Saturday: Philly Tri

Philadelphia Sprint Triathlon
Swim= .9K (.56 mile) in the 80-degree Schuylkill River
Bike= 24K (14.9 miles) on a rolling, rain-slicked course
Run= 5K (3.1 miles) out and back; fairly flat

Triathlon #2 of the season is in the can! This time, I didn't make any mistakes, except of course now I feel like I could have gone much faster. I ended up as the 10th woman overall--fourth in my age group. I'm frusturated because I got outkicked in the last tenth of a mile by a girl I picked out as a "runner" before the race (she was wearing a Big East XC championships shirt)--so if I would have toughed it out I would have placed third in my age group. I guess it doesn't matter either way--we left literally as soon as I crossed the finish line to make it to the wedding--so it's not like I would have been there to enjoy any podium time had I medaled. Overall, I'm happiest with my swim--my split put me in the top 30 among men and women. Everything else from that point on was pretty average. The bike was tough as the roads were super slick and I bonked on the hills. And I definitely could have run faster, but at the time I felt like I was ready to pass out, so I can't beat myself up over that!

On a side note, at today's Olympic Distance race, the swim was cancelled due to debris in the Schuylkill River caused by overnight rain (not sure if that has anything to do with the high bacterial levels or last week's cyanide spill in a neighboring river. Don't worry---I tried not to swallow any water while I was swimming!). Instead of a swim, they had to do a 5K Run, followed by the standard 40K ride and 10K run. Not fun!