Mike, I finished the 2024 Chicago Olympic Distance Triathlon yesterday. I wanted to say 'Thank you' for your recap of the entire day. I was so nervous and honestly scared about the day, but thanks to your recap, I was as prepared as I could be. The swim was great, the bike was fun, and the running...sucked! (Because of the heat). But I did it. I made it through the finish line and now I have a sense of accomplishment for a task that seemed impossible. Thank you so much for your video.
I truly sympathize You pretty much described my first triathlon (especially the swim portion). I also said "I'll do another one".... and in the next 10 years I ended up completing 12 Ironman-distance events (Norseman included) and a bunch of other shorter distance ones... So careful what you wish for...
Watched that entire video. I must say Mike you have a very detailed memory remembering all those little details. Congratulations and hopefully see you at a future tri!!!
Super awesome that you did this, dude! love to see people get out of their comfort zone to see what they're really made of! If you want to get more comfortable in the water, the only thing is that you just have to spend more time in the water. May be beneficial to find a masters swimming program, they have coaches and will give you alot of time in the water. They should accept all skill levels! Ive been wanting to do a half Ironman for a while now. I think I just gotta stop playing video games in my free time and develop a real training plan. Currently training for a half marathon in the fall, but that aint no 70.3!
Advice. Do a little focus on the swimming for a while to build up some upper body strength. The physical training is great and it gives your running legs a bit rest to stay away from injury. within a couple of months you would easily be able to continuously swim 1500m. Invest in a swim coach who can take you through the basics in the beginning. Learning this from youtube videos is though because the video does not see what you do wrong. A swim coach can help you adjust to a relaxed swimming style that will get you to the goal.
Hopefully the unpleasant experience he had did not demotivate him. Right now it might be hard for him to imagine how much joy open water swimming can be.
Great recap man. And good job on the race. Been thinking about taking the plunge and watching your videos have definitely motivated me to get out there
Great job. I am also thinking about a tri after my next marathon, but am nervous about the swimming too. It was nice to hear from someone else who fears panicking in the water like I do!
Great job, Mike! I think my Olympic distance swim in the Chicago Tri a few years ago was similar, and I'll say I really love Sprint distance swimming! Some I've always wanted to try are in Wisconsin... Pleasant Prairie Triathlon and Bigfoot Triathlon. Also, I took some adult group swim lessons from Chicago Blue Dolphins, which could help boost your swimming skills too.
I would love to learn how to swim with proper technique, it’s always been a weakness. Well done for stepping outside of your comfort zone and trying something new Ko 👍
Great job, Ko! For my first triathlon I'd just want to finish within the designated time frame no matter my placement, but then I'm a slow turtle. For the transition bag, if you find yourself driving to the event, I heard that having a bright orange bucket (the kind that you can get from Home Depot) is a good, cheap option since it's bright, so you don't have trouble finding it amongst the greenery and darker bags that many have, and that it can serve as a stool for you to sit on when you put on your socks. And you'll know that if were to go missing or misplaced you'll know immediately since, well, it's bright and it's a bucket.
Loved this recap👏👏 all the emotions you described during your swim is how I feel when doing a 10k LOL😏 loved how you tried new things just to see what it would be like, looking forward to more
My first Tri, I was looking for that blue lane swim lane line at the bottom of the lake and panicked when all I saw was dead black. Even though I had taught myself to swim a mile with relative ease in a pool, the open water swim and dawn in a lake was quite an eye opener. I later learned that you could look at the side shore when you turn your head to keep swimming straight without stopping and looking up. Thanks for sharing your experience!
Great job! Glad you enjoyed the process and the experience. The better you get at swimming and acclimating to running off the bike (without jelly legs) the better the experience will be. Looks like they put on a solid event there in any event... Can't wait to see your next one 💪
@@kofuzi for sure. Gotta check around central Wisconsin here but if I can’t find anything this one could work well as I grew up out in the Chicago suburbs
Congrats again Ko! Really glad to hear the breakdown of your experience especially the inner thoughts you had on the swim and the anxiety over drafting rules. Still inspiring! Bummer about the gps issues. Do you still like the Wahoo rival overall?
Super cool shirt Ko! Those tunnels are wild. So that chip strap I sent you is softer, I've worn a hole in my ankle before. Live and learn. Glad you're considering doing another one of these after all of this.
There are a lot of local sprint options.....the easiest swim I have ever done is Batavia Tri. You swim in their local park district "pool" (which is an old quarry) and you can walk almost half of the swim....perfect for learning to get comfortable in water.
Yo!!! Great video on explaining it all! It still looks very challenging to do any tri! I just have to get in water lots if I ever have a chance of doing one! Marathon training to BQ for now keeps me occupied! 😋
It seems the cap would obstruct the cooling of your head (the brain should be kept as cool as possible). However this was quite an athletic feat. Congrats.🏃🏃
You don't need to spend a lot of money on bike upgrades (as they say, ride up grades rather than buying upgrades). Clip-on aero bars are simple and cheap. You'll also learn that it's more comfortable resting on your forearms than your hands. Handling is a bit different as is going in and out for braking, turns and such, but you'll get used to it quickly.
Just a thought ... some races have their swim with the current. There was a video of a plastic bag floating the New York Triathlon 1500 meter swim course in about 25 min. The August half is in the Savanah River and the current is so fast that you have to hold a rope to stay in place while waiting for your wave to start.
Olympic is the hardest distance triathlon, IMO. It's "short" enough that you have to push hard the entire time, but it's still a long distance. You have to pace longer distance races, like half and full Ironmans, so the effort is much easier, even though you're out there longer. Definitely do some spring distance races. You have to push crazy hard but they're short, so very doable.
I would probably have the best chance at a 5m swim, 100m bike, and a 100k run.I did 1 tri less than sprint. I think it was 200m swim. I did 1 sprint too. I am a rubbish swimmer. I think that I was about 20 min in the sprint and the leaders in my category were about 13 min. I was also on a mountain bike which increases your effort and you lose so much time. If I ever do another one I will need a road bike and 3 to 6 months of solid prep. The run was fine.
I do triathlons from Olympic to Full Ironman distance (just did my 3rd full ironman in July). I can help but I am not an expert. My swim is also my weakness but I can swim 2.4 miles in the ironman in 1hr10min. Been doing triathlons since 2017. If you want to learn more I can help like I said. FREE. Oh, and I also started from not knowing how to swim like you.
Maybe you can find a duathlon(?) / biathlon (?) that only has the bike and run portions. RunLikeHeller said her dislike for the swim was why she gave up triathlons.
They're called duathlons. Used to be called biathlons but that name is reserved for ski/shoot, run or bike/shoot in the summer events. The International Triathlon Union (or whatever it was called back then) changed the name to duathlons in order to be considered for Olympics.
@@adamfeerst2575 Thanks, biathlon sounded familiar but I knew that wasn’t the right name. This would be right up kofuzi’s alley. And we don’t have to hear him dry heave! 😆😆😆
@@adamfeerst2575 I got confused by your post. I read they are not called duathlons. But later you say it got changed. What was it changed from and changed to?
I don't understand why GPS signal would be an issue for bike part. Almost everyone paces the bike by power or heart rate. Pacing by speed on a bike is not a good idea. Weather and terrain conditions have much much bigger impact on your pace on a bike than on a run.
I think it was an issue as he would lose the signal in the tunnels. So if you are looking for distance and speed then, power and heart rate are not very helpful.
Awesome, big congrats but wondering, were you wearing contacts while swimming? Weren’t you scared of loosing then? Did you swing with your eyes closed?
I contacted race organizers and obtained permission, as indicated in the Athlete Guide. They gave me an additional wristband to indicate to course marshalls that I had permission
What bag you can have in transition will be determined by each race. Always best to try and leave the last minute pee to before putting a wetsuit on. I know people that will pee in their wetsuit but that just seems gross to me. The swim is always funny. When I first stared doing tri's, I would always have to turn on my back to do that backstroke even though I could swim the distance or more in a pool. Just keep at it, if you're going to continue doing these events. Taking in nutrition is always a worry if it's anything other than a sprint distance tri. All I can say is practice makes perfect. Sounds like you figured out what was causing issues on your run...the heat. Also, volunteers are pretty much always amazing!! Especially on the swim for these events.
I have a brother who cycles and a brother who I'm sure could be convinced to swim, so maybe a brothers tag team relay triathlon would be fun. Is that a thing?
As much as you need to work on your swim, becoming a stronger rider will cut off more time. Not only will you be faster on the bike, but your legs will be better able to handle the run. My fastest tri runs came after I became a strong rider.
I can tell you that no one really cares about drafting outside of the top 10%, after over 5 years of triathlon and many races where I´ve been drafted on and seen huge groups
@@kofuzi Don’t get me wrong of course you should avoid drafting and it’s illegal but especially with the slower people the Referees are usually blind on both eyes. And as long as your not sitting on someone’s wheels for the whole race or a fighting for a qualy spot for the Worldchamps etc most people don’t really have a problem with it
For the swim I recommend the RUclips channel effortless swimming - You'll get comfortable very quickly with an environment that can feel overwhelming.
Mike, I finished the 2024 Chicago Olympic Distance Triathlon yesterday. I wanted to say 'Thank you' for your recap of the entire day. I was so nervous and honestly scared about the day, but thanks to your recap, I was as prepared as I could be. The swim was great, the bike was fun, and the running...sucked! (Because of the heat). But I did it. I made it through the finish line and now I have a sense of accomplishment for a task that seemed impossible. Thank you so much for your video.
Congratulations!!!
I truly sympathize You pretty much described my first triathlon (especially the swim portion). I also said "I'll do another one".... and in the next 10 years I ended up completing 12 Ironman-distance events (Norseman included) and a bunch of other shorter distance ones... So careful what you wish for...
glad to hear that there's hope for a poor swimmer like me!
Watched that entire video. I must say Mike you have a very detailed memory remembering all those little details. Congratulations and hopefully see you at a future tri!!!
Congratulations! You didn't drown. Sounds like a great success! (at least that's my definition of a successful triathlon)
it was my definition of success!
Congrats! That CT bit was hilarious. You''re officially the pride of Chicago, CT!
Super awesome that you did this, dude! love to see people get out of their comfort zone to see what they're really made of!
If you want to get more comfortable in the water, the only thing is that you just have to spend more time in the water. May be beneficial to find a masters swimming program, they have coaches and will give you alot of time in the water. They should accept all skill levels!
Ive been wanting to do a half Ironman for a while now. I think I just gotta stop playing video games in my free time and develop a real training plan. Currently training for a half marathon in the fall, but that aint no 70.3!
I’m ready for some coaching for the swim. And yes, I need to put in the pool time
Advice. Do a little focus on the swimming for a while to build up some upper body strength. The physical training is great and it gives your running legs a bit rest to stay away from injury. within a couple of months you would easily be able to continuously swim 1500m. Invest in a swim coach who can take you through the basics in the beginning. Learning this from youtube videos is though because the video does not see what you do wrong. A swim coach can help you adjust to a relaxed swimming style that will get you to the goal.
Good advice!
Hopefully the unpleasant experience he had did not demotivate him.
Right now it might be hard for him to imagine how much joy open water swimming can be.
Great recap man. And good job on the race. Been thinking about taking the plunge and watching your videos have definitely motivated me to get out there
Great job. I am also thinking about a tri after my next marathon, but am nervous about the swimming too. It was nice to hear from someone else who fears panicking in the water like I do!
That was an excellent race recap! Well done! 🚀😄🏅
Great job, Mike! I think my Olympic distance swim in the Chicago Tri a few years ago was similar, and I'll say I really love Sprint distance swimming! Some I've always wanted to try are in Wisconsin... Pleasant Prairie Triathlon and Bigfoot Triathlon. Also, I took some adult group swim lessons from Chicago Blue Dolphins, which could help boost your swimming skills too.
Great job for a first timer, really takes a lot of guts to plunge into a new sport... keep it up...
Thanks so much!
I would love to learn how to swim with proper technique, it’s always been a weakness. Well done for stepping outside of your comfort zone and trying something new Ko 👍
I would also love to learn to swim with proper technique
As someone else recommended - watch Effortless Swimming on youtube. You'll make great progress.
Great job, Ko! For my first triathlon I'd just want to finish within the designated time frame no matter my placement, but then I'm a slow turtle.
For the transition bag, if you find yourself driving to the event, I heard that having a bright orange bucket (the kind that you can get from Home Depot) is a good, cheap option since it's bright, so you don't have trouble finding it amongst the greenery and darker bags that many have, and that it can serve as a stool for you to sit on when you put on your socks. And you'll know that if were to go missing or misplaced you'll know immediately since, well, it's bright and it's a bucket.
Very cool you went so far out of your comfort zone and had a great showing.
Hopefully you can do it closer to home in Connecticut, next time
A great re-cap and very funny in places! I loved the State confusion and your description of the swim as a near death experience!
thanks for watching!
Loved this recap👏👏 all the emotions you described during your swim is how I feel when doing a 10k LOL😏 loved how you tried new things just to see what it would be like, looking forward to more
My first Tri, I was looking for that blue lane swim lane line at the bottom of the lake and panicked when all I saw was dead black. Even though I had taught myself to swim a mile with relative ease in a pool, the open water swim and dawn in a lake was quite an eye opener. I later learned that you could look at the side shore when you turn your head to keep swimming straight without stopping and looking up. Thanks for sharing your experience!
My preferred breathing side had me looking out away from the city. All I saw was the sun and occasionally some boats
Awesome ko ! Getting out of the confort zone inspires ! Looking forward to ur 70.3 debut in the future !
Great job! Glad you enjoyed the process and the experience. The better you get at swimming and acclimating to running off the bike (without jelly legs) the better the experience will be. Looks like they put on a solid event there in any event... Can't wait to see your next one 💪
Great Job finishing! Would love to try one some day soon and this one isn't too far away. Thanks for the rundown!
It was so much less intimidating that I didn’t have to figure out travel logistics
@@kofuzi for sure. Gotta check around central Wisconsin here but if I can’t find anything this one could work well as I grew up out in the Chicago suburbs
Congrats again Ko! Really glad to hear the breakdown of your experience especially the inner thoughts you had on the swim and the anxiety over drafting rules. Still inspiring! Bummer about the gps issues. Do you still like the Wahoo rival overall?
“I hit the bottles hard” 🍺
Old habits 🤷🏻♂️
welcome to the triathlon family :) and yes it's a very warm and inclusive one ;-)
Thanks for the support!
Dude rides his bike to and from a Chicago tri....all the way from Connecticut too! PURE BOSS!!! 🤣
I was wondering what this comment was about until I reached that part of the vlog 😆
Awesome video and recap Mike. I hope to see you do another triathlon soon. I've really been enjoying all of your videos whatever you're doing!
I’d like to do more work with the swimming before I try again
@@kofuzi I’ve been trying to do that as well. My breath work needs major attention. I typically can only go 100-150m before I stop for a breather.
Congrats Kofuzi for the first triathlon really inspiring 👍
Well done and welcome to the triathlon world 🤙🤙🤙 keep going 👏👏
What an epic recap!
I would do a triathlon but instead of swimming it would be kayaking.
I would sign up for that
There is a race called Pole (xc ski), Pedal (bike), Paddle. Starts at Mt Bachelor, bike down to Bend, then yak in the Deschutes.
There are tris that do SUP instead of swim.
Great video Ko !!
Congrats on finishing 💪💪💪
Well done, great run at the end. You will improve a lot on the swim and bike. And get faster in the transitions. Maybe try without socks
Awesome job! Keep at the swimming and you’ll get to enjoy it.
Super cool shirt Ko! Those tunnels are wild. So that chip strap I sent you is softer, I've worn a hole in my ankle before. Live and learn. Glad you're considering doing another one of these after all of this.
It looks really good on me
I’ll have to use that strap next time, if its allowed
Kudos man!! I feel your pain exactly… Swimming is my weak spot too… Need to work on that as well
Great video! Cant wait to try in 2022! Can you do a video on what gear you used during the day.
A sign that I enjoy your videos,I watched the entire 33min video. Way to take a chance in something you have zero experience with,very admirable 👏
This makes me want to do a triathlon -- minus the swimming part. I definitely think I'm missing out on the cycling fun by sticking just to running.
There are a lot of local sprint options.....the easiest swim I have ever done is Batavia Tri. You swim in their local park district "pool" (which is an old quarry) and you can walk almost half of the swim....perfect for learning to get comfortable in water.
Congratulations sir,and thanks for awesome video and thanks so much for motivation
It's a very addictive sport. Well done!
I like people who make friends during triathlon swims much more than those who make enemies 😂
Welcome to the family 😎
Great to be here!
Congrats Mr K, great job 👏
"I'm not even a middle of the pack guy." You were in the middle third overall, by gender, and by age group. You did really well!
thanks!
Yo!!! Great video on explaining it all! It still looks very challenging to do any tri! I just have to get in water lots if I ever have a chance of doing one! Marathon training to BQ for now keeps me occupied! 😋
good luck on that BQ!
It seems the cap would obstruct the cooling of your head (the brain should be kept as cool as possible). However this was quite an athletic feat. Congrats.🏃🏃
applause!💥💪
thank you!
You don't need to spend a lot of money on bike upgrades (as they say, ride up grades rather than buying upgrades). Clip-on aero bars are simple and cheap. You'll also learn that it's more comfortable resting on your forearms than your hands. Handling is a bit different as is going in and out for braking, turns and such, but you'll get used to it quickly.
Just a thought ... some races have their swim with the current. There was a video of a plastic bag floating the New York Triathlon 1500 meter swim course in about 25 min. The August half is in the Savanah River and the current is so fast that you have to hold a rope to stay in place while waiting for your wave to start.
Olympic is the hardest distance triathlon, IMO. It's "short" enough that you have to push hard the entire time, but it's still a long distance. You have to pace longer distance races, like half and full Ironmans, so the effort is much easier, even though you're out there longer. Definitely do some spring distance races. You have to push crazy hard but they're short, so very doable.
Ironman. 2022!
Perhaps I will go spectate Ironman
I would probably have the best chance at a 5m swim, 100m bike, and a 100k run.I did 1 tri less than sprint. I think it was 200m swim. I did 1 sprint too. I am a rubbish swimmer. I think that I was about 20 min in the sprint and the leaders in my category were about 13 min. I was also on a mountain bike which increases your effort and you lose so much time. If I ever do another one I will need a road bike and 3 to 6 months of solid prep. The run was fine.
I do triathlons from Olympic to Full Ironman distance (just did my 3rd full ironman in July). I can help but I am not an expert. My swim is also my weakness but I can swim 2.4 miles in the ironman in 1hr10min. Been doing triathlons since 2017. If you want to learn more I can help like I said. FREE. Oh, and I also started from not knowing how to swim like you.
Maybe you can find a duathlon(?) / biathlon (?) that only has the bike and run portions. RunLikeHeller said her dislike for the swim was why she gave up triathlons.
They're called duathlons. Used to be called biathlons but that name is reserved for ski/shoot, run or bike/shoot in the summer events. The International Triathlon Union (or whatever it was called back then) changed the name to duathlons in order to be considered for Olympics.
Come in different formats. I think the most popular is run-bike-run. Distances can vary, but a common one is 5k-30k-5k
@@adamfeerst2575 Thanks, biathlon sounded familiar but I knew that wasn’t the right name. This would be right up kofuzi’s alley. And we don’t have to hear him dry heave! 😆😆😆
@@adamfeerst2575 I got confused by your post. I read they are not called duathlons. But later you say it got changed. What was it changed from and changed to?
@@donshields2379 See my corrected comment
What is this 4am you speak of? 😃
Yeah! "The Near Life Experience "
I don't understand why GPS signal would be an issue for bike part. Almost everyone paces the bike by power or heart rate. Pacing by speed on a bike is not a good idea. Weather and terrain conditions have much much bigger impact on your pace on a bike than on a run.
I think it was an issue as he would lose the signal in the tunnels. So if you are looking for distance and speed then, power and heart rate are not very helpful.
Think you will ever do another?
Awesome, big congrats but wondering, were you wearing contacts while swimming? Weren’t you scared of loosing then? Did you swing with your eyes closed?
I swim with contacts in. I use goggles
What did you mean by “boats” ? Were those areas where you can rest during the swim?
a literal row boat. you can reach up and hold on to the edge of it. you do not get in to it. you do not sit on it.
There are bike run events - Duathlons
I may have to look into those. I’m also intrigued by run swim events
My Buddy.
chicago Connecticut ahhaha that was great
Still not sure how that happened
How were you able to video tape? I was disqualified for just using my phone to listen to music on the run? And you taped it?
I contacted race organizers and obtained permission, as indicated in the Athlete Guide.
They gave me an additional wristband to indicate to course marshalls that I had permission
What bag you can have in transition will be determined by each race. Always best to try and leave the last minute pee to before putting a wetsuit on. I know people that will pee in their wetsuit but that just seems gross to me. The swim is always funny. When I first stared doing tri's, I would always have to turn on my back to do that backstroke even though I could swim the distance or more in a pool. Just keep at it, if you're going to continue doing these events. Taking in nutrition is always a worry if it's anything other than a sprint distance tri. All I can say is practice makes perfect. Sounds like you figured out what was causing issues on your run...the heat. Also, volunteers are pretty much always amazing!! Especially on the swim for these events.
Oh and people draft a lot in these types of races. As long as you're not right on someones wheel and doing it on purpose, it's all good
That’s good to know. That part was really stressful for me.
I have a brother who cycles and a brother who I'm sure could be convinced to swim, so maybe a brothers tag team relay triathlon would be fun. Is that a thing?
it definitely is!
thats it, youre the state of conneticut now
As much as you need to work on your swim, becoming a stronger rider will cut off more time. Not only will you be faster on the bike, but your legs will be better able to handle the run. My fastest tri runs came after I became a strong rider.
After this, the sprint distance should feel easy, right? 😉
I think the swim will still feel difficult but in a good challenge kind of way
I can tell you that no one really cares about drafting outside of the top 10%, after over 5 years of triathlon and many races where I´ve been drafted on and seen huge groups
Good to know!
@@kofuzi Don’t get me wrong of course you should avoid drafting and it’s illegal but especially with the slower people the Referees are usually blind on both eyes. And as long as your not sitting on someone’s wheels for the whole race or a fighting for a qualy spot for the Worldchamps etc most people don’t really have a problem with it
Yoo!!
What’s goin on!