Cabell Greenwood – Columbia Triathlon – Sunday, May 15, 2016

I’m not too excited about getting older, but occasionally there’s a silver lining. In triathlon it’s called aging up and this year it led to me getting on the podium for the first time at an Olympic distance race. I’m now a youngster in the “junior-senior” category, otherwise known as 60-64 😉 That brings some changes; there are now fewer guys in my age group, and I’m starting the race sooner then I’m used to. At Columbia it also meant that I was on the bike rack closest to the exit and I was facing out. It doesn’t get much better for transition location. It also meant I didn’t have to pay attention to which row to turn into. Nice!

On race morning I was up earlier then I planned. Since it was the first race of the season I wanted to spend extra time reviewing my checklist and ensuring I had everything before heading to Centennial. At my bike I organized my gear and pulled my wetsuit up to my waist before heading over to the start. As I left transition I realized I forgot to put my timing chip back on after removing it to put on the wetsuit. Back to my gear to retrieve the chip, thinking if that’s the only thing I forget today I’m in good shape. I was.

Swim 35:47 246/382 OA 10/17 AG
Still my Achilles. I knew the water was going to be cold and I had splashed my face when I arrived in the start area. It didn’t help. As soon as my head went in the water my respiratory system went into shock and my face came out. I couldn’t get my breathing going for almost 200 yards. I wasn’t panicking, I just couldn’t coordinate breathing when my face went in the water. (This is why I really like races that allow you to swim prior to the start. The opportunity to acclimatize makes a huge difference for me) After the first 200 yards I was able to settle into a normal routine and felt like I swam well. Unusually for me, I wasn’t being passed by many people. I think I would have cut several minutes off my time if the start had gone well. At the finish I came out onto the concrete ramp and promptly fell down. I was thankful the wetsuit cushioned my knees! I shook it off and headed to transition, but figured my chances at the podium were slim.

T1 4:43
I think this was the longest transition of my life. I was cold and trying to methodically take care of everything. I had put a towel out to somewhat dry my head, figuring that would help reduce chilling on the bike. I also had laid out my bike jacket and gloves. First I had to get the damn wetsuit off. I had sprayed lube on my calves to help, but it wasn’t helping enough. Finally, I had to sit down to pull it off my feet, something I’d never needed to do before. I’m chalking that up to the cold. Then my arms didn’t want to go into the jacket sleeves… While this is going on people are still beginning the swim. At one point I hear the announcer say that a couple of people are getting in without wetsuits. The woman next to me and I both look at each other and say – Those people are crazy!

Bike 1:21:12 74/382 OA 2/17 AG
I always look forward to getting on the bike and making up some of the time I lose on the swim. Today was no different. I had been worried that because I was in such an early group there wouldn’t be many riders on the course. However, most (or all) of the Duathletes were already out there. I find it helpful to have people in front of me, as it motivates me to keep up my cadence and do some passing. It turned out there were so many riders out that car traffic was backing up frequently as drivers waited for an opportunity to pass. There were several times that I was passing cars on the shoulder, something I’m not used to. One time there was a truck with a trailer and he was too wide to pass on the right. There wasn’t any traffic coming so I crossed the double-yellow to pass. I was fortunate there wasn’t a race official there :-), but I wasn’t prepared to wait until the truck could pass the numerous riders in front of him. I was very pleased to have taken the time to put on a jacket and gloves. I ended up being comfortable and was especially happy when the wind picked up. Coming over Linthicum Road the wind was from the side and a couple of times I thought I was going off the road! I had been consistently passing riders, including several in my age group (you never pay so much attention to someone’s calf as when you’re racing!), but on the last third of the ride I was seeing many 40-somethings going by me.

T2 1:20
This was a breeze. I came in (thanks for the callout Greg!) and took the straight line to my rack spot. I had decided to keep the jacket on for the run (too windy) so all I had to do was drop my gloves, put on my race belt and shoes and grab my water bottle. Kristen was at the exit and gave me five on the way out!

Run 53:46 147/382 OA 3/17 AG
This is where RBR pays off. I had noticed that there weren’t many bikes in my area of the rack so I started thinking I might have a chance at the podium. The goal now was to stay focused on turnover and keep running. My first three miles were all 9:0X pace and I was concerned that I wasn’t going to be fast enough. However, mile 3 is right around the top of the nasty hill in the neighborhood and I was able to pick it up from there. My last three miles were 8:49, 8:32 and 8:43. It had been great to go up Gatorade Hill both times and see all the MMTCrs cheering. I crossed the finish line feeling that I had biked and run the race I was capable of, but didn’t know where I stood. I was about a minute slower than last year, but I felt like the race was tougher this year. I was pleasantly surprised when results went up and I was second in my AG!

Thanks to everyone who volunteered on the course and at the tent. You guys rock!

Cabell (rhymes with Scrabble)