Belated and somewhat verbose race report on the Philadelphia Triathlon.

http://www.runnersworld.com/community/forums/training/triathlons/philly-...

Race report—Philadelphia Triathlon (Olympic distance), June 26, 2011: Big Girls & Blind Grit

By Thomas Dineen

Pre-race expo:

So I have been lying low for a while. Have not raced since June 2008. Got married, bought a house, job in turmoil, messed up my wrist on the job, a lot of treatments, surgery, and some time later, I can swim and ride a tri bike without too much pain.

This was a train-through B race, no taper for this race. Goal was to nail nutrition, hydration, and pacing for HIM coming up in 3 weeks. I was camping with the kids for the whole week before the race, fitting in some lake swims, trail runs, etc.. Got home at 8:30 at night from camping, threw my gear in the car and left for the race by 4:00 in the morning. Oh yeah, had to kill a chicken at 3:00 am that the raccoons had gotten to. So much excitement in one day! Felt a little scattered by all of this and left my water bottles with Accelerade at home.

[b]Pre race[/b]

This was my first Olympic distance triathlon. Going into it I was feeling a bit anxious. I felt under trained - could have done a better job handling some work stress / life balance, but there you go.

Anyhow, drove out the next before and stayed in a hotel. Drove the bike course, found the park. All set.

This event is in Terre Haute, IN and is largely the first open water swim tri of the season in Indiana. It is a 800m swim, 40k bike, and 8k run. This was my 2nd tri ever.