Grand Columbian Triathlon - Half Iron Distance - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

Overall a decent swim. Underestimated the value of the underwater sight lines and did not use them from the beginning. Did not get hung up in the large crowd of people and my "interaction" with others was limited. I felt I had a good swim with plenty of energy left.

Used the sight lines from the beginning. I went off course several times from the beginning and it was not until 3/4 of the way through the first lap that I found the sight lines and stuck with them as best I could the rest of the way. As soon as they disappeared I found myself off course again.

I did not hurry to the transition area. The transition bag thing was a little different and no one seemed to be in a big rush so I did not rush either. Of course, most of the competitors were already out of the water by then.

Hurried

Could not get my chain in the small chain ring on the crank so I hammered more than I would have liked. The course was very hilly and I tried not to over exert myself. I lost the info on my bike computer about 5 miles in so I went primarily off of heart rate. Had the Garmin set to show me the heart rate zone and used that to gauge my effort. Overall dissapointed with performance coming in second last in my age group. It was a tough bike course and my goal was to save some for the run, but to finish second last was discouraging. I did not feel I did so poorly until I reviewed the results. I have to wonder if I saved too much for the run and lost valuable time on the bike. However, I knew my bike fitness was not where I would have liked it to be for this race. In conclusion, my pacing was great but my performance at that pace sucked. Bike fitness and efficiency needs to be a major focus during the off season. Nutrition went well. Consumed a cliff shot every twenty minutes, a gel every half hour and gatorade throughout. Mixed in a little water near the end as I was feeling a little high on sugar. Skipped the last couple of gels for that reason as well.

Looking back, my pace (heart rate) was where it should have been to have some left for the run. It was probably even a little too high. Bike fitness needs to improve.

Most of the bikes were back at this point and it was difficult to squeeze my bike into the rack. Should have kept my shoes on as it was rough walking on the gravel to the change tent.

Kept bike shoes on.

I never considered myself a runner, but I certainly do OK at it. Correct pacing on the bike allowed me to run the entire 13.1 miles. I walked through the aid stations and a total of about 30 seconds up a hill on two separate occasions. Started out a bit faster than I was planning on but needed those faster paced miles at the beginning to break 2hrs. I may have had a little extra at the end had I gone out slower, but who knows for sure. Overall pacing was pretty good. Did not have a lot left after crossing the finish line. Passed a lot of people during the run and maintained good pacing through the final mile. Things heated up in the run and I spent a fair amount of time at the last aid station trying to cool down and prepare myself for the last half mile or so to the finish. Nutrition went well, did not consume any gels and survived on Gatorade and water.

Not spend so much time at the last aid station. Start out slower.

Bike fitness was the biggest limiting factor. I have come a long ways on the swim and was pleased overall, but I need to obtain a higher level of fitness on the bike in order to log a decent time on the bike at an effort that will allow me to run well.


A challenging course. Needed greater bike fitness to finish where I wanted to finish.