Lifetime Tri Chicago

This will be my 5th year doing Lifetime Tri Chicago! The first time I did the race was as an elite amateur in 2009. Then it was my first pro race in 2010. It is always fun to come back and it is nice that it is so close to home! I am looking forward to racing in the windy city again on August 25th. This will be my 3rd race in the Liftetime Fitness Race Series. This race will be in the equalizer format where the women get a head start from the males. (There is a pretty intricate process that happens to determine how far ahead the women get to start to make it fair between the genders). Then whoever crosses the finish line first (male or female) gets $50,000 and the Toyota Triple Crown Trophy. Pretty fun! Also, I love how spectators can walk along Monroe Harbor for the entire swim-so you can watch it all with a pretty good view! That is unique to this course. You can check out more about The Chicago Triathlon here: lifetimetri.com
And learn more about the Toyota Triple Crown here: http://www.chicagotriathlon.com/news_article/show/240534?referrer_id=647971

The experience @ Frankenmuth

Last weekend I raced in Frankenmuth, MI that was put on by Tri for Life triathlon team and 3Disciplines. Tri for Life is founded by 3 brothers who race for the 4th brother who lost his life in a car accident. They put on triathlons to raise awareness for organ donation. Well, upon my arrival, I have to say that I was greeted by friendly staff from the team and race when I went to packet pick up. The staff at the event was very friendly and helpful, which added to my experience!
I traveled solo to the race and met up with Sam and Todd Kennedy for a pre-race dinner (weird to not have Ross with me at a race!). I had a great time hanging out with Sam and Todd. We hung out the next day after the race and wandered around the town. We even got to see a dog show...haha...never been to one of those! Collie's are fast!
But back to the race...
The swim was in the Cass River and we were corralled onto a Ferry boat before the start-kinda fun and unique! The swim was out and back down the river-nice calm water. I like that! There were several fast pro men that came out to race so the swim start was movin! The swim hurt right off the bat today-just never felt like I could really get into a good groove-just had to keep pushing it. There was a pretty good run up to transition-my legs were not coming at this point--just had to ignore that! I stumbled a bit when I got into transition as I had an issue getting my wetsuit off my bulky timing chip. Oops-didn't account for that. I learned my lesson as it was a slow T1! I haven't had an issue getting my wetsuit off before.
I set off on the bike and was the lead female. I felt ok, but not great. The body was just kinda heavy feeling all around today. I reminded myself of my race process and stuck to the plan and got my mind off of the feel. I was enjoying my first race on my new Rolf Prima disc wheel. I loved the feel of a disc-never had one before! Anyway, I kept my lead on the bike. I headed out on the run and there were some great cheerleaders around transition-thanks!! My legs felt surprisingly peppy--well more peppy than I thought they were going to feel. The pep wore off though--haha. :) The run hurt more than than usual too. Sometimes you just never know how your body will respond! I had a couple men to try and keep in sight on the run so that was helpful to keep me from dropping off. The run course had some portions that were pretty turny (it was a 2 loop run course), but this kept it interesting. I ended up winning the race and got a nice big check-one of those giant ones! How fun! Ben Collins won for the males. Sam was 2nd female! Also, it was great having Tri4Him teammate, Ryan Rau, racing too. Again, everyone was so friendly around the race and the course was marked very well. It was a fun town to race in and I hope the race continues to grow. Great first time race!