Columbia Triathlon - Triathlon


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Ellicott City, Maryland
United States
Columbia Triathlon Association
65F / 18C
Precipitation
Total Time = 3h 03m 26s
Overall Rank = 866/1482
Age Group = 50-54
Age Group Rank = 12/51
Pre-race routine:

The usual get to the race site really early to ensure decent parking. Several trips to the restroom. Just generally hanging out.
Event warmup:

None.
Swim
  • 29m 24s
  • 1640 yards
  • 01m 47s / 100 yards
Comments:

My expectations for the swim were to ‘git er done’. I thought I placed myself in a good spot with this deep water start. I could see one of the far buoys and it seemed like a logical spot for the shortest distance from the start area to the far buoys. It seems that quite a few other people thought this too. I ended up in the middle of about 10 swimmers – all of us with varying abilities to swim straight in open water. So I was caught in a pack with swimmers going in various forwad directions. I ended up resorting to my 20 strokes of freestyle followed by 20 strokes breaststroke – repeat – must sooner than I anticipated.
I t also took probably 300 yards for me to get comfortable in the wetsuit. I felt very restricted and this did not change for several minutes.
Given my training base my time was as expected.

What would you do differently?:

Next time I will align myself better with the first start buoy and first route buoy and study the route a bit better.
Transition 1
  • 03m 55s
Bike
  • 1h 29m 52s
  • 25 miles
  • 16.69 mile/hr
Comments:

This is a challenging bike course with some good hills. I love the fact that this race has older athlete in the first waves. Makes for a wide open ride for most of the way. The roads were wet from misting rain and fog. My glasses were continually fogging up for the 1st half of the ride. On some of the downhills I was a bit more tentative due to the rain and one hill in particular I was very tentative. There are some hills that have curves and you can’t quite see what is around the corner (as in is there more hill or does it flatten out). Last year I didn’t get out of aero position in time and was terrified the entire way. All in all I think I had a good solid ride given my training.
What would you do differently?:

Anti-fog treatment for glasses.
Transition 2
  • 01m 35s
Comments:

Couldn’t find my stuff immediately.
What would you do differently?:

Remember to actually use the details of my rack area (like the big bright pylon right next to my bike). I had noted it but then completely forgot about it until I ran past it!
Run
  • 58m 42s
  • 6.2 miles
  • 09m 28s  min/mile
Comments:

Just sort of kept running. Did not try to go too fast or too slow. Walked some of the hills. This was my slowest run segment to date at this distance. Didn't necessarily feel tired but just no energy or inclination to go faster.
Post race
Warm down:

Got some food and headed home.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

I did not put in the time to improve over last years race. Mind and heart not in training over the past 8 weeks and also not in the race.

Event comments:

This is a terrific event and this was the 30th year. Well organized and supported. Very competitive -- female 55+ masters winner time of 2:31:18!! I love the big event atmosphere and the wonderful support.

I headed into this race thinking I would be about 10 minutes slower than last year given my training. I was spot on with this assessment. There is a possibility I could have found some time in every segment if I had pushed myself at bit more but I just wasn’t up for it. It was almost as if I “just showed up”. I was really, really tired when I got home. All in all, it was a good solid performance but not what I had hoped for earlier in the year. Even so, I moved up a few slots this year (12th vs 15th).




Last updated: 2012-12-21 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:29:24 | 1640 yards | 01m 47s / 100yards
Age Group: 0/51
Overall: 0/1482
Performance: Average
Suit: Vortex
Course: Centennial Lake. Entry point is different from finishing point.
Start type: Deep Water Plus:
Water temp: 63F / 17C Current: Low
200M Perf. Below average Remainder: Average
Breathing: Average Drafting: Good
Waves: Navigation: Average
Rounding: Good
T1
Time: 03:55
Performance: Average
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
Wetsuit stuck? No Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: No
Getting up to speed:
Biking
01:29:52 | 25 miles | 16.69 mile/hr
Age Group: 0/51
Overall: 0/1482
Performance: Average
Wind: Little
Course: This is a terrific bike course on country roads. There are long downhill and uphill stretches. There is precious little flat cycling. You are either going uphill or downhill – slightly or a lot.
Road: Smooth Wet Cadence:
Turns: Average Cornering: Average
Gear changes: Good Hills: Average
Race pace: Comfortable Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 01:35
Overall: Average
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike
Running with bike Good
Racking bike Average
Shoe and helmet removal
Running
00:58:42 | 06.2 miles | 09m 28s  min/mile
Age Group: 0/51
Overall: 0/1482
Performance: Below average
Course: Around Centennial Lake and through adjacent neighborhood. Flat with some really good hills in the neighborhood.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 3
Physical exertion [1-5] 3
Good race? Ok
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] 5