Post by psquared on Sept 1, 2009 13:57:49 GMT -5
I wanted to do a little recap of my third Oly in Chicago this past weekend. Around 9500 total were signed up for this event. I cant wait to hear the recaps from the IM peeps.
This year I really wanted to knock some time off of last year. I had a much better plan and lost about 22lbs from last year. That helps right there. Still a Clydesdale though.
My wife and I got in about Noon on Saturday. Headed to the expo to pick up the race packet. I was able to walk through and not buy any unnecessary items that would just mess me up for Sunday. I did do that the last two years. I really only made one pass through and headed to the hotel room. My mistake the last two years was that I did so much walking on Saturday, It really hurt me the next day. I just kicked up the feet and hung out. It was also nice since we left the 3 chicklets behind.
I did a really good job of hydrating because I really ran out of gas after the bike last year. I made sure everything was in order for the transition open at 4:14am. No major issues while getting stuff together and I remembered everything I needed and did not have to scramble around to find anything.
I was in line at 4am for transition. My wave rack was right after you crossed the mat from the swim. The mat for T1 was about 450 yards from the swim exit. This helped because I am a little woozy getting out of the water. I got a nice spot on the end and was set up in about 10 minutes. I walked backwards from the bike out to make sure I had a good plan finding my spot off the bike. I have never seen so many balloons. I think it was probably harder for people since all the balloons seemed the same. I headed back to the hotel since my wave did not start until 8:40am. I was feeling very comfortable.
After a little nap and food, we headed down to the start. As we were walking over, the wind was really blowing hard. It was about 57 degrees still around 7:30am. The official temp I heard for the water was 63 degrees. I was starting to feel uneasy because I figured the lake was going to be a little rough. We got up the the starting area and it has some good chop in it. Open water has been my downfall so far. I have a hard time keeping my HR down and that kills everything. I was focusing on breathing easy. Last year it was so high that i spent most of my time on my back and breast stroke.
we lined up and the announcer started in on every Clydesdale/big person joke he could think of. We for some reason do get the loudest cheer though. I jumped in and did a quick water tread. My HR was suprisingly low still. I kept focusing on breathing easy. The gun went off and I was off. it was pretty cold on my face, but had the wettie on. I did more practicing in it so that made a big difference. I got into a nice pace for me. My wife was able to stay with me as you can see almost the whole swim. She was taking pictures because I am doing a presentation at my work from the event ( I run a retirement community and the residents that live there were really interested in this). I was passing people and feeling very comfortable. Only did the breast stroke a few times when someone went over me or to sight. My HR never got out of control. I got out of the water and did fall down or need much help from the volunteers. I started running towards transition and felt better than ever. I crossed the mat at 40 flat. My T1 was 2:25. No real issues there.
I headed out on the bike up Lake Shore Dr. There was a little hill that you had to go up at the very begining. As soon as we got to the top, the wind was hard. Not really sure how hard but maybe 20 mi/hr? Felt like it anyway. The bike was really nice. I was passing a good amount of people. The only issue was that you ride on the left and pass on the right because we had two of the 4 lanes on Lake shore. A lot of people stayed on the right and really clogged up the the passing lane. It was just annoying. I am sure it was an issue for the Pros. They went off after all of us. I did hear there was a pretty big wipe out with 2 pros but not sure how accurate.
I really kept a nice pace and stayed hydrated. This year I did have a garmin 305 and that helped me with my cadence and not wasting as much energy. I got off the bike at 1:18:58. I got off my bike and tried to remember my route. I only over shot it by one rack. No harm done. The T2 was 2:51.
The last two years the run really killed me. I was dehydrated and really cramped up. Walking a good part of the way. When I started out I felt good. but, had to pee. There were port a johns about 1/4 mile into the run. I could not resist. Figured that would not make a huge difference. No line and I was in and out. The run was windy and it did feel like it really warmed up. I made sure that I took water at every station and only popped a couple of blocks. That seemed like enough. The run is really a great view of the water and had a pretty good amount of fans. I started to feel a twinge in my righ quad but it went away after a couple of minutes. I tried to finish strong. It was still tough for me. I did the run in 1:04:52.
I knew that I had done it faster than last year. When I saw my wife she gave me a hug and she looked worried. I asked her what was wrong. She said that after I turned around the buoy to head back, she lost me. She had been cheering, screaming, and taking pictures of someone else. The cool thing was that I was a lot further along than this guy. I am sure this guy wanted to say shut up since you can hear everyone yelling.
These times may not impress anyone here, but I really improved from last year. I took 16 minutes off of my swim, 9 minutes off my bike, and 12 minutes off my run. I know I could have gone faster but I could not be happier.
Thanks for reading and really owe a lot to this forum. I read it daily for motivation, tips and laughs. I am getting ready to sign up for the HalfRev. Cant wait.
This year I really wanted to knock some time off of last year. I had a much better plan and lost about 22lbs from last year. That helps right there. Still a Clydesdale though.
My wife and I got in about Noon on Saturday. Headed to the expo to pick up the race packet. I was able to walk through and not buy any unnecessary items that would just mess me up for Sunday. I did do that the last two years. I really only made one pass through and headed to the hotel room. My mistake the last two years was that I did so much walking on Saturday, It really hurt me the next day. I just kicked up the feet and hung out. It was also nice since we left the 3 chicklets behind.
I did a really good job of hydrating because I really ran out of gas after the bike last year. I made sure everything was in order for the transition open at 4:14am. No major issues while getting stuff together and I remembered everything I needed and did not have to scramble around to find anything.
I was in line at 4am for transition. My wave rack was right after you crossed the mat from the swim. The mat for T1 was about 450 yards from the swim exit. This helped because I am a little woozy getting out of the water. I got a nice spot on the end and was set up in about 10 minutes. I walked backwards from the bike out to make sure I had a good plan finding my spot off the bike. I have never seen so many balloons. I think it was probably harder for people since all the balloons seemed the same. I headed back to the hotel since my wave did not start until 8:40am. I was feeling very comfortable.
After a little nap and food, we headed down to the start. As we were walking over, the wind was really blowing hard. It was about 57 degrees still around 7:30am. The official temp I heard for the water was 63 degrees. I was starting to feel uneasy because I figured the lake was going to be a little rough. We got up the the starting area and it has some good chop in it. Open water has been my downfall so far. I have a hard time keeping my HR down and that kills everything. I was focusing on breathing easy. Last year it was so high that i spent most of my time on my back and breast stroke.
we lined up and the announcer started in on every Clydesdale/big person joke he could think of. We for some reason do get the loudest cheer though. I jumped in and did a quick water tread. My HR was suprisingly low still. I kept focusing on breathing easy. The gun went off and I was off. it was pretty cold on my face, but had the wettie on. I did more practicing in it so that made a big difference. I got into a nice pace for me. My wife was able to stay with me as you can see almost the whole swim. She was taking pictures because I am doing a presentation at my work from the event ( I run a retirement community and the residents that live there were really interested in this). I was passing people and feeling very comfortable. Only did the breast stroke a few times when someone went over me or to sight. My HR never got out of control. I got out of the water and did fall down or need much help from the volunteers. I started running towards transition and felt better than ever. I crossed the mat at 40 flat. My T1 was 2:25. No real issues there.
I headed out on the bike up Lake Shore Dr. There was a little hill that you had to go up at the very begining. As soon as we got to the top, the wind was hard. Not really sure how hard but maybe 20 mi/hr? Felt like it anyway. The bike was really nice. I was passing a good amount of people. The only issue was that you ride on the left and pass on the right because we had two of the 4 lanes on Lake shore. A lot of people stayed on the right and really clogged up the the passing lane. It was just annoying. I am sure it was an issue for the Pros. They went off after all of us. I did hear there was a pretty big wipe out with 2 pros but not sure how accurate.
I really kept a nice pace and stayed hydrated. This year I did have a garmin 305 and that helped me with my cadence and not wasting as much energy. I got off the bike at 1:18:58. I got off my bike and tried to remember my route. I only over shot it by one rack. No harm done. The T2 was 2:51.
The last two years the run really killed me. I was dehydrated and really cramped up. Walking a good part of the way. When I started out I felt good. but, had to pee. There were port a johns about 1/4 mile into the run. I could not resist. Figured that would not make a huge difference. No line and I was in and out. The run was windy and it did feel like it really warmed up. I made sure that I took water at every station and only popped a couple of blocks. That seemed like enough. The run is really a great view of the water and had a pretty good amount of fans. I started to feel a twinge in my righ quad but it went away after a couple of minutes. I tried to finish strong. It was still tough for me. I did the run in 1:04:52.
I knew that I had done it faster than last year. When I saw my wife she gave me a hug and she looked worried. I asked her what was wrong. She said that after I turned around the buoy to head back, she lost me. She had been cheering, screaming, and taking pictures of someone else. The cool thing was that I was a lot further along than this guy. I am sure this guy wanted to say shut up since you can hear everyone yelling.
These times may not impress anyone here, but I really improved from last year. I took 16 minutes off of my swim, 9 minutes off my bike, and 12 minutes off my run. I know I could have gone faster but I could not be happier.
Thanks for reading and really owe a lot to this forum. I read it daily for motivation, tips and laughs. I am getting ready to sign up for the HalfRev. Cant wait.
