Philadelphia Triathlon in Fairmount Park - Sprint Distance - TriathlonSprint

I had a very good swim (for me). There was definitely a fair amount of bumping into other swimmers for the first 100m or so, but nothing like last year. I started toward the front of the pack, which worked out better for me. I'm certainly not the fastest guy out there, but usually top 20%. I swam pretty consistently the entire way. I was also happy with my sighting.

This was my first triathlon with bike shoes, and I was not about to try to leave my shoes on the bike and put my feet in them while riding. I popped on the helmet, bike shoes and sunglasses and took off with the bike, running in the bike shoes (which was no problem, as we were running on grass).

This was my first triathlon with bike shoes and with aerobars - what a difference!! I was only in the aero bars about 1/3 of the time (on flat stretches), but I felt great. Definitely the best race ride I have had yet.

As mentioned before, first tri with bike shoes. I successfully got my feet out of the shoes before the bike ride ended, and rode with my feet on top of my shoes until time to dismount. (I had practiced this at home.)

For me, this was a good run (I am a slow runner). I was tired as soon as the run started, and part of me wanted to take a break to walk, but I was able to convince myself to push on. Actually, I told myself "at least get to 1 mile." Got there and decided "come on - at least get to the turnaround." Got there and though "15 or so more minutes, then you can rest." So I successfully completed the run without walking.

Water, tomato pie, cookie, Gatorade, and chatting with other competitors.


Let me start by saying I feel terribly for the family of the man who did not make it out of the water. That is very very sad.

Before having heard that news, I was on a personal high, as this was my best triathlon performance yet. I took over 5 and a half minutes off my time from last year, which included less time in every part of the event! I even shaved 12 seconds off the swim, despite it being too warm to wear a wetsuit. The biggest gains were in the bike and run. I had a great morning out there.