Yesterday I did the Columbia triathlon as a relay for my first race of the
year. I did the first two legs and my wife did the run leg. This race is
virtually in my back yard, so I've done it a few times before and ride the
bike course as much as a few times a week.
Training and Prep
This years preparation was a bit more intense than previous years. In December,
I started swimming with the Columbia masters.swimming club to work on
my swimming and have been going regularly three times a week. At least
in the pool, my swimming seemed to have improved quite a lot. As for the
bike, I got myself a new ride last fall and a set of race wheels (Hed 3s). I
also started using GoldenCheetah's performance manager to track my training
with my power meter. This allowed me to track my fitness much more
accurately and helped with scheduling a taper.
Race Morning
My wave goes last, always. So I had till 8:15 even though the race org wants me to
show up before 6:30 to get body marked. I actually slept well, got up at about 5:30,
had a cup of coffee and some light breakfast and left the house at about 6:00. Parked
in a secret local spot and walked 5 minutes to the transition area. I got body marked,
called my wife to tell her how they were marking so she could mark herself and started
setting up my stuff (clip in bike shoes, setup water bottle, setup garmin, etc.). It was
then waiting time. At least I got to wait near my masters' swim lane mate Linda, who
was also doing a relay. This helped kill the time. I did feel like quite the wily vet when
I went to use the porta-potty and someone came out warning the line that there was
no tp. I had a nice stash in a little plastic baggy in my pocket. Finally wandered over
to the swim start at about 7:45 and got on my wetsuit and got in line to start.
The Swim: 22:36
At the swim start, I saw a couple of friendly faces from masters. I was vaguely hoping
to draft off the fastest guy I knew, but that hope ended about 50 yards into the swim as
I had to watch Reg swim off into the distance. So I ended up concentrating on staying
relaxed and sighting well. I didn't spend much time drafting except for a brief spell after
the turn around buoy where I crossed paths with another swimmer in my wave and held
his feet for a while. He seemed to be holding a slightly higher pace and less optimal
line, so I peeled off. Overall it seemed to go by pretty quick and I was happy with
my open water technique.
T1: 1:58
After getting out of the water, I peeled down the arms of my wetsuit while running to
the transition area and let my goggles and cap get stuck in the arms as planned. Ran
by the wife and kids and waved. The relay transition area was very crowded. I was
at the front of the wave and there were all the team's runners and bikers waiting in a
mob. I got to my bike and found that my sunglasses weren't there. I believe I may have
cursed a bit. I stripped off the wetsuit, put on my helmet, got the bike down and took
off, yelling for folks to get out of my way.
Bike: 1:04:56 (http://connect.garmin.com/activity/87499639)
After getting mud stuck in my cleats last year, I decided I needed to learn to do a flying
mount. This went off pretty much without a hitch. I had to wait till I got to 108 before
putting my feet in the shoes and I had to adjust the straps a bit, but otherwise was off to
a pretty good start. In some previous years I felt like crap at the beginning of the bike,
so this year I did the majority of my bike workouts on the same day I swam. I think it
helped and I felt better than in the past. I did have a heart rate monitor on and felt a bit
worried to see mid 180's. I can hold mid 170's, but 180's a bit high for me. I got into
a groove and tried to push it since the first half of this course is harder than the second.
I hit the first third split at about 22:30, the second at 21:00 and knew I was on pace for
a good time. The last third is net downhill, so I hit that at just over 21:10. Since I started
in the last wave, I get to spend the whole time passing folks (and didn't get passed).
T2: :40
Well T2 is just handing off the chip to my wife.
My Third Leg
For me, the third leg was kid retrieval. I quickly gathered my stuff and rode my bike to
my car. Someone nice guy handed me my lost sunglasses (better late than never).
I drove home, quickly showered, gathered the kids and drove back to the race.
We then had to walk 10 minutes or so to the race finish line to wait for my wife. I got the
kids and camera setup and we waited around for mommy. Gave a nice cheer and high
five as she went by.
Run: 1:07:25
My wife had been shooting for below 1:10, so she was very satisfied with her result.
She hasn't been training for that long and was proud to see that she could push herself
a bit in the race.
Post Race
Enjoyed some nice post race food and met up with various folks we knew doing the
race. The kids especially enjoyed eating the chips.
Summary:
My swim improved by over 2 minutes and my bike by 4 minutes from last year. If you
compare my times to my age group, I had the best bike split and the best cumulative
time at the end of the bike. On the other hand, the real triathletes in my age group had
to save something for the run! I think my overall bike time was just about 30th,
including the pros and elites. Next up is Eagleman aquavelo in three weeks. Not sure
how realistic it is, but I have high hopes of placing or winning.
year. I did the first two legs and my wife did the run leg. This race is
virtually in my back yard, so I've done it a few times before and ride the
bike course as much as a few times a week.
Training and Prep
This years preparation was a bit more intense than previous years. In December,
I started swimming with the Columbia masters.swimming club to work on
my swimming and have been going regularly three times a week. At least
in the pool, my swimming seemed to have improved quite a lot. As for the
bike, I got myself a new ride last fall and a set of race wheels (Hed 3s). I
also started using GoldenCheetah's performance manager to track my training
with my power meter. This allowed me to track my fitness much more
accurately and helped with scheduling a taper.
Race Morning
My wave goes last, always. So I had till 8:15 even though the race org wants me to
show up before 6:30 to get body marked. I actually slept well, got up at about 5:30,
had a cup of coffee and some light breakfast and left the house at about 6:00. Parked
in a secret local spot and walked 5 minutes to the transition area. I got body marked,
called my wife to tell her how they were marking so she could mark herself and started
setting up my stuff (clip in bike shoes, setup water bottle, setup garmin, etc.). It was
then waiting time. At least I got to wait near my masters' swim lane mate Linda, who
was also doing a relay. This helped kill the time. I did feel like quite the wily vet when
I went to use the porta-potty and someone came out warning the line that there was
no tp. I had a nice stash in a little plastic baggy in my pocket. Finally wandered over
to the swim start at about 7:45 and got on my wetsuit and got in line to start.
The Swim: 22:36
At the swim start, I saw a couple of friendly faces from masters. I was vaguely hoping
to draft off the fastest guy I knew, but that hope ended about 50 yards into the swim as
I had to watch Reg swim off into the distance. So I ended up concentrating on staying
relaxed and sighting well. I didn't spend much time drafting except for a brief spell after
the turn around buoy where I crossed paths with another swimmer in my wave and held
his feet for a while. He seemed to be holding a slightly higher pace and less optimal
line, so I peeled off. Overall it seemed to go by pretty quick and I was happy with
my open water technique.
T1: 1:58
After getting out of the water, I peeled down the arms of my wetsuit while running to
the transition area and let my goggles and cap get stuck in the arms as planned. Ran
by the wife and kids and waved. The relay transition area was very crowded. I was
at the front of the wave and there were all the team's runners and bikers waiting in a
mob. I got to my bike and found that my sunglasses weren't there. I believe I may have
cursed a bit. I stripped off the wetsuit, put on my helmet, got the bike down and took
off, yelling for folks to get out of my way.
Bike: 1:04:56 (http://connect.garmin.com/activity/87499639)
After getting mud stuck in my cleats last year, I decided I needed to learn to do a flying
mount. This went off pretty much without a hitch. I had to wait till I got to 108 before
putting my feet in the shoes and I had to adjust the straps a bit, but otherwise was off to
a pretty good start. In some previous years I felt like crap at the beginning of the bike,
so this year I did the majority of my bike workouts on the same day I swam. I think it
helped and I felt better than in the past. I did have a heart rate monitor on and felt a bit
worried to see mid 180's. I can hold mid 170's, but 180's a bit high for me. I got into
a groove and tried to push it since the first half of this course is harder than the second.
I hit the first third split at about 22:30, the second at 21:00 and knew I was on pace for
a good time. The last third is net downhill, so I hit that at just over 21:10. Since I started
in the last wave, I get to spend the whole time passing folks (and didn't get passed).
T2: :40
Well T2 is just handing off the chip to my wife.
My Third Leg
For me, the third leg was kid retrieval. I quickly gathered my stuff and rode my bike to
my car. Someone nice guy handed me my lost sunglasses (better late than never).
I drove home, quickly showered, gathered the kids and drove back to the race.
We then had to walk 10 minutes or so to the race finish line to wait for my wife. I got the
kids and camera setup and we waited around for mommy. Gave a nice cheer and high
five as she went by.
Run: 1:07:25
My wife had been shooting for below 1:10, so she was very satisfied with her result.
She hasn't been training for that long and was proud to see that she could push herself
a bit in the race.
Post Race
Enjoyed some nice post race food and met up with various folks we knew doing the
race. The kids especially enjoyed eating the chips.
Summary:
My swim improved by over 2 minutes and my bike by 4 minutes from last year. If you
compare my times to my age group, I had the best bike split and the best cumulative
time at the end of the bike. On the other hand, the real triathletes in my age group had
to save something for the run! I think my overall bike time was just about 30th,
including the pros and elites. Next up is Eagleman aquavelo in three weeks. Not sure
how realistic it is, but I have high hopes of placing or winning.
