June 26, 2011 – Philadelphia Insurance Triathlon; Philadelphia, PA
The Philadelphia Triathlon has become an annual event for me and for the Ark Intervals team. The local convenience and competitive field make it a great race. The benefit of an “annual” race: because of course consistency, you can really compare year-over-year results against each other. The downfall: year over year results are directly comparable so you really have to be prepared to accept, without excuse, when the times get slower. Taking into account my prior performances at this race and recognizing the competition I would be facing, my goal for the race was to improve my bike split. Looking at my times from the past several years, my bike split has unfortunately remained relatively stagnant and to me, was where I thought I had room for improvement.
Competing in this race as a pro was a different experience for me. Because the pros race under a few different rules, which become extremely difficult to follow on a 40k, 2-loop bike course with 2,500+ competitors, they started the pro and elite amateurs almost 30 minutes ahead of the rest of the field. Having calmer empty water and roadways was certainly nice! At just about 79 degrees, the water temperature made the race non-wetsuit for everyone. (I’m sensing a disappointing trend for races this year – 3 for 3 non-wetsuit races. At least most of this swim was down-river.) Being in the water for several minutes before the race started created the issue that flowing rivers always do; we were constantly being pulled downstream and had to swim back up to the starting line several times. Once we were finally off for a 0.9 mile swim, I noticed that I was right in the pack of top professionals. It didn’t last long though as they seemed to suddenly accelerate into a higher gear after the first minute or so and I was quickly spit out the back and left with a few other slower swimmers. Although I stayed with them for a bit, we eventually spaced out as well and by the end of the swim I felt nearly alone. I felt as though I’d had a strong swim but realized, as I entered the pro transition area, that there were only a couple of other bikes still on the racks. I didn’t let it get to me though and instead just thought about hitting the bike hard and trying to catch other competitors there.
I attacked the course and thought about all of the factors affecting my speed while riding – power, cadence, position while climbing, recovery, taking turns more aggressively. I was focused enough that although I heard Christian cheering for me a few times along the course, I wasn’t even aware it was him until after the race when he mentioned everywhere he’d been able to see and cheer for me. Needless to say, I was disappointed when I saw my time after the 1st lap and knew I wasn’t going to hit my goal bike time. I think what was most disappointing about seeing my split time was knowing how hard I felt like I was going. The first lap was painful yet it appeared as though I wasn’t going to make a dent into my overall bike time. I was working hard and thought that based on the wattage I had maintained that my speed would have been faster. But I still had another lap so I again attacked it with the hopes that I could at least pull off even splits. As I finished the 2nd lap I didn’t see my final time but knew it was close to or maybe slower than prior years. I was definitely bummed but still had a run to complete; with the course design, I knew I’d be able to see my competition and maybe catch someone on the run.
My run started and finished well. I feel like I remained consistent throughout. I think my pace dropped off a few seconds per mile in the back half but not a significant amount. I was not able to catch any of the pro females ahead of me but I was able to “chick” a few of the elite males that had passed me on the bike. The course design includes an out and back which brings you back past transition followed by another out and back in the opposite direction. It was strange as I passed transition roughly halfway through the run because other athletes were just finishing the swim. (And because we had to cross paths, it made for a confusing and congested stretch.) I was fortunate to have my parents and sister at the race cheering for me and I was able to see and hear them as I passed through this area. Christian was out at several places on the back-half of the run course. Since it’s much quieter on that half, and it’s where fatigue starts to hit, it was nice to hear his encouraging voice. In all, I think I finished the run with my fastest run split at this race, which had me happy since my overall finish time was slower that I’d hoped for. After picking up my bike and gear post-race, Christian discovered my front brake lever severely rubbing my front wheel, stopping it from spinning on its own. I was bummed to see this but it made me think, “Did this impact my bike time?” I am hoping that it was at least some of the cause of my sub-par bike performance. I know Christian was also bummed because he’d adjusted the lever earlier after putting my race wheels on and it had been fine. What it reminded me is that things can happen, even just from the car to transition. So I need to remember that when I’m setting my bike up in transition, I need to do a final spin of the wheels. I typically haven’t and it’s a bad habit that I’ll change going forward. Mechanical issues happen and having a preventable one impact a race is a hard way to learn but usually the hard lessons sink in the best…and it’s also just more motivation to continue working hard on my biking legs.
Post-race I had a great time hanging out with teammates and supporters at the Ark Intervals tent. Owner (and triathlete) Noah Krug, Josh Krug, Jay Gantz, Chris Fields, and I were able to swap race stories, share a few laughs, and mingle with other racers (Chris, Polly, Noah, and Judy) and family all while feasting on tasty goodies prepared by Team Wife, Helene Krug.
(Photos courtesy of Sandra Schmidt and Christian Mongrain- thank you!)
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