This was the second year that I & Ballou Skies Chi Tri teammates took part in the Chicago Triathlon. While we were anxious for the race & weather as Chicago’s weather has been quite interesting lately, we were all most nervous for the Open Water Swim, since the water temp dropped so drastically. Our friends over at Live Grit were SO great to us & let us organize a FREE talk at their store, where they showed us how to change bike tires, talked about cold open water swimming and answered our crazy questions. That made us feel much better.

The Weather: 

• The weather was amazing for the event. It was in the 70’s (last year it was at least 90) and overcast AND the water warmed up to about 64 degrees. It was a dry course, still water and not too windy = great racing conditions!

The Course: 

• This course gets jumbled based on the fact that about 9,000 people signed up, so it’s overwhelming with people. The transition area is less than ideal because it’s SO far away – took me 7 minutes to transition! The bike course is scary at first due to riding on the left, passing on the right and accidentally saying “ON your left/ when meaning ON your right” gets old fast! But then you get over it, and it’s awesome to be able to bike ON Lake Shore Drive… yes ON it. The run course is fine, although I do loathe all of Chicago races that end on that giant hill… so save some strength for the end!

The Gear: 

• I rocked my standard Ballou Skies cycling shirt, compression socks, headsweats Nuun visor, and brought some Nuun with me to energize and also brought some salt tablets along (saviors after the half-ironman – race recap for that STILL on its way)!

Race Stats:

• Time: 01:48:19
• Overall: 678 out of 2,015
• Division: 30  out of 178
• Swim: 18:01 ( 2 minutes better than last year!)
• T1: 07:32 – terrible… but far
• Bike: 0:50:08 – average speed of 17.95 mph (10 + minutes better than last year!)
• T2: 03:30 – have to work on this one
• Run: 00:29:11 (Pace: 09:25) – 10 minutes better than last year!

Overall, this race is overwhelming if you’re a newbie based on sheer size ( unless you join a charity wave, then it’s AMAZING! Join us!) but it’s an easy course, minimal hills and the craziest part about it is the weather. I can’t wait to do it again next year!

Oh, and PS… we raised $3,600 for Ballou Skies – THANK YOU SO MUCH to all who helped us!