Hello to all, I'm pretty new to posting in this forum and this is my first RR, so it may be a bit too wordy so feel free to ignore and whatnot (for those who also frequent ST, you've already seen this, probably).

Had to last minute borrow a car (a non-tri friendly red convertible mustang, fun for fitting the bike...). The night before I camped and psychologically tried to prepare. This was my first tri that I really cared about and my first one in years, as I last did tris when I was 18 and 19 years old (I'm 24 now, racing in the 25-29 AG). I'm training for IMMoo along with DJRez/Dave.

Anyways, race morning, I was up at 4:40 am, packed up camp and made it to the transition by 5:10. Spent a bunch of time at the transition getting ready (as it was certainly a learning experience for me). Got wetsuited-up and was out warming up with the group, I was lucky enough to be in a really good place for the start (just at the edge of the sandbar, close to the course) and got going. Happily I'd opted to get something different from my normal swede's for the swim (aquasphere kaimans, for anyone interested) and was off. I'm not used to open water swimming or wetsuits for that matter. Sighting is also new to me and definitely added minutes, as I had to break rhythm to sight. I zig-zagged more than a bit on the course and, like everyone else, got caught up in the vegetation on the back stretch. I came in at 32:45 for the swim and was pretty happy with my position, managed to "run" to the transition, though I was quite winded.

At T1, I realized that I'd left the cleat covers on my shoes, thankfully before I tried to jump on the bike, but I got out pretty quickly and felt good for my first real transition (2 minutes, 26 seconds). The bike felt great, I don't have any of that crazy expensive aero bike/expensive aero wheel combo, but I do have a PowerTap. I averaged about 228 watts (I weight 165 FWIW) and just under 22 mph on the ride. The ride also taught me that HEED tastes *AWFUL*. I'd also have been happy with one more aid station on the bike-they just seemed a little too far apart for my taste. I was also very happy that I'd talked to a friend of mine with more tri-experience than I and bought some $0.99 water bottles at walgreens, so I didn't have to give up my nicer H2O bottles. I started out with two servings of Raspberry Hammer gel mixed in with my water for the ride and quickly dispensed of those. I had one intersection without a cop and with traffic on the way back, but in the end all was well and it felt really really good to come into T2 without many bikes there and with them ALL being crazy aero bikes with crazy aero wheelsets. I finished the bike in 2:38:56.

At T2, I quickly slipped into my running shoes (with brand new speed laces in them...), had a gel and some water and was off in 1 minute, 43 seconds. It took me probably 4 miles to get my feet under me. Over the first half of the 13.1, I was passed by probably 15 people, but in the second half it all came together for me and I passed a bunch of those people who'd apparently overdone the first half. Those endurolytes certainly helped a LOT, as did the flat coke for the last part of the run. Got to the second to last aid station at 11:44 and they told me it was only 2 miles to go (HA!), so I (to my great surprise) though that I might be able to make it in under 5 hours and turned up the pace, about 5 minutes from there I ran into a nice dude from louisiana who had the same idea i did and I ran with him for awhile. During the run I found out that my cross country experience in High School in Colorado came in very hand (though I live in chicago now, so I don't have that whole altitude/hill running training advantage) and I was able to stride out a bunch on the descents, allowing me to make up for my pitiful ascents. I ended up a bit ahead of the nice louisianan (sp?) and finished in 5:00:10. Total run time was 1:44:22. I sorta sprinted to the finish, as much as I was capable, and being 30 feet away, seeing the clock click over to 5 hours pissed me off a bit, but I was happy.

My original expectations, with my coach's input, was between a 5:35 and 5:45, so a 5:00:10 was a more than welcome surprise. I also ended up being quite dehydrated as I used the restroom before the race and then not again until after 4 bottles of water and a 32 oz gatorade after the race. All in all it was a fantastic first HIM and first real triathlon for me. I'm very hopeful for IMMoo, maybe I can eek out that Kona qual (though it's a long shot). I think I might need to rent some of those crazy aero wheels, or start selling my body for medical tests to afford a really nice bike...

For anyone in the northern IL or southern WI area, this is a great tri. First year for it and it was put on by one of the Slowtwitch.com'ers (Record10Carbon/Chip for those who frequent both forums, and for those who frequent ST, you've already seen this RR), really was a great race, very hilly and interesting. We couldn't have asked for better weather, though I could have asked for a bit more common sense in my sunscreen practices...

Thanks for reading this lengthy rant,

Aaron Black