Columbia Triathlon - TriathlonOlympic

I'm just not a very good swimmer. Plus, this was my first open water swim. My goal was to complete the swim in 30 minutes. I'm pretty happy with the result considering it was 2 minutes better than expected. There was just about zero visibility in the lake. Navigating wasn't too bad thanks to the many swimmers in the water and the huge buoys. I veered off course a few times...but nothing too bad. I really started to feel sick near the end of the course. Kind of like a sea sick, uneasy feeling. Overall, not a bad performance for a terrible swimmer like myself.

I need to do more open water swimming. Joining a masters class or getting a coach would help.

Since this was my first triathlon, I didn't have much experience with transitions. The wetsuit got stuck on my watch and on my timing bracelet. Everything else went pretty smooth. I took a gel, drank down some accelerade and ran for the road.

Practice removing wetsuit quickly. Attach tubes/repair equipment to bike instead of putting them in my shirt pockets. Time was wasted putting them in and taking them out.

The first 15 minutes were miserable. I still felt uneasy and sick from the swim. I took a couple swigs of water to try to get the gel taste out of my mouth. I think that might have made me feel worse. I kept chugging along and felt progressively better. By the halfway point, I felt great and really started cranking. Took a gel double-shot at the 45 minute mark.

Practice more biking after swimming. It took me a while to adjust to dry land. Everything else went well. Hydrated well and ate enough. I must have passed 200 people...or more.

This transition was much better. I felt strong and ready to run. I quickly racked the bike...put on my shoes...chugged some accelerade and took another gel.

Take off helmet while running bike to my slot in the transition area. I almost started the run with a helmet on.

Started strong and finished strong. First 2 miles in 13 minutes. Slowed down for miles 2-4 (hills) and pushed the last mile. Nothing much to say. I'm pretty happy with the run. Some other runner used me to pace himself for the 2nd half of the run which probably helped me run faster. He thanked me at the finish line which was pretty cool.

Nothing

I'm a bad swimmer. I need a masters program or a coach. Practice more T1 transitions.


Very well organized race. Packet pickup and racking was easy. Everything started on time. Lots of people to answer questions for newbies like me.