Race Result

Racer:	Kristin Adkins
Race:	Pinehurst Triathlon
Date:	Saturday, October 2, 2004
Location:	Pinehurst, NC
Race Type:	Triathlon - International Distance
Age Group:	Female 30 - 34
Time:	3:12:36
Overall Place:	136 / 171
Age Group Place:	17 / 22
Comment:	I destroyed my goals :) What an unbelieveable day :)

Race Report:

Swim: 29:23
T1:2:36
Bike: 1:30:26
T2: 1:55
Run: 1:08:17
Overall: 3:12:36
Goals: Finish race, finish under 3:30, finish under 3:20, finish at 3:15, never even considered better!

What a different race from a week ago! I signed up for this race because I decided that I wasn't willing to let my season end with the DNF at Outback Big Lick. I signed up Monday, but didn't officially decide to go until later in the week when I felt more recovered.

Friday Prep:

Spent 7 hours in the car driving through rain storms down to Pinehurst. Dinner included a sub and a carmel sundae from McDonalds. Took several wrong turns and was extremely excited to see the hotel. Asleep by 10:30.

Saturday Morning:
Up by 5:30. Had a meal replacement shake, attempted to snack on a bagel. Started drinking sports drink.

6:30. Get to the race, after several more wrong turns. It's dark, everyone is parking out on the street. I follow the crowds and go to find my number. 666. Scream in protest to my husband that I couldn't believe that was my number. My very sane husband who knows how to calm me down as well as turn everything positive states, "the worst thing that is going to happen to you today, just did". Signed in, got my numbers and started to get ready for the race. Interesting, the guys all in my bike rack all stayed away from me, which seemed to be the theme of the race. Nobody wanted to chat, wanted to stay away from the bad luck. Went to get my number written on me, even the Marine Volunteer group laughed at my number. Finished prepping my area and put on my wetsuit to avoid further humilation.

Swim:
My two races this year were in the water start, so this was a complete surprise to me. This was a beach start. It wasn't a very big group, but still big enough that we were swimming over each other the first few hundred meters. The other problem was that the first few hundred meters went along the shore, so there was a small area for all of us to head towards before taking our first turn out into the lake. After the first turn, things settled down and I felt pretty strong. After the last turn, things got crazy again. There was a group of men that started behind us that caught up, and I caught up with the group in front. Lots of people, lots of last minute avoiding of people. I figured that I wasn't having a good swim, but was extremely surprised to get out of the water in 28 minutes, something.

This is the question portion of my race report. Why is it that the timing from the swim is so far away from the swim itself? I had to run up hill, back past all 800 bikes before I went across a mat. It seems that it makes the transition times much faster than they should be, and your swim slower than it should be. Or, have I just found the 2 races that this happens during?

Bike:
I got out of my wetsuit faster this time, I'll be blazing next year with all this practice. Got my bike gear on and headed out. At mile 6 or 7, I dropped my chain. I got off my bike and laughed, "Is this all you can do to me?" Fixed the chain and was back moving within 30 seconds. It started to rain while we were out there, and I was very nervous. For those who told me that this wasn't a hilly course, either they changed it, or we need to discuss the definition of a hill. I thought that Outback was less hilly than this course! I never felt like I got into my biking groove, I think that's because of the wet conditions. Anyway, every time I saw someone on the side of the road, I asked if I could help. I never had what they needed, but I did make sure to tell race support where they were. I thanked all the police officers who were stopping traffic. I prayed. I was the happiest woman alive to get back within a few miles of the start. I knew that no matter what, I would finish my bike. Even if I had to carry it the last mile. I'm pretty sure that the race photography was right near the end of the bike, and I expect to find a picture with the biggest smile ever from them this week!

Run:
As I was leaving transition, I looked at my watch. 2:04. I looked again, what? How could I have gotten so far so fast? I was so excited. Again with the crazy race coordinators. We headed out on a loop going counter clockwise around the lake. Mostly flat and uphill. I think we actually went down only 2 hills. If we did the race clockwise, I think I would have broken the hour barrier. As I was running, my number would shift to my side. Several people told me to move my number behind me, put the devil behind me. I would scream, "I'm running from the devil!" Nothing hurt on this run. I did have to walk a couple of the really steep hills. I got to the 5th mile and looked at my watch, 3 hours. I knew that I could make the last 1.2 miles by 3:15. I started to pick up the pace, then hit another hill, then picked it up again, then another hill. Got a little discouraged, thought I might not make it. As I came around the last corners, everyone was screaming and cheering. My husband was near the finish, "Run to the second mat, that's the one with the timing device." Thanked him for the advice, I probably would have stopped at the first one. Picked up the pace. They announced my name as I was coming around the last bend. Picked it up again and crossed the finish line with an even bigger smile.

Finishing thoughts: I beat this race, I beat my dream times. I've completed an Olympic length triathlon. I'm hooked. What races am I doing next year?

I wanted to say thanks to all who have supported me through this training season, as well as all the RATS with the encouraging emails after my rough race last week.