2015 TriRock Philadelphia Triathlon Race Report

As I have stated previously, the TriRock Philladelphia Triathlon is one of my all-time favorite races. I like the venue - the roads in and around Fairmont Park and the Schuylkill River - I like the challenge of the bike course, and the organization has always been top notch. The only complaint one could ever have about this race is the possibility the swim could be cancelled due to poor river conditions.

My goal going into the race (as stated here) was very straight forward - set a PR. I felt that my training had been going well, I know this course well (this would be my 8th time racing here), and with no Ironman or half Iornman races on the schedule I could focus on racing this distance for the first time ever. But in order to race a PR I would need to have a full Olympic distance course to race. And that is where my problems began ...

On the ride down Saturday afternoon in a downpour I contemplated the real possibility of a cancelled swim. The Schuylkill River can get muddy and filled with debris due to heavy rains making it impossible for the race promoters to allow anyone in the water. And, really, who would want to try to swim in those conditions?

Pre-Race with the Belgian Beast

My thoughts were confirmed when I got to packet pickup. The swim had been cancelled, but much to my surprise, the race would go off in a time trial start. This took me by surprise as in the past a cancelled swim meant a run-bike run format. Granted, TriRock wasn't the race promoter the last time this happened, but TriRock was the promoter in Asbury Park last year where they cancelled the swim due to a rip tide, and a run replaced the swim.

Bottom line: no PR attempt and a race format I didn't like.

The good news is I met up with Philippe (the Belgian Beast), who was racing with the Johnson & Johnson team and raised more than $8,000 for childhood cancer, and spent a nice but uneventful night in the city. Our hotel room in the University City section was only a few miles from the race site. We didn't venture too far because of the rain, but didn't really have to. Directly across the street from our hotel was a pizza place with everything we needed for a pre-race meal.

Race Morning

Early races mean early wake up times. In this case the alarm went off around 4:45 am mixed with the sound of rain hitting the hotel windows. After a quick stretch, a small meal and a couple of trips to the bathroom we headed over to the race site. The Belgian Beast rode his bike over and I decided to drive the four miles as I planned on heading home straight from the race site. The drive was easy as was parking.

Once down around transition the weather was causing some chaos. I have to give TriRock a lot of credit for their flexibility as they just went with the situation. The rain had not let up and transition was a total mess. There was a long line for body marking as the markers weren't working on wet skin. The race director made the decision to let it slide.

The pro race started at 6:30 am with a big gap of time before the first age groupers would head out to the start line. Seems crazy unless you know the course. With two bike loops that are both hilly and technical it made sense to let the pros have the bike course to themselves. Not the best thing for me, but understandable.

What the gap in time did allow for was a chance to catch the pro field coming through T2. You know they are fast, but it becomes much more real as they fly through transition so fast and efficiently.

Race Winner Cameron Dye exiting T2

The Bike: 23.6 miles 1:03:18 

Strava File

The time trial start at a triathlon is not my friend. Even a hard swim gives the body a chance to get warmed up to the point where I'm comfortable from the start of the bike. After standing around for 2 1/2 hours I was nothing close to loose. I had the same issue at Ironman Florida this past November when the swim there didn't happen due to a rip tide. I'm old and tighten up when I stand around in transition. It is even more of a challenge here as the first climb of the day comes about one mile into the ride, giving you very little time to settled into a rhythm.

Somewhere around 8:35 am I finally was released to start my race.

Going into the ride my concern was that the time trial start would cause more crowding than normal. As one of the last people to start racing I assumed there would be a big jam up. My experience, fortunately, was just the opposite. Which worked out great.

If you thought that I might take it easy you would be wrong. While I did sorta ease into the first mile, once I hit the base of the first hill it was game on. With the wet roads my game plan was to work the uphills, ride conservatively on the technical downhills and open it up on the flat stretches working through the field the best I could. And that is exactly how it played out. For the first 7 or 8 miles I had another AG45-49 guy around me, but I dropped him for good the first time up Lemon Hill.

From there I just continued to move forward as fast as I could with no drama.

T2: 1:31

Not my fastest time. Ended up having some trouble with the mud.

The Run - 6.2 miles 48:28 

Strava File

After a good run at Jerseyman in May I really had some high expectations for my run. I will never be the fastest guy out there, but I a 6:40-6:45 would have been respectable, and well within my current fitness. Or so I thought.

Source: Craig Sheckler

Heading out onto the run course my legs were still not loosened up. I assumed that they would come around somewhere in the first mile.

Never make assumptions ...

About 3/4 of a mile in the guy I passed on the bike on Lemon Hill came by me. He got a gap and then he slowed back down to my pace. Sounds good, except "my pace" was somewhere around a 7:10 mile, not a 6:40. Just after mile two I was passed by two more AG45-49 men who I should have been able to hang with.

But not today. On this day it just wasn't happening. Just after mile 3 I got a little light headed and took a brief walk break, taking in some Gatorade, hoping to turn things around. A few minutes later I rethought the situation. With no chance for a PR, my legs not responding, and being out of the top three in my age group, I could think of no reason to push myself. So as the Strava file shows, I didn't rush things.

Overall -1:53:16 86th out of 896; AG45-49 6/77

Not what I wanted for sure. The goal coming in was a PR at the Olympic Distance. No swim = no PR, which came as a big mental letdown.

How Could I Have Raced Better

I could have kept my head in the game. Once the race got changed I mentally checked out, which is never a good way to race and something I need to work on for the future.

I could have also taken better care of myself during the extended wait to begin racing. A better protocol than stand around and talk. I ended up peeing like 8 times while standing around and took in a few calories and some liquids, but surely not enough. In the future I need to be better prepared for the unexpected.

Overall Impression of the Race

This is one of my favorite races every season and I highly recommend it to everyone. "Flat and fast" is fine every now and then, but most of the time I enjoy the challenge of a technical bike course. The venue is nice while TriRock has done a great job of keeping this race great.

Full race results can be found here.

Up next: On July 4th The Queen and I ran the Firecracker 4 Miler in Palmer Township. On July 19th I'll be racing the N.J. State State Triathlon (Olympic Distance) in West Windsor, NJ. 

Thanks for reading.

Train hard. Stay focused.
Jon