The Chicago Triathlon was my first triathlon and it’s been a big part of my life for the last four years. When I signed up for the Ironman this year and looked ahead at the training schedule, I just a hair disappointed that the Chicago Tri was just two weeks before the Ironman, since that falls right in my taper and it seemed silly to do a full triathlon during that period. It turns out that I am actually still doing pretty hefty workouts—I had a three hour bike ride yesterday and maybe I could have subbed in a full tri for that. But the Ironman is the eyes-on-the-prize, so I’m glad I’m sticking to the training schedule. But a SuperSprint (a quarter of the full International distance) hardly counts, right? Anyway, that’s what I figured and I signed up for the Chicago Triathlon SuperSprint, the day before the big show. Erica signed up for both the SuperSprint and the Sprint distance the next day.

I decided to treat the race as good practice for the Ironman and do the full transitions as I will be in two weeks. So, for example, I changed shirts between the bike and the run, which there’s no reason to do in such a short race.

A great thing about the SuperSprint is that the course is then used for the Chicago Kids Triathlon, and it’s awesome to see all the kids out, ranging from regular kids just running around to super-serious kids in tri-suits. And the best is that guy up at the top—the Tri Monster. I love that guy! (The last couple of years of Chicago Triathlon shirts have been, frankly, kinda ugly and I’m really jealous of how great the Kids’ shirt always looks with the Tri Monster logo.)

Official times:
Swim time: 00:19:02 (Swim rank 515 / 593)
Bike time: 00:22:27 (Bike rank 190 / 593)
Run time: 00:16:00 (Run rank 320 / 593)
Total Time: 0:57:30
Place: 322 / 593
Place in Division (M40-49): 65 / 89
Place in Sex: 223 / 293