SheROX Philadelphia Triathlon - DuathlonStandard

I was disappointed that the race was now a duathlon and seriously considered bailing at that point (once again). But I was already there so I went with it.

Nothing. My run could have been a little faster if it wasn't quite as humid out.

Changed shoes, ate some gu, had some water, and took off. I had some difficulty getting my shoes on, but other than that, this was a fairly smooth transition.

Move a little quicker but I had already decided I was going to take it easy.

I was worried about the bike because I was starting in a later wave and knew that it would be crowed. (I'm not sure if it would be more or less crowded if we had swam, but I can usually get far enough out front of the main pack on the swim so I don't have to worry about it too much.) I started out pushing and felt very comfortable, but about halfway through the first loop, it started raining a little. With the rain, I was more cautious than normal and I saw several crashes. I descended slowly and took it easy. My time was much slower than it ever has been on the same course. The second loop was uneventful (minus the thunder) until about 1/2 mile from the bike finish I got a flat. For some reason couldn't tell (even after stopping twice to check to see what the strange noise was that I was hearing). I realized at the last turn around when I skidded around the corner. I got my foot down to stop the slide. I slowly took it into the transition area.

Given the conditions and some other issues, nothing. Under normal circumstances, almost everything.

I missed my rack by several rows. I spent a little time debating about whether I wanted to continue the race or just fix my tire so I could ride home. The thunder was really picking up by that point.

Not overshoot my rack.

The thunder was getting stronger on the run and eventually lightening started. As I approached the one mile marker, they called the race. I turned around and ran the remaining mile to the finish line. It was kind of scary being out there because the storm was nearby (lightening hit several houses a few miles north of the race site). It was a monsoon. The positive is that it kept me running!

Today, I wouldn't have started the second run and spent the last minutes before the storms hit fixing my bike.

I tried to see if I could find the bike support because I thought they would have better luck changing the tube than me. I didn't see them and wandered back into transition. My friend Anne had packed up most of my stuff. When I went to grab my bike, the water/mud was a couple of inches above my shoes. Anne told me that my bike shoes and helmet were stuck in the mud and completely submerged. It was a mess. We walked back to Anne's house because it was raining too hard to even think about changing my tire. She gave me a ride home and I grabbed my bike later in the afternoon.


The weather.


This is a good race, however, they waited too long to cancel the swim. Because of that, the people in the later waves weren't able to finish the course. Given the circumstances and the rapidly changing weather, they did an excellent job.