Revolution3 Full Distance - TriathlonFull Ironman

Weather started off overcast. I felt calm as I entered the water to start the swim. Lots of people were running and diving in. I walked/jogged in and took my time finding water. I started swimming and felt comfortable. There were some bodies and bumping, but I didn't have any major painful collisions. I did okay with sighting. The swim out was calmer than the swim in. The waves and current were much stronger on the swims back to the beach. I finished the first loop and ran on the beach down to the second start for the second rectangle. I heard people yelling for me as I was running. :-) I looked at my watch and saw that the time for a 1.2 miles swim was right on my normal pace. I started the second rectangle. I did get off course a bit early on. I just wasn't paying attention and sighting enough. The water did get a little rough the latter half of this rectangle. I had issues getting out of the water. I was swimming and thought it was shallow enough to stand. I started walking/running out of the water and then the water was suddenly back up to my chest. I needed to work on dolphin dives instead of continuing to walk through the water. I heard David and some other friends yelling to me as I ran on the beach and toward transition 1.

My swim times are consistent. Work to swim faster! LOL! I was happy with the swim. I don't like the run segment in the middle of the swim. It messed with my calm zone.

Ran to transition. There was only one other female in the changing tent and two volunteers. The volunteers were very nice, but really didn't know what to do. They were just watching the other female and I transition. Finally, I asked one to help me put on the red-neck arm warmers (men's tube socks). She was very happy to help. I transitioned as quickly as possible. Of course I had to put on Dove deodorant. It is an ironman, but I like to smell Dove fresh for at least a little while! :-) Left the tent and used the port-a-potty before going to my bike.

Be faster?? Nothing. Took my time and didn't feel rushed.

The road out of Cedar Point was long and rough. It seemed to take forever to really get on the real bike course. I could feel the wind. After the rough and winding road by the school, I realized that the wind was here to stay. I mentally tried to ignore the wind and the rough roads and relax. The country roads and landscape are very similar to the areas I ride in Cincy. I noticed that there were not many other bikers. I had to keep reminding myself that I was in a race. This was a race ride, not a fun ride. I had to tell myself to pick up the pace. I would go for miles before seeing another biker. Guys would pass me and then I would use them as my rabbit for a while. I found a nice zone (well the best I could with all the wind) around mile 40. The first 40 miles actually passed by quickly. They were very quiet. No fans and only a few other racers.

I passed a guy around mile 42 peeing while riding his bike. This always makes me laugh. Looks like it must take some bike handling skills. I passed him and said, "Must be nice to be a guy." He just laughed.

The sun came out around mile 50 and I started to warm up. My technical bike handling skills are horrible! It took me from mile 54 to 60 to work off the arm warmers (tube socks) and drop them at the 60 mile marker sign.

I started to get a little bored after the arm warmers were tossed and I was settled back into the reality of riding in the wind and on bumpy roads. Good thing that sexy calf guy passed me around mile 70. He said, "Nice job Amy. Keep riding." The race number with my name was on my race belt facing back. WOW - did he have amazing calf muscles and legs! He became my rabbit. I didn't even look at his race number or name. I was just interested in his legs. We would leap frog back and forth from mile 70-78. It was nice to have another racer around. I passed him back and told him he had great legs and thanks for giving me something to look at. He passed me back shortly and said, "Why do you think I didn't pass you earlier? I was enjoying the view." LOL We chatted back and forth about the wind and road conditions, number of races, etc. It was nice to break up the boredom for several miles. He finally pulled too far ahead and I lost him. Back to dealing with the race conditions.

I became REALLY bored at mile 84. I could feel my energy start to drop and noticed that my average mph had dropped. UGH!. At mile 88 I actually yelled "F____ me!" I was feeling very beat up from the wind and roads. I was tired of the conditions. I forced myself to get back into a zone and push forward.

I had 4 Advil with me to take while on the bike to get ready for the run. My sciatic nerve has been bothering me, so I wanted to have some Advil in my system before running. I took the Advil at mile 94.

I turned a corner on a smooth road at mile 100 and caught a tail wind. I needed that. It only lasted until I turned the next corner at mile 102, but it was a nice moral booster for two miles.

The road back to Cedar Point seemed to take FOREVER!!! I really needed to pee, but was not going to stop during the bike ride. I was not going to go while on my bike. The road back to Cedar point was so bumpy! My eyeballs were floating. Finally made it back to transition. I felt very beat up and tired.


I had 2 sport bottles of Gatorade, areo bottle for water, gels, cliff shots, and cliff bar on my bike. I only slowed down through one aid station to take a bottle of water to refill the areo bottle. The temperature was nice during the bike ride.

The race did a good job of marking the course. There were a few spots where it would have been nice to have some additional arrows since racers were riding alone. Also, some of the turn signs were knocked down from the wind. The police did a great job of stopping what little traffic was out on the course.

The confusing section of the course is the loop. There were volunteers at this corner directing racers. Unfortunately, there were children helping at this intersection. This is one place that needed to be staffed by adults only. The children didn't understand who needed to go where. They actually told me to start the loop for a third time. It was somewhat confusing. Adults only at the major decision intersection.

nothing.

Volunteer took my bike as I entered transition. Tired. Transitioned as quickly as possible. Two volunteer in tent. Only myself and one other racer were in transition. These two volunteers were great. They had experience.

nothing

I started the run feeling tired and beat up. I am sure this is how most of the athletes felt after that bike ride. The Advil I took did help with the sciatic pain. I was running okay, but my body was tired. I could also tell that I was out of shape for running. My run volume had really declined due to the injury. The sun was out and the day had warmed up. I found myself early on doing a run/walk/shuffle. The volunteers were very nice. I walked most of the aid stations. The aid stations needed to be a little more prepared. The bananas were green and they were not cut in half. I took one, but couldn't open it. I noticed later during the run that some of the stations had cookies and snack crackers. They were still in the wrappers. It would have been easier if they would have placed them in the paper cups like the grapes and pretzels. I had water, sport drink, 2 gels, and some cookies on the course. Unfortunately, the aid stations didn't have any Vaseline or glide. I really could have used some glide on my arms around my sport bra.

I mentally struggled with this run. It was so boring. I felt like I was running a solo long run with an aid station every 1.5 miles. There were runners on the course, but no one that was good run company.

I did see several friends on the run course. I saw several of Cincy Express people that I know. I saw Abbie at mile 10.5. That was great!! She was looking strong. I was mentally and physically hurting when I finished the first half. I really didn't want to run that course again. Todd and Gabby were cheering for me at Cedar Point when I started the 2nd loop. That really helped give me some energy and motivation. The run/walk/shuffle continued. I went back on the course.

There were so many great places for spectators and fans. It is disappointing that no one seemed to even know there was an ironman race in their town. The town was empty!!

I saw Alice and Abbie on the course starting their second laps as I was comping in. They were both running and looking great. I also saw Kevin.

I knew that I was going to need a 4 hour marathon to reach my goal of sub 11:00:00. I also knew that I was doing too much walking and shuffling for that to happen. I felt under-trained in the run due to the injury. My leg was burning, but my entire body was hurting, so it was not just the injury that kept me from running. I just couldn't hang. Although I knew I was not going to get the sub 11, I thought I could still PR if I focused and HTFU. It was going to be really close. I wanted a PR! I sucked it up and found a zone. It seemed like the last mile to the finish line took forever!!

I was so happy to reach that finish line.

needed more run volume. no sciatic nerve pain. more running and less walking/shuffling.

The announcer had lots of energy and made all finishers feel special. The volunteers and staff were great. Again, there really were very few spectators around.

Katie was working and came over to help me at the finish. She is AWESOME!!! :-) She took my pic and helped me walk around. She also checked my times. :-) A PR, buy about 3 minutes.

I walked around a bit, ate some food, and chatted with Katie. Katie went back to work, so I then chatted with some Cincy people.

I walked down the beach back to transition to load my bike and gear in the car. After relaxing a bit, I headed back tot he finish line. I got back just in time to see Abbie cross the line!! Yeah!!! Alice had finished and was around. Spent some time chatting with David, Alice, Abbie, Katie, and a few other friends. Abbie and I then walked back to transition and loaded Abbie's bike and gear in the car.

Went back to the hotel to clean up and pack up.



A longer taper - 2 week taper works best for me. Sciatic nerve pain and lack of running.

2010 has been a tough year for me with lots of life issues. I am proud of the training and focus I was able to maintain. I am pleased with my race performance.

I am still very hungry for sub 11:00:00.


I had great few days hanging out with good friends. It was fun to race, but spending time with people that share the same passion and dreams is special. There really is an amazing connection in the triathlete community.

Abbie - Thanks for being such a good roomie!! :-) Tons of fun! You are my hero! I had a great time hanging out. We had so many good stories to share!!!


This was the first full ironman for Rev3. Nice job for their first race. I anticipate many improvement for their future ironman races.