Columbia Triathlon - TriathlonOlympic

Started @ 716am after 5 other waves including the pro's/elites had left prior. The start was directly into the sun toward the east so it was hard to see prior to the count down. I started quickly all the way to the left with the other of 228 age groupers with our Orange caps. I felt fine and settled in on a nice pace but felt I was slower for the 1st .25 miles as I was behind a number of swimmers. I did pick it up the remainder of the swim especially once the course turned to the west. I started passing a number of swimmers and exited quickly. Not happy with the overall time as I missed mty goal by two minutes but my HR was solid and breathing was fine after exiting into T1.

Need to add some OWS and increase my intervals at my Masters class.

Quick exit from the swim with a short run to the T1. One minor issue with the wet suit but picked it up from there. Tough up hill from to the Bike start but made it quickly to the start.

run slightly faster from the swim and lower my T1 time to 2 mins or less.

Started off strong and the course, although not as hilly as I thought, was still tough. I misjudged one hill early and then was tired during the last climb around mile 22. Overall, I did a decent job of attacking the hills so to reduce the pain and kept the speeds high on the downhill.

Generate more speed on the hills thru training in order to increase avg pace. I suffered a Blood blister from my shoes which i will look into as this could be a problem going forward.

Good jump off the bike and even with me placing my bike on the row across from my stuff (i went under the rack), I was out of T2 very quickly.

Where do I start? By far, the toughest run on any triathlon I have competed in to date. Just some tough climbs in all places, a local neighborhood. I can imagine the people in the neighborhood must be in decent shape with those hills:). My cardio and HR was fine but my legs were shot after a hilly ride. I could barely make it up the hills and my pace suffered for it. I did make some great time in the last 1.23 miles as it was downhill or flat and I was focused on not stoping but this caused me to missed my goal after running over 6 mins slower then goal speed.

- Run more in general but also do some hill repeats to prepare for this course. I need do bricks as well in order for my legs to be used to the pain off a hilly ride. I should be better in two weeks (Black Bear) but need to make sure I increase buy weekly miles so my pace improves. A 48 is doable at BB.

- Drink, stretch and post race food which was limited. I did wait 45 mins for a massage but it was worth it.


- Hills on the run and tired legs from the bike.


Overall, a great race on near perfect conditions from a weather perspective. Very organized and went off without any major problems. Tons of officials on the bike course, good location and I will do this again next year. I missed my goal by about 10 mins and I need to train harder with more running (18-25 miles a week) so my pace improves to meet my goals.