Iron Girl Columbia Women's Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

Overall, I'm happy with the swim. The waves didn't have a lot of people in them and my AG was actually broken up (A-K and then L-Z).
Since the water was so warm, wetsuits weren't allowed. Despite not wearing a wetsiut and not being able to draft b/c everone spread out, I was happy with the swim. I was hoping to do it in 20 minutes and I was a shade over.

Tighten my chip strap...it felt a little loose (not that it would fall off, it was just moving in the water).
I got in the water and didn't have much time to move to the far inside buoy. I should have gotten in the water a minute or sooner. Not a big deal though. I was able to see Desiree and Margie come into T2 which was pretty neat!

T2 ranking was 7/204 in my AG. :)
There was a long run from the beach to the transition area. My bike rack was at the far side of the TA, but was right near the bike exit which ended up being a great location.
Put on my sunglasses, helmet and shoes (went sockless) and grabbed my bike and I was off. Kind of a steep hill to get out of the TA, but not a huge deal. Saw Brad and Ron cheering for me as I mounted the bike.

Nothing...really happy with T1.
Although I'm no T1 monster like Tim. :)

My HR was through the roof after T1 and the run from the swim. Course was on part of the Columbia Triathlon route. The course was rolling hills with a few good climbs.
I was a little intimidated by the hills being that I haven't trained or ridden on hills since LP, but felt really comfortable on the hills.
Ate a GU about 30 minutes into the ride and then continued to drink GU20 Mango Tango (my new flavor). Managed to pass a decent amount of people.
Although the roads weren't closed, it wasn't an issue until the end. I saw Brad and Ron cheering for me from the road and gave them a smile and a wave before trying to navigate through traffic. There were a lot of cars moving slowly towards the traffic light where I needed to turn left.
Found a "hole" in the cars and moved to the lane of cones so I could make the turn and finish strong.

Push harder on the hills. I guess I held back a little.

There was a pretty steep hill down into the TA (especially with bike shoes). Took off my helmet as I was running and racked my bike with no issues. Changed shoes (still no socks), put on my race belt and headed to the run start as I put on my visor.
T2 ranking was 32/204 in my AG.

Nothing. Happy with T2.

Well, I really haven't really run much since LP and my last run (the Bradley Beach 5K) didn't go so well. My HR was really high throughout the entire run. My legs felt OK, but I settled into a pace and didn't go faster. There was a really fun water station with some guys dressed up like The Village People with YMCA playing on their radio. How fun!!
The start of the out and back had a really challenging hill which I ended up walking a little. Got to the top and then ran down the other side. The course had you then run around the path around a baseball field before heading back up the hill. I ran the whole way back up the hill (slow, but still running). There was a small hill before getting to the finshing area where I saw Brad and Ron. There was a slight downhill to the finish line. Kicked it up a bit and finished strong.

As always, more run training.
With time, it will happen.

Found Brad and Ron and grabbed water and gatorade.
Stood for a minute or two under the misting tent.


Lack of run training.


Overall, this was a great race, especially since it was the first year!
It was VERY organized and had a lot of volunteers. The expo was great and the giveaways were really good! The two complaints were that my wave was the second to the last to go off and 2) that I couldn't find the post-race food.
I would do this race again though....a lot of fun!