RACE REPORT: Lake Kristi Triathlon

Submitted By: Steve Cooper

Bitten by the TRI bug… I participated in my second sprint triathlon this weekend in Greenville, NC—the Lake Kristi Tri at Parker Overton’s private oasis. The swim was a 700 meters swim—which is 465 yards more than the 300 yard swim I did at the Roanoke Valley Tri. The swim is in a man made lake created for Parker’s daughter to practice competition slalom skiing. This was my first open water swim event. When you look at 300 yards—or 12 laps in a pool—it doesn’t look that far. However, when you look at the halfway point of a 700 meter swim, it looked like a long distance. And while I swam it slow, it wasn’t too tough. I finished 95th in the swim out of 129 participants.

I learned a lot about the need for quicker transitions from my first Tri and feel that I saved a few minutes there. I had purchased a used Trek triathlon bike and procrastinated once again and only got one training ride on it the Wednesday before the event. This Tri bike had Aero bars and I had never ridden a bike using them before—but it was quite enjoyable. I was able to cut 7 minutes off my bike time from my previous Tri event. The bike route wasn’t tough, but there was a lot of wind—that always felt like it was a head wind. Frank—you’ll be glad to know that it didn’t take me quite as long to get my feet in the pedal straps this time. The bike felt extremely comfortable the whole ride and I was able to transition to the run without as much resistance as the time before. I finished 84th in the bike leg out of 129 participants.

The run was around Parker Overton’s private golf course and property—which is really nice by the way—and I finished with the 29th fastest run time out of 129 participants. Overall, I finished 72nd out of 129 participants and absolutely had a blast. The post race food was great. My favorites were the watermelon and cinnamon & raisin bagels with walnut cream cheese spread—yummy.

From where I finished in the swim and the bike legs, I know where I need to work to improve the most. Eric and I are going to do the Outer Banks Sprint Triathlon on August 23rd and we’d love to have a bunch more join us. Come on out and tri—I know you can do it.