I was originally planning to race Steelman Oly this weekend, but when I found out two of my friends were signed up for SheROX, I changed my mind. Racing with friends beats racing solo any day.
The swim was in the Schuylkill River which runs through center city Philadelphia. Locals fear this water because it's where people go swimming "with cement slippers" and sewage occasionally overflows. I threw on my swim cap and jumped in. The swim was decent other than a swift kick in the ribs by a breast stroker (freestyle people, freestyle!). I was out of the water in 20 min. Slow, but whatever.
The second I was on my bike, I felt fast and wanted to race. I passed a bunch of chicks, and it felt really good. Then I passed more.. and more. I'm guessing I passed at least 200 (there were several waves in front of me). After getting left behind at Rev3 Portland, it felt awesome. Only 3 women passed me, two had aero helmets, one had a sick wheel set so I was ok with it. (Full disclosure: a few passed me up hills, but I caught 'em and dropped 'em). The roads were wet and slick and I lost my back wheel around a tight turn, got some control, went flying through some cones and volunteers but didn't hit them. I turned around and got myself back on course, impressed by my own bike handling skills. An awesome ride.
The run wasn't as awesome. The air was so thick with humidity I could hardly breath. I sucked it up and ran my 3.1. Nothing special, no stories to tell. To tell you the truth, it was all over so quickly. Even at 1:49, it was shorter than most of my Sunday morning workouts these days.
The plan was to use this race as a fun way to get myself back in the game before my ramp up for Ironman Pocono Mountains 70.3 in October. It worked.
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| Cute, I know. |
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| Why does everyone look so serious??? This is FUN! |
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| This pic is just weird. I think I'm rinsing the nasty Schuylkill water out of my mouth. |
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| Fasssssst. |
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| What the heck is a hipster doing in the middle of the course? |
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| Yeah, we rock. |
