Race : Tri Columbia, Maryland, Baltimore
When: May 19, 2013
Distance: 5150 (1500m swim, 40km bike, 10km run)
Back in January one of my training partners convinced me that it would be a good idea to register for the Tri Columbia 5150 race near Baltimore, Maryland over the May long weekend. As the race time approached I realized it might have been a bit early for a 5150 as I hadn’t done any lake swimming yet and had not been riding my TT bike yet! At least I thought it would be a good kick start to the season.
It was about a 8 hour drive from Mississauga and it was an easy drive down. We arrived two days before the event. The next day we went down to get our race kits and also to rack our bikes. The race was about 2500 competitors including a Pro wave start. There was 18 waves for this event and in the US it seems they tend to put older age groups first in the waves and so I was the third last wave. Despite having a wave start over an hour after the first wave everyone had to be out of transition at the same time. So there was a little bit of a wait but the weather held off as it had been raining and they played music which seemed to help get me going and get read. The water was actually quite warm around 70 degrees so I actually did experience some overheating in my wetsuit so my swim was slow as I had to stop a few times to get cold water into my wetsuit. This has happened to me a couple other times but only when I race in the US so I will have to consider that for the next time. Perhaps I need a sleeveless wetsuit for the warmer water conditions.
The bike course was rolling hills with very little flat but quite enjoyable. I’m use to starting in an earlier wave so it was a much different experience constantly passing people on the bike. It takes a bit more energy and concentration constantly trying to pass people and looking over your shoulder for cars or cyclists when you go to pass. The run had quite a few steep hills. It was definitely the toughest run I’ve had in a triathlon. Overall the race went fairly well. I didn’t have my top end speed yet but I’m trying to peak for late July and early August so it was a good jump start into that zone of training. I managed to earn a spot to the Hy-Vee US Championships in September which I raced last year and may end up doing again this year. The day before the race we also took in a Baltimore Oriole game which was a lot of fun. We are considering over the next few years to find other US city triathlons with ball games the day before so we can do a little tour of ball parks and city triathlons.:)
