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SRRC Race Reports

Columbia Triathlon : Ellicott City, MD—May 21, 2006
by Scott Johnson

Summary

Distance: .9 mi / 25 mi/ 6.2
Course: clean fresh water lake; hilly bike; hilly run
Previous Time at this race: 2:29 (2004)

The Main Event

The website refers to this race as "the main event." Judging by the size of the field (1700), the existence of a pro division, open/elite division, all the usual age groups, and the challenging course, I concur with the self-assessment. I raced this course for the first time in 2004. This past December when I registered, I planned to travel to the Columbia for some course reconnaissance. My pre-race recon plans went the way of the best-laid plans of mice and men. Needless to say life intervened and other issues took priority. My exposure to the course prior to packet pick up was based on my last race report.

The Main Event!

Heading into this race, I felt confident in my training. However, the first race of the season always throws a little extra mental twist to the preparations. Since December, I was in a pool no more than twice per week. The weeks of multiple swims were few and far between. However, I have been diligently using a Vasa Ergometer swim trainer four to seven days per week. Although my strength and muscular endurance were well developed for long Vasa sessions, races are a bit different.

Consistent running and general strength training have been my saving grace. Until the weather turned nice in April, I was committed to improving my core and cycling-specific strength and flexibility. None of this work was done in a gym nor was any new fangled high tech machine used. Instead I incorporated the Cyclo-Core/Zen and Cyclo Speed DVD workouts to the mix. These sessions used static and dynamic yoga poses mixed with focused stretching sessions lasting 15 to 30 minutes. The key was consistently doing the "small things."

After the Marine Corps Marathon last October, I was forced to take four weeks off from running. This was a good thing as it allowed my training desire to resurface. My off-season run training culminated at the Cherry Blossom Ten Miler. I posted a sub 70-minute ten-miler and shifted my focus to the bike. The sticking point was that in years past I have really focused on solid brick workouts, and this year the number and frequency just has not been there.

Now back to the race at hand . . . . The Sunday prior to the race I, was completely shelled and decided now was time for rest. Thus, I completed only one morning session all week and focused on getting extra sleep wherever I could. By Thursday evening, I was feeling rested and champing at the bit to train. This was a good sign!

Centennial Lake, Ellicott City, MD. Beautiful and chilly . . .

Race morning welcomed us with 45 degree weather, calm winds, and a cloudless sky. The water temperature was stated as 66 degrees. Believe it or not, all signs were pointing towards a great day. Luckily, I was placed in the third wave and only had a 30 min wait from transition closing to my start time. This negated any warm up I might have done. In 2004 even though, I had a PR swim it was rather stressful. Nothing changed today! We were given 2 mins to enter the water and "warm up" prior to the start. Thus, as I navigated the first 500-800 meters of the swim with 200 of my closest friends, I focused more on keeping my face in water and breathing than actually swimming. It doesn’t sound too tough, but the combination of cold water, anxiety, and remnants of the morning coffee created the toughest part of the day! Once I made the second or third turn, I found my stroke and pulled out a time of 26:06—better than 2004 by a minute.

Unlike 2004, I was seeded in probably the single worst area of transition within my age group. The only thing to do was to play the cards dealt and forge ahead.

As I headed off onto the bike, I saw Rob, my ride to the race and sometime training partner. This was not good as Rob has the potential to drop the hammer on the bike and perhaps more on the run. I thought I would be further ahead after the swim. Such is life, and I was off to race my strength in this sport, the bike. All of my strength work paid off in spades as it quickly became apparent that big things were going to happen during this leg! This is one of, if not the, most challenging courses in the Mid-Atlantic. As I have raced throughout New England, a bit in Texas, and some in Western Pennsylvania, I am confident when I rate this as a tough course. I can sum up the bike leg in the following statement: I was not passed the entire bike leg and was able to ride the last quarter of the course predominately alone. I finished the bike felling strong in 1:08 for a 22.4 mph average. This was 3 minutes and over one mile per hour faster than 2004.

After a quick transition, I was off to face the run. The run leg of this race has about 500 yards of flat ground. The rest reminds me of Loudon County’s finest hills. Good Stuff! In short order I realized I was in no man’s land. That is to say not a rabbit in sight. Soon enough one then another appeared. Finally about 2 miles into the run I spotted a guy in my age group and tracked him all the way to the finish. Unfortunately I was never able to reel him in, but he served as a great rabbit to chase! Around the two-mile point I was passed for the only time after the swim by the winner of the 40-44 age group. This was a personal milestone. Historically, I can put in a solid ride and follow it up with a glorified shuffle. Not on this day! I finished with a 10K run split of 44 minutes or three minutes faster than 2004.

I finished the race in 2:23 for 13th out of 199 in my age group and 79th out of 1,700 overall.

Lessons learned.

A swim warm up is needed. Next year I must find a way to swim a bit prior to the start.
Focusing on a race twice the distance provides rather good conditioning
Always choose to suffer just a little bit more…you’ll be surprised by results!

May 2006

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