Unofficial Columbia Race Report

The good news is that there was no rain. I woke up at 4AM and checked the weather forecast which indicated no rain in sight. What a relief! I was able to eat something, unlike last year when I couldn't stomach any food because I was so nervous. We got to the race around 5:30. (Note to self: this is way too late. We had to wait forever to park and were parked much further away.) The start of the race was delayed 30 minutes due to traffic issues. I watched the first few waves go off and then headed to my start.

The race director announced that my age group was the largest (they split us in half), and my wave had the most women in it. Boy, could I tell! It was way more packed than last year. I had a really hard time getting into any rhythm. I did a LOT of breast stroke and finally got into a pattern of alternating between breast and freestyle.... that is until I got kicked in the face and my goggles almost came off. That's when I decided breast stroke is the way to go. I have no idea what my time was, but I felt much better getting out of the water (didn't feel like I was going to puke) and I actually ran (slowly) through transition. It still felt slow, but I didn't struggle as much as last year.

The bike started off well as I passed several women right off the bat. I was determined to do better on the bike this year, but honestly, I still struggled. I felt like I really pushed the downhills, but the uphills were still a challenge. This is really a weak area for me. I got passed- not as much as last year, but still more than I wanted to. I think I went faster than last year, but not as much as I wanted.

T2 (transition from bike to run) was good. I won't beat my time from last year because my bike rack position was terrible. Hopefully next year it will be better, but it also could be worse. Nothing I can do about this. I did the best I could.

The run... oh the run was terrible! My legs were very weak at the start but I felt like I was somewhat pushing it. I checked my time at a mile and it was 9:50. Yuck! I probably would have been better off not checking it as I think it discouraged me. My legs were shot from the bike. There are two very large hills on the run and I walked them both. This is the girl who ran 16 miles last weekend. I tried to will my legs to feel better, but they wouldn't. I think the heat actually played a factor because I didn't start my race until right before 8 so it was 10 as I was running and very hot and humid. I pulled myself together on the last mile (I knew it was flat from last year) and was really able to pick up the pace. I still passed a lot of women on the run, but I thought I'd be able to shave a few minutes off my time.

I was disappointed at the end of the race. I didn't immediately know my time but knew I didn't make my goal. I would even be surprised if I beat my time from last year. They are supposed to have a printout for you of all your splits within 20 minutes of finishing, but they were having technical problems, so I never got it. I was able to get my official time which was 2:13:55- almost exactly 2 minutes faster than last year. I was somewhat disappointed, but it didn't last long. I'm thankful that I could compete again this year. I learned a lot and I'll take any improvement in time that I can get.

I am an iron girl!