Columbia Triathlon - TriathlonOlympic

I really took a pounding on this swim. This is only my 3rd OW swim, and the other two swims I never had much of a problem with other participants. Sure, there was some bumping and jostling, but nothing too bad. For this swim, I felt like I was in an MMA ring the whole freaking time. About 1/4 to 1/3 through, one guy apparently decided to tackle me - I literally felt him grab me and push downward. Really, dude, WTF? With about 1/4 to go, I got kicked in the face so hard I saw stars, and it knocked my goggles off. So I treaded water for a while to fix those, and had water in my eyes the rest of the swim. With about 400 yards to go, I got another kick straight to the nose, and I guess it was obvious because the guy that did it actually stopped to ask if I was alright. Finally, I tried to spring the final few 100 yards to the end, but with about 100yds left I got punched / elbowed right in the throat. I couldn't breath after that, so was treading water for about 20 seconds right next to the end. It was a teeny bit frustrating. I'll note that, other than Mr. water tackle, none of this appeared deliberate at all. I just really couldn't get away from the crowd.

Other than these issues, my swim time wasn't too bad. Swimming with a wetsuit helps me A LOT, as I'm a sinker. I couldn't really get in a rhythm, and every time I took a hard bump it threw me off a little. I was breathing almost exclusively to my right side, which is NOT how I train. I sighted pretty well (for me), which was something I really tried to work on after last years zig zag race. I still think this course is a little short, given the pace I was able to finish at.

I'm not too sure. Bring weapons to the swim maybe? My overall time was a whopping 6 seconds behind last years, so I guess I can't really complain too much. The swim is still VERY much my weak point for triathlon.

I could NOT get my damn wetsuit off of my feet. It just would NOT come off. I eventually had to sit down in the mud and just pull. Frustrating. At least I didn't put my bike shoes on before taking it off like last year. I was still 1:03 faster in T1 then last year, meaning I had gained 57 seconds over last year by the time I hit the bike. Overall T1 place = 686, age group = 64, gender = 480

Pull harder on the wetsuit? I'm sure practicing with the darn thing would help too.

I really tried to hammer the bike, believing that my run would not be as good as last year's. I am really really happy with this ride. I drank about 40oz of Gatorade over the course, which was just right for me. The course was very crowded, and I was shouting "left" a lot. There was a lot of people just riding on the left side the whole time, and it was difficult to pass at times.

Nothing that I can think of

I was 5 seconds slower this year than last, but I can't really complain. The mud slowed down getting my shoes on / off a bit, and I need to practice putting my Garmin wrist strap on a little better. T2 place = 284 overall, 210 for males, 22 for AG

Practice with the Garmin strap.

This is a VERY hard run. That said, I feel like I did well, and paced myself better than last year. Overall I shaved off a whopping 19 seconds off of last years time. I drank a couple of cups of water and Gatorade during the run, which was "just right" for me

Not much.

I saw B when I was running down the chute, meaning I knew she DNF'd. I looked for her for like 30 min until SCamp played match-maker and helped us find each other. This is about the millionth time we've forgotten to set a meet point. Duh. After that I grabbed a little food and drink and chatted with a few BT'ers and a few folks from work. But overall I left pretty quickly. I was cold and wet, and kinda ready to go home.


Being a crappy swimmer.


I had a good race, and shaved about 6:30 off of my time from last year. The race is fun, but the weather sucked. Also, they really really need to work on the traffic issues the morning of the race. We left with plenty of time, and still felt a little rushed. I'm sure all of the rain didn't help this year.