My first OWS didn't go so well, so this was the part of the race I was most anxious about. I positioned myself back and to the right and tried to head to open areas. Tried not to get thrown off by contact with other swimmers. Did a few breaststrokes after 100 meters or so to get my bearings, and it was a smooth swim from there to the end. Tried to draft off one guy, but he was zig-zagging and swimming in spurts, so I gave up on that. No problems sighting or staying in a straight line. Huge relief when I saw the swim exit come into view, and I knew that I was going to finish the swim. Swam until I touched the ground, got out, and was thrilled to see 32 minutes on my watch. My best mile in the pool was 35 minutes, so no complaints there.

As Martin Short says in this classic SNL skit on men's synchronized swimming,
"I'm not that strong a swimmer."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WxCEkhGbfM

But I wasn't last in my wave, and I didn't have to do any side/backstroke. So I guess more time in the pool would help.

Waved to Nathalie on the way to T1 and got the top of the suit pulled down on the way to the bike rack. No problems getting the suit off at the rack. Socks and shoes were a bit wet from the rain but that didn't matter since they'd get wet on the road anyway. GU shot and then run up the short hill out of T1 to the start of the bike.
T1 rank: 45/116 AG, 297/968 overall

Tape the GU to the bike. Otherwise, nothing.

Saw Nathalie again on the way out on the bike, which put a smile on my face. I had done the full course the two Tuesdays before and ridden other parts of the course several times with Nathalie's training for Irongirl, so I knew what to expect. Of course, I had never swam a mile before riding the course, so that would be new. I also had never run a 10K after biking 25 miles, so I was a bit worried about not leaving enough in my legs. Wet roads the whole way and rain for the first 7 miles or so. Passed a lot of people on the climbs and some more on the downhills who were probably being a little less reckless b/c of the wet conditions. Kept the cadence high on the climbs, only dropped to the granny twice, and somewhere on the hills I maxed out at 39.5. After the long, slow climb up Green Bridge Road, I hardly noticed the climbs back out to 108. And in my mind, those last 7 miles back are no big deal. I hadn't been looking at my time during the ride, so I was thrilled to see how fast I had finished. My best average speed on training rides was 17.5, so 19.2 was far better than I had hoped for.

Moved up 34 AG spots on the bike. Wouldn't do anything different. Fun to pass the expensive bikes while on my $400 eBay GT 4.0

Change shoes, shot of GU, grab racebelt, out for a nice 10K run.
37/116 AG, 296/968 overall

Do the GU on the way out of T2.

My goal for finishing was 3 hours. So after the bike, I knew that I needed to keep under a 10 min/mile average to meet that goal. The tough hill in the first half mile made me wonder if I'd be able to do it. And I had apparently gotten some chafing around my armpits from the swim, so that added to the general discomfort. Split for the first mile was around 9:30. And then my shins started to burn, but I knew that if I kept going that it would go away, so I kept plodding along. 18:30 at mile 2. And then the hills start to come. Climb out of the park to the neighborhood, and then there's a long slog. All the great race support throughout helped make it better. At mile 4, I actually started to feel pretty good and knew that if I just stayed focused that I'd beat 3 hours. Good spurt of energy up the last hill in the park, turned down the final stretch and got a huge smile when I saw Nathalie cheering me on and when I heard my name called out as I crossed the finish line.

Body Glide around the pits for the swim. Otherwise, nothing. Got passed by 5 age groupers, passed 2 myself, so dropped only 3 places. Tough run course, so 9 min/mile is fine by me.

Hugged Nathalie, downed some water and gatorade, met a couple of BTers. The food tent is at the top of the hill---they can't let you get away without doing one more climb. Got doused by a pocket of rainwater that decided to dump down off the food tent just as I was getting some pasta. I didn't mind, it felt good anyway. Had a burger at the tri club tent. Packed up my stuff and headed home for a nice, long nap. Nathalie was the best race support, and as always, I wouldn't/couldn't have done it without her.


Got thrown off track with the training plan. Life happens. This was my first Oly tri, and I'm thrilled with the results. We came and watched last year, and I remember thinking, "Those people are nuts." But now I understand, and I'm looking forward to trying to improve my time next year.


The Columbia Triathlon has a well-deserved reputation for being one of the best races around. The volunteers, the community, and everyone involved make it a great event. I'll definitely do this one again next year.