Columbia Triathlon - TriathlonOlympic


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Ellicott City, Maryland
United States
The Columbia Triathlon Association Inc.
60F / 16C
Precipitation
Total Time = 3h 02m 1s
Overall Rank = 859/1500
Age Group = 45-49
Age Group Rank = 110/183
Pre-race routine:

Woke up early, before the alarm, showered and used the hot water to help loosen up. Stretched a little after. Ate a delicious peanut butter and jelly sandwich on toasted sourdough. Washed it down with a little Gatorade and water....mmmmmmm.
Drove to Columbia with fly_capt (Thanks Skip!!) and got there at 5:35....the place was already mobbed. Had to park quite a ways from the transition area. Grabbed our stuff and began the trek. The transition area was crowded but the group of people around me were all very cool.
Event warmup:

The warm up consisted of walking to the transisiton area, back to the car, to the transition area, to the start area.....you get the idea. Spent a little time stretching, that's about it.
Watched the pros come in....freaking amazing how fast they are.

Swim
  • 32m 1s
  • 1640 yards
  • 01m 57s / 100 yards
Comments:

The first 10 minutes of this swim sucked....I was getting hit and kicked, more than any other tri swim I've done. Had a very hard time getting comfortable in the water....couldn't get my breathing settled down, swallowed water...didn't matter how fast or slow I was going, I just felt a touch claustrophobic. Thankfully that feeling went away after 10 minutes or so and the rest of the swim was actually pretty good. Finally got into a rhythem. I was pleasantly surprised to see my time was as good as it was given the beginning. Actually happy with the swim.....lets just not talk about the first 10 minutes, ok?
Oh, and I was very happy with sighting and swimming straight. There were only a couple of times in the swim where I looked up and had to alter course. That's been an issue in the past.
What would you do differently?:

I need more open water swimming experience (and maybe some UFC fighting experience) and in general need to become a stronger swimmer. Until now I've just done enough to get by.....we'll see how that motivation plays out.
Transition 1
  • 03m 44s
Comments:

Happy with the transition because it went smoothly. But there is plenty of opportunity to be quicker and save time. It's been three years since my last tri and I never practice transition except rehersing them in my mind.
What would you do differently?:

Practice transitions.
Bike
  • 1h 25m 43s
  • 25.48 miles
  • 17.84 mile/hr
Comments:

Due to the rain, I was trying to exercise due caution during the first couple of miles. After that, however, I just road my normal race and didn't consider the issue unless I was cornering. I was aggressive on the downhills (and slow on the uphills). Never checked my speed or time during the ride, I just tried to push myself throughout. I heard others after the race talking about the wind but I only noticed it a couple off times. Finally checked my time coming into the park and was disappointed with what I saw. I was hoping to be 2-3 minutes faster.
What would you do differently?:

Not sure....certainly I need to improve my climbing ability.
Transition 2
  • 02m 42s
Comments:

I'd been playing leap frog with another rider in my AG the whole ride. I passed him a final time in the park as we entered transition. I was happy with that, especially since I beat him out of transition and never saw him again. Generally happy with the transition but just like T1, I have opportunities to improve. I was relatively efficient, just slow.
Oh, I also had to pee...bad. So I hit the port-o-john on the way out. That will show up on my run time.
What would you do differently?:

Practice.
Run
  • 57m 51s
  • 6.21 miles
  • 09m 19s  min/mile
Comments:

Disappointed in the run. No other way to say it.
First mile included 1 minute in the port-o-john. For whatever reason, I just didn't have it in me to push hard on the first half of the run. My threshold for suffering was way too low and I'm not happy with not being able to push harder. I did manage a negative split, by a significant margin, which I was happy with (thanks for the help Terri).
What would you do differently?:

Push myself a little harder in training.
Post race
Warm down:

I didn't see Chrissie Wellington giving out finisher medals!! Kinda bummed about that. I don't know if she wasn't there when I was or if I was just oblivious.....probably the later. I was a little wobbely right at the finish and one of the volunteers held on to me as I left the chute.
Stopped by the Mid Maryland Tri Club tent....what a great group. I need to get one of their racing singlets.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

My current level of fitness is not what it needs to be to perform at the level I want. I knew that going it. But it was close enough that I'm disappointed I could force myself to suffer a little more to break 3 hours.
But the positives from this race outnumber the negative so I've got to stop dwelling on it.
All in all, I'm happy with the race. Great experience.

Event comments:

It sounds cliche, but the volunteers were AWESOME!!
There were so many of them and they all did a great job. Thanks!!!
Race is very well organized and lots of fun.




Last updated: 2009-05-11 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:32:01 | 1640 yards | 01m 57s / 100yards
Age Group: 0/183
Overall: 0/1500
Performance: Good
Suit: Blue Seventy Reaction
Course: The course is well marked and easy to sight.
Start type: Deep Water Plus: Waves
Water temp: 0F / 0C Current:
200M Perf. Bad Remainder: Good
Breathing: Average Drafting:
Waves: Navigation: Good
Rounding: Good
T1
Time: 03:44
Performance: Average
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
Wetsuit stuck? Run with bike:
Jump on bike:
Getting up to speed:
Biking
01:25:43 | 25.48 miles | 17.84 mile/hr
Age Group: 107/183
Overall: 0/1500
Performance: Below average
Wind: Some with gusts
Course: It's Columbia. I spend most of my time biking on relatively flat courses and this one is "moderately" hilly. The course is very well managed by volunteers and law enforecement. The course was wet during the entire ride. It was raining steadily coming out of the water and continued well into the bike.
Road:   Cadence:
Turns: Average Cornering: Below average
Gear changes: Below average Hills: Below average
Race pace: Comfortable Drinks:
T2
Time: 02:42
Overall: Average
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike
Running with bike Good
Racking bike Average
Shoe and helmet removal Below average
Running
00:57:51 | 06.21 miles | 09m 19s  min/mile
Age Group: 0/183
Overall: 955/1500
Performance: Below average
Course: It's Columiba. Hilly. Hilly. Hilly.
Keeping cool Drinking
Post race
Weight change: %2%
Overall: Average
Mental exertion [1-5] 2
Physical exertion [1-5] 4
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Good
Race evaluation [1-5] 5