Philly Tri Expo '07

I went to the expo today to get my race number, attend the mandatory race meeting etc. I ran into Jay, the Philly lawyer I helped last weekend fix his flat. He turned to a friend of his who will also be racing tomorrow and explained that I was the guy he told him about... not sure what that meant.

Later he said that they were thinking about a full Ironman next year and did I have any advise.... hmmm, yeah, maybe I have an opinion on this particular subject ; ) Basically I asked him if he had 10-20 hours a week to train for 6 months - if so, it is a great life experience. He and his friend looked at each other and laughed (I didn't get the feeling they had that kind of time). They asked my how long was my longest training run (22 miles) and my longest bike (120 miles). I asked Jan the massage therapist the same bike question (she was also a professional triathlete) and she told me 100 miles, but her husband, Ken Glah did more than that.

Anyway, the expo was pretty lame, but they did have a speaker doing a triathlon 101 thing. He was pretty good, but they didn't give him a microphone and there were 100 people crowded around him and he was extremely hard to hear unless you were in the first row.

Getting my race number was easy and well organized. Parking was at a premium because the Sprint Tri was running today at the same time, using the same parking as the people required to get their numbers.

The pre-race meeting had a couple of points of interest. The water may be warm enough to not allow wet suits... that would be a first for me, but good experience for Hawaii. Overall, I think it would help me, but it would be a more difficult race. We'll see tomorrow.

The other thing that occurred to me is how challenging the bike is going to be with all of the other waves in front of me and 8 sharp downhill turns. Some asked the head ref if passing on the right was allowed around a left turn when slower riders were hugging the inside lane, and he said yes. This particular rider got a penalty last year and he wasn't sure why, but he thought it was from passing on the right. hmmm.

Afterward the meeting I did one more quick tour of the Expo, and found the Philly Tri Club booth. Might be something I look into.

So when I got home, I learned my daughter's car battery was dead and my wife pulled a big chunk off the bathroom wall that was disintegrating from water. Too many things to do in a day!