Columbia Triathlon - TriathlonOlympic

Not a great swim for me. I had trouble getting comfortable, and found myself feeling as if I couldn't breathe. Not sure if my wetsuit was too tight at my neck, but seemed to have this choking sensation. When I focused, I felt good form and a strong glide... Trouble was I could not keep it up. Focussed on my navigation and keeping the corners as tight as possible. This probably helped save me from an even worse time as many people have a tendancy to take the course quite wide. Not my best finish, a full 1:10 slower than last year.

More training. I had not been putting in as much time at the pool lately and it showed. Two short swims most weeks just does not cut it. I also did not do any open water swims prior to this race, so that probably hurt as well.

Much improved transition over last year. Shaved a full 45 seconds off last T1 time, which helped make up for the less than perfect swim. Rolling the socks really helped speed up the transition and making sure gloves were open and ready.

Consider no gloves for future races - could save a few extra seconds.

What can I say - the bike was the highlight of the day. The rain was off and on, but nothing too bad. I had really been looking forward to the bike leg of the course and wanted to have a strong showing. My bike training and racing really paid off, shaving just under 5 minutes off my bike time from last year. The wet pavement probably slowed things down a bit. I also found the course quite crowded and had to slow on several occasions as traffic jams were created. As is typical, many riders were "lost" not riding to the right. This year I found myself reminding riders ahead to get to the right. I worked really hard through the bike, especially on the climbs. I pushed on the downhills, working to get every ounce of speed I could get. I pushed the final few miles, and finished the final mile with a higher cadence to get the legs ready for the run. Took in one get about half way through and had HEED in my bottle.

Push harder. Drink less. By the finish I could sense that I had either taken in too many calories or had too much to drink.

I had more energy through the bike and probably could have ridden even stronger. Better though to save some for the run.

Another improvement - lace locks really work! Improved T2 over last year by 28 seconds - more than making up for the weak swim. Now just for the run.

Not my finer moments. Coming off the bike, I felt a cramp coming on - too much to drink on the bike? The weather improved, with the sun coming out during the run. I worked through the heavy legs pretty quick, but didn't seem to be able to settle in. I took on some water at the first station, which seemed to help the cramp. I found it difficult to focus, and couldn't keep the HR up. Seemed to sit right down in Z2, almost at my "normal" run pace. Legs didn't feel too bad, all things considered, but for some reason could not hit the pavement. About halfway through started to focus on the climbs, pushing steady up and trying to accelerate on the down hills. Did manage a strong final mile and good kick to finish... Not a great time, a full 3 minutes off last year finish time. I know I can do better than that. Mental side of the game just wasn't there.

More focus on my run training. I think my race performance suffered from too many long slow training runs. I feel like I settled in to my "normal" run pace and did not get up to race pace speed.

LOTS OF STRETCHING


slight cramp / over drinking prior to the run. Lack of mental focus to push harder through the run.


This is a great race. It is well organized and the course is quite challenging.