Philadelphia Insurance Triathlon - Olympic Race - TriathlonOlympic


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Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
United States
Philadelphia Triathlon, LLC
80F / 27C
Sunny
Total Time = 2h 13m 53s
Overall Rank = 91/1921
Age Group = M30-34
Age Group Rank = 11/186
Pre-race routine:

Up a bit before 4. Normal pre-race breakfast of coffee and bagel w/ PB. Out the door by 5.
Event warmup:

Parked by the softball fields off of Montgomery Dr and biked ~1mi down to TA. After setting up TA and getting bus to swim start, I did ~300-400M swim WU. Had one Hammer Gel about 15min prior to my wave start.
Swim
  • 20m 52s
  • 1500 meters
  • 01m 23s / 100 meters
Comments:

A stronger than normal current had everyone PR'ing their swim time. It was strong enough that you has to kick/scull while waiting for your wave to start.

This race is weird as most swimmers go pretty far left of the buoy line even though the first/only turn is to the right. I drafted for about 1/2 the distance off of 1 or 2 ppl. I did take a nice kick b/t the eyes when the one guy I was drafting off of would switch to breast stroke in order to site...needless to say he slowed down a lot when doing so and I get close enough to get clocked.

Nice to have the current to PR the swim and help reach and OA time goal, but from a competitive standpoint I feel I am relatively strong at swimming compared to the other events and less current would probably have been a bit more advantagous for me.
What would you do differently?:

Nothing really. Draft more, but I need to figure out on this course why ppl avoid the bouy line. Certainly drafting would have been easier with the group.
Transition 1
  • 02m 9s
Comments:

I did everything well except locating my spot once I was actually there. I ran down the correct row when within 5ft of my stuff and briefly panicked as I didn't see my bike right in front of my face. Prob cost me 4-5s. Thanks to Marna for yelling at me at telling me I was in the right spot.

On the run out it was a cluster f as was the mount line. I was far right agsinat the snow fence and a guy was boxing me in a bit as I was passing. I had to put my hand on his base bar to prevent his bike from hitting me. It did get a cry from some nearby spectator. I then had to pick my bike up as some gal from an earlier wave was mounting right at the curb. I carried my bike over her back wheel before running another 15ft and then mounting.

Tied (w/ Brad) for 11th fastest T1 in AG.
What would you do differently?:

Find my bike quicker.
Bike
  • 1h 05m 49s
  • 24.85 miles
  • 22.65 mile/hr
Comments:

Solid bike although it was 40s slower than last year. Note to self, you can take the downhills onto the drives without braking. I trimmed some speed on the first loop since I didn't remember the course. On the second loop I pushed the uphills and only trimmed speed on the downhills based on location of other riders and safety concerns.

Only really windy section was the stretch b/t th Art Museum and the Lansdowne climb. It's always windy there...the river funnels the wind and pow you get it on the chin.

Saw Brad after the first climb on the short OAB. Was happy not to see him there on the 2nd loop as I knew I needed to put some time into him on the bike. K saw and yelled for me later on loop2 as I was passing her on a hill. I wasn't paying attention to other riders...it was nice that she saw me.

NUTRITION:
250cal HEED in aero bottle
1 gel after art museum on second loop
TOTAL 360cal

EQUIPMENT
Compact crank 50/34
11-23 casssette and it was perfect
Hed Jet 60 on front, Mavic Open Pro w/ wheelcover on back
What would you do differently?:

Push the downhills faster on loop 1.
Transition 2
  • 01m 20s
Comments:

Pretty smooth. Tied or 9th in AG here.
What would you do differently?:

Nothing really.
Run
  • 43m 41s
  • 6.21 miles
  • 07m 02s  min/mile
Comments:

Always interesting not knowing what pace you are running until you hit that first mile marker.

One guy in my AG passed me during mile 1. He was going a good 20-30s/mi faster...so a bit too fast and too early for me to jump on. I then ran and chatted with one guy in my AG b/t mile 1 and 3. We leap-frogged a bit on the bike and he was a nice guy. I couldn't keep the pace after mile 3 when he picked it up a bit. AFter that I ran solo the rest of the way. Got passed by one other AGer after mile 4.

At the first turn-around (somewhere bt miles 1 and 2) I knew Brad was just under 2min behind. By the second turn-around (~mile 4.5) the gap was down to ~1:20. At that point I knew if I could keep my pace I should be able to hold him off...or he'd have to have a great close and run very low 6s to catch. Lucky for me I had enough in the tank to keep to 7min/mi pace until I reached the last 2/10ths and was able to have a small kick to finish. The "hunted" was able avoid the "hunter" on this day.

Also got to see Laura twice on the run course and I saw Earl where the bike/run courses overlap.

NUTRITION
Water at every aid station. Took a gulp and dumped rest on self.
What would you do differently?:

Nothing really. This year has been a lot of run focus and I was happy to shave 1:40 off of last year's run time.
Post race
Warm down:

Pretty bad here. Chatted with Brad. Then walked around a bit before cheering in those in later waves....JohnnyKay, Laura, Earl and Kristin.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Should have done a little recon on the bike course. Besides that I performed as expected and was happy with the PR and reaching my three goals;
- Beat last year's time
- Go sub 2:15
- Beat Laura's boss

Event comments:

Outside of the bike being a bit crowded (although it didn't seem as bad as 2008), this race is great. Huge competitive field, great venue, fun course.




Last updated: 2009-02-03 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:20:52 | 1500 meters | 01m 23s / 100meters
Age Group: 24/186
Overall: 184/1921
Performance: Average
Suit: ProMotion full suit
Course: Start at SJU Boathouse and swim down river getting out on MLK Drive side.
Start type: Deep Water Plus: Waves
Water temp: 75F / 24C Current: Medium
200M Perf. Average Remainder: Average
Breathing: Good Drafting: Below average
Waves: Navigation: Average
Rounding: Average
T1
Time: 02:09
Performance: Below average
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
No
Wetsuit stuck? No Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: No
Getting up to speed: Average
Biking
01:05:49 | 24.85 miles | 22.65 mile/hr
Age Group: 10/186
Overall: 84/1921
Performance: Average
235/249 (1.06 / .941), 158bpm, 96c, 930kJ work 1st lap: ~33:28, 22.1mph 2nd lap: ~32:31, 22.7mph
Wind: Some
Course: Two loops around the drive w/ 4 short climbs per loop (Greenland, Strawberry Mansion, Lemon Hill and Lansdowne).
Road: Smooth Dry Cadence: 96
Turns: Average Cornering: Average
Gear changes: Average Hills: Average
Race pace: Hard Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 01:20
Overall: Average
Riding w/ feet on shoes Average
Jumping off bike Good
Running with bike Average
Racking bike Average
Shoe and helmet removal
Running
00:43:41 | 06.21 miles | 07m 02s  min/mile
Age Group: 30/186
Overall: 182/1921
Performance: Average
7:07, 7:07, 6:54, 7:03, 7:07, 7:04, 1:15 (6:30pace for last 0.2)
Course: OAB twd Falls Bridge and then a sunny OAB twd the Art Museum.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Average
Mental exertion [1-5] 3
Physical exertion [1-5] 3
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Good
Race evaluation [1-5] 5