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Iron Girl Columbia Women's Triathlon - TriathlonSprint


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Columbia, Maryland
United States
The Columbia Triathlon Association Inc.
Sunny
Total Time = 2h 30m 12s
Overall Rank = 1072/1673
Age Group = 25-29
Age Group Rank = 109/179
Pre-race routine:

Packet pickup and mandatory bike racking was on Saturday so it was nice to not worry about anything extra on Sunday morning. Because the race was in Columbia, I set my alarm for 3:30 and planned to be out of the door and on the road by 4:30am so that I could hopefully beat all of the traffic. A few of my friends were planning on going to the race with me but they were calling me/texting me all the way up until 11:30pm the night coordinating plans/saying that they were going to go/saying that they had changed their minds/saying that they had changed their minds again and finally I just said 'forget it' and I turned off the phone and crashed. My alarm went off a few short hours later so I got ready, ate an english muffin with peanut butter and honey, loaded the car, and hit the road. My phone started ringing on the way (go figure!) and two of my friends said that they were getting ready and wanted me to pick them up. Ugh, frustration was the last thing I needed before a race! I arrived at the race site around 5:15, found my bike, dropped my bag off, and hit the port-o-potties before the lines formed. I went back to the transition area and got everything set up pretty quickly and since I had so much time to kill, I started chatting with the other girls around me in the transition area. A few of us hit it off and stuck together for the rest of the morning (they were in my ag). I hit the port-o-potties one more time, grabbed my swim gear and a gu, and headed down to the swim start shortly before they closed the transition area. I realized that I forgot to grab my second english muffin (I ate the first one at 3:45am and my wave wasn't scheduled to start until 8:09 so I knew I was going to be hungry!) but I figured that I would be ok with just my gu. The start was delayed due to traffic issues so I hung out with a few of the girls, watched the other waves take off, and I took the gu about 30 min our wave started because I was staaarving.
Event warmup:

I stretched just a tiny bit before it was time for my ag to line up.
Swim
  • 34m 51s
  • 1094 yards
  • 03m 11s / 100 yards
Comments:

The swim was horrible for me. I need to get over my fear of open water! I started off on the right side near the middle, the countdown began, and then the games began. The first 300 yards or so were fine but suddenly I lifted up my head to site, got a mouthful of water, and freaked out. From that point on, I was fine when I was swimming freestyle but the moment I lifted my head to site, my heart rate would increase, I would get out of my rhythm, and everything would crumble. I ended up breast stroking a lot (clearly you can tell by my time). I would start up the freestyle again, lift my head to site, and boom the same thing would happen again. So, I just did my best and told myself to keep moving forward. When I finally got close to the last orange buoy and the finish line, everything clicked and I was fine... I swam and sited the rest of the way in. Argh!

1479/1673 oa
166/179 ag

What would you do differently?:

Swim more. And practice siting lots. and lots and lots and lots. If I can get that down pat, then the fear of whatever will hopefully go away and I might just have a decent race.
Transition 1
  • 03m 57s
Comments:

My bike was racked near the back of the transition area so I had a long way to run. Somebody was handing out small towels right by the swim exit so I grabbed one and was able to dry off a bit on the way to my bike. My socks were rolled so they were easy to put on, I put on my shoes, helmet, and sunglasses and took off. It was hard to run in the bike shoes but I did my best. There was a small but steep muddy hill that I had to climb up in order to get out of the transition area.

771/1673 oa
82/179 ag
What would you do differently?:

Hustle a bit more. I felt very slow.
Bike
  • 1h 14m 14s
  • 17.5 miles
  • 14.14 mile/hr
Comments:

I loved this course! I took it a little slow in the beginning so that I could get my heart rate in check and then I pushed it as hard as I could. The hills were definitely tough but I tried to spin up them as best as I could. I really pushed it on the downhills and I was happy to see that I was finally catching up with the girls in my age group that had killed me in the swim. I met a girl named Abby and we played a game of leap frog for about 5 miles until I passed her on one of the hills. I was passed by a couple of girls in the beginning, esp during the uphill portions of the course, but towards the last third of the course I was able to pass a ton of girls and leave them behind me. I ate a few chomps along the way and everything felt great.

999/1673 oa
82/179 ag
What would you do differently?:

Ride more. I didn't expect to have a great ride on this course considering my lack of bike training lately but I was pleased with how I felt. Putting more time on the saddle can do nothing but help.
Transition 2
  • 02m 6s
Comments:

I had to run down another steep and very muddy hill in order to get back into the transition area. I racked my bike, took off my helmet and shoes, threw on my running shoes and racing belt, and then took a quick sec to fix my mess of a ponytail (stupid, yes, but it was a messss) and to take a quick sip of water.

93/179 ag
What would you do differently?:

Heh, not worry about my hair. But hey, a girls got to do what a girls got to do.
Run
  • 35m 6s
  • 3.4 miles
  • 10m 19s  min/mile
Comments:

My legs felt a bit funny from the bike ride so I took it slow in the beginning. I picked up the pace and started passing people (more girls from my ag, yay!). The course led us over a bridge and when I looked to the right, I saw three deer crossing the lake... wow! I walked once I got to the 'gatorade hill climb' because I realized that my running pace was just as fast as my walking pace. I started to realize how tired I was around mile 2.5 and I noticed that my muscles were starting to cramp up. I kept pushing it though, even though I knew that my pace was pretty slow. My goal was to keep passing people, but not let anybody pass me. It worked pretty well until I got into the finishers chute and some chick sprinted by me when we had about 25 feet to go. Ah well, she can have it. I heard my name as I approached the finish line and it felt good to be done! The volunteers were handing out ice water sponges which felt awesome and the next batch of volunteers were handing out the medals.

655/1673 oa
70/179 ag
What would you do differently?:

Again, a lack of training really makes the difference.
Post race
Warm down:

I walked around a little bit and started the search for food because I immediately started to feel a little light-headed. I ate some sort of yummy bean salad and two oreos, chugged a cup of gatorade and a bottle of water, and stretched a little bit. I then headed back to the transition area, packed up my stuff, and made the hour long ride back home.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

The lack of training.




Last updated: 2009-05-03 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:34:51 | 1094 yards | 03m 11s / 100yards
Age Group: 166/179
Overall: 1479/1673
Performance: Bad
Suit: None
Course: A counter clock-wise rectangle in Centennial Lake.
Start type: Plus:
Water temp: 0F / 0C Current: Low
200M Perf. Good Remainder: Bad
Breathing: Below average Drafting: Bad
Waves: Navigation: Below average
Rounding: Below average
T1
Time: 03:57
Performance:
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
Wetsuit stuck? Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike:
Getting up to speed: Good
Biking
01:14:14 | 17.5 miles | 14.14 mile/hr
Age Group: 82/179
Overall: 999/1673
Performance:
Wind:
Course: The course went through the farmlands and was quite hilly.
Road:   Cadence:
Turns: Cornering:
Gear changes: Hills:
Race pace: Drinks:
T2
Time: 02:06
Overall:
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike
Running with bike
Racking bike
Shoe and helmet removal
Running
00:35:06 | 03.4 miles | 10m 19s  min/mile
Age Group: 70/179
Overall: 655/1673
Performance:
Course: The course wound around Centennial Lake with two pretty decent hills.
Keeping cool Drinking
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall:
Mental exertion [1-5]
Physical exertion [1-5]
Good race?
Evaluation
Course challenge
Organized?
Events on-time?
Lots of volunteers?
Plenty of drinks?
Post race activities:
Race evaluation [1-5]

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2009-08-25 6:00 AM

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Regular
79
252525
Leesburg,
Subject: Iron Girl Columbia Women's Triathlon


2009-08-25 6:10 AM
in reply to: #2368395

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Veteran
145
10025
Warrenton, VA
Subject: RE: Iron Girl Columbia Women's Triathlon
Congratulations!!  I too did not enjoy the long run from swim to T1 and the muddy hills!!  Great job!!!
2009-08-28 7:01 PM
in reply to: #2368395

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Master
1332
100010010010025
Vista, CA
Subject: RE: Iron Girl Columbia Women's Triathlon

Nice RR. You really did a great job. Sounds like you had a calm approach and that carried through to your race. I think turning your phone off at 9 next time! LOL Did you like the Iron Girl event? I thought they did a good job on a 5K and 10K run they put on out here. Did you get the cool duck?

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