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Grand Columbian Super Triathlon - Olympic Distance
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Grand Columbian Super Triathlon - Olympic Distance - TriathlonOlympic
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 Swim
Comments: The race started late because the wind had picked up and some of the buoys were drifting. All of us just stayed in the water since it was so cold outside. Finally the got the course in order and broke us into two groups and off the first group went. It was a run start which I had not practiced but hey, I watched Baywatch as a kid, I knew what to do. The first 100m or so was a bit chaotic. Some people were already backstroking which I thought was odd. Finally we go to the first buoy and it thinned out. I began to feel a little uncomfortable but just kept my head down and kept stroking. About halfway through the race I settled into a nice comfortable pace and it took me all the way to the finish. My family was right there to cheer me on from the beach and then they run up the hill to cheer me through transition. What would you do differently?: Just keep working on my swimming skills!  Transition 1
Comments: We had to run a good 1/8 mile up to transition where a volunteer handed me my bike bag which I took to the changing tent, changed and headed out to the rack. Although different, this went smoothly and I was out fairly quickly.  Bike
Comments: There was a fairly long steep hill out of the campground, a small downhill then pretty much 8 miles of straight up! I think it was around 1500 ft of elevation gain over 15 miles. One part was a 20% grade. Eeeeks! When I got to the top, there was my family! Drinking beer nonetheless. They also had an energy bar for me and some powerade! Man, this was so nice! There was a section of rollers along the plateau where I spent most of my time refueling. Looking back on it now, I probably should have used this as an opportunity to push some big gears but oh well, I was hungry! Finally, there was a nice loooooong downhill. I probably hit somewhere close to 50 mph. This was definitely a lesson in the advantages of having an aero bike and being heavier. About midway down the hill my family re-appeared from a dirt access road and did some hooting and hollering. This made me smile and of course pedal harder! Transition 2
Comments: This transition is ball parked as my data was not available on the website.  Run
Comments: Finally I rolled into the dismount line and another volunteer handed me my run bag. I took it into the changing tent, changed and then was informed the run course had been shortened to a 5K. Although I believe that I probably could have run my way to a podium finish had the distance been 10K, I wasn’t TOO disappointed. The run was crazy though. It was like a warrior dash or something. You ran across a bridge down a HUGE hill, through a gravel pit to a turn around then back up the hill and back. I smoked a bunch of people, as hills are kind of my thing, and ran glee-fully past my cheering family to the finish. What would you do differently?: This was obviously not a PR course hahaha but I beat everyone in my AG in the run. I think I'd do exactly the same but having the full 10K would have been helpful for my overall finish, I think. Post race
Warm down: BEER! Last updated: 2011-03-23 12:00 AM
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 2011-09-22 4:00 PM |
 Seattle |  Subject: Grand Columbian Super Triathlon - Olympic Distance |
| 2011-09-25 6:48 PM in reply to: #3696946 |
Veteran  285  Austin | Subject: RE: Grand Columbian Super Triathlon - Olympic Distance Really enjoyed your race report! Way to go! |
| 2011-09-25 6:48 PM in reply to: #3696946 |
Veteran 285 Austin | Subject: RE: Grand Columbian Super Triathlon - Olympic Distance |
| General Discussion-> Race Reports! |
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Overall Rank = 10/
Age Group = 20-29
Age Group Rank = 5/
This was my first Olympic distance triathlon. I was unsure of what to expect (other than everything being longer and harder than what I had done before) I was specifically apprehensive about the swim. I am not a strong swimmer PLUS I knew the water temperatures were hovering around 65 degrees. Cold + Long sounded like hell to me.
The Grand Columbian Triathlon (they had Oly, Half Iron, Iron and SUPER Iron distances yiiiikkkkes!) was held in Eastern Washington (the dry part of the state.) It’s funny because it started at a campground that I grew up going to for years and years. In fact, I had my first big bike crash there as a kid. It was dark, I was hauling ass and didn’t see the curb…
I also happen to have family in the area so they became my pit crew. More about that later….
I made it to Eastern Wa JUST in time to rack my bike, attend the athletes meeting and separate my gear into a bike and run bag. After this, I headed to the community organized spaghetti feed with my family then we drove the bike course. Holy hills…