Columbia Triathlon - TriathlonOlympic

swam parallel to the shore and sighted every 6 strokes - headed straight for the turn buoy, hugged the buoy and headed for the second turn buoy, hugged it close and then beelined for the last turn buoy - got "finger nailed" on the cheek by another swimmer. My cheek was stinging in the water and all I could think about was all the stories about the flesh eating disease that recently infected the girl who fell into the river and cut herself and here I am swimming in this bacteria filled lake with an open cut on my face.... Besides that, I felt pretty good about my swim, strong full strokes - steady breathing - fell in to my "forever" pace about 1/3 into the swim and realized I was going too slow, need to pick up the pace. The last 2/3 was nice and strong. felt great getting out of the water, no dizziness (and 1:30 faster than last year).

stay focused and not get lulled (thinking about flesh eating disease and the cut on my face)

jogged up to transition, quick change - -passed several already in transition and beat them out - yep, transition practice makes a difference.

run faster from the water

target was 125 watts on the flats and 130 on the hills. focused on getting nutrition in and heart rate stabilized after the swim; then buckled down and focused on watts. Had TONS of guys passing me, some pretty darn close (like INCHES away from me - wish I had a sign on my back that told cyclists to give me at least 2 feet). I have difficulty with the hills and on the very steep ones I sometimes find myself bobbing and weaving side to side - - I try HARD not to do it, but sometimes it happens and people passing really close to me is dangerous; I managed to keep to my target and was able to shift gears comfortably to stay within the watts I wanted. Played cat and mouse with a few folks - I would fly past them on the downhills and they would catch me on the uphills. Some eventually dropped back, I was able to stay the course. Felt soooo good to feel strong for the entire ride.

Remind myself to relax my arms. I am writing this report the day after the race and my arms are sore from gripping the handlebars and changing gears. I'm better than I used to be and did relax about halfway into the ride - but need to relax that grip from the get go. Overall, excellent ride for me - highest power output I've been able to maintain for 1:30 hours. Average Power 127 watts; Normalized power 131 watts. Heart rate 156. (almost 10 minutes faster than last year).

Love this transition. While I'm riding hard to the dismount area, several guys are slowing down and fumbling with their shoes on the pedals, I pass them, clip out and jump off the bike at the dismount (always wondered why the general mass thinks its faster to the other way) and run my bike to its place. Switched shoes, grabbed visor and fuel belt out of cooler, run out of T2 carrying garmin in my mouth while fastening fuel belt. Then start the watch. Once again, I passed 3 people who were sitting on the ground changing their shoes in transition. Practice, definitely makes transition go a LOT faster.

nothing :)

wasn't real sure how this was going to go. I did a half iron two weeks prior and had done the Columbia bike course the saturday before with a short 3 mile run on the first part of the run course - wasn't pretty. But.....for the race, I took it easy the first mile - the first hill was killer, trying to get the fuel in and heart rate in check. Walked once or twice the first couple miles when heart rate was above 165 - got it back down to 155 and then jogged on. Always glad I have my own fuel. I sip my malto mix as I feel I need it and always have water exactly when I want it. Refilled my water at the last water stop. By the time I hit the neighborhood, I was feeling pretty good; kept telling myself "the hills are okay, you can do this, baby steps, chin up, breath, you can do this" another woman and I kept playing leap frog. The last mile or two of the run, I was getting passed by TONS of guys (20's and 30's) who were booking it! I was passing a few folks, so I was feeling motivated. The last mile was great. I had paced well and knew I would be coming in on fumes. I was hoping to make my stretch goal of under one hour, but I'm happy with the 1:03.

not much - I had trained hard for the half iron and this was fun to do and see if I've improved over last year (which I did - almost 4 minutes faster).

went straight to the medical tent and had the scratch on my face cleaned up and medicated. Sipped the rest of my water and ate pasta and potato chips at the food tent (first time I made it in from a race and there was food available). Changed into dry clothes and waited for the rest of my team mates to come in from their race. Too bad they ran out of chocolate milk - - I was looking forward to that. Also bummed there was no soda - anywhere - - I really like an ice cold COKE after a race (need that sugar). Had to make do with gatorade.


hmm...I didn't really train for this distance so it was fun to push it and see what happens - -now I know, so I can train harder and push harder :)


Good race! I beat last years time by 15:03 so I'm stoked. My power on the bike was awesome and the run was tough, but managed to hold on and finish strong. This race is lots of fun for me. I get to start in one of the first waves, so actually finish early and get to watch everyone else come in. The swag was really sweet this year - love the duffle bag. Weather was absolutely perfect.