Columbia Triathlon - TriathlonOlympic

Got into the water @3min or so before the start. Made my way out so that I'd be toward the inside for the turns and got towards the front. Last year I was too cautious in placing myself and found myself in log-jams early on with slower swimmers in front of me.

This was the most violent start I've experienced so far. Made me imagine what it must be like in an IM swim with about 10x the number of swimmers. Lots of banging legs and arms, but I felt like I dealt with all that OK. I just tried to breath to whichever side I seemed less likely to take an arm to the face and take it easy while benefitting from the draft that was there. After the first turn (a few 100m probably), things opened up a bit and by the second turn there were only a few swimmers near me--partly because I had veered a bit too far towards the inside.

I was able to catch a draft a couple times along the way, but either I wasn't able to hold my line or they weren't--and I wasn't always able to tell which :). So most of the return leg I was swimming on my own. This was actually fine with me as I was able to focus on getting nice, relaxed long strokes. And after the navigation issues in the middle of the swim, I did much better towards the latter part as well.

Before I knew it, the finish was in sight and I was getting out of the water. Beat my goal time of 25:00 as well!

I was pleased with the swim overall and felt like my effort was right about where I wanted it to be (solid, but not too hard of an effort).

I'd still like to get a little better at drafting. Each race I feel like I'm making some headway, but there just aren't many opportunities to practice this outside of the few races that I do.

Going through T1 at Columbia takes you uphill, so I tried not to run too hard and keep my HR controlled. Saw my family cheering me on as I entered.

My suit came off pretty easily. Had to pull the last bit off my ankles, but did it all while standing. Got my socks on (still haven't ventured into the sockless world) and slipped into my shoes (also haven't tried to keep them clipped-in either). Helmet & sunglasses on, tossed Gu packets into jersey. Briefly debated grabbing my arm warmers as it had been 45F when I arrived that morning, but quickly decided it wasn't worth it (good decision) and headed out.

As I left transition, I heard someone asking if I was JohnnyKay. My first reaction was that it must be someone from my rowing days in college. Duh! Of course it was someone from BT--Daremo. Thanks, Rick!

I could get a little faster without the socks and doing the shoes on pedals thing, but this transition went very smoothly for me.

Once on the bike and out into the street, I got my shoes tightened up and began to settle into my pace. There was a little wind, but not nearly as much as when I rode on the course the day before so I thought I had a good shot at my goal time of 1:10.

I was making good progress, passing a few from my AG along the way. I did see a couple pass me from my AG eventually, but mostly I was riding around the Masters wave from ahead of us.

Around half-way I realized I wasn't quite at the pace I was expecting. Not sure if it was the hills, some wind or just the effects of the swim beforehand, but I wasn't about to push it just to hit my goal because I knew the run was going to be tough regardless.

Then all of a sudden my seat popped and tipped forward. I wasn't sure what was going on, but realized that my seat clamp was not holding my saddle up anymore. I was forced so shift back on the saddle for the rest of the ride. This made it difficult to maintain steady power, but I doubt it cost me a lot of time either. I was able to manage OK.

Saw my sister as I got towards the end of my ride and knew she must have done pretty well on her swim too. About 1mi from the end of the ride, my chain dropped but I got it back on and was going again in about 15sec. As I got towards the finish, I got my feet out and rode with them on top of the shoes.

On the ride, I finished 1 bottle of Gu2O and started a bottle of Gatorade Endurance I picked up (maybe had 1 8 oz serving). Also took 2 Gu gels--1 about 15-20min into the ride and another after about 1hr.

Despite a couple of surprises on the ride, I don't think they cost me much time overall--no more than a minute I'd guess. And while I was short of my goal time, I felt the ride went pretty well for where I'm at right now. So if I want to go 1:10 or better, I guess I better ride more. :)

Hopped off the bike at the dismount and began running into T2 (downhill at Columbia). Unfortunately, one of my shoes caught the ground and fell off. So I had to turn and climb back up the hill to retrieve it. Had a little trouble getting my handlebars on the rack (was afraid to try the saddle since I didn't know if it would hold the bike), but otherwise transition was fine.

Got running shoes on and turned on the Polar footpod. Grabbed my hat with my race belt in it and put them on as I headed out.

My family was there cheering me on again and I told them I'd see them soon. :)

Hold the back of my bike up to keep the shoes from hitting the ground.

Felt pretty good at the start of the run and took the first few short hills well. I was trying to take something to drink at each stop--at first running through them, but eventually walking a few steps to make sure I got the fluids down.

About half-way through the run, I was really feeling the impact of the hills and it was getting warmer as well (felt bad for those starting in later waves). There was no noticeable pain in my leg, but I did have a "hot spot" on my heel which was annoying (figured my sock must have been folded and I was getting a blister but amazingly there was nothing there after the race). I had to walk on parts of the last few hills--actually felt that was more effective than shuffling on them.

The hardest part mentally was just before the 6mi mark as the run came across the top of the lake before turning for the finish. This was where I felt the strongest winds of the day and it just felt like Mother Nature was laughing in my face as I struggled to maintain my pace--didn't have the strength to muster up any kind of sprint for the line.

Over the last 1/4mi there was nothing else for me except looking for the finish. I even missed my family cheering me this time, but found them shortly after crossing the line.

I was short of my 45:00 goal, but admittedly this was an aggressive target for me on a course like this. I was a little disappointed I had to walk a little on the hills, but I got over it pretty fast. Finished my first oly on a tough course in under 2:30. Hard to be real disappointed. :)

Still need to develop more running strength. Much of my running is on fairly hilly terrain, so I felt I would be prepared for this run. But it still ground me down.

Walked around for a bit, grabbed some food & drink and ran into a few BTers--Daremo again (who I saw right at the finish), wyecrab, witteb, and kleinrider. Nice to meet each of you!

Then got to watch my sister finish her race about an hour later. She did very well again--top 10 in her AG.


Despite a few mechanical issues on the bike and coming into the race with a sore leg, I don't think they had a huge impact on my overall time. The limitations I have are simply the amount of training so far. If I can continue to build my endurance and strength, I will be faster.

One thing I need to investigate further is hydration. I felt like I had done a good job coming into the race. And took in about what I had planned during. But afterwards I drank a ton and didn't have any real urge to pee until about 6hrs after the race! (I did force myself to go once about 2hrs after and had a small amount but I had already drank about 3 bottles of Gatorade and some water by then.) I don't know if this is "normal" or if I'm getting too dehydrated and impacting my running some.


This is a very well run race. The course is challenging but fun. And the venue is one of the best I have seen for spectators to enjoy the day as well. Anyone in the region should consider doing this race.