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Philadelphia Triathlon in Fairmount Park
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Philadelphia Triathlon in Fairmount Park - TriathlonOlympic
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 Swim
Comments: I hated it. I have no idea how to pace a 5K before riding 40K and then running a 10K. My legs were done, fried after this run. I don't do duathlons and I never will again. Coming to the turn around I saw my parents walking to the race, later they told me that as soon as they saw we were running instead of swimming, that I was not happy. How right they were.  Transition 1
Comments: This was slow, but at the same time I really didn't care. I had a hard time moving fast with these new shoes. My old shoes were mountain shoes and were easy to run in, there are not. When I was mounting I was having the hardest time clipping in. I can only clip into one side of the pedal and my glasses were fogging up something fierce, I could hardly see. My feet kept slipping off the pedals because I couldn't get into them. What would you do differently?: Get new pedals. Learn the flying mount. I forgot, go to the CORRECT RACK.  Bike
Comments: THis is where it really fell apart for me. On the first loop I thought maybe I would try getting in the big ring, so I tried. Popped my chain. Pulled off to the side and was trying to fix it. This furthered the notion of how much I didn't want to be there. Some guy who was just on a walk stopped and was just watching me. I wan't to ask him the the F he was looking at, he was just standing over me as I am struggling to fix my chain. Then he asked if he can help but I said "I appreciate it but no thanks. If an official sees that I will get DQ'ed." I was having so much trouble and was so frustrated I seriously thought about dropping out. I even said it to that guy, "F it I'm out." Then there two women walked by and were like, "excuse me Sir but is this a race?" All I could answer with was, "YES." Seriously, what kind of question is that. THe streets are blocked off, there are about 2000 people zipping passed on bike, with race numbers on. I didn't get it. I tried one more time to fix my chain and it worked. Got on my bike and was just going to ride the ride. Coming towards the end of the first loop I saw my parents and just shook my head. The course is great, I was just having absolutely no fun. With no big ring I had a hard time keeping my legs up with how fast I was going especially coming off the downhills. What would you do differently?: Smarten up and get my bike looked at BEFORE I got into transition. I got there pretty early and it looked to me as if the Cadence tent wasn't even manned yet. Transition 2
Comments: Better running with my shoes on. There was someone standing right in front of my spot. Get out of my way. What would you do differently?: Learn the flying dismount.  Run
Comments: All I wanted was for this to be over. I wanted to stop and walk so many times but I didn't. I figured that would just prolong the agony. I had no run in me. What would you do differently?: God only knows. Post race
Warm down: Found my parents and my team and hung around for a while. I was glad for everyone else with Team TRIumph who had good days. Did my best to play it off to everyone about how I felt about it, they new I was not very happy, but don't know the extent. I am not pleased with this, at all. Not even the fact that the first 5K was a PR by a few seconds saved any frustration. What limited your ability to perform faster: Extremely poor mental attitude for the entire week leading up to this race and during the race itself. NO SWIM. Event comments: This is right up there with one of my worst performances ever, including college swim meets. No matter how hard I tried to psyche myself up for this race after Eagleman, I just couldn't get in the right mindset and it was totally destroyed with the no swim announcement. The no swim killed me. I'm no knocking the event. They put on a spectacular race last year and this year they were extremely well prepared for the weather and changing it to a du. The course was clearly marked and the volunteers were great. I just had a bad day. The only thing I will take away from this is a training day. Not counting it as an OLY PR, not counting it as a du, or even as a race for that matter. I'll never register outright for a duathlon and could quite possibly consider not racing if this happens again, but that will have to be a game-time decision. If you couldn't guess I did not have a good day, not any fun. Last updated: 2006-01-18 12:00 AM
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 2006-06-26 9:08 AM |
Expert  658    San Diego |  Subject: Philadelphia Triathlon in Fairmount Park |
| 2006-06-26 9:16 AM in reply to: #465591 |
Elite 2661 DC Metro, slowly working my way to NC | Subject: RE: Philadelphia Triathlon in Fairmount Park I'm really sorry your day got so jacked with the swim being cancelled and the mech issues - that really blows that they wouldn't let you get the bike looked at ahead of time - I would think for safety's sake they'd prefer you not have troubles out on the course. If you can't get psyched for a race, the minute things go wrong, it's hell. |
| 2006-06-26 9:29 AM in reply to: #465591 |
Not a Coach 11473  Media, PA | Subject: RE: Philadelphia Triathlon in Fairmount Park Really sorry the day didn't work out for you. As you noted, once you can't get the right mindset it's easy for things to spiral downward. Maybe find another race (with a swim |
| 2006-06-26 10:29 AM in reply to: #465591 |
Veteran 298 San mateo | Subject: RE: Philadelphia Triathlon in Fairmount Park Hey man. You're right...I don't know if anyone had any idea of how much you hated it. Sorry. Again, just take some time off and do whatever you want..don't think about racing, triathlons, training or anything..just go with your feelings and listen to your body....enjoy yourself. |
| 2006-06-26 2:29 PM in reply to: #465591 |
Regular 85 Stowe, PA | Subject: RE: Philadelphia Triathlon in Fairmount Park I know how you feel about the swim. I was really looking forward to it also. It sounds like you did the race last year, so you know how good it can be. Looking forward to good weather & clean water next year. |
| 2006-06-26 2:40 PM in reply to: #466225 |
Expert 658 San Diego | Subject: RE: Philadelphia Triathlon in Fairmount Park lengle - 2006-06-26 3:29 PM I know how you feel about the swim. I was really looking forward to it also. It sounds like you did the race last year, so you know how good it can be. Looking forward to good weather & clean water next year. I just spectated last year but it made me want to do it so badly. It was a fun day to just watch. I had this race and the other Philly tri mixed up and registered and raced the other one as my first. By the time I was informed of two seperate races the olympic had filled. |
| 2006-06-26 2:46 PM in reply to: #465591 |
Expert 1205 Herndon VA | Subject: RE: Philadelphia Triathlon in Fairmount Park Steve, That's a bummer about the swim. When all the rain started this weekend, I was wondering if they would cancel. If I swam the way you do, I would have been unhappy also. I think a Congratulations is in order for sticking it out to the finish. I agree with you about the racing after Eagleman. It's hard to get up for a race, so soon after a big race. Ernie |
| 2006-06-26 9:47 PM in reply to: #465591 |
Veteran 181 South Jersey | Subject: RE: Philadelphia Triathlon in Fairmount Park steve, don't let it get you down anymore. just concentrate on relaxing for a few days, and then get back into. i'm just glad you stuck it out and finished the race. i finally got to see you race!!! |
| 2006-06-26 10:26 PM in reply to: #465591 |
Master 1686 Royersford, PA | Subject: RE: Philadelphia Triathlon in Fairmount Park Keep your head up buddy! Everyone has one of those days, you got that one out of the way. Everything is looking up from there. |
| 2006-06-27 7:45 AM in reply to: #465591 |
Master 1668 Cinnaminson, NJ | Subject: RE: Philadelphia Triathlon in Fairmount Park Good Job Steve... I know it was hard on you not to have the swim but you did a good job anyway. All you can do is put it behind you and look forward to the next race. Keep your chin up. |
| 2006-06-27 6:30 PM in reply to: #466987 |
| Champion 6539 South Jersey | Subject: RE: Philadelphia Triathlon in Fairmount Park Hey Steve, I know you're bummed about how things panned out, but on the bright side, you provided excellent support to other BTers and team members that needed it. I think you still did great despite the swim being cancelled and mechanical problems you experienced during the bike. I know it was frustrating to you, but we all still love ya. No worries, though. Just put it behind you and have a great rest of the season. -Lauren  |
| 2006-06-28 1:42 AM in reply to: #465591 |
| Veteran 691 | Subject: RE: Philadelphia Triathlon in Fairmount Park I'm with you! It sucked. I too had a miserable day, was sorry I even did it. |
| 2006-06-28 7:22 AM in reply to: #468205 |
| Philadelphia, south of New York and north of DC | Subject: RE: Philadelphia Triathlon in Fairmount Park Steve, sorry that your day was so hard. I can imagine that it is particularly hard since you come from a swimming background. It was great to finally meet you. Good luck in the next year leading up to IMAZ. I'm sure the swim with happen there. Hope to see you again at another event this year. |
| 2006-06-28 9:24 AM in reply to: #465591 |
Elite 2863 | Subject: RE: Philadelphia Triathlon in Fairmount Park Congratulations on hanging in there and finishing. That takes guts when you're having that bad of a day. Way to hang tough. |
| 2006-06-29 3:54 PM in reply to: #468415 |
Cycling Guru 15134 Fulton, MD | Subject: RE: Philadelphia Triathlon in Fairmount Park Welcome to my world my friend ... It seems some of my Demons saw an opening and took a trip up I-95 to go for a ride with you.  But you did the right thing. Sucked it up and did what you had to to finish. THAT is what makes a good competitor. Way to kick the Demons in the nutz and finish with your head up!! |
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Overall Rank = 779/1334
Age Group = 25-29
Age Group Rank = 59/83
WARNING: This was an abomination of a day for me. I had absolutely no fun and hated every second I was on the course. That is pretty much the gist of it. If you want to read on, go ahead.
After an interrupted sleep because of worrying and what was going on with the weather outside, I got up at 4:00am, ate 1 and a half Powerbars, drank a Gatorade and ate a banana. I live literally right around the corner from the race start so I rode over. While I was setting up transition there were announcements that wetsuits would not be legal, that was fine with me. To me, those announcements meant that we were going to swim. I was ready to go and a little more excited. I set up my area and then tried to take my bike the the Cadence tent because I was having mechanical issues shifting into the big ring. I was told no bikes out of transition, not even for mechanical issues (1st sign this day was going to suck). I looked around and was thinking about sneaking my bike over the fence. Then the announcement came: NO SWIM. That was it, my day was over. That announcement totally defeated the purpose of me being there. I didn't care anymore. So I decided, "Screw it. I don't care anymore. No use is sneaking around trying to get my bike looked at." I was fuming. People I was talking to knew I was upset about the no swim, but I don't think they new really how pissed I was. I had no interest in being there. I went out and did a short run with 2 x 20 second strides then came back and waited from my "wave" to go off.