Philadelphia Triathlon in Fairmount Park - Sprint Distance - TriathlonSprint

This was my first time swimming in a wetsuit. I loved the buoyancy, although mid-swim it did feel very constricting around my neck. I started towards the back of my wave, which was a mistake. It took me about 150 yards to find my own space in the water... I was colliding with people all over the place (there were several slower swimmers in front of me, and it was difficult getting past them and getting into a pattern with my stroke). Once I found my own water, the swim was good - not lightning fast, but I maintained a decent, consistent pace. With about 100 yards to go, my calves started cramping up which surprised me, but I was able to push through.

Start closer to the front of the pack.

I was definitely a little tired coming out of the water, and could have gone through T1 a lot faster. The wetsuit came off pretty easily (although it did get stuck on my timing chip briefly). Another guy from my rack came running over to me needing help to get his wetsuit unzipped - thankfully I had been able to do unzip myself before getting to my rack. On the way out of T1, a volunteer flagged me down, pointing to my bike - it turns out my goggles were hanging from the frame near the real tire (d'oh!). I grabbed them and kept on running, figuring I would have to stop to throw it in the little zip-up bag under my seat before getting on the bike. Just as I was about to do that, I saw my wife and daughters so I tossed the goggles to them. Getting on the bike, the calf cramps were really bad, but they settled down while on the bike.

push harder after the swim

Good bike course - those hills were killer. I saw 2 people wipe out (one whose water bottle I actually ran right over with my front tire - fortunately I stayed on the bike). I maintained a decent pace until the hills, then I felt like I was barely moving. Going downhill was great; I got up to 32.8 mpg at one point, which is the fastest I'd ever been on that bike.

At some points it was near impossible to pass on the left, as there were 5 or so people spread out across the entire lane. Just seemed like a lot of people on the course (probably because there WERE a lot of people on the course!). I definitely noticed the judges out there on the bike course on scooters... one of them was, unfortunately, actually causing a major backup, as that scooter was part of the group of bikes blocking the road. The scooter made the 180 turn along with everyone else and one of the bikes immediately behind it just barely avoided hitting it around the turn.

Get my bike professionally fitted - my hamstrings were hurting and I feel like I may not have my seat in the right spot.

I felt like this was a good T2. When I got off the bike, my legs were killing but I just kept moving which seemed to help. Dropped off the bike and helmet, grabbed my race belt and visor and hit the road again.

Nothing.

This run was pretty lousy. During the first mile I kept wanting to stop... my legs were still hurting from both the swim and bike. I just kept moving, but VERY slowly - I felt like I was running at like an 11:00 pace; fortunately it wasn't that bad. I think the second half of the run was way better than the first.

I did NOT do enough bricks during training.

Hung out with my wife and daughters, drank a ton of water, watched my friend cross the finish line and hung out with him and his family. The tomato pie was great!


leg cramps - not enough bricks during training.


Fun event. It was very well organized, considering the number of people. The only problem I had was that one scooter with the judges on it, only because I felt like they were part of the road blockage for a while and almost caused one rider to wipe out.

The volunteers were great and everyone was very supportive of all the racers. I'll be back!