Philadephia Triathlon in Fairmount Park - Sprint - TriathlonSprint

We all started in the water, which was warm enough to make wet suits illegal. So, I was a little bummed that I didn't get to wear one. Jess and I started right next to each other, but after they blew the whistle, I honestly had no clue where she was. All I knew was that I needed to get into my rhythm. It always takes me a good 100 m to feel like I am in sync with my stroke. I felt awesome sighting. I felt much more confident than I did at Devilman. I had no problem seeing the buoys, and I tried to lift my head between every 10-15 strokes. A lot of the time, I used the people in front of me to know where I was going. As long as I saw someone on my side during each breath, I knew I was okay. I think I did a good job of not drifting too far out, however, about halfway through the swim, I felt a nagging pain start in my right side. I thought it was odd that I would be getting a side sticker, since I swim way more than 900 m each session. It bothered me the entire swim, running out of the water, etc. Breathing became very difficult and I couldn't catch my breath. Also, my tri top came unzipped and I could feel myself getting weighed down with water.

Ran out of the water and into the T1 area to see Jess grabbing her bike and heading out. I felt a little panicked that she beat me on the swim!

1) I need to practice sprints in the pool to increase my time.
2) Make sure that my tri top is zipped up the whole way.

T1 felt quick, since I didn't have to get out of my wetsuit. Stopped to take a Gu before leaving the area. LONG ass run from my rack position to the bike mount sign.

I had a little trouble getting my socks on today.

Bike course sucked. I could not catch my breath. My side was bothering me, and the roads were slippery as all hell. About 2 minutes into the bike, it started to drizzle. The drizzle turned to rain and the roads got very very slick. I had someone wipe out right in front of me, and another guy skid right in front of me that made me slow down. Overall, I was disappointed with my bike. I kept saying to myself, "When are you going to turn it on?"

In the beginning, there was a stretch of flat road, which after 2 miles you had to pretty much come to a dead stop for a sharp turn-around, and then head up a slight incline. After getting up the incline, I was able to pick up some speed, just in time for Strawberry Mansion Bridge, which is a pretty steep incline. I was able to spin up that with no problem and passed a good 5-7 people in the process. Turned left to about 500 yards of straight-away, and another left to a big, gradual incline. I just couldn't get the legs to settle in. It was a hard start to a bike course. There was no transition period for my legs. A few more straightaway/hill combos and a lot of turns!!! The slick roads made things difficult, and no one had a fast bike. The first place finisher overall only biked at 21.5 mph. That's a pretty slow average for the male winner. There were 4 sharp turn-around that we needed to make, and each time you had to slow down to about 2 mph.

Since there were two loops, I got a lot of cheers from my mom, sister, David, Christine, Sarah, Zack and Gaynor. It was nice having people cheering for me. Christine and my sister were the loudest. Hearing Kelly really motivated me to push it through.

Coming into transition, I saw Jess tying her shoelaces. She ran out as I made it to my station. I closed to gap with her on the bike, but at this point, I was still disappointed that she was ahead of me.

1) I need to become a little more confident biking in wet conditions.

Took another gu to have on the way out. The transition run was, again, pretty long. Ran on the grass, out to West River Drive, where you crossed the mat and the 5K began.

Nothing. Felt pretty fast.

I felt great on the run, in fact, maybe too great. Looking back, I should have pushed myself a little more. I was still having pains in my side, however, I pushed them out of my mind and just concentrated on getting the run in. I saw Jess in front of me, and caught/passed her within the first half mile. I grabbed a water at the first aid station, and tried to drink as much as I could without walking. I am not good at this! I didn't take any more water the rest of the run. Turn-around at approx 1.6 miles. I saw Jess after I turned, and she was quite a way behind me. Still felt strong, I knew I should have picked up the pace but for some reason I didn't. My sister must have run out at some point to see if she could catch me on the turn around, and she saw me around mile 2. She was cheering me on and pumping me up, telling me I looked really strong. She was able to keep up with me for a minute or two, but then she dropped off and screamed for me at my back. Around mile 2.75-3, David was there yelling for me. He told me to pick up the pace, that I was almost there. Nice confidence booster having him yell for me. I passed two men on the last drag, and crossed the finish line strong. My mother, Christine, Gaynor, Sarah, Zack and the kiddies were there cheering me on at the final shoot. It was awesome!

1) Push myself a little more.

2 bottles of water.


My side. I don't know what is going on. My father seems to think that it is a pulled intracordal (spelling?) muscle. With each breath I take, I am still (2 days post race) feeling a shooting pain on my right side.


Nice having a home town race. I love Philly! The spectators were awesome, and having some of my family and coworkers and friends there was amazing!