Philadelphia Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

I decided not to go with a wetsuit since I really don't have bouyancy issues and the water was really warm. We jumped off of the dock and tread water for about 4 minutes before our wave started. It was a self-selecting wave start which was weird at first, but ended up to be OK. Was able to start with friends.
Actually drafted the first few hundred yards. I wasn't able to maintain this throughout the race though. I think I went out pretty hard at first because my arms were a little tired on the final stretch.
Exit of the swim was up the boat ramp.
Water wasn't great (kind of smelled), but it could have been worse.

Not really sure...I haven't trained as hard as I should have. I probably should have swam (trained) a lot more. Other than that, the swim was pretty good.

Since I didn't have to take off a wetsuit, my T1 time was pretty good. I ran up the boat ramp and heard Sissy and Zephyr yelling for me (what a nice sound!!). I saw Karolyn and Steve in T1. I had no issues getting my bike equipment. As I was running to the "mount" line, I saw Karolyn and Steve throwing elbows to get on their bikes first. Too funny!
I managed to clip in and get up to speed fairly quickly.

Nothing.

Overall, I was happy with the bike. Even though it was a flat course, I pushed it the entire time. At times, I felt like there was a headwind. Heard Sissy and Zephyr cheering when I passed them after the first loop. Never stopped moving the legs.


Train more on the bike so I could bring my average speed up.

No major issues in T2. I had a minor problem racking my bike, but it probably only cost me 5 seconds.

Have bike turned the right way.

I started the run not feeling great. It took me about a mile for my legs to get used to running and not spinning. I also had a stitch in my neck for the first mile or so. Pace at this point was slow and steady.
I felt great at the 2 mile mark and ended up having a negative split for the last 2 miles. The finish line kind of came out of no where. I had enough in me to sprint to the end.
Even though my run time is pathetic comparitavely, I am actually happy with it. It will keep getting better as I train.

Once again, train more...I think my best plan of attack is to use the treadmill and work on intervals.

Grabbed a drink, talked to family and friends and packed up.
We checked the race results and saw Brad took 3rd in his age group. We stuck around to see if there was an awards ceremony and then started the long walk back to the car.



Lack of training. The course wasn't too difficult, but I know I could have taken a few minutes off here and there to come in under 2 hours.


As mentioned before, this race lacked any bells and whistles. The bag we received at check in was a paper sack and didn't have any give aways or samples. This race was on time, was well run, and had a decent amount of volunteers. The transition area was great and the course was fun and fast. I think that since it was the first year, they may have had issues getting more sponsors. Maybe next year will see some improvements. They got the important things right though. Do I really need another water bottle? Probably not.
It was a lot of fun doing the race with Brad and friends. And it was great to have family there cheering us on.
I would do this race again next year.