West Deptford Riverwinds Tri - TriathlonSprint

First triathlon with an indoor swim, and I really liked it. There is comfort is seeing that black line and knowing you're going in the right direction. The first group was supposed to include top finishers from the 2009 race, followed next by my age group (M35-39). Only 15 filled the first group, so a volunteer basically saw me and said "you're up." We hopped in the water and then all of a sudden heard "5, 4, 3..." - holy crap this thing was starting and I was not mentally prepared. I took off swimming and felt strong. My buddy told me I was the 2nd one out of the water. I wish I had a chance to swim about 100m or so before getting started to expand the lungs - I slowed a little in the middle as I was needing to breathe every other stroke for a little while. Anyway, real happy with the swim.

Figure out how to prepare my lungs before the swim.

Took a few extra seconds to throw on a bike jacket (it really was cold out). I just bought the jacket the night before and was very happy I did.

Flat tire!!!

I felt like I was doing pretty good. 2 guys had passed me on the bike, then all of a sudden I really slowed down. After a little bit (as it got worse), I looked back and realized I had a flat rear tire. Shoot! I decided to try to ride it as long as I could. That was about 2 1/2 miles or so. Then the back of the bike was sliding all over the place and I was basically completely on the rims. I had no choice but to get off. At this point I assumed my race was over and this was a DNF. I started walking the 2 miles back to transition. After a few minutes of walking, I decided I should finish anyway, as I had come for a workout. I jogged (slowly) for the 2 miles to finish up the bike leg.

Looks like I need to learn to change a flat. One guy was biking in the opposite direction and was so nice he actually stopped, about to give me his spare tube. I told him to continue on and thanked him anyway (I don't know if I would have been able to change it anyway).

Carry a tube and CO2 cartridge, and figure out how to use it.

Took it easy, figured why rush at this point anyway. Had a few big gulps of gatorade before continuing on.

I really should have given a better effort here. I had no idea what the distance was, and didn't push it until it was too late. No excuse, next time will be better.

Run faster

Lots o' pizza


Flat tire.


This was a fun race and I will do it again. I really liked the pool swim. There did not seem to be a ton of volunteers - I'm sure part of that had to do with the awful weather.

I do wish we had gotten some emails before the race. I had to double and triple check that I was registered, because I never received any emails until packet pickup.

The RiverWinds facility is NICE. I liked the pool and I liked the run. Even before my flat tire, I had recognized that there was crap all over the road. I was not very surprised when I pulled a chunk of glass out of my tire after the race.