Well, this blog has been dormant for quite some time and I figured that there would be no better way to resurrect the site than with a report of my most recent race this past weekend - the Chicago Triathlon.
The morning started off as all others have in years past with an excessively early alarm at 3:45 to get to the transition zone before the crack of dawn. I arrived at the transition area and amid all of the hustle and bustle of people arriving.
I got my transition area set-up and was chatting with a couple of people around me. Most were participating in one of their first couple of triathlons and doing several in a summer was a foreign concept to them. I just soaked in the surroundings and let them take care of some of their nervous energy. I saw one of them again just prior to getting in the water and then again during the first transition. At 5:45 when transition closed I made my way over to the start and found a nice piece of grass to relax on for the next 2.5 hours.
The day was shaping up to be perfect, temperature forecast was perfect in the mid 70's but the wind was picking up from the north and was starting to kick up the water. It was much nicer to wait for the race to start with cool temps than the hot weather from the prior years.
Finally after waiting for the time to start I was finally able to line up in the corral and join the other masses of people getting ready to start the race. Wetsuit and swim cap on, and then off into the water.
Here is wave 38 getting ready for the gun to go off. It doesn't really look like that many people, but apparently there were around 150 people treading water with yellow caps on just waiting. As more and more people jumped into the water a current developed and pulled everyone towards the buoy. I tried to find some room and waited.
Shortly after getting in the water the gun fired and the race began. I'm somewhere back a couple of rows behind the front. A couple of seconds after this shot I got a foot to the face that partially dislodged my goggles, a quick readjustment and I was off again.
The swim south towards the turn around was great, between the current generated by all of the swimmers and the north wind propelling us southwards we were flying. I reached the buoy much faster than I can ever remember. However, as soon as I turned around and started to head north I could feel the north wind. From the buoy all the way north to the exit it was a battle against the wind and people. I can't remember seeing so many people brutalized by the wind and the water. Evan caught a great picture of the wind kicking up the water as I was swimming through trying to battle the current and the waves.
Honestly, while the swim took a little extra effort and was a little longer than expected, the swim wasn't really that bad. I have been swimming in open water all summer in all sorts of conditions and a little extra current and waves didn't really bother me at all in terms of comfort. It just goes to show that training and practice really can make a big difference. Finally after around 32 minutes I finally was out of the water, with a long run to transition my time for the swim was 34:11 good for 545/3321 for the international distance.
As I headed out on the bike I knew that I was going to be in for a special treat on the bike. The wind was blowing hard from the north and as soon as I made my way up to lake short drive I could feel the wind howling and blasting at us. I battled the wind all the way up to the north turn around at Foster and noticed that I was close to holding around 20mph the entire way up but it took a while for my HR to settle. I turned south and then took advantage of the wind at my back. At times I was moving around 28 MPH and really enjoying the time out on the bike. Below is a shot of my pacing on the bike, its evident the areas where I was going north fighting the wind and south with the wind at my back.
I was out on the bike course in the middle of the day and it was crowded. I was passing people many of whom couldn't quite figure out that if they weren't the fastest people out there that they needed to stay to the left. Anyway it made for some interesting passes and tight areas on the course. After 1:11:28 and averaging 21.1 mph on the bike I was done finishing 355/3321
I quickly moved through T2 realizing that my initial goal of breaking 2:30 wasn't going to happen because of the battle with the wind but I still had great aspirations. Over the past year I had been training with a power meter. While on the bike I was watching my HR, my speed, and my power with a general idea of where I should be in order to give myself a chance for a good run. One of the biggest battles that I have fought ever since starting triathlons was figuring out how to be a runner and how to not totally implode during the run. I have thrown together great starts to races with a great swim, a fantastic ride only to have everything completely fall apart on the run. Take last year's chicago triathlon for example, a great ride of 109:22 and then a complete disaster of a run. This year I wanted to see if things would work out a little differently.
I started the run and felt great, my legs felt fresh and I was moving, quickly out of transition and I started to pass people. Just over a mile and I made the turn around the Shedd Aquarium and Evan captured this great picture of me running with the Chicago skyline in the background.
I continued my journey south and my legs still felt great. Of course I knew that I had a nice wind pushing me as I headed south to the turn around at 3.5 miles. My first 3 mile splits were 7:41, 7:38, and 7:45. After the north winds started to have their impact the splits slowed a little.
I came back to the Shedd, where evan caught another picture of me and made the final push to the finish line averaging 7:00 min/mile for the last .2 miles of the run to finish in 48:02 with a 7:44 min/mile pace and finishing 387/3321 finishers. The run turned out to by my fastest 10K split in a triathlon. It has taken me several years of racing in all distances but the extra running this year has clearly made a difference and I feel as if I raced from start to finish and put together a great race without any regrets.
With an overall time of 2:40:12 it was good enough for a 49/403 place in my age group and 304/3321 of all finishers for the international distance which is good for a finish in the top 9.2% of all competitors.
Despite not meeting my original ideal time goal, I was extremely excited with my overall performance, especially the run. Compared to last year, when my run pacing was nearly 2 min/mile slower and finished 1100/3859 I was very pleased to have such a strong run that felt really good.
So with that race, the 2011 triathlon season comes to a close. The main goal of the season this year was to get faster on the run and I think that I have accomplished that task. In July, I was able to average 7:57 for the 10K and now for this race I took another 13 seconds per mile off for a pace of 7:44 min/mile. Next up a short rest and recovery before the training continues for the 3rd half marathon of the year - the Las Vegas half marathon in December. The goal is to continue the run training and continue to build upon what I have been able to do this year.
Until next time, hopefully it won't be so long.
