2010 Downtown Columbia Triathlon Recap

I might have found new favorite race. I thought the course sounded sort of cool when I signed up, but I honestly didn’t expect to enjoy it as much as I did.

The race is set, obviously, in downtown Columbia, an area typically not equated with beauty. I often hear Columbia described this way: railroads, trains, brown fields, asphalt, and stifling heat with no wind. But that’s not really a fair assessment. While some of that might be true in areas of Columbia, it certainly isn’t the case in the heart of the city on the USC campus.

I think to really appreciate the campus and downtown area, you have experience it on foot. My wife went to USC, but it’s been years since we’ve spent any time in Columbia. I’d actually forgotten how nice it is to walk around down there. Super clean, lots of green spaces and shaded parks scattered between academic buildings and dorms, beautiful facilities, and a good college vibe. And that college/urban setting offers a unique backdrop for a triathlon.

The course

The 500 meter swim is in the Platt Center – the USC swim/dive team pool. It’s a beautiful 50 meter pool with a large deck, bleachers for spectators on the second floor, a diving well, SEC banners on the walls, and giant open-air windows around the entire pool. Just a cool place to swim. Plus, because it’s a 50 meter pool, swimmers do not come down and back in the same lane like the 25 meter pool swims. You go off two at a time every 10 seconds and switch lanes after each length. That’s much easier for passing.

The 10-mile bike leg is the shortest I’ve ever done in a sprint. It’s a 3.3 mile loop through downtown which you do three times. I don’t remember all the streets, but you do blast through 5 Points on the third mile. The first 1.5 miles is all up hill, so be prepared. I like the 3-loop style racing. It feels more like a crit than a TT. The road conditions weren’t too bad. There are, however, lots of intersections, and even though there were police officers directing traffic at each one, I would recommend you be extra alert. There was a lot of traffic during the race, and with police letting vehicles through when there were openings between bikers, you just have to be paying attention. After all, you are on downtown streets at 9:30 in the morning – not out on some country road.

The 5k run is through the campus down sidewalks, breezeways, and overpasses. Really different, but really cool I thought. You finish on the intramural field next to the Platt Center.

This is a Setup Events production and part of the South Carolina Triathlon Series. There were 400 participants this year and early registration will cost you $55, late registration $65. Decent long-sleeve t-shirt, but not wicking material. The post race spread was pretty good – grits, scrambled eggs and sausage. My kind of meal for sure.

I’m going to give this event two thumbs up and definitely add it to my race calendar each season.

2010 Parris Island Race Recap

Fun race. Decent splits. Great weather. Can’t complain….we’ll maybe just a little.

I had a pretty decent swim time, despite having to deal with the log jams caused by slower swimmers not submitting the proper 100 yard swim times. With swimmers going off every 10 seconds and swimming down-and-back in each lane (based on submitted time), it can get very crowded quickly, especially if you are way off in your projection. Oh well, while it did slow me down some, it was nice to get a breather. I knew I wasn’t vying for a podium spot, so it wasn’t as frustrating as it could have been.

The other issue I ran into was a mechanical problem with my brakes. After a couple miles my rear brake began rubbing my rim. I wasn’t sure if it was because of my brakes becoming offset after hitting a pot hole, or the cable sticking. I tried to fix it on the fly and couldn’t. I opened the brakes to decrease the rub, but it was still there. Why I just didn’t stop and fix the problem is beyond me. I did manage to average 19.5, but undoubtedly lost a couple minutes.

At least my run was solid. I’ve been doing very little speed work, and I’m racing about 5lbs heavier than last year. Running a 20:53 5k is fine for an early season race. I’ll take it.

One other random note. There was a dude who raced in a long sleeve shirt and jeans. He was an older guy, probably in his 50s, and he looked like a spectator upon first glance. I’m not sure what he swam in, but I’m assuming it wasn’t jeans, so he must of changed in the locker room after the swim. He obviously wasn’t too concerned with his T1 split. I saw him again on the run and I had to do a double take when I saw his race number. I’ve never seen someone do a triathlon in jeans. I admire his ability to ‘keep it real,’ but maybe go ahead and go with some shorts next time. Less chaffing.

Downtown Columbia Tri
This weekend I’ll be racing the downtown Columbia tri. This is a second year event, and one that I’ve never done. I’m looking forward to a new course. It’s been a while since I’ve raced a sprint on unfamiliar territory.

The swim is in a 50 mtr pool, so we won’t have to deal with the down and back scenario – should be plenty of room to pass if necessary. The bike is short and sweet, and I’ll have my brakes race ready. I just hope the weather is as nice as last weekend.

At the Races

I raced my first Criterium this weekend in Columbia. I did Saturday's race of the Blythewood and Forest Acres Spring Criteriums. I really didn't know what to expect and just planned on taking everything in and learning as much as I could.

Here are my take-aways: Use your brakes as little as possible on turns; above all else, stay with the pack; when warming up, really redline it a few times because a crit is fast from start to finish; ride the course and be ready for every turn and climb.

I learned these lessons the hard way, unfortunately. The weather was awful Saturday morning. Around 40 degrees and pouring rain. They almost cancelled the event, but just postponed the start times an hour or so until the rain stopped. Because I was feeling a little under the weather myself, I just sat in my car until time to start. So no warmup, no course evaluation.

When the race did start, I quickly found myself at the back of the pack because I would slip a few places each turn. The 1.4 mile loop course was a little technical in that it had 8 turns, and a nice little climb to the start/finish line. As soon as we started the climb I dropped back only a bike length or two, but lost contact with the pack. Before I realized what happened, they were gone. I pushed it up to 24-25 MPH for about 100 meters but it was pointless, I could not catch up. They were gone and I knew I had really screwed up. I dropped back down to 20MPH, rode hard the rest of the race, and finished solo, dead last except for a couple of guys who dropped out -- probably due to mechanical issues.

Oh well. It happens. I'll be more prepared next race. One cool thing I want to note is that the race director mentioned before the race that years ago, Columbia had a really strong racing scene but it had faded out in the past 20 years. He wants to bring it back and stage more races in the city. Good for him and I'll be happy to support that effort.

2009 Downtown Columbia Triathlon
The Downtown Columbia Triathlon will be held Saturday March 21, at the Blatt Center on the South Carolina campus. This is a 500 meter pool swim, 10 mile bike, and 5k run -- all downtown Columbia. Sounds really fun. I came very close to registering, just to check it out, but I need to get in some big miles this week.

If you're interested, there are still 118 spots available of the 400 allowed. Here is the race website.