Phily Tri - Philadelphia Insurance Triathlon - Sprint - TriathlonSprint

My first successful OWS. This was the first time I didn't completely panic and blow it. I finished almost in the top 25% of the race! I swam the whole way freestyle, instead of resulting to backstroke and stopping. I remembered my tinted goggles this time, which helped a lot because the sun was rising. I didn't take such great lines; however my sighting was decent. I'm very happy with my performance b/c its the first time I didn't completely blow it in the first leg of the race. I got hit several times or ran into people but instead of letting it freak me out, I calmed down and kept going.

Pull deeper with the right arm. Sight more proficiently.

First time trying my new helmet. I had a slight problem getting it on. I worked putting it on several times the night before and didn't experience the issue I had in the race. I didn't put socks or gloves on for this race. This was the first time I rode w/o either of these. It definitely saved me some time in transition.

14/98 in AG.

I never felt like I got going on this course. It felt like every time that I got up to speed, I was coming into a turn. A guy crashed right in front of me on the course. I made sure he was ok and got the volunteers to help him. I was in the first wave after the pros and there were not a lot of bikes out on the course during my first lap. In the second lap I passed a whole lot more casual riders, who were thankfully keeping to the right. I had a near meltdown when I went too hard into a turn and had to jam on my brakes and almost lost it when my back tire went skidding.

I might have gone out a bit too hard too soon. I was still riding the high from the swim, so I started pressing early. I actually wound up with an average power of 219W for this ride, which might be slightly off b/c I didn't calibrate the Quarq. If you look at my HR data its way up in the 170s during the start of the ride. That's unusual for me, and usually represents an upper Z4 or Z5 effort. I was trying to ride at lower threshold or Z4 for the duration, but I was definitely out a bit too strong. I managed to dial it back appropriately after that.

I had a mechanical problem on the ride w/ my right cleat. It came out of my pedal about 10 times. I need to make sure all my equipment is functional before a race.

Another solid transition. I didn't do socks for the running shoes. The race laces helped. I'd never run w/o socks before. I got a couple blisters on my feet after, but they were small and it was worth it.

I asked the volunteer in transition where Run Out was bc I couldn't see it. I had looked at it earlier that day, but in the heat of the race I forgot. Unfortunately he didn't know.

Study the exits better before the race. This cost me.

43/98 in AG.

I had a small cramp when I started the run, but I worked that out fairly quickly. I did a yeoman's job of finding my pace early and keeping it. I was feeling stronger as I ran and turned it up a notch it mile 3. This is the closest I've ever made it to the 8min/mile pace that I'm targeting. I ran in Z4 the whole time. I doubt that I would be able to do that for a 10k in an Oly.

Finish harder.

Walked around a bit. Chatted w/ other finishers. I was in the first main wave and finished pretty early so there wasn't a whole lot of folks that were milling about at that point.


The windy race course.


Great medals! Volunteers not well-informed and not helpful calling out turns on the race course. I didn't care for the bike course.

Even though I think I'm a decent runner, the numbers don't lie. What would have made me place higher is a better run.