Columbia Triathlon - Triathlon

This was just a bad bad swim. I wish I could say the course was marked long but I don't think it was. I just never got into a good rhythm. Maybe my complete ignoring of of swim training has finally caught up to me. Water was quite chilly, which didn't help. I didn't feel smooth in the water, and I got turned around - at one point I was swimming toward the wrong buoy.

And for some reason there were a lot of waves this year - maybe the rescue boat was going faster than usual? Shouldn't have bothered me, but I wasn't ready for it.

2011: 21:52
2012: 22:55
2013: 24:11

Really need to start swimming once per week again.

Felt a little sluggish coming out of the water. I actually thought I would be slower than this, so I am ok with the actual time. I still think there is an extra ~30 seconds to cut here.

2011: 3:25
2012: 3:31
2013: 3:33

So this wasn't a great time on the bike. For one, it was raining/misting so the roads were quite wet, and I have been a total chicken on the bike ever since I crashed a couple years ago.

And then, about 6 miles into the course, my chain dropped off. I tried to shift it back on four or five times, but it didn't work and the chain got tangled on my pedal. So I had to brake (during a downhill), get off my bike, and proceed to spend more time than I would like to think about repairing the chain. If felt like it took a half hour, but in reality it was more like 5 minutes. But, it sapped my momentum and my confidence.

I am still passing people on climbs and watching them blow by me on downhills. I still don't really know why, but suspect my non-aero position is to blame.

2011: 1:18:53 (19.4 mph)
2012: 1:18:41 (19.4 mph)
2013: 1:24:10 (18.2 mph) (chain drop)

Got stuck behind somebody moving slowly, but otherwise no issues. Had a good position on the rack for a change (usually I end up in the middle of a long row).

2011: 1:44
2012: 1:25
2013: 1:27

So this was the only part of the race that really went well (which is unusual, because the run is my total weakness). This was by far my best run on this course, probably my best run in a tri ever (given the difficulty of this course). This is the run time I had targeted last year but missed badly. It just felt surprisingly easy on the run course. Of course, I have no idea why, so who knows if I can replicate it. I don't think I trained any harder or better this year. But it sure was nice (for once) to pass more people on the run than who passed me.

I guess the biggest thing I did differently was to go out harder. I have a tough time trusting my run fitness because it has burned me so many times in the past. But maybe I am actually getting to the point where I am a triathlete, and not just a swimmer who fakes his way through the run leg.

2011: 58:32 (9:25/mile)
2012: 58:54 (9:28/mile)
2013: 54:14 (8:45/mile)

Nothing! Bottle this up and figure out how to do it consistently.

I guess I could be disappointed by the total time. But I have to accept that a dropped chain on the bike is beyond my control. If I hadn't lost those five minutes on the bike, this would have been an easy PR. Which is both encouraging and frustrating.

Total time:
2011: 2:44:26
2012: 2:45:26
2013: 2:47:33

As always, this event is top notch. But what happened to all the nice swag this race usually gives out? Last year we got the sweet transition bag, this year we didn't even get a water bottle. For a $160 entry fee I expect to get more than just a cheap t-shirt.