Shawn Cheatham

It’s only been a couple days since I completed the Accenture Triathlon (Chicago) and I’ve already started to think about next year and whether an Ironman is in the 2008 cards. Regardless of what my triathlon season ends up looking like, I thought it would be good to join a Chicago Triathlon Meetup, unfortunately, there was only one out in the burbs, so I decided to start one in the city. I’ve never organized a Meetup group before but I thought this would be a good way to meet some new people and learn about their triathlon addiction.

Chicago Triathletes Unite!

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Chicago Triathletes Unite!!

On Sunday, I tackled my first Triathlon (olympic/international)! “Triathlons are not at all fun” is the thought that kept throbbing in my ears during every stroke, pedal and stride of the course. It was by far the most physically ridiculous event I’ve ever taken part in and within minutes of finishing, I couldn’t help but wonder how to register for a 2008 Ironman event.

After getting only a few hours of sleep and waking up at 4AM, I managed to get situated in the transition area with no major problems. The sunrise was gorgeous and revealed a spectacular day. The water was a freezing 68 degrees which added to a comical swim whereby I spent every few strokes laughing and waving to my adoring fans…all 3 of them. The bike, despite having driven down Lakeshore Dr. numerous times, had more hills than I had prepared for which caused me to get tired a lot sooner than expected. During the run I did all I could to keep from blowing up while trying to keep a strong steady pace. In the end I finished in 3:07:38 which was just over my 3hr goal.

Rina managed to get several good video shots during the swim and bike, so in the near future I’ll figure out how to post it here. Unfortunately, she missed video and pics of the finish but seeing as how she and Jay hiked up and down Lakeshore Dr. getting the swim and bike, I can’t complain.

Although I wont categorize triathlon events ‘fun’, I’ve already started to chart my course for next year. Int’l, 70.3 or Ironman? Who knows but I have a couple months to figure it out. One thing is for sure…need to start training earlier…I’m positive I can do 2:30ish next year!

I think it’s been about 8 or 9 months since I signed up to do the Chicago Triathlon. Unfortunately, I didn’t get as much training in as I would have liked but over the past 2 months I feel like I’ve come a long way and while I wont be “racing” to the finish, I will be plugging away at it on Sunday morning. Against better judgment and the advice of my triathlon club coach, I’ve simply tried to log as many hours in the lake, on the bike and running as possible without over training. Not much of a training plan but with the 8wks I had I think I did enough to make it to the end without bonking. I’ll be doing the Olympic distance which will be cake on the bike and run but the swim…that’s where I’m going to struggle. Honestly, I’m pretty impressed with my progress seeing as how last month I could barely swim 2 laps without taking a 2-3min break. As is typical with new swimmers, I found that I was trying to inhale and exhale while I turned my head. Additionally, I finally figured out that I was over-kicking and under-pulling which contributed to my exhausted state. Luckily I sorted all that out in the lake and found a good rhythm (sssslllloooowwww) but with a little determination and minimal heel’s to the head, I’m confident I’ll finish the course and pull out of the water under my own power.

Tomorrow we’re meeting friends for brunch near the registration spot which is a multi-sport expo, so I’m really getting excited about the weekend….not to mention that after nearly 2wks of crap weather it’s supposed to be sunny and 80 on Sunday!

After a few days of monkeying around with this site, I had to unplug and get back to my center. I’m weird that way…anytime there’s a new project I bury myself in the weeds only to resurface a while later wondering what I missed. So what have I been doing with myself?

First, I spent a ridiculous amount of time studying for my NASM certification. After finishing the book and all quiz/test materials I figured I had better put it down for a bit and let it simmer. Earlier this week I went back to it and was pleasantly surprised that a lot of what I learned is still fresh in my mind. In the next week or so I’m going to apply what I’ve learned by assessing and planning a training plan for Rina. She’s pretty stoked to put some rigor around her workouts, so it should be fun.

While wrapping up the NASM study, I decided to apply for a job at a neighborhood outdoor store. With 6yrs of bike shop experience and a year of outdoor retail while in high school/college, it was no surprise that they brought me into the fold. Thus far it’s everything I knew it would be and was looking for…fun, entertaining and at times quite mind numbing. I’m not complaining though, after 7yrs working for software companies where 70-80hrs weeks were the average and middle of the night conference calls were the norm, I’m okay with talking about merino wool vs. cotton and whether to go with an 800 or 1500 cubic inch backpack for that trip to Russia.

I don’t know whether it was our stolen Harley, quitting my job, training for the Accenture (Chicago) Triathlon, playing with the idea of a career change or the recent rain storms in Chi-town…but the other day Rina and I decided it was time to take a trip. Iceland, although a current hot spot, was quickly ruled out due to prices and in the end we bought tickets to Costa Rica. As is typical with Rina and I, we decided on a whim and will figure the rest out later. Now comes the pre-fun part…planning and buying gear!!! Working in an outdoor/travel store makes outfitting pretty easy…but then comes the technology:) Last night we picked up the Canon HV20 camcorder, yet another impulse buy driven mainly by a sub-project of this site (more about that later). The Canon Hv20 got a solid review from www.thetechguylab.com, a podcast I listen to regularly and everything else I could find made it the logical choice. Now we’ll have a couple months to play with it and hopefully get some good footage in Costa Rica.

That’s if for me today…