Columbia Race report or how I managed to finish the bike with a flat tire

I had something to prove this year at Columbia since I DNFd last year because of a 'user error' in fixing a flat tire at mile 6 on the bike. Bound and determined to not let that happen again.

Lets say that pre-race I managed to keep calm cool and collected. Didn't get into my wet suit too early but when I did, had to squeeze my fat a#$ into the neoprene and try to keep from choaking 'cause it was so tight around my neck. Suffered some chaffing just above my armpits [never had that before] from the swim but otherwise, no race induced discomfort. Limited to a slow run from foot pain [going to get diagnosed this afternoon] and post race still had fuel in the tank but felt pretty good. Got my finishers medal and that's what counts, right?

SWIM: 33:48
T1 4:14
BIKE: 1:32:30
T2: 1:53
RUN: 1:11:10
FINISH 3:23:33

My race went something like this:

Check in on Saturday went extremely smoothly as usual...for having 1,600 competitors I expected a line but I breezed in and out without a hassle. Checked in my bike and then did a short walk around the transition area and swim start to get the excitement going.

Race day:

5:15 am departure from Capitol Hill and arrived in plenty of time to set up and get body marked. I've been experiencing some serious foot pain in the past week probably due to poorly positioned cleats on my bike shoes [now corrected] but it made walking and running very painful so my goal for the race was to finish [prior to the foot pain, it had been to stay at or under 3 hrs].

My swim wave didn't start until 8:08 so I had a good long time to sit and wait my turn. Didn't put the wet suit on too early [not like last year] and managed to stay calm and focused once we got into the water. I didn't plan for the bright sun but I just sort of focused on keeping an eye on the "blue heads" in front of me and spotting one buoy at a time. Didn't body glide myself far enough up the arm and wound up with rash...lesson learned. You can never use too much "grease". Exited the water at 33:48 which is more than 2 min faster than 2005.

T1: Seemed to take forever to put my junk on after exiting my wet suit [which was 1/2 off before I got to transition] 4:14...what was I doing?? I'll chalk it up to the run I did to get to my spot [3 rows from the bike exit] and trying to pull on my race jersey over wet skin.

Bike:
It took me 1/2 way through the bike to find my groove. It was windier than I'd experienced during my training rides and I kept playing leap frog with a number of people. As I passed the 1/2 way point somehow I kicked into gear and just kept going. 5 miles from the finish, I developed a flat front tire but was too stuborn to stop and fix it. I knew I was risking a seriously damaged rim [luckily it wasn't] but I didn't want to waste the time to pull over and fuss with it so I kept going. 1:32:30

T2
Of all the segments of the race, this was my fastest so Yea!! on the bike/run transition. Bike in, shoes off, shoes on, grab hat and number, run out...pretty simple. 1:53

Run:
This is where the pain kicked in and running has never been my strong point to begin with. I was determined to just finish the race no matter the time but wanted to keep it below 3:30. I walked more than I wanted to but as I ran up the last small hill prior to the finish line, I set my mind on finishing strong and kicked into a higher gear to the finish line. 1:11:10

Total time: 3:23:33

Looking forward to Eagleman and hoping I can rid myself of this pain in the next 3 weeks. The goal now is to race pain free and get it done. Can't wait to see y'all in some shape or form. My dad and mom are coming out for the race as is John [I hope] so it should be a grand affair!!