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Accenture Chicago Triathlon
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Accenture Chicago Triathlon - TriathlonOlympic
View Member's Race Log
 Swim
Comments: Was shocked to see my husband and DOG following my progress along the wall of Monroe Harbor! I was swimming about as fast as they were walking, and they were able to cheer me on stroke by stroke! That was pretty cool. Caught a major mouthful of water at one point, and I swear it was as cold as the water I keep in the fridge! Who knew my fridge was set at 63 degrees??? (Either that, or this water was somewhat colder than the advertised 63!!) What would you do differently?: Not much... I was a little disappointed in my swim time. I wonder if it takes into account the exit and run to the transition area. The run was about .25 mile (shoeless!) Although the water was COLD, the conditions were CROWDED, and I did the best I could.  Transition 1
Comments: Decent T1. My rack was located pretty close to the entrance after the swim, and I found it right away. Off with the wetsuit, on with the helmet etc, and I was off. Ran to far away exit with bike in tow. Most of the time in T1 was spent MOVING from one end of the transition area to the other. What would you do differently?: Not much. T1 went fine. We'll talk about T2 a bit later.  Bike
Comments: LSD is in pretty bad shape, and in my opinion, needs to be resurfaced!!! There were some pretty big potholes that looked like they were filled with random huge glops of tar... Also saw some 3 inch gaps in the pavement, where it looked like the roadway had separated...? Very unusual repair work... But I didn't spend the whole time critiquing the condition of LSD... spent much of the bike leg looking at the skyline and appreciating the view of both the lake and the city! What would you do differently?: Not much. Transition 2
Comments: OMG!! Where's my stuff?? It should be right here... no wait... right here, no wait... over here... "have you seen a black Speedo transition bag? And a Revlon towel lined in lips??" (Seriously, that's my towel! it was a freebie from ULTA make up...brightly colored, never hard to find!) Transition area looked like a bomb had exploded. I could not find my bag or ANY of my stuff... Looked around.... walked my bike up and down my rack, looked around some more... considered CRYING... wasn't sure what to do... ended up racking my bike miscellaneously and running out to the run. I did not have my hat, and I did not get the chance to apply Bodyglide to my arms as they were chafing for some reason. (Went back to Transition after the race and FOUND everything about 30 feet NORTH of where I was looking... I was WAAAAAY off.) What would you do differently?: Literally everything. I think I'm going to tie a great big yellow bow around my transition spot... My husband suggested a more brightly colored transition bag... I don't know...AAAAARRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!  Run
Comments: I thought I was doing pretty well for the first 4 miles or so... For the first mile I stayed with a girl who seemed to be going about the same pace as me... Although I dropped her around mile 2. At that point I pickedd up someone else, but SHE dropped me around mile 4, when I stopped to walk through a water station. Miles 4 and 5 were generally lousy. Couldn't get feet going one in front of the next...Legs started to ache. What would you do differently?: Not sure... Maybe train longer distances MORE. Post race
Warm down: Walked around found husband, mother, father, best friend, her husband and daughter, and my dog. (Amazing all these people found each other, and then **I** found them!) We then gathered up my stuff from transition and proceeded to the last leg of the race which is... Finding parked vehicle in the underground recesses of Downtown Chicago. We walked the mile and a half back to the area where we thought the parking garage was located, but could not find a pedestrian entrance into the garage. Finally ended up punching the button and getting another parking ticket so the door would open... Then my husband, my dog and I sprinted through the door before it went back down. I kept my fingers crossed, hoping we were in the correct parking garage... Luckily, we were. And so, the race was concluded. Phew! That's what you get when suburbanites invade the city early in the morning on race day! Confusion! What limited your ability to perform faster: Seriously, I think it's my running... If I could run consistent 11 minute miles I'd feel better about myself. I don't know why it's so hard for me to perform the simple human act of running. But it is. Event comments: Great race! I loved it, despite the fact that I was pre-occupied with the location of my transition pack as well as the location of my car throughout the run leg of the race... It seemed like a fog or a dream... One minute I was waiting in line to start the swim... and before I knew it I was finishing the swim, biking LSD, and finally exiting out to the run... I got a bit teary around the finish line. I don't know if it was tears of relief... knowing now that my gastro-intestinal issues should be resolvesd... tears of joy, knowing I set a goal and reached it, or tears of actual pain, because my legs felt really pretty crappy. I don't know... I was happy happy happy, though, and I'm still happy now!!! I wore my shiny new race shirt to bed last night, and will probably wear it again tonight as well!! :) Feeling fine! Last updated: 2004-05-17 12:00 AM
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 2004-08-30 3:52 PM |
Champion  5495    Whizzzzzlandia Silver member |  Subject: Accenture Chicago Triathlon |
| 2004-08-30 4:34 PM in reply to: #55374 |
Expert 1836  Lafayette, CO | Subject: RE: Accenture Chicago Triathlon Way to go, Whiz! You did awesome! Maybe you need a rubber ducky for your transition area? |
| 2004-08-30 5:02 PM in reply to: #55391 |
Champion 5495 Whizzzzzlandia Silver member | Subject: RE: Accenture Chicago Triathlon I needed a drink by the time that was over! Ugh! (And I'm not talking GATORADE!) |
| 2004-08-30 5:24 PM in reply to: #55374 |
| Member 96 | Subject: RE: Accenture Chicago Triathlon I think that anybody could get disorientated by transition area. Luckly for me, mine was easy to find. It was somewhere south of Gary, IN. Congratulations on finishing the race. Everybody I have talked too about this race said how difficult the conditions were. |
Seriously, despite the poor day I had, I do think this is a great race. The run course is just awesome. I saw the race photographer on the course in about the same place as last year. With any luck, he will have similar pictures to last year. (Great picture of you running with the Sears Tower in the background.)| 2004-08-30 5:32 PM in reply to: #55374 |
Expert 803 MD | Subject: RE: Accenture Chicago Triathlon |
| 2004-08-30 5:33 PM in reply to: #55374 |
Elite 4344 | Subject: RE: Accenture Chicago Triathlon Thanks for including all 6 events in your report. Great job. |
| 2004-08-30 9:11 PM in reply to: #55374 |
Regular 135 Romeoville, IL | Subject: RE: Accenture Chicago Triathlon Whoo Hooo!!! great job! Now you've seen where I train (although I don't swim in Monroe Harbor!) A bunch of my Uchicago buddies did the race and complained about headwinds too. You Kicked Ass! Hopefully I'll be there next year. Katie |
| 2004-08-30 9:57 PM in reply to: #55374 |
| NW Suburbs of Chicago | Subject: RE: Accenture Chicago Triathlon Whizzer, Congratulations on your finish. We did it! I agree it was a race with verrry tough conditions. I cried too at the end of the race for some reason - I think tears of relief. My season is now done and am looking forward to some time off for a few months. Enjoy your memory. See you next season! Lori |
| 2004-08-30 10:12 PM in reply to: #55374 |
Master 1661 Newbury Park, CA | Subject: RE: Accenture Chicago Triathlon Sounds like all the BTers did great at Chicago. Congrats! Any advice for doing a tri with that many people. My previous races were just over 1000 people each, but I will be doing the Los Angeles Triathlon in two weeks. There should be 3000 or so people there. What would you do different than at smaller races? How nuts is the swim? I've been stuck bouncing off of bodies for the whole thing before and i know that kills your energy. Is there room to go outside or *gulp* fall back a little bit? LA starts at the beach but finishes downtown, the bike and run course shouldn't be as crowded as it isn't a loop (I'm hoping it won't be as crowded). I am worried about finding my stuff at T2 when I will never have been there. You give them a bag and they put it somewhere (somewhere logical - probably not). Congrats again!! |
| 2004-08-31 8:01 AM in reply to: #55374 |
| Champion 8903 | Subject: RE: Accenture Chicago Triathlon Way top go Laura! Such a great race and wonderful report too, you should be very proud of the accomplishment! All those little details, the good ones and the bad, will be the fun memories in a few years. I can see you laughing about the T2 adventure, stuff like that makes doing a Tri so much fun! We're all proud of you! Edited by max 2004-08-31 8:01 AM |
| 2004-08-31 9:04 AM in reply to: #55374 |
Expert 770 acton, Ma | Subject: RE: Accenture Chicago Triathlon What a great race and a great report! You must be so proud of yourself. Way to go! |
| 2004-08-31 9:38 AM in reply to: #55472 |
Champion 5495 Whizzzzzlandia Silver member | Subject: RE: Accenture Chicago Triathlon Hopefully I will be too! With a better parking plan. I tell you, it was scary!  |
| 2004-08-31 9:49 AM in reply to: #55374 |
Master 2447 Marietta, Ga | Subject: RE: Accenture Chicago Triathlon They don't call you the Whiz for nothing. Your times were great! Congratulations on a great race. Regarding the transition area, here are some tips that may make locating your stuff easier. I always try to practice the run off of the swim up to T1 so I can find my stuff from that vantage point. Getting that perspective will always help. Same with T2, I try to find the bike entrance and orient myself to my gear. Secondly, I keep a very bightly colored neon orange towel up on the rack. In T1, it is resting on top of my bike seat. When I leave for the bike, I put the towel over the rack so when I come in for T2, I can easily find my stuff. Last weekend, I saw people with baloons tied to their racks. I've also heard of folks using those go-kart flags. |
| 2004-08-31 10:25 AM in reply to: #55419 |
Champion 5495 Whizzzzzlandia Silver member | Subject: RE: Accenture Chicago Triathlon REST REST REST REST REST!!!! I'm resting! I've been training hard since March... I'm resting until the Indoor Triathlon at the gym...(!) I'll still swim/bike/run... but without the fervor and intensity... I'd like to relax a bit!!! |
| 2004-08-31 10:34 AM in reply to: #55600 |
Champion 5495 Whizzzzzlandia Silver member | Subject: RE: Accenture Chicago Triathlon I think that was definitely a problem here... Transition organization... I started out great... T1... everything was all set up and ready to go... but when I removed my wetsuit, got my bike, etc etc... I found myself flinging things left and right, and although I had a brightly colored towel with me, it was later found underneath my bag, on the ground, and not placed on top of the rack...I was in a transitional frenzy, and literally did not have the wherewithall to control myself and stop myself from scattering my stuff around. I'm sure I was shaking/nervous. I'm not usually this big of a bag of nerves.... This race really got into my head for some reason. (!?) Next year I will have a much better plan... No longer dealing with the Olympic unknown. |
| 2004-08-31 12:41 PM in reply to: #55627 |
| Regular 92 Minneapolis | Subject: RE: Accenture Chicago Triathlon I LOVE IT! Way to go, girl... I'm originally a western suburbs of Chicago girl, and I totally appreciate the just-about-getting-lost moments of your commentary. Sounds like you had a wonderful time in a tough race—that's awesome! Keep up the good work! |
| 2004-08-31 10:10 PM in reply to: #55374 |
Master 1946 Bronze member | Subject: RE: Accenture Chicago Triathlon great race report-sounds like the whole experience was...memorable...!! Good for you!!!! |
| 2004-08-31 10:48 PM in reply to: #55498 |
Master 1927 Chicago | Subject: RE: Accenture Chicago Triathlon PGoldberger - 2004-08-30 8:12 PM My previous races were just over 1000 people each, but I will be doing the Los Angeles Triathlon in two weeks. There should be 3000 or so people there. What would you do different than at smaller races? !! PG, not to get off thread. But I just did a tri with 3500 participants. They broke us up by age group and we went in waves of 100 on the swim. For my I swam on the far outside the side that's diagonal from the first buoy. I avoided the pack and swam around them catching up to waves in front of me. I also had a bright red towel that I placed on my bike seat so I could find my bike at the transition area. Some girls had balloons or things attached to their bike rack to let them know where it was. Just some tips. Oh and Whiz, you know you rock! |
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Age Group = 30-34
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The Chicago Triathlon is actually a 6 event race. 2 events take place BEFORE the 3 event triathlon, and the last event takes place afterwards... I'll detail the events in their entirety:
The first event is the "Waking of family and driving to race" event. This occurs in the middle of the night, usually pre-3:30 am, and in this case pre 3am. Loaded husband and dog into car and we took off pointed in the direction of Chicago. All went well, traffic was light and as you can imagine, the streets are virtually deserted at 3:30am.
The second event is called "Car parking and race finding"... unfortunately I didn't train very well in this event. Once we found ourselves in the heart of downtown Chicago, we consulted some sketchy parking garage directions provided by my brother-in-law. We wound up in the bowels of the city, amongst the pigeons and homeless. We parked the car in a deserted parking garage, and took off eastward, in the direction of the lake, hoping to find others pushing bikes in the same direction.
The trip to the lakefront wound up being about a mile and a half walk. I have taken the liberty to consider this my pre-race warmup. (!!!)
As per above! I ate a PBJ sandwich on the ride into the city, around 3:30 am. Ate a Powerbar Harvest bar around 7:30, and had a quick Power Gel around 8am. Did some general stretching from 6:15 to 8:15 (my wave start time.) Yes, my event warm up largely involves eating... and walking and driving, I suppose.