Philadelphia Triathlon in Fairmount Park - Olympic Distance - TriathlonOlympic

The swim was the biggest concern for me. I totally lost it in the sprint race I did early this month. I was noticing during the waves before mine that the majority of people were lining up on the first bouy and was just a mad crowd. I decided to stay farther to the left to gain my composure and then work my way back in the bouy when the field opened up. My breating went extremely well and I sighted properly. I didn't get tired and just overall I felt so much better about my swim. As a side note the day before I was listening to the pro pannel answer questions and a first timer asked for advice in general about running their first race. One of the most respected pros (Karen Smyers) basically told this chick she is most likely going to freak out on the OWS and going to crap out on the first 200 meters (kind of like what I experienced my first race). Although it was the truth I didn't think she should have struck fear into this girl. It also started playing head games with myself. So low and behold I am sitting on the shuttle bud in the morning. Who comes walking on and sits right next to me? Karen Smyers! I thanked her for her comment the day before about the OWS and she kind of apologized for them which I found kind of weird. I chatted with her for a while and things were fine. I look back now and I think she was my motivation for swimming so well. I just wanted to prove to her and myself I was gunna do it and do it well. So maybe I should be thanking her for getting into my head.

Probably swim a little faster and possibly start a little closer to the inside bouy. I ended up probably swimming an extra 100 to 200 meters just for staying on the outside.

Transition was pretty smooth. I was a bit woozy from the swim but I gained my composure pretty quickly. It was a long run from the racks to the mats so Lauren was right, transition times would be a bit longer than the shorter races I have ran.

Nada.

My bike was probably my weakest point of the race. Coming out of transition we hit a hill about a mile into it and all the blood in my body was still in my torso from the swim. I had a lot of difficulty on the hills and this only told me I needed more time training on hills. Besides that it wasn't too bad. I still averaged almost 19mph... just think on how well I would have done on a flat course.

Train more on hills.

So here is where my run started to p*ss me off. I didn't realize this till this morning (the day after my race) that during my run I didn't have my race belt/number on. I started thinking today I didn't even see it sitting on my towel yesterday at transition for the run. I went back to my bag this morning and my number is not in there. I don't want to make excuses but someone ganked my race belt/number!

Nada

I would say my run sucked but there are a few things that contributed to my time and mishap on it. #1 - I cramped within the first mile so I ended up having to walk/massage it off. That took about 3 minutes. #2 - I was issued a 4 minute penalty for not having my number on my body (thanks @sshole who stole my belt). So what happened to starting with a two minute penalty and then going to 4 on the second offense. Besides that my run went really well. I picked it back up and finished strong. So sitting here thinking that if I didnt cramp and I didnt get a penalty I would have had a 48 minute run which would have came out to like a 7:45 mile. Also it would have dropped me to below MOP for my age group. Oh well, there really isn't much I can do about it now. The times are what the times are.

Not cramp and find the prick who took my belt and beat his @ss.

Walked for about 10 minutes. I was in some pain and was cramping really bad once I stopped the run.


Hill climbing, cramping, and penalty for no race number.


This was a great race for my first race. It was close to home and extremely well organized. I wish I could have done better and it just gives me a base to make my goals for next year.