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Philadelphia Triathlon in Fairmount Park - Olympic Distance - TriathlonOlympic


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Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
United States
Philadelphia Triathlon, LLC
80F / 27C
Overcast
Total Time = 2h 18m 55s
Overall Rank = 123/1892
Age Group = M35-39
Age Group Rank = 17/263
Pre-race routine:

Spent Sat. cheering on my wife and her friends in the sprint race. All seemed to have a good time. My 2 older children then did the kids' du--.3/1/.3. Jack finished 2nd (and probably would have won if Dad would get him a bike that fit) and Emma pushed herself from start-to-finish perhaps even more impressively. Long day in the sun, but lots of fun.

On Sunday, woke a little after 4am and had an Ensure Plus, OJ, Clif bar, banana and coffee. Sipped on some GE for remainder of the morning.
Event warmup:

Got wet and took a few strokes. But not much, really.
Swim
  • 24m 55s
  • 1500 meters
  • 01m 40s / 100 meters
Comments:

Had made a decision not to try to 'race' the swim and immediately just tried to settle into a solid, steady pace. Unfortunately, other than for the first few hundred meters, I never really had a draft. Like last year, I stayed towards the left heading toward the bridge and then took what I believe is a straight line to the turn buoy. The rest of the field largely stays towards the right and follows the curve of the bouys after the bridge which appears to be a longer course. The bad news is nobody to draft. The good news is that this delys the 'pile-up' of slower swimmers from earlier waves until after hitting that turn buoy and the final few hundred meters back to shore.

The swim didn't 'end' until after a short run into transition. Since I stopped out of the water to remove my wetsuit, that's included in my swim time instead of T1 as well.
What would you do differently?:

If I had more confidence in my fitness level heading into the race, I would have pushed the swim more. But it was a pretty good start for me this day.
Transition 1
  • 01m 55s
Comments:

Since I was already out of my wetsuit, this was a pretty straight-forward transition. Knocked my PT head off while exiting and had to double back for it. Otherwise it was a fairly smooth, if not especially speedy, transition.
What would you do differently?:

Not knock the PT head off the bike. I keep saying this, but learn to go without socks. It's not really much time, but one less thing to do can only help here.
Bike
  • 1h 05m 45s
  • 24.85 miles
  • 22.68 mile/hr
Comments:

This was a good, but not great bike for me. I rode hard, but wasn't mentally into it. Last year, I remember just being 'zoned-in' for the ride and really focused on the moment. This year, I seemed distracted at times and had to remind myself to keep up the effort.
What would you do differently?:

I should have pushed the bike harder.
Transition 2
  • 01m 19s
Comments:

Nothing unusual here. Got in. Got out.
What would you do differently?:

Nothing.
Run
  • 44m 58s
  • 6.21 miles
  • 07m 14s  min/mile
Comments:

Started out steady and hit the first mile in 7:30. Decided that was 'too steady' and pushed it up a little. Second mile was 7:17 and I decided that was fine. Basically held that effort until kicking it up towards the finish and nudging past one guy in my AG--really one of the few times I 'raced' all day.
What would you do differently?:

I raced how I wanted to today, so hard to say I'd do anything differently. But I really should have pushed myself a little harder. I'm pretty sure I could have cut a minute out of this run just by 'toughing' it out. But that'll have to be for another race.
Post race
Warm down:

Walked back to my family, grabbed some food and chatted briefly with a few other BTers (Mike, Time, Laura) as I ran into them before heading home.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Fitness level was down a bit from last year--both training and illness induced. But bigger factor was that I didn't come mentally ready to race and just sort of accepted 'hard' as 'good enough'. Don't want to make it sound like I coasted through the race--just never tried to push myself up to the 'edge'.

Event comments:

I really enjoy this course a lot. But 2,000 is a LOT of people on that bike course. And if rumors are true that they are going to increase the size, then I may not go back many more times. There also seem to be some other issues with its growing size that make it harder to manage some of the 'details' (pedestrian crossing near the bike-in just after a fast descent, some timing screw-ups, confusing registration process, etc.) But lots of volunteers, decent post-race food and the kids' races on Sat are nice.




Last updated: 2007-11-02 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:24:55 | 1500 meters | 01m 40s / 100meters
Age Group: 42/263
Overall: 245/1892
Performance: Good
Suit: Full wetsuit
Course: Point-to-point, mostly downriver
Start type: Deep Water Plus: Waves
Water temp: 75F / 24C Current: Low
200M Perf. Average Remainder: Average
Breathing: Good Drafting: Below average
Waves: Navigation: Good
Rounding: Average
T1
Time: 01:55
Performance: Average
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
No
Wetsuit stuck? Yes Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: No
Getting up to speed: Average
Biking
01:05:45 | 24.85 miles | 22.68 mile/hr
Age Group: 17/263
Overall: 95/1892
Performance: Average
Wind: Little
Course: 2 loops with 4 short hills each loop
Road: Rough Dry Cadence:
Turns: Good Cornering: Good
Gear changes: Average Hills: Average
Race pace: Hard Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 01:19
Overall: Average
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike
Running with bike Average
Racking bike Average
Shoe and helmet removal Average
Running
00:44:58 | 06.21 miles | 07m 14s  min/mile
Age Group: 20/263
Overall: 212/1892
Performance: Average
Course: Run out away from transition, come back past transition and out the other direction. Then return back towards transition and the finish line. Flat.
Keeping cool Average 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: Average
Race evaluation [1-5] 4

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2008-06-24 1:57 PM

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Not a Coach
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Media, PA
Subject: Philadelphia Triathlon in Fairmount Park - Olympic Distance


2008-06-24 2:52 PM
in reply to: #1487093

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Extreme Veteran
488
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Southeast, PA
Subject: RE: Philadelphia Triathlon in Fairmount Park - Olympic Distance
nice job running your race, esp after being sick and all. nice mtg your family too.
2008-06-25 1:05 PM
in reply to: #1487093

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Extreme Veteran
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"the wave", iowa
Subject: RE: Philadelphia Triathlon in Fairmount Park - Olympic Distance
way to go johnnykay!  man, i'd love to have one of your "off days"!  congrats to you and the whole family "kay"
2008-06-26 11:09 AM
in reply to: #1487093

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Elite
2844
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Reston VA
Subject: RE: Philadelphia Triathlon in Fairmount Park - Olympic Distance
I totally get what you are saying about going hard, but not hard enough. Still with the illness and not as much training (no little IM this year), I think you had an awesome performance!!
2008-06-26 11:19 AM
in reply to: #1487093

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Master
1420
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Reston, VA
Subject: RE: Philadelphia Triathlon in Fairmount Park - Olympic Distance
Great job on the race! Nice times in all three sports.
2008-06-29 11:15 AM
in reply to: #1491886

Champion
6539
5000100050025
South Jersey
Subject: RE: Philadelphia Triathlon in Fairmount Park - Olympic Distance

Nice job running your race and sticking to the plan. And, that was a pretty solid effort considering the illness you had beforehand! I hope to see you there next year, but I'm with you on maybe not doing the race if they increase the number of participants.

Take care! Keep up the good work .



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