Achieving a Goal - Completing the Life Time Fitness International Triathlon

Last year, as a challenge for myself, I completed in the Fleet Fleet Supersprint Triathlon.  Due to a flat tire, I wasn't able to beat my goal time, but otherwise, I had a great time.  After that race, I set a new goal for myself.  I would do the 2011 Chicago Triathlon International Distance.   With a 1500 meter swim, 40 kilometer bike, and 10 kilometer run, I knew it would be tough, but with a year to train, I was sure I could do it.  

The Swim Finish

On Sunday, I did.  Not only did I finish, I finished in 3:05:12!  My stretch goal was 3:00, so I missed that, but realistically, I thought I could do 3:15.  I was well under that. 
 
The swim was really hard.  They sent 150 people in each wave, and you swam in the marina.  For my course, you swam south along the marina wall for 350m, turned around a buoy, and then swam 1,150m north until you got to a staircase into the lake.  


At the start, you also had to get in the water and tread water for 60 seconds, surrounded by 150 testosterone laden dudes all jockeying for position.  I could barely kick to stay afloat because of all the other legs down there.  The first 750 yards were packed with people because there were two lanes of traffic.  I tried to find my own piece of water to get a rhythm, but it seemed like every 30 seconds I was getting run over from behind, bumping into someone in front of me, or getting pushed by a wave into another racer.  Once I get kicked square on the nose.  I ran into a traffic jam that was stopped by a rowboat taking a swimmer to shore.  The rowboat went straight through the race.  After the first 750, it got much better as the swimmers had a lot more room to spread out.  Overall, besides the beating from the other racers and the waves, I felt pretty good on the swim.  The wetsuit is so buoyant, you really only have to keep your arms moving to keep forward motion.  At the end of the swim, the people on the staircase reached out their arms and I grabbed hold expecting to get pulled up.  They didn't pull.  It was basically like jumping out of a pool.  I didn't enjoy that.
 
The transition area was 500 yards or so from the swim out; that is a long run in bare feet.  Once I got to my rack, my first transition was fine.  It took me a little bit to get out of the wetsuit (I really ought to practice that), but was much faster drying my feet and getting shoes on than I've been in the past.  After that, it was out on the bike.
 
The bike section was awesome.  Going north, we had a terrible headwind, but that meant going south we had an awesome tailwind.  I was going between 16-18 mph going north, but going south I was going 22+.  I managed to average 19mph for the whole 40k bike course.  Lake Shore Drive had a couple rough patches of pavement, but I was able to avoid the really bad pot holes and had no mechanical issues like last year.   Coming off the bike, I heard the Misses scream "Go!!!" so that was really cool.  
 
T2 is the easy transition, all you've got to do it drop off your bike, take off your helmet, get shoes on and GO.  But I ran down the lane in front of mine, and didn't realize it until I saw a chick in that lane.  I had to run back out that lane and into mine.  It probably cost me 20-30 seconds.  
 
Coming out of transition, I was able to see the kids and the Misses again.  The crowds in Grant Park, where the run started and ended, were incredible.  For the first kilometer of the run, there were people lined up on each side of the course, cheering and yelling.  I was getting high fives from random kids.  I really pumped me up to get out and do the run.  The run went fine, I was able to hold a real steady pace, even though I wanted to puke at mile 4 due to too much Gu and Gatorade, I was able to come in exactly at my goal time.  The Misses and the Boy had to hustle to see me at the finish, but they made it!  I was able to pick them out in the crowd after crossing the line.  I hobbled my way out of the finishing chute, and collapsed on the ground underneath a tree. Based on the race clock and my start time, I thought I had done a 3:10, but the official results came up as 3:05!  So awesome.  

It was so awesome to have The Misses, the kids, and some of my friends there.  Once we got home,  We had deep dish pizza and cookies for dinner, and crashed pretty early.


Yesterday, I was glued to the couch, with an ice pack on my ankle.  When I walked, I hobbled like an old man.  Now, less than 36 hours later, I'm planning my offseason training, and getting ready for next year.  I know I can knock off those 5 minutes and 12 seconds and get my time under 3 hours!