Philadelphia Triathlon in Fairmount Park - Olympic Distance - TriathlonOlympic

This was an in-water (deep water) start. There was maybe 200 people in my wave (my AG and the 30-34 women). I seeded myself center front. A few secs before the start, all the girls that were off to the right started moving left and we got all bunched up. I have no clue what was happening. Then, they settled down. I couldn’t hear the announcer or anything from out there in the water. All of a sudden, everyone started swimming. I apparently didn’t hear the starting horn, so I got a pretty bad jump. The ‘washing machine’ effect didn’t exist much, so I guess I still got a decent jump.

At first, I found myself in the lead pack, but then the pack started moving ahead of me. I got kind of discouraged, but I figured I had a long ways to go, so I would just race my race. After a few more minutes, I found myself swimming through that lead pack and eventually left them behind. So, it was just me in a line of swimmers, with tons of room to myself. During the swim, I kept saying to myself: “Wow, this feels great. I feel great; I am not tired at all. I am really enjoying this. This is a really nice swim.” I should have realized I needed to swim harder at that point, but this was my longest swim in a race and I was still a little nervous about going out too hard. I was passing a lot of people from the wave ahead of me and knew most of my wave was behind me, so it was okay. Once I came out from under the bridge, I ran into A LOT of people from the waves ahead. It became super congested and a little frustrating. I picked up the pace a bit when I was actually able to swim. The exit was impossible to miss, so I just headed towards it and was out of there. I felt awesome getting out of the water…not tired at all (so I probably could have gone harder).

This was a really good swim. I love swimming point to point. I am pretty good at swimming in a straight line in OW, so I only sighted every 25-30 strokes. There were no weird currents or anything, so I never got off course. I LOVED LOVED LOVED that swim. And, I LOOOVVEE open-water swimming. It’s so nice to not have to stop and turn around every 25 yards. I loved every moment of that swim. Even if I didn’t go hard enough, I still had fun out there.

Actually hear the starting horn, and pick up the pace a bit.

This was the longest/largest TA I ever had to deal with. Getting wetsuit off, shoes on, helmet on, etc, went totally smoothly. It just took a long time to cover all that distance.

Not much.

Wohoo. I love riding. This was pretty uneventful. I raced a pretty good race on this portion of the tri. The second lap was very congested and I am pretty sure my time was slower for the second lap. I definitely climbed better on the second lap, but my descents and turns weren’t nearly as fast because there was so many people. Sometimes, you would take a turn with four of you side by side. I did a lot of yelling on the course (to tell people to move), and had to deal with blocking a few times. One guy really got me mad. He was blocking me at the end of the first lap, which means he had been racing fairly well (if he was still ahead of me) and should know the rules. I was yelling at him so much and it was super frustrating. I LOVE this bike course, so I had a lot of fun. It flew by. I can’t wait until I get more confident on my run and can therefore really open it up on the bike. But, I paced myself just right for this race.

I took in a gel about 10 mins into the ride, and again at 1 hr into the ride. I just took water and Gatorade as I thought I needed it. I probably only consumed a total of about 20 oz of fluids. But, I didn’t even take stuff at all the aid stations on the run, so I think my hydration was fine.

Not much. I could’ve powered a little harder up the hills on the first lap, but I honestly don’t think it affected my overall time that much. I possibly could have gotten ‘in the zone’ a bit more, but I still don’t think I would’ve pushed it much harder if I were more “in the zone.” I was just a lot more aware of who was passing me, who I was passing, etc., than I usually am. But, maybe it’s just because I had to be more observant given how crowded the course was.

Okay, let me just tell you how cool it is to be at a really big race and come back to a virtually empty T2. It’s pretty freakin’ awesome! Granted, I was in the 4th wave, but there was still a lot of people on the course by the time I got on there (and including my wave), and there was a few strong waves right behind mine. I mean, there was definitely people ahead of me, but in the big scheme of things, the overwhelming majority were still on the bike course. My family was cheering super loudly and they were saying it was so cool seeing me come back from the bike so far ahead of a lot of people. It was a nice little confidence booster. It was cool being in a T2 that’s not crowded…I felt like everyone was cheering just for me

The run through T2 in my shoes was a little more difficult than the run through T1. Once, I got to my spot, I spent like 2 seconds there, and was out of there. I remembered to remove my helmet this time!

Nothing; pretty good and seamless. A flying dismount is the only thing that would’ve saved me time.

I had heard my family while in T2 and saw some of my friends on the way out to the run, so that was a good way to get this started. I started out feeling great, and just settled into a nice pace. I actually passed a handful of guys in the first mile. Hm. I’ve never done that before! The run was two out and backs, the first was a little over 2 miles round trip, and the 2nd was about 4 miles round trip. About .5 miles into the run, I saw JohnnyKay running towards me. I don’t normally pay attention to who else is out there on the course, but it’s kinda hard to miss JK. First, he’s such a stud that he was so far ahead of everyone (his wave started after mine) that there aren’t many people around him. Second, he’s so tall. And, third, he races with a huge smile on his face. He looked really strong and we exchanged high fives. Well, really, low fives. It was cool to see the man in action.

I managed to hold off all the girls in my AG for the first out and back. But then, as we come back towards the TA to head out on the other out and back, we have to run through about .25 miles of grass. It’s not a field or anything, but just a grassy area. That part KILLED me. I really slowed down and the legs really took a pounding from the unevenness of it. At the beginning of the grassy part, I was passed by a chick in my AG. Then, I ran past my group of friends and one yelled, “Lauren, you have plenty of time to pick off a few more girls.” That was good for a laugh…like I am really going to catch any girls on the run. Oh well, put a smile on my face. Then, I ran past my family and my dad goes, “You’re gonna have to do better than that.” But, I didn’t bother to tell him that this stupid grass was killing me. Anyway, it was so nice to get back on the asphalt, although it seriously took my legs like 4-5 mins to recover from the grass.

After the recovery is where I started to make some race mistakes. I was really seriously feeling good for the most part. I didn’t have my stopwatch (screwed something up at the missed swim start), so I had no idea what pace I was holding. I would pick up the pace a bit, but then get worried I couldn’t sustain it, so I would slow it down. I went back and forth like that for like 4 miles. And, in those four miles, two more girls from my AG passed me (that I noticed). I managed to hold them back for almost 2 and a half hours and then they just get me like that. I didn’t even try to chase any of them. I just resigned to the fact that I am not a good runner and could never catch them. But, honestly, I could have picked this run up a bit. I missed the mile 4 and mile 5 markers, so I never really knew where I was at. But, I totally picked it up for the last .2 miles and I had gas left in the tank when I finished. I need to get better at racing and have more confidence in myself.

I need learn how to push through the pain that’s associated with racing and run like I can. I know I could have done that run two minutes faster. But, it was also my first Oly and I really do have limited racing experience, so I am not yet familiar with my own limits. I can only get better from here.

Anyway, running down the finishing chute and across the line was fun. There was a lot of people there, and I hope I at least looked sort of cool. Sometimes when I get tired, the arms tend to go out to the sides more, so they criss cross a bit in front of my body and then I look funny. I hope I didn’t look funny. I know I looked funny running through the grass!

Oh, and I took a gel (not the whole thing) right before the mile 3ish aid station.

Learn to pick it up and push it a bit.

My family was waiting for me at the end of the finishing chute. My mom and brother were soooo excited. I think they had a lot of fun watching the race and seeing me out ahead so much (out of the swim and bike). I stood there and talked to them for about 10 mins, and then my legs really started to revolt, so I told them I needed to walk around. They went home. I went and got some food and walked around for like a half hour before I found my friends. I was disappointed in myself at first, but then I learned I was 9/102 in my AG and I felt better.

I stretched A LOT.


Limited race experience and lack of confidence in my abilities.


Love this race. Loved swimming in the Schuylkill. The only complaint is the crowded bike course.