Thankfully the huge rains passed before the race started.
Although there were a LOT of puddles & mud in the aftermath.
More fun tomorrow… and hopefully better weather?!

A perfectly warm & breezy afternoon for a sweaty run around the harbor.

A beautiful morning for a brisk 8K run through downtown Chicago. Chilly with a bit of a breeze, but with the right layers it was quite nice for me and 23,500 of my fellow runners. What a difference a day makes… can you even imagine if the run was during yesterday’s crazy blizzard conditions?!

The toughest part is deciding what clothes to wear… and how many layers you can take off and pack away into Gear Check. The morning is cold. The breeze is chilling. You know you’re going to warm up when you start running. But you also know you have at least a half hour to stand out there and wait. At this point, Tracy and I were pretty sure we had made the right decisions.

Here’s the view of the Starting Line as we wait for our turn to start. I was in the second wave, Corral G… which means we had plenty of time to wait.

My friend Kristin was doing her first “official” run… we’ve been “training” at Spin Class together. So it was fun to see her there in my same Corral. We ran the last half of the race together which was a lot of fun. She did a GREAT job today!!!

And THIS is what you get when you ask someone to take your picture at the Finish Line… apparently the nice lady had extremely large thumbs?!!!

Such a difference a day makes… clear skies and NO SNOW!!!

Some of the Shamrock Shuffle “swag” back at my lace…. some sweatier than others!!!

On my way home, I stopped off at Ann Sather’s for some I-deserve-these  “reward” cinnamon rolls!!! Always fun when you know you’ve already burned off those calories!!!

Triathlon mornings start very early. Thousands of hopeful triathletes all bringing their bikes & gear into the Transition Area… which opens at 4:00am!!! It’s the place where you store all of your gear, and will return to repeatedly throughout the race to change for each leg. This morning was so misty & foggy, we all kinda looked like gorillas in the mist.

And for the record, the Chicago Triathlon is the LARGEST Triathlon in the US!!!
More than 9,000 athletes from across the country run, bike, and swim along Chicago’s lakefront. It’s the fifth oldest triathlon in the world. Athletes from 46 states and 18 different countries. Kind of exciting!!!

Here’s a view of the Transition Area from above… now that’s a LOT of bikes!!!…
courtesy of the Chicago Triathlon Facebook page.

And then, once you have all of your gear sorted & organized by race, it’s time to get ready for the swim – and head over to the Swim Start. Since I was doing this race by myself this year (my Tri-partner in crime Chris had to bow out with a bad stress fracture), I didn’t really have anyone good to take photos “during” the race. We’ll have to wait for the professional race photographers to send out their shots of the triathletes… to see how goofy I look in mid-stride!

Today was the second and third triathlons to complete my Chicago Triple Triathlon Challenge! Yesterday we did the SuperSprint… and today was International distance immediately followed by Sprint distance.

So I started with the Swim in Monroe Harbor. Basically straight across form Buckingham Fountain south to the Shedd Aquarium and then back north to the Chicago Yacht Club. Luckily for all of us, the water temperature was SO MUCH better today than yesterday. A full 8-degrees warmer! Which makes a HUGE difference. Yesterday’s water temperature was 56-degrees! Today, an almost “balmy-by-comparison” 64-degrees. Still cold. Who am I kidding? But not so cold that it hurt like yesterday!!!

Some more photos from the Chicago Triathlon Facebook page… of course, it was a lot darker when I started in Wave #1. My start time was 6:00am… about 20 minutes BEFORE sunrise!!!

Then it’s back to the Transition Area to change for the Bike portion. Then it’s up onto Lake Shore Drive headed all the way to Hollywood where LSD ends. Turn around and come back to the city. Then it’s a few more miles “under the city” as we ride Intermediate Wacker Drive and the “best-kept-secret” Busway to McCormick Place and back. Again at the Transition Area to switch to my running clothes. Then it’s off south to 31st Street Beach and back to the Grant Park Finish Line.

And by “finish” I mean of Triathlon #2… Number Three still to come!!!
So it’s grab a medal, some Gatorade and head back to the Swim Start where they’ve moved our wetsuits & swim gear there for us already. Another change of clothes and it’s back in the water. This time it’s shorter… basically even with Buckingham Fountain north to the Yacht Club. Then “transition” back to bike gear for another roundtrip on Lake Shore Drive up to Hollywood and back. One last “transition” and it’s back in running gear for the last leg. This time the Finish Line does indeed mean FINISH!!! Triathlon #3 DONE. A celebration… and a HUGE sigh of relief!!! I made it… yeah me! Luckily, my friend Nancy was there to hang with and snap a few pictures. She has done the Sprint Relay swim portion… not quite exhausted, and willing to be my photographer!!!

Not only did I get my three medals… I also got a commemorative Triple Tri running vest. Only the “official” Triple Tri finishers got them… and that’s me! An official Triple Triathlete!!! 58.8 combined Triathlon miles for the three distance. Whoo-hoo!

After the race, Nancy and I hung out for awhile and then I finally got a great stretching session from the folks at Athletico. A little tight, a little sore… and very thankful for their “magic hands.”

So here we have it, the end of my day and the end of the Chicago Triple Triathlon Challenge.
Another adventure under my belt!!!

So what’s next???

One down. Two to go tomorrow for the Chicago Triple Tri Challenge.
This morning’s SuperSprint was a rainy, muddy, puddley mess with flooded transition areas & squishy running paths. Oh yeah, it was raining and the lake is FREEZING cold. 56-FRIGGIN’ DEGREES COLD!!! So cold that it knocks the wind right out of you. Tough to catch your breath. Kinda feels like you have asthma… and struggling to find a swim stroke beyond flailing!

Otherwise a great day… hoping tomorrow has better weather! Today was the short one… tomorrow will be a lot longer & a lot further!!!

Kinda muddy along the run…

And flooded in the Transition Area…

Registered. Checked-in. Tagged. And in the studio for a little pre-race “porcelain therapy” before the big race weekend.

Gary fall down go boom.

Actually, it was just me being a klutz. I was in my Cross-fit Class last night. Working out. Sweating it up. We were doing some fast cardio stepping on risers and all was good. It wasn’t until I was “done” and doing a brief walk-around to catch my breath. A whoops… down on the floor!!! I had accidentally stepped on a foam mat we use for sit-ups and floor work. Apparently there were two of them stacked where I stepped. Who knew that they would slip out so easily… like hydro-planing with two mats. I went down so fast, totally on my side… and literally bounced up so quick that no one even noticed it. Not until I was telling my friend Alison what had happened and I said my hand hurt the most. Like I had hyper-extended something. It wasn’t until this morning that I saw the bruising!!!

I’m generally very good about “protecting” my hands during class… but who knew a simple foam mat would get me?! Methinks that wedging clay might be a bot painful now for a few days. Oh well… I’ve done worse.

MUNCIE 70.3 HALF IRONMAN : Saturday, July 11, 2015

A typical Triathlon day starts out VERY early in the morning. A 4:30am departure from the hotel with our gear to make it into the Transition Area to get set-up. We pulled in around 5;30 and the anticipation starts ramping up!

We had checked our bike in to Transition the day before, so all we had were our gear bags.
So, under cover of darkness, you need to find you assigned space by following the signage.

Here are my friends Chris & Nancy setting up their gear – preparing for the long day ahead. You need to have all of your shoes, clothing & gear ready for all three events. Trying to get everything in order, laid out and ready for the day ahead.

Soon enough the sun started to rise… which means that we were approaching our designated start times. Chris and I were in Wave #2 which was scheduled to start at 7:04am.

While you’re there you start checking out your route for later in the day. There’s a whole system of gates & arches to direct where you to go. Bike Out, Bike In, Run Out, etc.

Here’s the view of the Prairie Creek Reservoir from the hill above… and the ever-present lines of porto-potties! Just looking at the water makes me a little anxious. Basically the 1.2 mile course takes you about from the beach left of the brick house, practically all the way to the other side where the trees are, across and parallel to the opposite shore, and then back again. Look closely at the bottom right corner – that’s the SWIM OUT inflatable arch. And the point where I will be the most relieved!!!

So our wave actually started about five minutes later than planned. But soon enough we were off and in the water in our wetsuits. It was a tough swim for me… as it was MY FIRST SWIM OF THE SEASON!!! I know. Not good. No training for me in the water. I just haven’t had time. The water in Lake Michigan is still pretty cold. And I was in Dover, Delaware for the last three weeks! All adds up for no swim training for Gary!!! Add to that… the restriction that you finish the swim in 1 hour and 10 minutes or else you get disqualified. Not knowing how I would do in the water, that one-hour-ten was always in my head!!!

So I finally got out of the water, shuffled up the hill to the Transition Area, and soon enough I was on my bike and feeling comfortable. The weather was great and the course was fairly flat. Some gentle rolling hills but nothing too crazy. To get our 56 miles in, the route was straight out & back that we had to do twice. So you were riding one direction while watching the other athletes riding back already – not knowing who was on their first lap or second?! I think I did pretty well on the bike. It was fun!!!

Then you get off the bike, switch shoes and head off for the run. Knowing that you now have a 13.1 half marathon ahead of you. And the fact that all of the Ironman Information kept referring to the run as “challenging” was a little concerning. Turns out the “challenging” part was that the course was hilly. Living in Chicago… we don’t have hills!!! So I have no experience running on hills except for the incline on the treadmill.

The run was tough. Another 6.5 miles out & back. So your running out while other runners are running in. Thankfully there were water rest stops every mile on the route. I was thankful for the water, ice & Gatorade… but also for an easy thing to focus on, appreciate and use as a countdown to get to the end. As the miles continued, the hills seemed to get worse. Which I know can’t be the case… as we’re on the same road and the same hills as the first half of the run. But it felt worse!!! And I’m not sure which I hate more?… running UP the hill or running DOWN the hill? Both are no fun!!!

Finally, about a mile and a half out, you can start to hear the Finish Line. People cheering and the announcer welcoming the runners. Puts a little pep in your step. A little. But somehow you muster up one last bit of energy, pick up your feet and push on for a strong finish. One last hill, a small left turn and then a smooth grassy downhill run through the Finish Line!!! Whoo-hoo!!!

The professional race photographer hopefully got photos of us running through…
luckily we got a few shots after we ran through the Finish Line.

Here we are : HALF IRONMAN FINISHERS!!!
We all came with a mission and we all accomplished it. And had a fun time doing it.

And the three of us with our official medals and finisher hats!!!

So excited to be done. So excited to have finished the race.
So great to have shared this adventure with my friends Chris & Nancy.
Of course they had both trained the right way for this.. but not me… maybe next time?

At Ironman Village, after the race, we were surprised and excited to find that we got a free meal. What?! Let me just say that that was the BEST GRILLED CHICKEN EVER!!! Sure, we were a little hungry too, but everything tasted amazing!!!

And, oh but wait there’s more… FREE ICE CREAM TOO!!!

We hung out at Ironman Village for awhile. Taking pictures. Eating our free food. And then saw the Massage Tent. We decided to check it out and see if they had any openings. They did… and we each got a wonderful 20 minute massage to work out the kinks. It felt amazing. Sure, it hurt, I flinched and tried not to cry a couple times. But when my masseuse was done, I felt SO much better. Like I may actually be able to drive home without cramping up too badly.

So we hopped in our cars for the four-hour drive home. We stopped once along the way for food & restrooms, but ultimately made it home with ease. I was pretty stiff getting out of the car. And carrying all of my gear & bike up three flights of stairs was so easy. Once I made it, there was a big sigh of relief!!!

So here are my official times… with transition times added in there somewhere?!
Maybe not the best ever, but my goal was just to finish in one piece!!! And I did.

Swim : 57:52 … look I had more than twelve minutes to spare!!!
Bike : 2:48:21 … which I believe also includes both Transition Times.
Run : 2:53:04 … nearly three hours on  my feet & hills.

Race Total : 6:55:19… practically seven hours of fun!!!