Philly Tri Adventure

The alarm goes off at 4:05am, but I am already awake - sleep isn't something I do well the night before a race.

In the bathroom I put on my spandex shirt and shorts – no underwear for triathletes.

Packing my gear happened the night before, but I remembered a few odds and ends as I was falling asleep, contributing to a restless night.

At the kitchen island I prepare my secret pre-race breakfast and choke it down while I mix my race day high carb motion-potion with a wee bit of protein.

Leaving the house at 4:40 with the family still sleeping requires a bit of stealth, but I breathe a sigh of relief as I pull onto the road and plug in my iPod and let random play inspire the day.

So many cars – so many bikes – so many nervous people getting ready for the big event – tense spouses and sometimes sleepy children in tow. I’m early – no need to rush – take it all in – relax.

With full backpack, I jump on my trusty steed and coast down Black Road to the transition area. In the process of warming up on my bike, I find an isolated port-o-john away from the crowds on West River Drive – lucky me.

At the transition area, there is a long line for body marking… Number, Age at the end of the Year… these folks are all business – over 1800 head of cattle to mark today. Seriously though, my body-marking-lady was very nice… eye contact and a smile – that’s what I like.

Taking the extra time on my bike warm up costs me a less than perfect spot on the bike rack, but not too bad. My first minor mistake of the day was to use my hands to mount my shoes onto my pedals – I thought I heard a click, but I probably didn’t hear a CLICK. We’ll get to this later.

I head over to the buses, but get a bit confused on what line is for the buses and what line is for the porta-john… I end up cutting to the front of the bus line – oh well – sue me.

The bus takes us to St. Joe’s Boat house and I meet a nice guy named Greg on the bus. He likes to talk about his Triathlon experiences – I like to listen.

At the Swim Start, I have over an hour before I get in the water - wave 10 out of 11. I head over to watch the pros start – amazing group of athletes. Goose shit everywhere, no place to sit down. I see Brandon, a 24 year tri newbie from my TRI-SIG training group – we talk – he’s ready.

After a few more wave starts, I head over to dump off my bag of stuff that I can’t bring on the swim with me – glasses, sandals, sunscreen, towel. I’ll be picking this stuff up much later. I see Christiane dropping off her sandals – she is happy as always. Even when they tell her that they can’t put her sandals in the bag she dropped off earlier, she doesn’t seem to worry too much about it.

At 7:40 I jump in the waters of the Schuylkill river and do a very short warm up and swim to the start, jostling for position. My wave… 45-49 year old men and 15-24 young women. Who thought that one up?

5,4,3,2,1 and we are off – I like this part if my goggles don’t fill with water - fortunately, no goggle problems today. I haven’t been swimming much and decided to try to increase my stroke rate for this swim to see if it makes a difference. I have a bit of a harder time going straight, but otherwise, I’m ok.

About ¾ through the swim we pass under a bridge and this is where I catch up with the slower swimmers from the earlier wave. This is a difficult challenge, but I eventually navigate through it without too much trouble.

On land again I try to run, but it is a narrow sand trail with a lot of walkers and worse - those that start to run, then change their mind right in front of you.

At my bike, I put on my sun glasses and helmet, then notice another guy putting on his race number –hmm – no time to think – I put on mine too – dumb ass.

Next it is time to run with my bike through transition – as I run, I think to myself ‘this is waaay easier than a bike loaded with bottles for a long course’. As I dodge yet another walker (isn’t this a race?!), my pre-mounted bike shoe hits a bag in the lane (someone should get a penalty for putting their bag in the lane). Fortunately someone calls out that I lost my bike shoe and just as fortunate, I hear them. I lean my bike on a rack, run back, get my shoe, run back to my bike and head out, shoe in hand.

At the bike mount I put one shoe on my foot, and leave the other one in the pedal – something I assure you I have never practiced. All goes off without a hitch, except for odd looks from race volunteers. Ah, my race wheels feel sooo good – so much easier to go fast with high compression tires and light, aero wheels.

About ¼ mile into the bike I realize that I forgot to turn on my bike computer (same as last year, but fortunately sooner) – click that puppy on. I pick up speed just in time for the first climb – I hammer it and pass oh so many people. Now I am in my element and I put the hammer down. At the top of the first climb they are passing out water – I realize that 2 bottles full is too much and I half empty my water bottle – good move.

It feels great at top speed – no regrets. Pass, pass, pass – another one bites the dust, dah, dah, and another one down, another one down, another one bites the dust… I often sing this song in my head on the tri bike course. I get a lot of mileage out of it because I’m such a crappy swimmer… but in this case it was also because I was in wave 10. I save my excitement however for when I pass people in my age group.

On my second trip up lemon hill I have to hit the brakes when someone cuts me off – I hate to hit the brakes on the uphills!

Passing the Art Museum the second time, I actually get passed – first time all day – so I keep this 24 year old with wheels that I can’t afford in my sights and attack on the last hill – I don’t pass him, but I shorten the gap. On the last downhill of the day I fly right him – nice.

I get to the bike rack and I notice only one bike in the rack – and the racer who owns the bike hasn’t left transition yet. Who knows, right?
The run starts off slow for me, then gets worse. My entire core cramps up on me – like a side stitch, but everywhere – I should have done more brick workouts. Stay tough – you may be in second place in your age group – don’t wimp out. I can hardly breath and people start to pass me. Stick with it, get through the first mile. No watch and no idea what my speed is, but old ladies are passing me – not a good sign. After about 1.25 miles I start to loosen up and each mile I pick up speed. By the time I get to mile 5, I am going full stride, trying to stay in control. I pass lots of people, but no one in my age group.

The finish clock says 3:06 and change when I finish, but I wasn’t wearing a watch, so do a rough calculation to figure out my time – turns out to be 2:16 – I call Mini (my wife) and she looks up last year’s winning time for my age group – this time would have beat last year’s time… hmm.

I decide to get my crap to the car and come back down. Much confusion follows as I try to get some nutrition, fix a flat tire on my bike (not sure when it happened, just glad it was after the race), and find out my finish place next to loud speakers blaring Sly and the Family Stone – great music for race day btw. Eventually I find out that I was in 4th place, not bad considering my training for this race.

What’s next? Who knows? Do this one again? – hard to say – I like the race, but too many logistics to pull the day together. Hey, at least I finished this year!!