Started out in a bit of crowd. I saw white swim caps ahead of me after the first 200 yards and couldn't believe I caught that group that quickly. I hadn't! They were coming towards me. I just kept further left and sighted more often to avoid a head to head. The water was clear so I could see the people ahead and to the side of me. As a result, I was able to draft a bit. I thought the course might have been a bit long because I felt like I had a great swim, but my time didn't reflect it. Anyway, I swam to the ramp and they had great volunteers helping us out of the water.

Nothing. It was a good swim.

Run from water to transition was a bit long. The transition area was big and there were no breaks in the rows, so you had to remember what row you were in. I fortunately did. My transition went well. Took me a few extra seconds to get the wetsuit over my heels. The rows were crowded, but I didn't get stuck behind anyone in T1.

Nothing

This was my favorite bike course in an Olympic ever! The underground was great. No wind and fun. I'll take the occasional whiff of urine and sewage over wind any day of the week. There was a bit of rough road and eye adjustment from day light to underground as you go on the lower part of Columbus. But it was fun.

It was a tad bit bumpy in some places. Because of this bumpiness, I happened to eject two water bottles. I hope nobody hit them and if you want to report me for a penalty, I'll take it :) In addition, my spare tube came lose just as I got into the tunnel on my final lap. The tube wedged itself between my tire and my bike frame and brought me to a screeching halt where pedals wouldn't turn and rear wheel would not move. I lost a little over a minute as I had to loosen my wheel, unwedge the tube, put tube in my shorts, and get going again. That could have been much worse. I looked at the tire after the race and it is really worn down in the skid spot, another 5 feet and my tube would have been toast.

Due to bottle ejection, I had 0 nutrition and only 1 bottle of water. I rationed the water through the whole ride and seemed to do just fine.

Make sure spare tube is fastened in well. Also figure out how to keep water from popping out of the gorilla cages.

Long run from dismount to "bike in", then to the furthest end of transition with my bike. Sock, shoes on, grab hat, simple hydration bottle with Infinit, and race belt. I got stuck behind a slow biker exiting transition as I was heading out of my row and couldn't get around her, but that only cost me a few seconds.

Nothing

I loved the course. It was pretty congested and I was dodging some people throughout, but the run around the fountain was awesome (but a little evil since you run by the finish line 3 times before you actually get to cross it). As soon as I got on the run, I took some Infinit Napalm since I had 0 nutrition and minimal water up until that point. I then washed it down with some water. When you got to the brick part around the fountain, the temperature seemed to go up by 10 degrees and the air was still. I noticed that when watching the elite women on Saturday.

Had water from time to time to stay hydrated. I felt my gut getting a little queazy at two points. I took a salt tab and had a physical effect or a placebo effect, but either way, it worked.

I slowed down a bit on the second half to try and keep my HR in check, but at the last u turn before you get the fountain, I picked it up a bit. Once I got to the fountain for the last time, I kicked it in a bit, saw the family as I was crossing the finish line.

Walked through the athlete area, grabbed 2 bottles of water and a banana, then went to meet the wife and kids.


The screeching halt due to my tube getting wedged into my tire had about a 1 minute impact on my bike and lack of nutrition/hydration on the bike may have taken a bit of a toll on my run.


This race was awesome. For the amount of people who did this race and for this being the first time, it was excellent. Running across the finish line with the grandstands and having the hype that goes with ITU was worth the trip to Chicago. The only thing that could be done differently is doing a better job with the body marking and maybe more signage so people knew where to go.

Great race!