Philadelphia Triathlon in Fairmount Park - DuathlonStandard

I tried to take this first run at a comfortable pace, and succeeded. Seeing as I had trained for a triathlon and not a duathlon, I wanted to make sure I saved something for the bike and second run.

Train to run more than a 10K.

The ground was so muddy, I had a hard time running in my bike shoes. I ended up walking.

Nothing, given the conditions. If the ground had been solid, I would have ran.

Wow, my legs didn't want to push me up the first hill. I ran the 5K just slightly slower than my usual pace, so my legs weren't prepared for the hill to come up that quickly. I was able to get in a groove and even passed several people on the hills. Near the end of the first loop, I dropped my chain. A great course and the spectators were fantastic. Harika.

Ride more hills.

Same problem as T1, it was too muddy for me to run.

Run if conditions were different.

My legs felt like jelly for much of the run. I was hoping to run the entire thing this year, but the extra change changed my plans. During the bike, I kept playing cat and mouse with a girl in my age group. She caught me on the run. We were going to run into together, but I started having some stomach issues and needed to walk. Disappointing. Later, my friend's sister caught me near the turn around point. We kept each other going with a run walk. My boyfriend was at the race on his bike and he found us on the way back. We chatted for a bit and it was nice having him encourage me.

Run more.

Got some food and then biked home with my boyfriend.


Not enough running for a duathlon.


The organizers did a great job, especially given the last minute changes.