But then my fiancee (I got engaged last week!) and I decided earlier this year that we should buy a house. So, most of the summer was spent being frustrated with the housing market in Albany and searching desperately for a house that was in our price range and within the neighborhood we wanted. Finally, after a few months of searching, we found one we both really liked and signed a contract early in July. No less than 8 weeks later, we closed on the house, just 3 weeks shy of my A-race for the year. Needless to say, the last 3 weeks did not leave me much time for training. So, I was a little under-cooked and less than confident about this race.
Regardless, I was thrilled to finally race a Rev3 event to see what the hype was all about. Let me spare you the suspense and tell you that I was not disappointed, I had an absolute blast! Rev3 put on a top-notch event and I set a 5min PR at the HIM distance - almost making it to the line under the 4:30:00 barrier.
Pre-Race:
My fiancee (it's fun to say that now!) and I drove down to PA on Friday night and arrived at the condo about 9:30pm. My parents drove out from MI on Thrusday and it was great to see them just a week after my fiancee (is it getting old yet?) and I got engaged. The condo was just a few miles away from the Expo/T2/Finish and was huge, spacious, and animal friendly so we got to bring Timber!
Saturday was a drizzly cold day which made the packet pick-up and expo a bit underwhelming. There was nothing Rev3 could do about it but the place was still flooded with enthusiastic volunteers, sponsors, and Rev3 employees. All my questions about the confusing two-location transition race were quickly answered at the info tent and I became a bit less worried about all the logistics for the following morning.
We tried to wait for the rain to stop before driving up to T1 to set up my bike. The rain finally settled to a sprinkle and we drove up to Tamiment "Resort" (it used to be a resort, but is not just a scrubby area with a lake in the middle of it) to drop of my bike. I covered it with some trash bags and then checked out the swim and got a feel for how to execute T1 the next morning.
Had dinner at a local sports bar and then hit the sack about 9pm so I wouldn't feel like complete trash when I woke at 4am on race day. Had a little trouble falling asleep, but the Benadryl quickly solved that problem.
Race Morning:
Woke up at 4:15am, after only one snooze of the alarm clock. Started the coffee pot, cooked some oatmeal, and hit the toilet about 3 times in the next 45min. I applied my race number tats the night before so I didn't have to worry about that in the wee hours of the morning. Useful tip - rub baby powder on the tats after application so they don't stick to the bedsheets when you're trying to sleep!
My Dad and I drove down to the Shawnee Inn/T2/Finish to drop off my run gear and my car so I could drive back to the condo after the race. I put a GU, my Garmin 310XT, visor, and race number belt in my Hoka Bondi Speeds and set them in my T2 spot. Got in a few hundred meters of jogging as I went back to catch a ride back to the condo from my Dad. Arrived back at the condo at 5:20am, grabbed my Swim and T1 bags and got back into the car with my parents, fiancee (still smiling about this), and dog and left for T1 just after 5:30am.
High 40's and windy made for a chilly T1, but I topped off my tires, clipped my shoes in, and prepped my socks and arm warmers quick enough to hit the john one more time and get in the water for a 10min warm-up swim. We spotted a bald eagle in the treeline before I started my warmup and it was the first time I've ever seen one in person, so no matter what happened, it was going to be a good day today!
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| Wading in to the swim start. |
We waded out to the first buoy and waited for a minute for the horn to go off. I got a fast start to get some clear water and then settled in after the first minute or so to see where everyone else was. I saw some decent swimmers and latched on to their feet. I wasn't too concerned about the pace, but more about the place. I tried to stay with two guys but they gapped me even though I was right on their feet. I settled in with another guy that I was swimming beside who did not seem to appreciate me drafting as his kicking exploded when I accidentally touched his feet a few times.
Sighting into the sun was a disaster but we finally made it to the far buoy and made the turn back to shore in 3rd and 4th place, with a sizeable gap to 1st and 2nd as well as 5th and above. I noticed my leader was slowing a bit after we made the turn but we still had a decent gap the other swimmers so I let him guide me into T1 and broke out 200m before the exit to kick hard and get some blood in my legs for the run up to T1.
I ran up the chute to T1 and saw the swim leaders still in T1. I was excited and knew I was going to make up the gap with a fast T1. Unfortunately, the wind blew my T1 bag off my bike and I had to wait for a volunteer to grab another one for me to dump my wetsuit, goggles, and cap in. While waiting, I put on my helmet, socks, arm warmers, but accidentally forgot my gloves as I was stuffing my wetsuit into the bag. I guess I would suffer with cold hands for the first hour of the ride to save a few seconds in T1.
Time: 29:06
Pace: 1:30/100m
AG Swim Split: 2/17
OA Swim Split: 6/223
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| Coming into T1 in 3rd place. |
With good experience descending thanks to American Zofingen, I passed the leader early on the 4mi descent out of T1. My max speed on the descent was 53mph! Leading the bike early in a race like this was not something I thought I would be doing before I got there. I was happy, excited, and a little nervous all at once. I settled in and tried to let my HR come down a bit as I got into the rollers on the course.
I figured I could hold about 260W, which puts me at about 85% FTP, and still run decently well off the bike. So, I worked off that and controlled myself on the uphills and pushed hard on the downhills. After 20min my HR was finally down in the right zone and I was cruising in the 23-25mph range.
About 45min in I looked behind and still didn't see anyone behind me so I started getting a little worried. Was I over-biking? Was I going to fade late on the bike and blow-up on the run? Finally, after an hour, someone caught me and moved into first. The out and back course made it easy to gauge your position after the turnaround at mile 25 and I figured 1st place had about 1 minute on me and I was about 2min ahead of 3rd place. The gap stayed about the same until the next turnaround at mile 45.
The RD warned us about a sharp corner that we had to take after the 2nd turnaround and I exercised a little caution going into it knowing the roads were still a bit damp. Despite my caution, my rear wheel locked up for a second and I fishtailed but caught some dry pavement and stayed upright. The next 10mi were on poorly paved roads and had potholes and patching galore all hidden by the shadows and sunlight through the trees. I was fortunate enough to not hit any big ones the rest of the ride.
One thing I did not like about the course was the bike-run interaction around mile 53. The Oly distance runners had a turnaround 3mi from transition and in my case a woman did not stay on the runners side of the road and almost ran right in front of me as I was coming in at 20+mph. It was a close call and I'm happy it didn't ruin either of our days. But next time, when someone is screaming, "ON YOUR LEFT!", don't move to your left!
A quick 30 second transition to the run and I was out on the course in 2nd place.
Time: 2:21:07
Speed: 23.5mph avg
Power: 264W NP
HR: 163bpm avg
Cadence: 95rpm avg
AG Bike Split: 2/17
OA Bike Split: 2/223
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| 8mi into the bike in 1st place. |
Run:
I started aggressively because I knew I would be able to suffer through about 90 minutes of running, but I'm not confident enough to leave the speed to the back half of the run in hopes to negative split. For the first 2mi I was wondering what happened to the GU that I put in my shoes in T2 and figured I must have forgot to put it in there or maybe it fell out as I was putting them on and I didn't see it. My feet were numb, so I couldn't feel anything anyway. Around mile 3 I started to feel a bulge in my right shoe under my toes and realized that the packet was still in there. I stopped and grabbed it out of my shoe. It was nice and warmed up so it was easy to swallow, mmm...Strawberry-Banana-Foot GU.
My first 4mi were sub 7:00/mi pace and I was starting to fear the upcoming catastrophe of a positive split run. Around 4.5mi I still hadn't seen the uber-biker in 1st place or anyone behind me until I looked once at a clearing, and then 30s later I was passed as if I was standing still by the eventual winner (1:19 run, btw!) The aid station at mile 6 was crucial as I got my first cup of Coke on the day. I knew it was going to be a tough run back to the finish, so I might as well use all the caffeine and sugar that I can. Half a mile before the turnaround I saw the lead runner and the fast runner just a few seconds behind him. The pass was imminent but I was still in 3rd overall almost halfway through the run. I got passed right at the turnaround to move into 4th.
A short walk break through the aid station to get some water and coke and I was off to running again. I saw some fast runners coming through that would be catching up with me shortly if I kept running this slow. But 3 weeks without any real training left me with the fitness that I had and I had to settle into a 7:30/mi pace to make sure I wouldn't blow up in the last 3mi.
I got passed again around mile 8 to move into 5th, and then again a mile later to move into 6th. At this point, I was out of the money and was just racing for myself. I took another walk break to get some coke and did my best to run up the hills knowing I could easily cruise the downhills (thanks Hokas!)
Another coke at the aid station at mile 10 and my mile splits were climbing towards the 8:00/mi mark with the walk breaks included. At this point I at least had some Oly runners to spot ahead and work to catch. Even though we weren't in the same race, they still worked as a decent target. Fortunately, I never really hit a low point in the race because I knew I could manage to hold 8:00 pace for the last 3 miles. Around mile 12 I looked behind and only saw Oly runners and knew I had the 7th spot secured for the 40 and under age group.
A few twists and turns through a neighborhood and I had the finish in sight without anyone behind me to make me sprint for the line. I saw my fiancee (woot!) and dog and had a big smile on as I knew I was coming in for a Half Distance personal best! I crossed the line and threw my hands up because I had nothing left. I put it all out there and had a great time. Unfortunately, it wasn't good enough to come in top 5 and get some cash. But nevertheless, I ran 4min faster than any of my Half races last year and I just barely missed the 4:30:00 time barrier, as my official finish time was 4:30:06! I'm going to blame that on not having my T1 bag on my bike when I got there. So, can I claim a sub 4:30?
Time: 1:36:33
Pace: 7:22/mi
HR: 172bpm avg! (this was surprisingly high for me!)
AG Run Split: 5/17
OA Run Split: 24/223
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| Coming into the finish. |
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| Excited to be just a few hundred meters from the line. |
AG Place: 3/17
OA Place: 8/223
Overall I had an absolutely wonderful time at my first Rev3 event. I know that I will be returning to race more Rev3/Challenge events next year as soon as I can. The venue was gorgeous, the volunteers and race coordinators were spectacular, and the execution of a two transition race was flawless. I loved the race, loved the experience, loved the PR, and loved that I got to see my parents just a week after getting engaged to my fiancee (yea, I had to put it in one more time!) Thanks a ton Rev3, hope to see you again soon!
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| M 25-29 AG awards. |
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| Post-Race family pic. |
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