Triathlon - Accenture Chicago Triathlon - Who's doing it?

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msu2001la
08-21-08, 08:34 AM
I am. :thumb:
First tri too. I'm doing the Sprint distance this Sunday (.75k swim /22k bike /5k run)

I'm pretty pumped up too,and I've been training pretty hard for it. I've read all the horror stories about getting kicked around in the swim (literally) and one of my co-workers was just telling me that someone freaked out during her swim last year and grabbed on to her. :lol: I also have been told to expect a long run from the water to T1, on concrete no less.

The only OW swimming I've done is enough to try out my wetsuit a few times at the beach, but I know that it's mostly mental so I'm trying to psyche myself up. I'm a pretty strong pool swimmer, so I know I have the physical ability to get through it, I'm just hoping to hang back a little and avoid major carnage at the start. I figure even if I gas myself on the swim, I can recover a little on the bike and then hopefully have enough left for the run.

So, any Chicago tri veterans have any last minute tips you want to share?

msu2001la
08-25-08, 07:50 AM
Well, I did pretty well and had a ton of fun:

.75k Swim: 00:17:21
T1: 00:03:24
20K Bike: 00:40:35
T2: 00:01:53
5k Run: 00:25:01

Total Time: 01:28:17

My total time ranked me 243 of 2050. 31 of 190 in my class. I'm very happy with those results for my first tri. I will try to improve on the times a little for the next one, as I still had some left in the tank at the end. (I'm also thinking about the Olympic distance for next year already...)

I had a ton of fun, and the swim wasn't as bad as I had imagined. Pretty nutty at the start, but once the field settled down and I got into a rhythm, it went pretty smoothly. T1 included a 400m-500m run from the swim to the transition area mostly on asphalt, which sucked... but I was so happy to be out of the water that I didn't care.

In hindsight, swimming in open water the few times I did (with the remainder of my training in a pool) was enough to prepare me. I'm not sure you can really train for the challenge that other swimmers present, and as long as you're comfortable swimming in dark water with waves, it isn't all that bad.