Columbia Triathlon Results

If you read my last blog, I was proclaiming my return to the blogger sphere with increased fitness to boot. Well I can proudly say that after my first goal of the season, the Columbia triathlon, these were not mere words. Columbia was just my third Olympic distance triathlon, and by far the hardest. It also turned out to be my best performance by far. My swim time dropped from 41:36 at St. Anthony's last year, to 35:45. A reduction of almost 6 minutes and a better than 14% increase in performance! What a difference my 2009 swim focus made in my swimming progress! My race nutrition also improved as, despite the very hilly 10k run course, I did not bonk as happened last year during the St. Anthony triathlon. I also eclipsed my personal best at the Olympic distance by better than 4 minutes, despite a much more difficult bike course and crept with 2 minutes and 23 seconds of the elusive 3 hour mark.

The Race

Columbia is a superbly run race, the lake swim was a cool 70 degrees at the start. The swim is out and back,except the finish is actually at a different point than where you enter the water. It's a wet start, so you can get a short swim in before your wave gets underway.

Conditions for the race were good except for a light rain falling during the start of the bike leg. Luckily, the rain let up about half way into the bike course. The course starts out challenging with a number of tough climbs in the first 8 miles or so. Luckily I had ridden the course before hand so I knew what to expect. I took advantage of the very fast descents to overtake some of the more reluctant riders, who were cautious due to the wet roads. I also noticed a number of riders experienced flats and were forced to stop to repair them, luckily I avoided this fate. I pushed the pace on the bike until the last 2 miles or so when I geared down a bit and started to prepare my legs for the run. I had decided in training to trade some strength on the bike for greater run endurance. This decision paid huge dividends during the 10k run.

The run is one of the toughest 10Ks I have ever run. There are a number of hills that must be double digit grades. It made it very difficult to dial in your pace with the constant uphill / downhill changing of gears. I had prepared by running in my neighborhood which has quite a few hills, but I was truly not prepared for the severity of some of the hills. In the end, I ran just one second slower than the 10k I ran in my first Olympic distance triathlon 2 years ago. I consider this progress given the difficulty of the Columbia course.

This performance has given me enough confidence to try my first half Ironman next year. I may also do Columbia again, depending on life's demands. In the meantime I have 2 new goals on the horizon. My first USCF time trial in more than 10 years is on June 13th and the Tri-to-Win sprint triathlon is the following week. At Tri-to-Win, I am aiming for a new PR so I will spend the next few weeks ramping down the endurance rides and runs and adding doses of speed work. I'm looking forward to some of you guys joining me on those short, but painful days.

Til then.......

Keep training.....

Peace

Rob

I'm back..... and much fitter to boot!

I know..... I've been away. No excuses, but I do have REASONS! In February, I was abruptly transferred to a new project at work. My nice cushy, leave work at 5, became a , lucky to get home by 7:30! Despite this I have managed to stick very closely to my training schedule. The results have been, well, measurable. I started using my Real Axiom trainer pretty extensively earlier in the year when it was far too (fill in the blank with, cold, wet, cold & wet, you get the picture) crappy outside to ride. One of the real advantages of this trainer is the ability to get your power output. I created a couple of flat time trials of varying lengths late last year and used them as a baseline for comparison of my power output over those distances. About a week ago I took the tests again. My power was up a solid 5%! Not bad for 3 months of consistent solid training.

The constant training also brought with it one unexpected result, injury! Nothing serious, but for the first time in a long while I was experiencing pain directly related to the amount of training I was doing. The most exasperating, had to be the shoulder problems I began to experience with my increase in swimming. Since swimming is my weakest sport, I started my training with an increased focus in January. By March, I had a persistent soreness in my upper back, and a shooting pain down my back and arm when I tilted my head back. My arm would also go numb intermittently for no apparent reason. This made me realize I had some definite flaws in my stroke that needed some immediate attention. I started focusing on my arm NOT crossing over in front of my head during my entry and the pain has dissipated somewhat. I must also give credit to my excellent masseuse Chaye Wise and my chiropractor Dr. Roberson. Both have been instrumental in keeping me in one piece.

My singular focus to this point has been getting in enough training to be competitive at the Columbia triathlon . I rode the course a few weeks ago and it is tough. This makes Chris Lieto's course record of 56 minutes and change that much more amazing! Now that I feel I have enough fitness in the bank for Columbia, I have started to focus on the rest of the season. I am returning to the Tri-to-Win sprint triathlon again this year in an attempt at another PR. I am currently leading the fund raising for the event so if you want to donate to a great cause check out my fund raising page.

This also seems to be the year my training buddies have talked me into doing their races..... I have scheduled a duathlon, something I haven't done in at least 5 years, to support a friend, and my marathon crazed buddy Miquel, has finally talked me into doing a marathon (more on that in a future post).

On the purely cycling side of things I will undertake a USCF time trial for the first time in years in mid June. If memory servers me these are perhaps the hardest rides I have ever done, there really is no hiding in the race of truth.

Random thoughts....

I have put my rides, blogging, some resources etc., into one place, my website at www.clarencecycling.com. This lets people know what I'm up to, where I'm riding, and how to join me if they are so motivated. Take a look at the site and let me know what you think.

The Real Axion review.... it's coming after Columbia, I promise........

Mavic Tri Pro shoes... just got a pair..... review to follow.

Promotional note..... I have just met a triathlete from TriUnify, an organization dedicated to getting people and youth of color into the sport. Check out their website at www.triunify.com

Race season is upon us...... let's get fit out there....

Peace....

Rob