My first week in Chicago has been quite a trip. I’m all moved in to my new apartment, though unpacking will take me a bit to finish. If I could do it again, I might not make my move a day before the Chicago Triathlon. I had not originially planned to take part in the Chicago Triathlon, but I figured that it would be silly to skip an opportunity to tune up my legs before Hy-Vee, especially with the race in my new back yard.
Chicago started at noon, which was nice because it meant that I could sleep in Sunday morning, then ride my bike to the race site. Unfortunately on this day, it also meant a large storm had moved in by the time we started swimmming. We were dumped on during the race. I normally thrive in those conditions, but for this race I just couldn’t get into high gear. I swam comfortably in the front pack, but didn’t have the ability to move around anyone. I got myself to the front of the pack on the bike, but couldn’t turn it up to stay with Cameron Dye as he pulled away from us. On the run I felt like I waas doing a moderate tempo run, but still couldn’t match the stride of the guys passing me. I finished thee race in 5th, feeling like I had just finished a solid Sunday workout, but certainlly not as though Ihad just raced.
Hunter Kemper won, which puts him in positionn to win the Toyota Cup this year. Stuart Hayes and Greg Bennett filled out the podium, with Cameron finishing just ahead of me in 4th.
After the race Abby and I went to IKEA and bought some storage cabinets for our apartment. The first thing Irealized about our kitchen was that there was no place to store food – something quite important to me! Then she took me out for all-you-can-eat shushi, and I decided Chicago might just be an okay place to call home. Abby is deep into her first month of medical school, which gave me the week to myself, for the most part. I joined the U of Chicago Gym (awesome new pool), set up my indoor cycling room (Hooray for Compuutrainers!) And went explorinig arouund Hyde Park in my running shoes. I also got to play with the new kitten (Tesla) and relearn how to cook for myself. I loved my time at the Olympic Training Center, but it made me soft! I forgot what it’s like to live in the real world!
Next up is Hy-Vee on Sunday. I’m pretty excited. Hopefully Ican get myself kickin’ in high gear after a little rest. I’ll leave you with a conversation I haerd at the pool that I find hilarious:
1st Guy: “You can’t imagine eating another human, but certainly you would if the conditions forced it.”
2nd Guy: “Well, yeah, of course I would.”
1st Guy: “So you may think 10 lengths of the pool sounds impossible, but if the conditionns forced it you could make yourself do it.”
2nd Guy: “No way. Never.”
–Please excuse typoos, as I posted this from a mobile without the luxury of spell check.