The Race Report! Part 1- The Swim

After a mild recovery week, it's time for me to update everyone on how my first triathlon in Philadelphia went.

Basically, it was a great weekend. It's hard to know where to start because there were so many wonderful aspects to the race weekend in Philadelphia.

So, let's start with the details of the race itself first.

My over all time was 3:02:14. Three hours, 2 min, 14 seconds. Privately, I had been hoping to break the 3 hour mark but some beginner mistakes pushed me over that time. I'm a little bummed by that but mark it up to a learning experience. That I was close to a three hour mark for the race (much less my first race) is very, very satisfying.

So, here's how it all went down. Waking up at 4:15am for the 4:30mtg in from of the downtown Philly hotel, I gathered my gear and met the rest of the TNT group outside. Then, we all cycled the 4-5 miles to the transition area at 4:30 in the morning - through downtown Philadelphia. It was very cool - everyone was excited about the race and cruising the streets of Philadelphia alone in the wee hours was alot of fun.

I snagged a great slot on the rack for transition, got my gear set up, then sat next to my bike and had a little breakfast while watching everyone else file in. That was my time to get my mind together, to relax, and to enjoy being there. After bagels and peanut butter, some grapes, and a bananna - I caught the bus to the swim start.

I purposely stayed away from the group for the swim. Everyone seemed to cluster around the middle of the river, near the buoys we were supposed to stay just to the left of. I stayed about 10-15 yards further to the left in order to have a more open space swimming. I really didn't want to deal with the crowd, even if it meant more distance.

The first third of the swim was tough. In other words, the same as it's always been. I had a hard time breathing, a difficult time with pacing and timing, and quickly ended up on my back or in a modified breast-stroke (I call it a breath-stroke).

Then, I see my first swimmer being rescued. Not sure what happened but there was a guy being towed in by one of the safety kayakers. I remember thinking - "That's weird, this isn't that bad" - even though I was struggling and not breathing well.

Then, I looked up to see a safety kayaker fall out of her boat. Not sure what happened there, but I know that look. Wide-eyed and embarassed with a little bit of panic - she made eye contact with me as I swam towards her. She was in no danger as she had a pfd on and was beginning to swim with her floating boat. Of course, she swam right in front of me.

I swam to the left of her and then....something clicked. For the first time ever, I swam. I got my breath, I got my timing down, and I pulled the water with my stroke in the way I had been trying to do for months. I almost didn't recognize it as I kept waiting to run out of breath. That moment never came.

The problem with that was that I had always 'sighted' (looked where I was going) when I gasped for air - or went to a recover position. The result was that I went off course. Already 10-15 yards off the pack, I swam another 40-45 yards away. I didn't realize I was off course until I ran head first into a wall that formed the side of the river. When I did, I stood up briefly, and did a quick reversal to where I needed to be. I eventually caught up at the bridge - which marked about the 2/3rd distance (I estimate). But, the bridge was a big mental place to be because it was a big visible marker. From there, we could see the end. I briefly got turned around at one of the last buoy's but otherwise has a slow, determined, uneventful swim to shore.

Final swim time - 00:39:05.

Next post: The 40k Bike ride