Race Result

Racer:	Kristin Adkins
Race:	Outback Big Lick Triathlon
Date:	Saturday, September 25, 2004
Location:	Smith Mountain Lake, VA
Race Type:	Triathlon - International Distance
Age Group:	Female 30 - 34
Time:	(DNF)
Comment:	Blew Tube and Tire

Race Report:

This was my first Olympic length race. Thought I did everything right in preparing for the race. I even took my bike to the shop and had the chain and brakes checked on the Thursday before the race to make sure everything was working properly. Anyways...

Expectations:
I wanted to be out of the water in 30 minutes, bike in 1 hour 30 minutes and finish the run as close to an hour as I could. With transitions, etc. I expected to be done in 3:30, my husband expected 3:20 (he doesn't listen very well). My real goal was to just finish the race since it was my first one.

Before the race: Woke up at 4:15, little nervous, got up at 5:30. Had a meal replacement shake, snacked a little on a plain bagel and started drinking some Accelerade. Drove the 45 minutes to the race, got all set up. Kept drinking, and had a Vanilla Gu 30 minutes before the start. Several trips to the bathroom, got the wetsuit on and headed down to the beach.

Swim:
The swim started a couple of minutes late, which was nice to add to my nervousness. The start was a water start and when 10 seconds was announced, there was a large scream from the beach, "Go Kristin". Of course my husband has to make himself known, everyone around me laughed, I claimed him and we all took off. I was nervous about the swim, even though I'm a solid swimmer, but I'm not a fan of lakes. Do my best swimming in chlorine. Sprinted for 20 seconds and seemed to get my own spot. Felt really strong throughout the swim, and stayed on target besides the last portion heading back to the beach. For some reason, the markers were off some and I probably swam a little extra trying to get back to shore. This was also the hardest part as I had caught up to the earlier waves and had to dodge more people.

I came out of the water in 30.14, although the timing mat was at least a minute run out of the water. Not sure why that was.

T1 2:18

Bike:
I was cruising. My husband and I had come down and previewed the course a month before the race so that I would be comfortable, know where I was going, etc. I looked down at 10 miles, and it was 36 minutes into the bike. Definitely moving for me. I was headed down a steep hill with a hard left at the bottom when I heard what sounded like a shot. It sounded too close for comfort and I stopped. Sure enough, my back tire was flat. Of course I didn't have all of my tools with me, so I spent the next 10 minutes cursing, and trying to get the tire off the bike. Bike clock said 12.2 miles. Finally, someone drove up and let me borrow their cell phone. I called my husband, and here's basically how the conversation went. "I blew my tire, come get me. You can't have blown your tire, we've biked the course before. I know we biked the course before, but my tire is flat ()*#$)*@#)&$@. )(&$)&@)& OK I'll come get you." Right as I hung up, race support showed up. It was like a scene from NASCAR. Two guys jumped out and had my tire changed in under 2 minutes. Unfortunately, it immediately popped again. Apparently when I blow a tire, I do it well. Borrowed another cell phone, called my husband to say that I really blew it, but race support would get me back to the start. I would later see at the bike store that I had slit my tire about an inch long. My race was over. Rode around in the van, joked with the guys, they reminded me that if it had happened 30 seconds later during the turn that I would have been driven off the course in a faster moving vehicle. Was thankful that didn't happen.

When I got back to the start, I handed my bike to my husband, cried, said hi to my friends and family that had driven down to see me do this race. Couldn't handle it, figured I should go run, so I did. I turned in my race chip, got my sneakers on and headed out to do the run.

Run:
Unfortunately I had stopped my watch earlier, and I forgot to set the lap function up again, so I don't have an official time. We think that it was just over an hour for the run, which is pretty good for me because I've only done a 10K once before and I did that in 1:01:27. I was really lucky, caught up with someone going my same speed out of the parking lot and we ran the entire thing together. She said I kept her from walking, I told her she kept me from bawling.

Comments:
I'm having a hard time dealing with the fact that I didn't finish. Everyone tells me that they are amazed that I went out to run after all that happened. Just seemed like the right thing to do at the time to me. My sister tells me that its more about the training that I did, and how much better I'm doing with the distance than 12 weeks ago. When we got home on Sunday, we went straight to the bike shop and got a new tube and tire, so I should be ready to go. I decided that I didn't want to finish the year out like this, so when I got home, I went and checked. Pinehurst was still open for this weekend, October 2nd. So, I've signed up and pending how I feel later this week, I'm going to try this whole thing again. Please say a prayer to the bike gods that they will let me finish this one if I go! :) I guess my other reason that I want to finish this length race is that I've got some friends who want me to do Eagleman / Blackwater half IM next year, and I want to prove to myself that I can do the shorter distance first. And the thought of waiting until Columbia next year to complete this distance would make for a really long, cold winter.

It was nice to meet some RATS at the race, definitely put me at ease to see the yellow shirts while I was setting up my stuff so early in the morning.