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Downtown Columbia Triathlon - TriathlonSprint


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Columbia, South Carolina
United States
60F / 16C
Sunny
Total Time = 59m
Overall Rank = 46/320
Age Group = 40-44
Age Group Rank = 7/24
Pre-race routine:

Pretty normal morning -- French toast etc for breakfast. PB&J around 11am. Rode bike to race.
Event warmup:

Rode over on my bike, but not before stubbing my toe on the road and tearing up my big toe pretty badly. It was hurting most of the race. Pretty stupid.... Ran the last mile of the run course, stairs and all. Swam 250m. Wanted to swim a bit more, but we were ordered out of the pool.
Swim
  • 09m 59s
  • 547 yards
  • 01m 50s / 100 yards
Comments:

Why can't I swim???? I've swum this distance in 9:00 several times, but somehow get me in a race and I forget everything. Geez. I know it's lack of experience, but still, this is annoying. Somehow I've got to figure out how to hold my form in a race situation. I have a feeling that I'm working very hard for very little benefit. Anyway, after passing a few people, I was caught from behind by a pack of 4-5 swimmers and I ended up amongst them for the last 250m or so. At that point, flip turns were out of the question, as there was a lot of bunching at the walls.
What would you do differently?:

Focus on form, especially longer strokes.
Transition 1
  • 00m 45s
Comments:

Reasonably quick. I could have been a bit quicker getting my feet into the shoes. And I don't think I really needed the extra layer -- leaving that out would have saved about 10s, and also would have saved some time on the bike course since it was flapping around a bit.
What would you do differently?:

Don't add a layer when it's that warm.
Bike
  • 27m 45s
  • 10 miles
  • 21.62 mile/hr
Comments:

I'm assuming that the guy with no splits rode faster than me, since he swam slower and beat me by 3 minutes overall. I felt that I mostly rode this well. I think I could have (and maybe should have) gone harder on the flats. I definitely worked it up the hill, and passed loads of people there. The downhill into 5 points was fun -- I was up to nearly 40mph on that hill. Might have hit it once, had it not been for the swerving mountain biker who scared the bejeesus out of me.

I got passed (ultimately) by just one person (a guy whom I had passed earlier), right at the end. I could have passed him back pretty easily, though it would have taken a decent acceleration, and I didn't want to do that to my legs right before the run. Anyway, I beat him out of T2. (On the other hand, he eventually passed me on the run.)
What would you do differently?:

Needed to take in a bit more drink. I felt parched on the run.
Transition 2
  • 00m 45s
Comments:

Reasonably quick again. I had a bit of trouble getting my feet out of the shoes -- should have started that process a touch earlier, but I was focused on not losing touch with the guy who passed me on the bike at the end. Once again I fooled around with my running belt too much. Just grab it and go! There's plenty of time later to get it fastened. Had a bit of trouble racking the bike -- took two tries.
What would you do differently?:

Grab the running belt and go.
Run
  • 19m 49s
  • 3.11 miles
  • 06m 22s  min/mile
Comments:

(I'm guessing a bit on the AG rank, assuming that the two guys with no splits must have run faster than me.) I should have taken the cycling vest off. (Actually I never should have put it on.) I ended up unzipping it entirely, but it was bothering me, flopping around. By the turnaround I was absolutely parched. I took a cup of water, and proceeded to choke on it. I've never done that before. Overall, I didn't work hard enough on this run. I should have made it a point to stay with #129. He passed me early on, and I hung with him for a while with the intention of passing back, but somehow in the middle I lost touch. That was pure stupid lack of concentration. Nobody else passed me on the run. Maybe it would have been good if someone had -- that might have woken me up to the fact that I was not going hard enough. I can definitely do this run faster. Maybe I went a little hard on the bike, but I can't blame it all on that,.
What would you do differently?:

Run harder! Lose the vest.
Post race
Warm down:

Ate a few bananas. The other food was Hardees burgers that had been 'simmering' in some hot boxes for Lord knows how long. No thanks. Bike home at an easy pace. Stretched later.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Need to stay focused during all three events better. SWIM: focus on form. BIKE: never let up -- I let myself ease up a few times, for no good reason. RUN: Ditto. I can be a few minutes faster on this course. I think I could be an AG contender if I just worked it harder. Of course, learning how to swim would help too -- I'm giving up a couple of minutes on the swim to the AG contenders.

Event comments:

Loads of volunteers -- the bike course was especially well handled. I liked this race. I hope it happens again.




Last updated: 2009-03-04 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:09:59 | 547 yards | 01m 50s / 100yards
Age Group: 10/24
Overall: 83/320
Performance: Below average
Actual swim time was probably 15s faster, since the split was after a bit of running to T1.
Suit:
Course: Pool.
Start type: Inside Pool Plus:
Water temp: 80F / 27C Current:
200M Perf. Average Remainder: Below average
Breathing: Average Drafting: Average
Waves: Navigation:
Rounding:
T1
Time: 00:45
Performance: Average
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
Wetsuit stuck? Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: Yes
Getting up to speed: Average
Biking
00:27:45 | 10 miles | 21.62 mile/hr
Age Group: 5/24
Overall: 29/320
Performance: Good
Wind: None
Course: One hill up, one hill down. 3 loops. Roads were great. A few sharp and somewhat blind turns. Had to just trust that the cops were holding back cars, which was slightly unnerving, but in the end fine. I think the course might have been a bit longer than the advertised 10miles. Several people reported closer to 10.5 with their bike computers. My Garmin said a touch over 10.5, which makes sense because I think I was averaging a good bit faster than 21.6mph.
Road: Smooth Dry Cadence:
Turns: Good Cornering: Good
Gear changes: Good Hills: Good
Race pace: Hard Drinks: Not enough
T2
Time: 00:45
Overall: Average
Riding w/ feet on shoes Good
Jumping off bike Good
Running with bike Good
Racking bike Average
Shoe and helmet removal Good
Running
00:19:49 | 03.11 miles | 06m 22s  min/mile
Age Group: 10/24
Overall: 50/320
Performance: Below average
Course: Some hills at the start and finish, including the stairs to the pedestrian walkway. Running up those stairs and then up the hill right after them was my weakest point. This was not 3.1 miles. Closer to 2.9 I think.
Keeping cool Below average Drinking Not enough
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Average
Mental exertion [1-5] 2
Physical exertion [1-5] 3
Good race? Ok
Evaluation
Course challenge
Organized?
Events on-time?
Lots of volunteers?
Plenty of drinks?
Post race activities:
Race evaluation [1-5]

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2009-03-22 10:02 AM

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Champion
7595
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Columbia, South Carolina
Subject: Downtown Columbia Triathlon


2009-03-22 1:21 PM
in reply to: #2032758

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Elite
3371
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Subject: RE: Downtown Columbia Triathlon

Heh.  Let me introduce myself...#129!  If nothing else, you can say that you were the only person that even tried to stay with me.  I heard you back there for the first mile or so...

Great race!  I hope they do it next year too.

2009-03-22 2:34 PM
in reply to: #2032942

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Champion
7595
50002000500252525
Columbia, South Carolina
Subject: RE: Downtown Columbia Triathlon

Thanks for the intro!  I think we passed each other on the bike a few times too...

Nice race!

2009-03-24 6:07 AM
in reply to: #2032758

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Giver
18426
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Subject: RE: Downtown Columbia Triathlon
Wow...nice race!
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