Accenture Triathlon Race Report (A week later!)

[Syndirelah]

So I'm finally getting around to writing about my FIRST oly tri-- Accenture in Chicago! This was my third triathlon and my first olympic distance. I had been looking forward to it all summer!

Anyway, my roommate (from Team in Training) and I got to transition nice and early at 4:15am, set up transition, and headed back to the hotel to watch a little TV to kill time before my 9:20AM start.

The Swim: I was a little nervous because my wave included Females 20-24, males 20-24, and males 30-34! And I'll tell you, it. was. physical. (just before the start whistle, I glanced around and saw I was in the middle of a pack of guys and thought... uh oh...). But thankfully I had lots of practice in open water and I felt in control and comfortable despite getting bumped quite a bit. It felt like a LONG swim, comparatively to the other sprints, and I was glad to get out of the water! I glanced at my watch and was out of the water around 28:30 before the quarter mile run to transition.

T1: Wow, it was crowded! Getting out of the wetsuit was OK, just tried to get on socks/shoes as fast as possible and had a looong run to bike out.

Bike: Oh why, why WHY must I live in the Windy City... what a horrrrrible head wind! And Lake Shore Drive was FULL of pot holes... I saw so many people on the side of the road with flats, and felt bad for all of them. (this race is notorious for pot holes along the bike). I played it safe, slowing a bit before them, but still got bounced out of the saddle a couple times. Spent most of the bike down in the drops, trying to stay out of the wind. The male 30-34 age-groupers were behind my wave, and I got smoked by more than a few disc-wheeled-aero-helmet guys! Noooo! All in all, I felt lucky to get off the course without a flat.

T2: Bike rack was a mess, just put my bike wherever it fit and put on shoes as fast as possible, ate a few Powerbar Cola shot block things and headed out.

Run: Oh. My. Legs. First half a mile was torture but it all went away when I saw my twin brother cheering me on!!!!! That was the BEST part of my race!!!! I gave him a quick high five and kept on moving. It was slightly demoralizing to have all the male age groupers constantly passing me, and I had no idea where I was within my wave. But I just reminded myself to stay in control of my race, to maintain my pace when I felt winded, and push when I could push. The last mile was... emotional... to say the least! The best feeling in the world is turning that last corner, and having the crowd on both sides of the street cheer you on to the finish.

My times:

Swim (.93 mile): 30:45
T1: 3.05
Bike (25 miles): 1:19.48 (18.6 mph)
T2: 2.32
Run: 56.59 (9:11/mile) (say what?! A full minute faster than my last 10K in June!!!!)
Overall time: 2:53.13
19/96 Age group

I had a great time doing the race. Im also a little relieved, I've also been training for the chicago marathon on top of the tri training, so weekends have been tiring! On a personal note, this was a very special race because it was with TNT, and dedicated to my dad--who passed away in March from Leukemia. This past year has been rough for me and my family-- I left grad school last year and moved home to help out while my dad battled a very difficult illness. Now that I'm re-starting my masters (next week, at a different school!), I saw this race as a big milestone and a new beginning.

And of course, some pictures....