Survived Hurricane Irene

We survived hurricane Irene and the 5 inches of rain that fell but we went 24 hours without power.  I didn't bother leaving the house to even see if the YMCA was open so I lost a day of training.  Today I went for a 10K run during my lunch hour and after work I rode around the yard on a tractor mowing the grass.  It's funny (sad actually) how we create structured training plans and then use modern conveniences to make yard work easier.

LiveStrong Challenge Philadelphia Bike Ride

Today I joined hundreds of other bike riders in the LiveStrong Challenge Philadelphia.  I signed up for the 100 mile bike ride but this year I concentrated my training on triathlons rather then long bike rides so I decided to do one of the shorter rides.  Just like I did for last years LiveStrong Challenge, I showed up for the bike ride with optimism for a bright and sunny day.  I put on the sunscreen, donned the sunglasses, left my rain jacket in the car and just like last year it rained.  It started raining at mile 12.5 and then the skies opened up at mile 13.5.  Some riders immediately turned back but I continued on and finished the 45 mile bike ride in 3 hours.  

 

I was riding with another guy and we were just casually talking about this that and the other when he said this would be the last bike ride on these tires.  Not more then 5 minutes later he asked if his rear tire was going flat.  The moral of the story, when you're on a bike ride, never tempt fate by talking about rain, flats or crashes.    

This was the first time I used my gel flask on a bike ride.  I put two packets of gel in the flask and topped off the flask with water, it was just the right consistency to easily flow from the nozzle.

LiveStrong Challenge Philadelphia 10K

Today I ran in the LiveStrong Challenge Philadelphia 10K.  This was my first 10K race and I finished with a time of 47:08 minutes.  I never saw the race results so I don't know how well I did.

Did Not Start

Today I should be telling you about my race results from the Lums Pond triathlon but instead I'm going to talk about the weather.  The weatherman was calling for thunderstorms so I decided I'd put the bike rack on the car Sunday morning.  It started raining Saturday evening and every time I woke up it was raining harder and harder.  The alarm went off at 4 AM and it was still raining.  I decided to put the seats down and pack the bike in the back of the Highlander rather then use the bike rack.  At least the bike would stay dry in the car and only get wet if it was raining during the triathlon.  Unfortunately the farther we drove the harder it rained and the worse the visibility became.   There was thunder and lightning along with the heavy rain so I kept questioning my decision to drive to Delaware.  Last year I participated in the LiveStrong challenge and it rained for most of the 70 mile bike ride.  Being familiar with bike rides in the rain I wasn't looking forward to another ride in the rain.

 

When we got to the park it was raining and lightning continued to light up the sky.  The organizers were still setting up for the triathlon and there was a line of people waiting to get registered.  I put on my rain jacket, pulled up the hood and stood in line while Carol enjoyed the dryness of the Highlander.  After standing in line for ten minutes and not gaining much forward momentum to the registration tent I decided I'd had enough for one day.  I walked back to the Highlander and drove home.  I didn't see anyone follow me out of the park but I wonder what people thought when they saw me driving away.  The rain continued all day and I'm confortable with the decision I made this morning.

Does Did Not Start (DNS) = Did Not Finish (DNF) ?

 

I checked the race results and it shows 197 people raced today.  There are times for the swim, bike and run but it looks like all of the events were shortened since the winner completed the triathlon in 0:34:48. 

Photos from 2011 Philadelphia SheROX Triathlon

It was very hot and humid for the triathlon.  We had lots of rain before the triathlon but that didn't prevent the swimmers from going into the Schuylkill river.  I enjoyed seeing the triathlon as a spectator but it's a lot of work getting to the perfect location to get a perfect photo.  I actually ran part of the course to get photos of the athletes in the river, at the T1 exit, at the T2 exit and the finish line. 

2011_Philadelphia_SheROX_Triathlon

Photographing a Triathlon

Today I went to the Philadelphia SheROX triathlon to watch a friend compete in her first triathlon.  We've had a lot of rain lately and there were many questions about the water quality of the Schuylkill river.  Even with last nights heavy rain the race director decided the participants could swim in the river.  Wetsuits were not permitted due to the river temperature being 81 degrees.  The women raced the same course I raced in June in the Philadelphia triathlon except the swim portion was a little shorter in the SheROX triathlon.   There were about 1000 women in todays SheROX triathlon.

 

I managed to get some pre-race photos and then ran up river to see the swimmers in the river.  Then I went back to transition exit to take photos of Mary as she left transition to start the bike ride.  The bike course was two laps and I managed to spot Mary in the crowd both times and take her photo.  I ran to the transition exit and took Mary's photo again as she started the run.  The run course was an out and back course so I went to the finish line to find a location where I could take a photo of Mary as she crossed the finish line.  I worked my way up to the fence and waited.  I took a photo of Mary at the finish line that showed the race clock with her official time.

 

I enjoyed seeing a triathlon as a spectator but it's a lot of work trying to photograph a triathlon.  I'd like to say thanks to my wife Carol for all her hard work taking photos at my triathlons.