Columbia Triathlon - TriathlonOlympic


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Columbia, Maryland
United States
Columbia Triathlon Association
58F / 14C
Precipitation
Total Time = 2h 40m 56s
Overall Rank = 347/1569
Age Group =
Age Group Rank = 0/
Pre-race routine:

Little bit of taper, but not too much. Only the last 2 days were different than what I would otherwise schedule. Drank an Ensure, ate a Clif bar, and drank 2 servings of my new unflavored Heed. Got to the event pretty early, so transition setup was nice and relaxed.
Event warmup:

Just some light stretching.
Swim
  • 26m 34s
  • 1640 yards
  • 01m 37s / 100 yards
Comments:

Waves were mainly separated by 8 minutes, which allowed you a lot of time to get out there to the start line and relax a bit, or swim a bit. I had trouble finding someone to draft. There were people cutting back and forth in front of me, another guy pushing me off course, and lastly, a guy who would get ahead of me, then stop, then get ahead of me, then stop. Pretty annoying. I must've purposely swam over someone's legs 4-5 times. Might have been the same guy, crisscrossing me. :-)

My previous swim for this race was in the 32s so I am pretty happy with this time. Buoys were really big and easy to see.
What would you do differently?:

Not sure if I could've, but it would've been nice to find a better draft
Transition 1
  • 02m 36s
Comments:

Pretty decent transition. Got the cap and goggles off quickly, wetsuit wasn't a problem. Put socks, the helmet and glasses on and off I went. Shoes were already on the bike. The transition area was wet and a bit muddy but that did not cause issues with running around in socks at all.
What would you do differently?:

Gotta stop getting into conversations at the transitions. I didn't stay around very long but it's got to slow you up a bit.
Bike
  • 1h 19m 38s
  • 25.48 miles
  • 19.20 mile/hr
Comments:

We had a shower come through as our age group headed off, which nicely wet the course, and pelted out faces a tiny bit. Really didn't affect how you felt, but it made me weary of going downhill at a high rate. It wasn't really that windy, but sometimes you would get a gust that would scare you with the wet roads. I may have had 3 times where I thought I might lose control. Otherwise I think I rode ok. I have trouble motivating myself to ride fast, and with all the different age groups and waves being out on the course, just makes it worse. You naturally tend to think you are at an ok rate of speed because others around you are going that speed, but really they are the slower people in an early wave start. But, really, I didn't ride badly at all. Would be nice to see what I can do in dry conditions.
What would you do differently?:

Ride downhill faster if I could, but I'm not yet willing to die or injure myself for an oly race. :-)
Transition 2
  • 01m 45s
Comments:

I try to think through my transition while ending the bike, but obviously I did not think about what to do once I got my shoes on, because I started running out the bike exit. Doh! Stupid, stupid. At least I didn't go too far.
Run
  • 50m 24s
  • 6.21 miles
  • 08m 07s  min/mile
Comments:

That's kind of funny, running is my bread and butter but my worst ranking of the race. Kind of shows that I have progressed well, I will take that for sure. My previous PR pace for this race was 8:21 and I really doubted I could do that again, as I think my running isn't where it was back then. But each mile was ticking off way under 8:21. Til the big hills anyway. But the last 2 miles are really fast.
What would you do differently?:

Can't really say I would. If it was important, I could've pushed it harder, but it's not. :-)
Post race
Warm down:

Felt pretty good, like I didn't even have a workout, except for some knee swelling. I should've stretched some but I really didn't do much except watch my friends all come in.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Rain! Wet! But the temp was comfortable so there's a trade-off there. Didn't really taper for this race either, still focused on bigger races.

That's funny, I have 2:40:54 on my watch but the final results says 2:40:56.

Event comments:

Chrissie Wellington was putting medals on finishers after she settled down. Where else do you get that kind of thing? As far as food goes, it's just some cold (intentionally) pasta, cookies, and bananas. Not what I would want but not horrible either. The volunteers are wonderful, the bike course support is really good. The course is a challenge but not so much that beginners can't do it. It draws pros, as well as a lot of beginners. It's a great community of racers, what's not to like?






Last updated: 2008-09-14 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:26:34 | 1640 yards | 01m 37s / 100yards
Age Group: 0/
Overall: 443/1569
Performance: Good
Suit: yes
Course:
Start type: Deep Water Plus: Waves
Water temp: 70F / 21C Current: Low
200M Perf. Good Remainder: Good
Breathing: Good Drafting: Below average
Waves: Navigation: Good
Rounding: Good
T1
Time: 02:36
Performance: Good
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
Wetsuit stuck? Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike:
Getting up to speed: Good
Biking
01:19:38 | 25.48 miles | 19.20 mile/hr
Age Group: 0/
Overall: 326/1569
Performance: Average
Wind: Some with gusts
Course: Lots of rolling hills. None horrible, just a bunch of them.
Road: Smooth Wet Cadence:
Turns: Below average Cornering: Below average
Gear changes: Good Hills: Below average
Race pace: Hard Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 01:45
Overall: Average
Riding w/ feet on shoes Good
Jumping off bike Good
Running with bike Good
Racking bike Good
Shoe and helmet removal Good
Running
00:50:24 | 06.21 miles | 08m 07s  min/mile
Age Group: 0/
Overall: 475/1569
Performance: Good
8:11, 7:57, 8:27, 8:37, 7:49, 7:52
Course: More rolling hills. One long uphill but it's not disgusting.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 4
Physical exertion [1-5] 3
Good race? Yes
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] 4