Big Lick Triathlon

This past Saturday I participated in my first Olympic distance triathlon. It was the Big Lick Triathlon at Smith Mountain State Park in Virginia. I drove there with Ron and Heather Thomas. Ron and I had done a couple of sprint distance races earlier in the year and have done some training together. We left on Friday morning after doing a light swim, bike, run workout at Ron's gym. It was about an 8 hour drive. When we arrived we went to the race check in and picked up our race packets. Ron had done this event last year so he showed me around and we walked by where the swim would start and end and walked up to where the transition area was set up. Then we drove the course. I began to see how hilly the ride and run were going to be and started to plan out in my mind when I would try to take advantage of the downhill sections and where I would need to gear down and grind up the hills. That night we met some of Heather's family who had come to participate with her as a relay team or just to cheer us on. We had dinner at a restaurant at the condo where we stayed the night.

The next morning I got up at 5:30 am, had breakfast, and began preparing for the race. We arrived at the race start at 7:15. I got my timing chip and set up my gear in the transition area. Ron and I went out for a light ride to loosen up. I stretched a bit and then got my wet suit on and made my way over to the beach where the swim would begin. The air was pretty heavy and muggy. The sun was up and things were warming up. Ron and I went out for a light swim. I wanted to get the feel of the water in the wetsuit and to ensure my goggles wouldn't leak.

The race started at 9 am with the elite group and then the various age groups were started every 3 minutes. I was in the 3rd wave to enter the water. We were started in water about chest deep. I was in the second row of swimmers for my age group. My goal during the swim was to get into a good rhythm and try to find someone I could draft behind. I was partially able to accomplish that. There were times I was able to get behind a stronger swimmer and draft for awhile, but sometimes that person would pull ahead, or I would find they weren't swimming straight, so I would leave them. I swam more straight than I had in the past. I would check my direction every 12-18 strokes and most of the time I wouldn't need to course correct very far. There were motor boats out there around the course. This was the first race that the "help" wasn't in kayaks or canoes. I didn't like having the motor boats. At times I would try to get a gulp of air only to suck in a bunch of gas fumes. Also, there were times I was fighting boat waves. I felt good going into the last turn about 2/3 of the way through the race when someone hit my left ankle. I felt my timing chip belt slide out of my wetsuit leg and then I felt it come off. I reached down and sure enough, it was gone. I turned around and I couldn't see anything. The timing chip belt was black and with my goggles on and the dark water, I couldn't find it. I started swimming backward. I looked up and one of the boats started coming over. The driver must have thought I was in trouble or something. I called out that my timing chip belt came off. Someone in the boat saw it and helped me swim back to the area where it was floating on the water. I grabbed it, rolled over on my back and tried pulling my leg up to be able to put the belt around my ankle again. I tried to push it up into the wetsuit leg as far as I could. By this time, my heart rate had totally spiked and the nice rhythm I felt up to that point was gone. I started on the final stretch of the swim, trying to make up for lost time. I came out of the water at the exact same time as my friend Ron, even though he was in the wave after me. I saw him on my left as I was trying to unzip my wetsuit. The swim time included a run up a hill, probably 50 yards or so, to the transition area. Ron started running up the hill. I wanted to follow, but my legs just wouldn't work. I felt so exhausted. My legs felt like jello underneath me. It was all I could do to just put one foot in front of the other and walk up the hill.

In the transition area I pulled off my wetsuit and got my shoes and helmet on. I grabbed my bike and finally felt like I could jog with my bike. After leaving the transition area, there was another steep incline for about 15 yards or so. Rather than trying to mount my bike there, I jogged up the incline and then got on the bike at the top where it was flat. The first 4-5 miles were tough. The course was all rolling hills and my legs still felt like jello from after the swim. I was thinking to myself, "there is no way I am going to be able to run after the bike is over!" But then my legs started feeling better and about mile 7 or so, I finally had a bit of a lengthy downhill section and started picking up some speed. At about miles 12-14 there were some serious downhill sections and I hit my top speed of 38 miles per hour. The road was narrow and windy. It was a rush. The most difficult section of the ride was miles 15-20. This part had the steepest and lengthiest inclines. There were times when I had to go to my lowest gear and was only hitting 8-9 miles per hour - and still passed some other riders at that slow speed. Most of the inclines I could only manage 13-16 miles per hour and some seemed like they would never end. The final couple of miles are back in the state park and had some good downhill sections back to the transition area. When I got off my bike I actually felt pretty good. No cramping in my calves.

The first half of the run, I felt good. I wasn't going super fast, but my legs felt strong and I had no trouble breathing. Then at the turnaround point, my head started getting light-headed and I decided to walk for a few minutes. I was hoping the sensation of passing out would subside and I'd be able to finish strong. I think my problem was nutrition. I had planned to eat a Gu packet during the ride, but it had fallen off my bike. I was worried about drinking too much on the ride and getting cramps during the run (like what happened during the last race I did). When I checked my liquids I had on my bike after the race was over, I realized I had only drank about half of what I had planned. During the last half of the race, I walked during all of the water spots and tried to take in some water and pour some over my head. There's a really steep downhill, then uphill section for .4 miles about a mile and a half from the finish line. I had to walk most of the way up that hill too. Overall I had my worst run time ever. The temperature was probably in the mid to upper 80's during the last half of my run and I was definitely not used to running in the heat. Most of my training runs were done in the early morning before the sun was up.

When I crossed the finish line, there was a female runner laying on the ground, totally passed out and people were attending to her. I thought, at least I stayed conscious and didn't wake up on the side of the road somewhere with asphalt burns on the side of my face! After walking around and finding Ron and Heather and drinking 3 bottles of water and a bottle of soda, my body started sweating again and I started feeling light headed with the sensation of blacking out again. I had to sit and then eventually lay down for a few minutes.

After reading this you might wonder why I put myself through this. Dealing with the physical discomfort associated with the race doesn't sound like much fun. I guess it's the combination of the physical and mental challenge required to do one of these races as well as having a goal to keep me motivated to exercise and train that has influenced me to begin doing these races this year. I also enjoy the energy associated with these events with all the participants and spectators. Overall, it was a great event and I've learned a lot about what I need to do in order to have a better experience next time.

I'm hoping to have some pictures from the race from Ron and Heather that I can add later. Here's a link to the results page for the race. There's a link to the overall results for males as well as a link to the results split out by age group. I'm in the 35-39 age group and the results are under my full name.

http://www.setupevents.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=event_detail&eventID=596#results-text

Here's my times if you don't want to bother with the web page.

Swim (1.5K) - 29:13 min. (includes my walk up the hill to T1)
T1 - 1:29 min
Bike (40K) - 1:16:27 (19.5 miles per hour avg.)
T2 - :54 min
Run (10K) - 1:02:17

Total time - 2:50:17

Barr










Smith Mountain Lake State Park











Getting ready for the swim











Off on the bike











On the run

Almost finished!

Ron, Barr, and Dan celebrating the finish

Click here to see some photos that were taken by professional photographers at the race...



Barr