Chicago Triathlon 2009

It's been a REALLY looooong time since I have updated my blog, but there have not been too many significant races for me this season. Beginning with winter of 2008 through spring of 2009, I have dealth with health issues, and getting back my athletic base. This was definitely a recovery year for me, but with the best intentions of racing, and just having fun, not braking any records!

So, ahhh.....Chicago Triathlon. I spent a lot of time this summer perfecting my swim into a smooth glide, my bike to a solid, consistent ride, and my run, well, just getting some speed back. I was completely prepared for Sunday from an athletic point of view, but not so prepared for the frigid temps of both the air and the water.

I began my morning at 3:30, with the alarm buzzing through my room. I had prepared my gear and coffee the night before, so I rolled out of bed, put on my new, and totaly awesome, Tri-Smart Coaching uniform in a very cool black/red/white color scheme (with FLOWERS across the butt!), threw on some sweats, got my coffee, loaded the car and headed for downtown Chicago. We arrived at approximately 4:45 am and Joe unloaded my bike, my transition bag, and me at the corner of Monroe and LSD. I headed to transition, had a hell of a time finding my wave due to the way they number the racks, found a decent spot I felt sure I could remember, then set up my area. I walked the bike out/bike in route, the run out route, and then found my friends.

The sun was still not up, but the sky was cloudy, and the air temp was about 54 degrees. The water temp.....62. Not fun. We were all cold before we even started. As the morning progressedm, and the sprint waves began, we found a spot on the grass and literally huddled together to keep warm. Once the clouds drifted to the west, we had a little reprieve from the sun, but it was still chilly. Once in the wetsuit, it was actually much warmer. I headed for the swim start at 8:35, my wave was set to go off at 8:44. I easily found my way in, watched the swimmers already in the water, smiled and waved at Joe, who was snapping pics for me, then entered the water. Cold??? Yea....really cold. It was like jumping into a bucket of ice water. Fortunately, at Chicago, you tread water before the start. My wetsuit quickly warmed me up, and I felt acclimated to the water and ready to do the swim I had practiced so many times this summer. The horn went off, and we were off. I was trying to work my way around the clysdale men in my wave, did I mention I ended up in a co-ed wave with overweight men?????, I had just found my rhythm, when BAM, I get kicked in the sternum by one of those overweight men in a wetsuit doing the BREAST STROKE! The wind was knocked out of me, and I COULD NOT BREATHE. I flipped on my back immediately, but had already taken in a lot of water. I began to panic, looked to the side, spotted Joe watching this whole horrific event taking place, and started to attempt my way to the side of the harbor. Out of pure luck, I happened to the side at a ladder, where I hung on, trying to catch my breath. No sooner did I arrive there, than a race official came to help me out of the water. Gasping for air, I could not speak to even tell them what had happened. I got out of the water, and managed to finally breathe again after about 10 minutes of wheezing and coughing. Then I lost it. I was so mad, and frustrated that all my training was going to be wasted. I decided to finish the race. I couldn't let this stop me.

So, I got out of my wetsuit, got on my bike, lost about 15 minutes of my swim time, but I went into transistion, got lost because I was so shook up by all of the past events, changed and went on the bike course. COMPLETE CHAOS on the course. People were supposed to be riding on the left, passing on the right. Not happening. Did I mention the 20 mph winds out of the north? It was cold, it was windy, and people were riding all over the place. LSD is like a whack-a-mole game of potholes, so that game, in and of itself, makes the ride seem very stressful. With the tailwind on the way back, I found myself cruising, but saw a NASTY wreck, an ambulance, broken bike frame, and plenty of scrapes. Later found out that Andy Potts was the victim of that accident.

I couldn't get off the bike fast enough, wasn't feeling very good, but changed into my running shoes, grabbed my hat and number, some GU and headed to the race course to finish the 10K run. As soon as I started running, I knew it wasn't going to be a good run. My chest where I was kicked was very painful, and I couldn't catch my breath. I played this cat and mouse game the entire 6.2 miles. During this run, because I opted to wear my Zoots, my neuroma also flared up. Couldn't have been more of a comedy of errors for me. Seeing the finish line was the best part of my race. I did finish, and oddly only 5 minutes slower than last years race, but I finished. That was an accomlisment in and of itself.

So, what am I taking away from this race today? Simple. Next year, I am racing Pleasant Prairie Olympic, NOT CHICAGO! It has just become too big, it is not safe, and I just don't finish it thinking "I can't wait for next year".

Now, what good came of today? Well, that's simple! My friend MJ finished Ironman Louisville 1st in her age group and qualified for Kona World Championships (she is a rockstar and the biggest stud I know)! And my friend Melanie completed her first Ironman (Louisville also) with a stellar performance that just puts the biggest smile on my face! Hats off to you ladies, you are my inspiration to not hang up my bike shoes and my wetsuit, and call it a day! Next year is always around the corner!