I have a hard time swimming in a straight line so I was meandering through the course. This was also the first time in a Philly race where people kept grabbing my feet, people were running into me and I was running into people. The course is narrower than the Olympic and Sherox, which lead to tons of bunching. Overall, I was pleased with my swim.

Swim more than twice during training. (My schedule limited when I could get to the pool, and I swam for the first time two weeks ago.

I had problems with this transition for some reason. I swam in my tri-shorts and sports bra. I went to put on my shirt and I couldn't get it on. I tried about three times before I gave up and switched to my bike jersey that I wore before the race. I realized on the run (after I finally got the shirt on) that when I pinned the number on, I grabbed two much fabric from different spots, so the shirt felt like it was half the size it should have been. Oh well, lesson learned.

Get a race belt so I don't have to pin my number to my shirt. Then I can swim in my shirt.

This was a good ride. My legs felt like bricks when I first got on the bike, but they eventually loosened up. I was passing a lot of people, including from my wave, earlier waves, and surprisingly, I pass quite a few of the men on their first lap.

Like with the swim, ride more. This was the second time on the road all year and I rode Deger's bike on the trainer three or four times.

I just couldn't win with the transitions today. For some reason I never untied my shoes and so, of course, my laces were in knots. I got my shoes on and then changed my shirt into the one that had the race number pinned to it. (I eventually figured out the issue with the pin and fixed it during the run.)

Untie my running shoes before the swim.

I was hoping to run the entire 5K, since this is where I had been focusing all of my training during the winter. Unfortunately, I had to walk several times to get rid of cramps and just plain catch my breath. I also walked to fix my shirt. When I was running (which was the majority of the run just not all of it), the pace felt comfortable.

I need to learn to relax more on the run and stay out of my head. As soon as I get into my head, I let myself walk and the more I do that, it becomes harder and harder to keep running. I can run it, but I always seem to let myself walk too early and too often.

Waited for Josh to finish and then ate some pizza and biked home.


Lack of training.


This is a great race and a fun course.