ITU World Triathlon Recap - PR 2:21

This past Saturday I competed at the ITU World Triathlon in Chicago. It was an amazingly fun, fast, and flat race that helped me to shave off 11 minutes from my previous time. The race was extremely spectator friendly and the back drop of the Chicago skyline couldn't have been any better. I also loved watching Gwen Jorgensen dominate the women's elite field (Go Badgers!) I had to deal with some of rain especially during checking in my bike and setting up my transition. Luckily, it was beautiful by race time.

Finish Line

The swim was right in front of Grant Park in Lake Michigan. The water was crystal clear and very calm because it was in a breaker area. Starting race waves were separated by about 20 minutes to prevent congestion on the bike course. My age group 25-30 was the largest one of the Olympic distance with 118 people and man were there some great athletes. Compared to previous races, there was a lot more congestion. I got kicked in the face and also had someone grab my ankle and kind of pull me under. I also had to body roll some people mid stroke when they started to swim completely sideways to stay above water. All in all, it was great practice for Ironman races and have everyone start at the same time. Again while I was in the water I realized this is my weakest sport out of the three and that I like it the least. Just kind of need to grin and bare it.

Swim Area

The bike was absolutely the fastest and flattest course I've ever done, I averaged 25-26 mph over 4 loops! My favorite part was when we went on Lower Wacker into the tunnels. It was like a vacuum that seemed to suck you in it and make you go even faster. By the time you turned round, you had to go up a little bit of an incline but nothing compared to IMWI. Once you exited the tunnel, we had a pretty strong head wind that slowed the entire field down around the U-turns and long straight aways. The other factor was just dealing with the size of the transition areas and trying to find your bike. At one point, I ran right past it.

Transition Zone

The run was hot and centered around Buckinham Fountain and included 3.5 loops. Compared to marathons that normally don't loop, run portions of triathlons frequently loop or overlap and make you run the same area so that is something I am having to train my brain into doing...it takes a lot of will power to keep pushing yourself knowing that you are doing the same thing over and over again. My best tactic so far has been to focus on the positive so instead of saying oh man 2.5 loops to go, I say 1 loop down. Sometimes its the little things. I still managed to have a pretty great run split but had to deal with cramping that I think was caused by gatorade during the bike so it is definitely something I need to figure out nutrition wise for the longer 70.3 & 140.6 distances because it can be a   deal breaker. Overall I ended up 33rd in my age group and 251 overall at a big race.

Finisher Certificate