Chicago Triathlon - done!

Today was just a beautiful day for the Chicago Triathlon. Water was a bit cold (60 degrees) but the rest of the event was cool and sunny. I was told beforehand that the first 1/4 mile of the swim would be crazy with everyone kicking you and bumping...boy we're they right! Thankfully after that it opened up nicely and the swim went very well. On the bike, the only problem was the 15 mph winds in your face for half of the 40k. Of course, the other half was nice with 15mph winds at your back! The run was nice and flat, albeit windy for the last half of the 10k. The most interesting thing was that I had to drop off my bike at transition around 5:30am, but then my wave for the swim wasn't until 9:20am. Needless to say, I went back to my car and slept until 7:30am. My times weren't anything spectacular, but I'm satisfied for my first Olympic distance triathlon. I'd put new tires and new aero bars on my bike, and I think they really helped. I was very happy with my bike time, although I wish I trained more in the position over the aero bars...my back and shoulder's got pretty stiff. You can see my times here.

Taper and long runs?

Well, this week sure should be a strange one...I'm supposed to be doing taper for the Chicago Triathlon, while still training for the Chicago Marathon. I had a 16 mile run this weekend, coupled with 2 hockey games...well, let's just say my legs are a bit stiff. However, they are less stiff than I thought they'd be, so I'm pretty happy! My only worry is my left foot is very sore on the top. I think I took a slap shot off my foot in one of the hockey games -- it's the only thing I can figure. I'm going to have to basically not run this week and let it heal. My only other issue is I think I've gotten wax build up in my ear due to all the swimming, so it's like I have a perpetual head-cold, without the feeling bad side effects. Time to go invest in some ear cleaner fluid or something.

Anyway, I'm excited about the Triathlon this weekend...looking forward to using my new wetsuit in a race for the first time vs just training. I just hope it's not windy, since I hate riding the bike in the wind. Cold or hot is fine. Just no wind.

Lake Michigan swim training

Well, after my hockey game this morning, I headed down to Ohio street beach and took my first training swim in Lake Michigan. I wore the wet suit, but truthfully I probably didn't need it. However, it definitly helped once I got out a bit and the waves started rolling in. I did a nice easy 1 mile swim. Not too crowded, so passed 4 or 5 people and just had one guy pass me at the end. Worst part was the parking costs...forgot that weekend they don't have hourly rates, but just one flat rate for the entire day! Doh!

Sprint Tri is done!

It's been a while since I posted. Last weekend I completed my 4th Naperville Sprint Triathlon. I was really happy with my swim time -- taking 1:15 off my previous time, which was great. I also changed my transition to not wear socks, in either the bike or the run. That helped shave between 1-2 minutes of my transition times. However, the bike and run weren't better than previous attempts. It was quite windy on parts of the bike, and for some reason that always effects me. During the run I'll admit I just took it easy and didn't push myself. Overall I still beat last year's time so it's a PR for me, but only by about 30 seconds.

Next up is the Chicago Triathlon at the end of the month. I finally bought a wetsuit, since I'm nervous Lake Michigan will be quite cold due to our abnormally low temperature summer in Chicago. I've gotten very comfortable swimming a mile at a time, and I've upped my biking to 25+ miles/each attempt. Running is no issue since I'm up to 13-15 miles as I train for the Marathon, so the 10k at the Tri should be fine. I'll mostly focus on transition training, so as to get used to the swim-to-bike and bike-to-run workouts. Truthfully my biggest worry is whether I can put in the long runs to prepare for my 5th Chicago Marathon in October. We'll see!