in T2. I don't know where transition time was lumped. Maybe with the bike? Wish this had been broken out. I never bother to time this stuff with my watch.
Bike
  • 41m 11s
  • 11 miles
  • 16.03 mile/hr
Comments:

Ah, nice and flat Lake Shore Drive. Such a different from all the "hills" and turns of my last triathlon in the burbs. took a gel halfway through the ride. It's possible transition times are lumped with this. Might be the case as I think I went faster than this.

I saw Ronald McDonald walking in a park while I was cycling. Wut?

White top.
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What would you do differently?:

Go clipless. Must do this next year.
Transition 2
  • 00m
What would you do differently?:

Felt pretty fast. Found my spot right away since I was racked on the end and spotted the swim cap I stuck on the rack.
Run
  • 31m 39s
  • 3.11 miles
  • 10m 11s  min/mile
Comments:

I started out and felt pretty great. I usually time the run with my watch, but not the rest of the race. I started my watch about 40 seconds or so into the run by accident. I hit 11 or 12 minutes and didn't see a mile marker. Wasn't sure how fast I was going but figured maybe there was no marker. Then I didn't see a mile 2 marker. Would have loved to know how fast I was going.

It wasn't sunny or too hot but I was going to take a hit of water or Gatorade when I came to the aid table. Um where's the table? At one point I see a table all the way on the other side of the street on the other sidewalk. Figure maybe it's for the super sprint or the kids tri.

Finally when I can practically see the finish line I see people giving out a colored sports drink in a BOTTLE. Some people took it, took the cap off, took a swig and threw it on the ground. Who's idea was this?

I slowed a bit on the finish but I felt good. Was pretty happy with my pacing.

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What would you do differently?:

I bet I could have gone harder.
Post race
Warm down:

Saw a girl the know from volunteering and hung with her and Michael for a bit. She finished right before me. Had a hot dog at 9:30 am. They had cheetos (ha) and chips after the race too. Gave the chips to Michael.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

People running near me in the water. Need to go clipless. Possibly could have paced better if there were mile markers.

Event comments:

I had a good time and felt good today. I would do this again but would not expect much. There was no info in the race packet. No mention of the chip on the web site. There were no signs in the transition about where to set up bikes (luckily I was on the end and used my swim cap as something to spot.) The race number for the bike was not waterproof and many disintegrated. Mine never even made it to the bike portion of the race! Swim was WAY short and we didn't know ahead of time that it would be so shallow. Seems they knew it would be as afterward on the racing company's facebook they said it had to be short since there was a kid's race. Would have been nice to know this ahead of time when you're paying $100 or whatever for a race. No water/Gatorade on the run course (other than right at the start when you left T2) due to a misplaced table (yeah that table I saw while running was apparently set up on the wrong side) and I would have loved some mile markers on the run.












Last updated: 2010-06-15 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:10:16 | 500 yards | 02m 03s / 100yards
Age Group: 0/
Overall: 0/
Performance: Below average
Suit: Xterra Vortex
Course:
Start type: Plus:
Water temp: 0F / 0C Current:
200M Perf. Remainder:
Breathing: Drafting:
Waves: Navigation:
Rounding:
T1
Time: 00:00
Performance: Average
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
Wetsuit stuck? Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike:
Getting up to speed:
Biking
00:41:11 | 11 miles | 16.03 mile/hr
Age Group: 0/
Overall: 0/
Performance: Good
Wind:
Course:
Road: Smooth  Cadence:
Turns: Cornering:
Gear changes: Hills:
Race pace: Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 00:00
Overall: Good
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike
Running with bike
Racking bike
Shoe and helmet removal
Running
00:31:39 | 03.11 miles | 10m 11s  min/mile
Age Group: 0/
Overall: 0/
Performance:
Course:
Keeping cool Good Drinking
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 4
Physical exertion [1-5] 4
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? No
Events on-time?
Lots of volunteers?
Plenty of drinks? No
Post race activities: Average
Race evaluation [1-5] 3

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2010-08-04 12:21 PM

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Veteran
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Chicago
Subject: South Shore Tri


2010-08-04 12:41 PM
in reply to: #3023177

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Extreme Veteran
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Chicago
Subject: RE: South Shore Tri

Way to overcome all of the elements/obstacles and still have a good race.  I think we all felt the same way on the swim as it was quite frustrating as I too ran into water joggers constantly.
I also hear you on lack of water on the run. 
I think that the T1 time was grouped in with our bike time and I am guessing that the T2 time was as well.  I remember a timing mat at the beginning of T1 when I came in from the swim and one when I left for the run. But I cannot remember if I ran over a timing mat while biking.

Nice race and RR though! I enjoyed reading it.

2010-08-05 8:41 AM
in reply to: #3023177

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Expert
1694
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Illinois
Subject: RE: South Shore Tri
Great job Lauren, it sounds like there were some unusual aspects to this race, but you worked through them. That would be bizarre having people running in the water while you were trying to swim.  And Gatorade in a bottle?
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