Columbia Triathlon - TriathlonOlympic


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Ellicott City, Maryland
United States
The Columbia Triathlon Association Inc.
70F / 21C
Precipitation
Total Time = 3h 07m 10s
Overall Rank = 960/1587
Age Group = F35-39
Age Group Rank = 41/104
Pre-race routine:

The day before was a crazy day spent at soccer games, birthday parties and packet pickup/bike check. I squeezed in a brief 15min. spin to make sure the bike was ok since Tony tuned it up and I changed my back tire. No time or energy for the short run on my plan.
Event warmup:

Up way too early to drive to the race in the rain. Ate some granola/yogurt and PB toast. Traffic sucked once we got off the exit for the race and we ended parking on the side of road and walking to the race site.

Tony and I got our transition area set up and had a little extra time since they delayed the start by 15min b/c of the rain. By the time we finished the rain had pretty much stopped. Since our waves were an hour apart, I walked down to the water and saw Tony off, chatted w/ Shelley at the FeXY tent then watched Tony swim by. I even had time to walk over to the swim finish and wait for him to come out of the water.

No warmup except to tread water waiting for my wave to start.
Swim
  • 34m 12s
  • 1500 meters
  • 02m 17s / 100 meters
Comments:

My coach gave me a game plan for the swim since I said I wanted the swim to be my highlight of the race. I had set a time goals of sub 30min. then realized that was not realistic so I went w/ sub 33min and/or close to 2:10 100s. I ended up close and after looking back at the past 3 years, I should be very happy. My average over various distances was 2:40 100s and my best was 2:18 100s so this race was a huge improvement over my past performances.

I followed my coach's plan by swimming from the right side straight towards the 3rd buoy. I felt strong from start to finish and tried to swim hard instead of saving energy for the bike/run. I even was able to wash out my goggles on the fly since they fogged up within a few 100 meters.
What would you do differently?:

This is my weakest part so I just need to get getting to the pool, masters and the swim clinics. It is making a difference.
Transition 1
  • 03m 52s
Comments:

The run from the water to the transition area was long, uphill and muddy. I had no interest in killing myself here. I thought I was super slow but ended up not too bad in comparison. I got my wetsuit off really fast so that was good.
What would you do differently?:

I told Tony after the race that I will start caring about my transitions times a little more when I start needing those seconds for top 10 and podium finishes. Sprints don't count. I can be fast at the shorter distances.
Bike
  • 1h 31m 20s
  • 25.48 miles
  • 16.74 mile/hr
Comments:

First I want to thank Tony for the best bike tune-up ever. My bike has never shifted so well - smooth and no jumping around. Even when I bought it, it made weird sounds and needed some coaxing into certain gears. And even after tune-ups at bike shops, it still had it's issues.

I was not super fired up for this course b/c I'm not a big fan of hills but I also wanted some revenge for my Iron Girl ride a few years ago. And the rain made the road conditions wet, slippery and all round yuck.

That said I started off getting in a groove and warming up the legs. For the most part, the bike was fine. I missed my goal by about 5 min. for 2 reasons - the weather and saving my legs for hills that I thought would be there but weren't. Don't get me wrong it was a challenging bike course but it didn't have the super nasty hill that Iron Girl has on it and I thought there would be more climbing.

Plus the road conditions definitely bothered me a bit and I was not as aggressive on the downhills, turns and even some flats so I lost time there. I rode better on the way back. I also felt like my legs finally got with it on the last 10 miles or so. I was really strong coming up the last hill before the final left turn back home. I passed a lot of people going up that hill.

Nutrition was good. I drank one 10 oz. bottle during the ride w/a serving of Infinit. I tried at one bottle stop to grab a water bottle but almost wrecked so I passed. I was trying more for practice then for the water so no big deal.
What would you do differently?:

Nothing really given the situation other than more time in the saddle and more experience in wet conditions.
Transition 2
  • 02m 13s
Comments:

I was ok here. I took the time to put dry socks on. Good decision. I had happy feet. I also grabbed a gel for the run.
What would you do differently?:

Nothing
Run
  • 55m 35s
  • 6.21 miles
  • 08m 57s  min/mile
Comments:

Something has clicked w/ my running this year off the bike. I'm still working on gaining speed but what I do have, I can carry off the bike into the run. My legs felt really good from the beginning. They were barely tight and I got right into my quick cadence run.

The first hill comes up quick. I just focused on one foot in front of the other and keeping the HR from skyrocketing. I got to the top, recovered quick and kept moving. I continued this pattern throughout the race even at the MF'er hill that goes up and up then you turn right and continue going up. I ate my gel at the 2nd water station, splashed water in my face at another and one more drink along the way. When I tired a bit towards to the top of some of the hills, I thought about form and pumping my arms. Once I topped the last hill, I happily ran downhill and around the lake to the finish.
What would you do differently?:

Again I bit off of my goal of sub 54 min. but a really strong effort. I ran the hills and didn't feel like I needed to walk. I was strong from start to finish.
Post race
Warm down:

I saw Tony right away and we walked up the hill (WTF) to the food area. I ate a bit of pasta salad, half a yummy pb bagel and my protein shake. We chatted w/ some the FeXY group again then headed for transition to get my stuff. We needed to get home and round up the kids for a company cookout.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

This was a C race just to do for fun and check out the famed Columbia course. Not that the course is easy but my effort felt pretty easy. To be faster, I need to get stronger on hills in both the bike and run but the course was well within my current fitness to cruise around and enjoy the scenery.

Event comments:

Well run race w/ decent goodies and food. The time cards never materialized but they had results up by dinner time so no big deal. I think I would do the race again. It would be a great gauge of progress. Or maybe next I'll give Iron Girl a chance.

And as always - thanks for the volunteers and police/EMT/bike staff that keep us safe out there.




Last updated: 2009-10-13 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:34:12 | 1500 meters | 02m 17s / 100meters
Age Group: 65/104
Overall: 1255/1587
Performance: Good
NA
Suit: Sleeveless Nineteed
Course: Rectangle sort of shape w/ the swim finish past and behind the swim start.
Start type: Deep Water Plus: Waves
Water temp: 70F / 21C Current: Low
200M Perf. Good Remainder: Good
Breathing: Good Drafting:
Waves: Navigation: Average
Rounding: Good
T1
Time: 03:52
Performance: Average
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
Yes
Wetsuit stuck? No Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike:
Getting up to speed: Average
Biking
01:31:20 | 25.48 miles | 16.74 mile/hr
Age Group: 38/104
Overall: 1065/1587
Performance: Good
Wind: None
Course: out & back w/ loop. rolling course w/ some steep climbs
Road: Smooth Wet Cadence:
Turns: Cornering:
Gear changes: Hills:
Race pace: Drinks:
T2
Time: 02:13
Overall: Average
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike
Running with bike
Racking bike
Shoe and helmet removal
Running
00:55:35 | 06.21 miles | 08m 57s  min/mile
Age Group: 0/104
Overall: 0/1587
Performance: Good
Course: As my coach put it, this run course has 6 mean hills and lots of little rollers in between. Probably the toughest run course I've done in a tri.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall:
Mental exertion [1-5]
Physical exertion [1-5]
Good race?
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Average
Race evaluation [1-5] 4