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Columbia Triathlon - TriathlonOlympic


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Ellicott City, Maryland
United States
The Columbia Triathlon Association Inc.
60F / 16C
Precipitation
Total Time = 2h 51m 29s
Overall Rank = 564/1569
Age Group = 35-39
Age Group Rank = 78/168
Pre-race routine:

Not a great night sleeping. Tossed and turned until about 4:45. Got out of bed, hit the shower and then put together my water bottles. Drank coffee, bagel with PB, and a banana on the way to the park. I have a very hard time eating prerace. Nerves just really keep me from putting food down like I wish I could.

Got to the park a little before 6 and proceeded to park what seemed to be about a mile from transition. Got marked, hit transition, unwrapped the bike, and got everything setup.

After setting everything up, waited forever for a porta potty and then headed over to the swim start.
Event warmup:

Not much...just a little stretching plus the walk over to transition and then the swim.
Swim
  • 24m 4s
  • 1500 meters
  • 01m 36s / 100 meters
Comments:

Really surprised with the results because this felt like a struggle for me. I was really surprised to see my time. There is a big difference with the wetsuit on, but some of it is a bit negative. My arms were VERY fatigued by the end. I took Econway's advice and stayed to the far right and never even saw the first buoy and just the second/first turn. I suppose I'm fairly pleased with the swim. The thing is, I know with more training, I could have done even better, but swimming is my strongest portion and also least favorite. Maybe next year I will allow myself to train a lot more. I didn't do a swim workout until maybe 8 weeks out and I might have gotten in 10 workouts (I really should track this stuff better). All in all though, pleased with the time and I took more than a minute off my last Columbia/triathlon time (4 years ago..yikes!)
What would you do differently?:

Train more. Period. Maybe a couple workouts with the wetsuit on as well since my arms were spent by the time I exited the water.
Transition 1
  • 00m
Comments:

I really wish I knew what my T1 time was! Pretty good transition, but my bike was way on the far side of the racks so I had to take the wide route out of T1. Cramped up in my calves as I was exiting the water, but it went away fairly quickly.
What would you do differently?:

Not much...I am fairly happy with my transition although it would be nice to know how fast/slow it actually was.
Bike
  • 1h 32m 30s
  • 25.48 miles
  • 16.53 mile/hr
Comments:

Well, I definitely did not spend enough time training on the bike. I do think my time was better than the last time I did Columbia, but with the T1 addition, who knows. But I still think I was around 1:30 (maybe a bit below).

I will say the added rain didn't help and did get the nerves going a bit on some of the downhills.

Also, I was coming up on a slower biker at one point and a Lexus SUV had just passed me. He then proceeded to NOT pass the biker I was trying to pass. I was hitting the brakes on a nice straight downhill and I was NOT happy. I finally passed the Lexus, but wish I did so sooner!
What would you do differently?:

Train more on the bike...especially actually on the road. My weakest leg and I just don't put enough training into it. I think I have the ability to drop 10 minutes in this alone if I put the time in.
Transition 2
  • 01m 46s
Comments:

Pretty good T2, although I almost wrecked towards the dismount as I started fishtailing, but managed to stay up. I have been running in the new Zoot shoes and they slipped on very easily and I was in and out of T2 pretty fast.

My wife was at my rack waiting for me which was very cool. She did a relay so she had access and it was very cool having her right there to cheer me on.

Another funny thing is just as I was exiting a volunteer is yelling over and over "Sir! You have your helmet on! SIR!!!" I was relieved to reach up and realize it wasn't me.
What would you do differently?:

Not much. Maybe get out of the shoes on the bike
Run
  • 53m 10s
  • 6.21 miles
  • 08m 34s  min/mile
Comments:

I am definitely pleased with my run. I knew exactly what to expect and I was below my goal by about 2 minutes. My quads were tight pretty much the entire run, but I never stopped to walk which was definitely a goal as I walked a bit the last time.
What would you do differently?:

Not much. Just hope to be faster.
Post race
Warm down:

Walked around a bit. More like aimlessly wandering. Looked at my watch and realized I might be able to catch my wife start the run for her relay. Headed over to transition and I saw her running towards T2 exit. I was just in time to cheer her on.

Went into transition and talked with her biker and we dropped some things off at our cars. Then headed to the finish to cheer her at the end. It was very cool seeing her finish. One of these days maybe I can convince her to actually do the whole thing!

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Not training as much as I should have.

Event comments:

Tough race, but great race. Very organized although they have to stop putting the food at the top of ANOTHER hill for post race!




Last updated: 2008-10-14 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:24:04 | 1500 meters | 01m 36s / 100meters
Age Group: 24/168
Overall: 218/1569
Performance: Good
Suit: Xterra
Course: Triangularish
Start type: Deep Water Plus:
Water temp: 68F / 20C Current: Low
200M Perf. Average Remainder: Average
Breathing: Average Drafting: Below average
Waves: Navigation: Average
Rounding: Good
T1
Time: 00:00
Performance: Good
Cap removal: Average Helmet on/
Suit off:
No
Wetsuit stuck? No Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: Yes
Getting up to speed: Average
Biking
01:32:30 | 25.48 miles | 16.53 mile/hr
Age Group: 112/168
Overall: 782/1569
Performance: Below average
Wind: Some
Course: This is a damn tough course in my opinion. Hill after hill after hill.
Road: Smooth Wet Cadence:
Turns: Average Cornering: Average
Gear changes: Average Hills: Below average
Race pace: Hard Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 01:46
Overall: Good
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike Average
Running with bike Average
Racking bike Good
Shoe and helmet removal Good
Running
00:53:10 | 06.21 miles | 08m 34s  min/mile
Age Group: 77/168
Overall: 658/1569
Performance: Good
Course: HILLS!!!
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 4
Physical exertion [1-5] 5
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities:
Race evaluation [1-5]

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2009-05-18 9:20 AM

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Expert
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Olney, MD
Subject: Columbia Triathlon


2009-05-18 12:18 PM
in reply to: #2157520

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Master
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Denver
Subject: RE: Columbia Triathlon
Nice swim.  I guess they want to make sure you really want something to eat at the end.
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