Race Result

Racer:	Kristin Adkins
Race:	Outback Big Lick Triathlon
Date:	Saturday, September 24, 2005
Location:	Smith Mountain Lake, VA
Race Type:	Triathlon - International Distance
Age Group:	Female 30 - 34
Time:	2:59:02
Overall Place:	75 / 129
Age Group Place:	7 / 12
Comment:	Reached all the Goals

Race Report:

For most of you who were members last year, you might remember that I did this race as my first Olympic distance race and blew my tube and tire and DNF'd. I've completed several Olympic distance races since then, but I wanted to go back to Smith Mountain Lake and beat the course. I love this race because its small, has a great long sleeve t-shirt and I get to stay with family.

Goals: Finish, Have a really good run, Break 3 hours

Splits
Swim: 31.55.17
T1: 2.01.15
Bike: 1.24.54
T2: 53.73
Run: Overall: 59:20
By Miles
Mile 1: 9.44.75
Mile 2: 9.26.25
Mile 3: 9.25.03
Mile 4: 9.52.59
Mile 5: 10.07.76
Mile 6.1: 10.40.29
Overall: 2.59.02

My friend Bonnie, who just moved to Florida, flew back up to do this race with me. She showed up on Thursday without a helmet and bike shoes, so a quick trip to Spokes resolved that. We headed down to the race on Friday, got checked in and drove the course so that she could see what she was in for.

We got to the race bright and early. My number was 5, so I was a little nervous. Even though this isn't a race that has pro's and elites, having such a low number puts pressure on you. We found out that the race was not going to be wet suit legal, which was actually good because it was warmer than last year and I was worried about getting to warm during the swim.

This race was a wave start, and just as the first wave went off, clouds rolled in and the water got a little rough. I was not very happy, but headed out anyway. The first two turns went very well, but after the last buoy I had problems sighting the beach. I got off track several times and the waves were pushing us away from the beach. I believe that my swim was 3-4 minutes slower than last year. I came out of the water not happy, but glad that it was over. Note to self, even if you are a good swimmer, you actually have to practice to remain a good swimmer.

I hopped on the bike and took off. I haven't been doing many swim to bike transitions and it showed. I couldn't get my heart rate down and I felt very nervous. My legs felt like bricks and I felt like all my goals were not going to be met today. As I passed the spot where I blew my tire last year, a change came over me. My legs finally felt good, I was handling the bike better and I was actually passing people instead of everyone passing me. I cruised back into the park with my fastest Olympic distance bike split and headed into T2.

I have been marathon training this year, so I hadn't gotten a good taper, but my goals were to have a good run. Since the run was going to be so much shorter than my training runs, I wanted to push my pace. I'm usually a pretty steady 10 minute miler, and I wanted to break an hour for the run. I was really happy with my run, it felt good the entire time and it was fun to see Bonnie out there. I haven't done many races with friends, and its always nice to see a familiar face. I kept on looking at my watch and realized if I kept my pace, that I would be able to break 3 hours. As I cruised in and saw the official clock, I knew that I had reached all of my goals.

What a great race, plus, the steak and chicken is a very nice post race meal. We had some food there, and then headed to a great pizza place nearby, sat on the deck, drank a beer and watched boats on the lake. A great way to end a race.

BTW: I've never seen anyone do this before, but Bonnie managed to split her bike shoe side to side near the heal. The bike shop took them back and refunded her money. They were Specialized shoes, in the $75 range. Has anyone ever heard of this happening with brand new shoes? It definitely messed up her race and caused her to get some nasty blisters.