Revolution3 - Olympic - TriathlonOlympic

First, the swim results may be misleading... The Clydes were supposed to go off with their age group, but the 40-44 Clydes have more people under 20 minute swims than any age group and even some 16 minute times. If any 40-44 Clydes out there saw the clock on the way into transition and can verify I'd love to know. I'm just shocked cause of where I finished and the times that group has.

I felt good about my swim so I waited on the left side of the corral at the front, then at the last minute, five yahoos barged in front of me after getting yelled at by once of the race organizers for being outside the "corral". They were about to get mowed down!!! Gun went off and they weren't deserving of that spot.

Before hitting the first sighting buoy I was all alone. Being in the first wave and out in front, I had a lot of problems sighting the second set of buoys on the back leg. I had to sight multiple times to determine the left or right red buoy (left was for the HalfRev, right was OlyRev)

I hit the final turn buoy and flipped over to my back quickly and no one was in site. This was going to be a great, short lived feeling!

Nothing!

Didn't practice transitions so didn't really care here. Had my wetsuit stick on my timing chip... Didn't help that a cute volunteer was cheering me on, err distracting me. This mistake egged on the race announcer who joked about my biking speed. I fired back with comments like "No where near my swim speed".

The transition volunteers were great as I had a personal escort because no one else was there yet. They helped me to the proper direction. The area wasn't set up bad so it really wasn't a problem.

Nothing.

Coming out of the transition area... I had the coolest thing. A police motorcade to lead me out since I was technically leading the race!

I started out spinning the first couple of miles trying to relax because I knew the course was hard. This is when I noticed my first mistake. During my travels and re-mounting my wheels, I didn't adjust my brakes/skewer and a brake was rubbing against my wheel making a tough course tougher.

My lead lasted until mile 2.5 when I got passed. Oh well.

I was still in the top 10 through the first half of the course until I went to shift to the big ring for a downhill run and the chain shifted into my crank arm and got stuck. I couldn't fix it on the downhill and had to stop. A mechanic on a moped stopped and helped me fix it. However no more big ring for me for the rest of the ride. Unfortunately, I had a hill to climb in the big ring!

Basically, I had no motivation after this and struggled. I think I also paid for two things: first day out in 85 degree sun and only having a bagel for breakfast.

Transport my bike a little better... check everything twice... use the on-site mechanics!

Eat more for breakfast

Was ok... announcer gave me some props coming out of T2 so I smiled and started chatting with him.

Nothing really.

Well... not much to say really. Not enough training... Not a good runner... Not much to expect.

Started off and I felt like crap but pushed through it hoping to turn it around. Ran until the first large hill around mile 2-2.5. Turned into a shuffle which turned into a walk. From this point on it wss run about .8 walk a bit. Fitting in walking hills and aid stations.

During the run, I developed a headache which was either dehydration due to not being used to the hot temps or my visor. Considering every day I had been out this year (I live on the coast) had barely been above 70... it very well may have been heat.

The aid stations were great. The best one at the end had flat coke. The comical thing is that after I walked the last hill and a coach said there was about .3 left to one of his athletes I kicked it back into a run for the homestretch and it actually felt really good. I wasn't sprinting but I felt I had really good form and was moving well.

train more. All I can say really say.

Got my medal, got my water, got my shirt... grabbed a banana, two bunches of grapes and walked to the shade to watch the jumbotron with the wife. Then went and had some muscle milk. Chocolate was too gritty for me however the banana creme was damn good.


Three things:

!) Eating a pre-race meal
2) Checking for mechanical issues on bike prior to race
3) Training for a hot early season race in a cooler climate (not sure this can be fixed)


Rev3 is a great organization that puts on a good show. The swag was good and so was the post race meal.

They could do a better job allowing spectators (family) to get updates on athletes and provide live feeds to the jumbotron. I don't know if this was done for the HalfRev.