Cassie Trotter Achieves Top 12% Age Group Finish!

Before last Sunday on May 2oth, Cassie Trotter, aka "Trotting" , had never completed a full Columbia Triathlon. In her first ever attempt, she blows out her age group ranking #8 out of 66 women with a finishing time of 2:42:16!! Her finishing time also places her with an overall ranking of 60th out of 472 women.....AGAIN, putting her in the the top 12% of Overall women!! Like any good athlete does, Cassie reflected back on the events of her race and learned several lessons from her performance. Please join me in congratulating Cassie on a great race and let's wish her well in Alcatraz!!

Cassie writes......

Columbia went well for me too. I was happy with my time of 2:42 and I was 8 of 66 in my age group. It was my first time racing the full Columbia race, and it was just as difficult as everyone explained.I haven't been swimming much and I was surprised with my swim time (:21.00); it was much faster than I thought it would be. The bike was probably the strongest it has ever been but my run was horrible! I had no idea what I was getting into - the lazy, flat, Hains Point runs just aren't cutting it. I also lost a lot of time at transition. For some reason my head wasn't into it when I set up transition , so I lost time scrambling...that, and I forgot my number and race belt at the swim start. So, with a full Tri season to go, I know I've got to start balancing out my training....more running and more swimming! I've got Escape from Alcatraz next week though, and that could make or break me...I'm just hoping to survive :)

Stacy Ramos PR's at Columbia!

Stacy Ramos, from Annapolis, MD ranked 103rd in Overall Women that totalled 472! This places Stacy in the Top 21% of women in the entire race! In addition to improving her swim time by over 2 minutes, she had a lightning fast T2 of 1:32! Now that's hustling!
The next set of victims on Stacy's race Calendar will be lined up at the infamous Eagelman race. Please join me in wishing her luck one her next adventure! Great Job Stacy!!!!

Stacy writes...

Great race Sunday! Better my time from last year by 11 minutes - with a surprising 2.5 min decrease in my swim time (I guess sighting does actually work! :) ) and a significant gain on the bike leg despite the wet roads. All my HRM training paying off! :) Saw Cassie and Cathy pre-race. Didn't see Bart but his times were wicked fast! Congrats everyone on a great day and good finish!

2 more weeks 'til Eagleman!

Stacy

Columbia Triathlon - JIM HOLCOMB

Congratulations to Jim Holcomb who established a NEW PR with a finishing time of 2:49:34!!! Jim was 448/968 in Overall Males and swam a 25:34!

In addition, his wife put out and AWESOME effort. After throwing up on the bike several times (his entire family was plagued with Flu last week) finished the bike then walked the run course - never quitting and persevered to the end! Congratulations to Jim's wife who won every bit of her Finishers Medal! This was great effort by both Jim and his wife and deserves applause from the entire POLAR USA team. Please join my in sending Jim and his wife a note of applause. GREAT EFFORT!!!

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Columbia Triathlon!!! Last Minute Tips....

http://www.tricolumbia.org/ct.asp

I wanted to wish everyone GOOD LUCK in this weekends race. Given that it's suppose to rain over the next couple days, it should cool the water down a little and get some of this pollen count down. As of today there is a 30% chance of isolated thunderstorms for Sunday so prepare for this possibility and get your game face on! ;)

Last Minute Tips

Remember to RELAX when starting out on the swim! I know there's a lot of pushing and shoving, but pick your line of swim

strategically and RELAX. Once you round the corner on the left you'll be glad you did. Most of the others will be out of breath. From here it's a straight shot to shore. So again, RELAX, keep your strokes long and turnover consistent. By now you will have found 1 or 2 people to draft off of, so bring it home!

Remember - to walk your transitions in the morning. The swim out to bike - bike out - bike in and run out. Most people never take the time to do this, but it really helps to reduce anxiety and speed up transitions. The bike rack area will look like a blurr when you run in from the swim, so practice the "direction you will take to your bike" from the swim and from the point at wich you dismount from the bike in - at least 3 times. This way - there will be no confusion.

Starting out on the bike - some of you may tend to get tight in the lower back or upper glutes. In anticipation of this, make you have given yourself a good b/f race stretch. IF you need to reach to your toes BEFORE getting on the bike or the cross the leg squat sort stretch - DO IT! the minute [30 sec/side] you take to do this will be time well spent!

Once your stomach is settled in the new biking position, take in some nutrition. It's probably going to be a little cool so don't forget to drink fluids. No hammering big heavey gears on the first part of the bike section. You will only tighten up more.

Also, when passing water stops be conscious of dropped water bottles. They can be slippery if you know what I mean.

Find your pace and be consistent. Your mantra from here until the end of the race is: "CONSISTENCY OF EFFORT".

When you are @ 3 - 4 mile out from the bike finish, take on some nutrition [fig newtons or whatever you eat as well as water]. This will make the first 2 miles of the run much more pleasant. I promise! You gotta be thinking about this.

When you are coming in on the bike and are @ 1/4 of a mile to the bike finish, switch to an easy gear and "spin" your way in. This will loosen up you legs and help prevent you from having "bike legs" on the first 500 meters of the run. [again] Because you practiced your transitions, you will know exactly where to mount your bike.

Run: when transitioning to the run it can be a little unsettling. You have laid out your run shoes, run cap, water belt, GU, etc. But if you feel frazzled there is another mantra that settles me down: "Slow is Smooth and Smooth is Fast". [It works every time] =)

OK, your on the Run.

Now is the time to reach down deep and pull those practice runs to the serface. Just like in practice, start out a little on the easy side and concentrate on keeping your stride long. This will force you to bring your knees up to stretch out the glutes. Your legs always follow your arms so REMEMBER - on the up hills, work your arms. "Glide" through the hills and lean forward and stride out on the down hills taking in air and deeper breaths to oxygenate the muscles for the next up and coming hill. Repeat this the entire way.

Now you are approaching the shady down hill where you come out to the lake.

OK - you can smell the barn and hear the crowd! Now.....I don't care what happened on the swim - the bike or for the last 6 miles....... From here on out, I want you to feel proud! I want you to become and personify the Olympic athlete that it lives in your spirit!

I want you to put your head down and run like you have never run in your life!

GO! GO!...GO! Lean forward and DO IT!

YOU'RE AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Pictures & PR for Washington, DC

Hey Dudes,
I noticed on the Polar USA website http://www.teampolarusa.com/site15.aspx
that they are putting pictures of up of other team athletes and doing profile studies on them as well. Wassupwifdat? Let's puts some pressure on them to give us some PR!! Have your friends take some pictures of you in action or even profiling in your outfit and send it to Lindsay Baxter at http://teampolar@active.com.
Thanks!
Have fun!
Will

Race Pics and Stats

Hello Everyone:
I hope everyone is starting to enjoy their race season that you're staying injury free. Just as a reminder, I sent and excel attachment to each of you in hopes that it will serve as an easy way to keep track of your race results. If you have any pictures, please feel free to show them off to everyone and to include our sponsors at "active.com".
If I can be of any assistance, please let me know.
Have Fun!!!
Will