Chicago Tri Week

Good morning.

This is, Chicago Triathlon Week.

The International/Olympic event is Sunday and it is the largest triathlon in the world. So, I expect the city will be flooded with guests as the week progresses.

I am looking forward to putting forth a good solid effort for this event. The more you compete the more you learn about your abilities and limits. I feel like I can push myself much harder than in past triathlons without bonking. You really only learn this through trial and error.

So, on Sunday it will be, BALLS OUT!!

My goal for this event, like all triathlons I compete in will be a top 10 finish. I have not done this yet but when I look up previous racing results I know I am totally capable of doing this. I would be happy with a finish time of 2:20:00.

Time will tell.

This weekend was full of activity.

I skipped the swim Saturday morning because of the weather and decided to do a sort of long run instead.

I travelled 11 miles on a very humid morning. The heat/humidity really did not affect me. I threw in a few faster, sub 8 miles in the middle of the run. The 7:18 mile was quite easy as I did not even feel like I was trying to get there. Then I slowed for the last couple miles.

When I was done I actually had the thought, "11 miles should not seem that easy."

I also really enjoyed seeing my running friends on the lakefront path.

Split Time Moving Time Distance Elevation Gain Elevation Loss Avg Pace Avg Moving Pace Best Pace Avg HR Max HR Steps Calories
1 0:09:06 0:08:43 1 0 5 9:06 8:43 6:58 113 126 0 58
2 0:08:25 0:08:17 1 10 0 8:25 8:17 6:53 126 130 0 61
3 0:07:52 0:07:41 1 3 7 7:52 7:41 5:53 133 138 0 62
4 0:07:25 0:07:16 1 0 13 7:25 7:16 3:09 141 147 0 63
5 0:07:18 0:07:14 1 11 7 7:18 7:14 6:40 150 154 0 66
6 0:07:45 0:07:34 1 7 5 7:45 7:34 7:01 145 151 0 61
7 0:07:39 0:07:21 1 5 9 7:39 7:21 6:01 150 154 0 67
8 0:08:16 0:08:04 1 16 0 8:16 8:04 6:52 147 151 0 69
9 0:08:14 0:08:02 1 0 4 8:14 8:02 6:19 145 148 0 64
10 0:08:18 0:08:15 1 0 12 8:18 8:15 7:13 145 151 0 62
11 0:08:15 0:08:10 1 8 0 8:15 8:10 6:41 147 150 0 65
12 0:00:03 -- 0.01 0 0 9:43 -- 8:12 148 148 0 0
Summary 1:28:42 1:26:37 11.01 60 60 8:03 7:52 3:09 139 154 0 698


Sunday morning was the Buffalo Grove bike ride with the Chicago Tri Club. We went our customary 38 miles. This ride is always interspersed with fast and slow sections. There are some good hills to climb but the ride is becomming easy for me. I need to either go longer, harder or both.

Later in the day I went for a 6 mile run. I wanted to do this run so I could finally run 40+ miles for the week. It has been a little while since I've done that. In the past I had been running 40+ almost every week. But, with tri training one must make some adjustments. The run looked like this:

Split Time Moving Time Distance Elevation Gain Elevation Loss Avg Pace Avg Moving Pace Best Pace Avg HR Max HR Steps Calories
1 0:09:46 0:09:42 1 0 4 9:46 9:42 4:02 119 127 0 65
2 0:08:31 0:08:26 1 10 0 8:31 8:26 6:37 125 133 0 60
3 0:08:12 0:07:53 1 2 0 8:12 7:53 7:04 131 134 0 62
4 0:08:22 0:08:23 1 0 4 8:22 8:23 6:27 132 136 0 62
5 0:08:55 0:08:52 1 0 4 8:55 8:52 5:47 129 135 0 56
6 0:08:24 0:08:13 1 6 8 8:24 8:13 6:07 132 149 0 48
7 0:00:02 -- 0 0 0 9:34 -- 8:03 132 132 0 0
Summary 0:52:15 0:51:29 6 19 20 8:42 8:34 4:02 127 149 0 353


Have a great week.

I almost hit 140 combined miles for the week and I feel great. This week will be a taper easier week leading up to the Chicago Triathlon.




-----
" Beyond the very extreme of fatigue and distress, we may find amounts of ease and power we never dreamed ourselves to own, sources of strength never taxed at all because we never push through the obstruction."

* It takes courage to push yourself to places that you have never been before... to test your limits... to break through barriers. And the day came when the risk it took to remain tight inside the bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.” - Anais Nin