Schuykill River Water Temp: 78.5 (no wetsuits for Pros & Age Groupers)
Hilly Bike ride completely closed to traffic. Flat run.
Last week's DC Tri proved to be the motivation I needed to going into the Philly Tri. I've been dealing with a hip injury since mid-April and haven't been able to run, but somehow, I was able to pull off a win yesterday. There's just something magical about racing in Philadelphia!
Here's how the race unfolded:
Starting with the guys is never easy and felt just like an ITU race. I got kicked in the face (luckily not very hard) and probably did my fair share of swimming on top of some unsuspecting guys. After a few minutes, things started to spread out and I found the feet of Alice Henriques, a first year pro and a very fast swimmer. We made our way around the course, which turned out to be different and shorter than the map (and previous years). Right behind us were Laurel, Pip, Alicia Kaye and a few other girls (and guys) and way ahead of us were Sara M. and all the fast guys. Once I got to the bike course, I just put my head down and went as hard as I could. A few minutes in to the ride, at a 180 turn, I saw that Laurel was not that far behind, which is always a motivating sight. The 2 loop course winds around Kelly Drive and up and down a few steep hills, then goes around the Art Museum, along the same route as the Philadelphia Marathon (which I ran in 2001). I was able to ease up on the second lap of the ride in order to save something for the run. At about 1/2 way through the second lap, I caught up to Sara M. and we stayed within a few seconds of each other the rest of the way, with Alicia right there too. I started the run about 10 seconds behind Alicia, due to a slow T2 to put socks on, but started reeling her in during the first mile. At that point, I was thinking, things feel ok for now, maybe I can make it to 5k and at least get in a good workout. When I caught Alicia, I surged past, but then realized I wasn't really ready to run that pace, so I eased off and set a slower pace. The slower pace didn't bother my hip, so I ran that way until just over mile 3 when the race hits an off road section. That's when I heard a familiar voice and looked over to see my younger sister, Sarah. It was a total surprise--I thought she was on a family vacation. That's when I decided, ok, I'm going to channel my days as a cross country runner and see what I can do here. It worked and I was able to pull away and build into a faster pace in the last few miles, ending up with a 36:34 10k split. Meanwhile, Laurel was running herself into contention for 2nd place, just narrowly missing by 4 seconds as Alicia held on for yet another impressive podium finish.
Congrats to everyone who raced and thanks to all of the fans who cheered us on! Special thanks to: my mom and dad, Sarah, Mark, Eamon & Nora (superfans!), friends and training partners from New York for providing a fun pre-race dinner, and my husband, John, for the being the voice of reason and a source of constant motivation.
Of course, making all of this possible, my sponsors:
NIKE, New York Athletic Club, FRS, 1st Endurance, ZICO, ISM Saddles, TYR, Rudy Project, Chia Charger, HED and Triathlon Lab.
