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Triathalon Results

June 26, 2011 –

It’s 4am and my alarm is telling me to get up so that by mid morning I can call myself a triathelete. Running a triathalon is something I have wanted to do for a long time. (See HERE for my background in each sport.) As I signed up for the Chicago Triathalon (Olympic Distance), I knew I was going to need a shorter (and smaller) triathalon first.

So I decided to enroll in a local triathalon in Palatine, IL. I used to fish in this lake as a kid so I felt a little nastalga. Now here I was swimming in it!

As you know, I had completed Insanity – The Asylum in late May. So, I had 4 weeks to build on top of the great foundation Shaun T gave me to prepare for the triathalon. See my 4-week P90X / Insanity / Triathalon Training  and Nutrition program HERE.

It was a gorgeous morning. We couldn’t ask for a better weather. This particular triathalon was a little longer than the standard Sprint distance:

Swim – 700 meters

Bike -14 miles

Run – 4.5 miles

Having never raced in a tri, I came into the race with no expectations. I was not married to any outcome. I simply wanted to have fun. After all, isn’t that what this is all about?

God gave us an absolutely gorgeous morning. The water was 78 degrees.  The sunrise gently reflected off the steam coming off the water. Not a cloud in sight. Many didn’t even wear their wetsuits, but I did for the added buoyancy. I was in Wave 7 and I got into a great rhythm early on. It was not too crowded and I felt strong. Frankly, I had only been able to swim two times in a pool along with a short open water practice swim yesterday morning. Another great example of how the ASYLUM came through. The “BACK TO CORE” workout definitely prepared my back for this.

I have never really biked long distances. The last time I did anything over a few miles was probably 17 years ago. In fact, I had just bought a bike last year and I had a whopping 35 miles on it 4 weeks ago. My bike greatly improved over the past 4 weeks of training. We have alot of hills in my area so I was generally happy with a an average of 15-17 mph. There was alot of gear switching in my training and it was challenging to really get in a cadence. The great news about the actual course today was that it was flat. So, this felt like a welcome relief!

Out of the (3) sports, I have kept my running up and I had just finished a 10 mile race 4 weeks ago. My “Brick” workouts had been getting better and I felt my runs were getting stronger. However, even I was surprised by my time today.

So here are my final results. It was a great race and now have 2 months until the Chicago Triathalon. Stay tuned for how I lay out my next training blocks.

MY PLACEMENT RESULTS

Total Male – 142 of 259

Male (35-39 years old) – 19 of 34

Total – 184 of 424 Total

MY TIMES

700m Swim – 12:39 (1:48 / 100m pace)

Swim to Bike Transition – 2:15

Bike – 48:07 (18.1 mph pace)

Bike to Run Transition – 1:50

Run – 37:21 (8:18 mph pace)

Total Time – 1:42:11

I would like to give a special thanks to fellow TRNer Steve Langer. Steve and I work together and was a tremendous resource for me as I entered my first triathalon. Thanks for all the information and guidance Steve. Now we move onto Olympic Distance!


The participants are gathering!

My Transition Area

I’m ready!

The Swim – 700m around the island

The Last Few Paces to the Finish Line

Showing The X at the Finish Line!

Fellow TRNer Steve and I



4 Responses to “Triathalon Results”

  1. Steve Langer says:

    Coach Mike, as you know, I finished up P90x mid May and spent the past 6 weeks building up endurance in biking (read: getting comfortable on the hard seat again), running and swimming, in prep for Twin Lake Tri today. Different this year, normally I’d be starting in January, 6 months of swim/bike/run, swim/bike/run, but when I joined the team, we talked about P90-ers who train for races via P90x primarily. We rolled the dice, jumped in, and today I had great fun, improving a lot from last year. The strength in my core has made a ton of difference in my biking & running. I did not know it for sure until today. Glad we decided to take the plunge. Today I saw my fitness has really improved from a year ago, this feels great. Thanks.

    • Coach Mike Coach Mike says:

      You had great times today Steve! I think your PR for this race. Great swim, great bike, and your best run ever!

      You definitely showed me how it is done. Thanks for all your help!

  2. […] Part II is upon us this weekend in the form of the Chicago Triathalon. I have been training really hard over the past 3 months. I have never done a triathalon so I did one Sprint distance in June to warm me up for the Olympic distance I will tackle on Sunday. (To see the story on my Sprint distance race, click HERE) […]

  3. […] but for me it was the Olympic distance that was the true definition of a triathalete. (Click HERE for the results of my Sprint […]

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