Rev3 Quassy Half - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

I had a good swim. The start was fun - I've never done a beach start before. I got into a good rhythm, drafted off a few people when the opportunity presented itself and, most importantly compared to my prior half-iron distance swim, stayed on course. Compared with the 54 minute swim I had a Eagleman almost exactly one year previous (51 weeks to be exact), this was a breeze. I've been working hard and consistently over the winter on my swimming (going to masters practices at least twice a week) and it was nice to have some positive results to show for the effort.

Not much. The swim went very well.

Same as usual. I'm not in these things to win so cutting a few seconds off my transition times is not something I worry about much. Three minutes and change seems pretty good for getting a wetsuit, goggles and swim cap off, and a helmet, sunglasses, socks and bike shoes on.

Put chamois cream on - I forgot in my haste. No adverse consequences this time but something I should not neglect in the future.

This was the hardest bike ride I've ever done. Let me put it this way, I like riding steep hills and I like long hills, but this was the first time I think I've ever had to ride steep long hills. They just never seemed to end. On the other hand, I hit 47.9 miles per hour on the downhills (low, aero, tri-spoke in the front, disc cover on the back, aero helmet, and, probably most importantly, a gravity assist by my 200 pounds of mass). I spent most of the winter and early spring training for a marathon and stayed off the bike. I paid for it in this race as my bike fitness was not where it needed to be. According to the powertap, my numbers were pretty good (high average watts and high normalized power compared to my ride at Eagleman last year). To give a comparison, I rode a 2:45 at Eagleman on 20 fewer average watts and 30 fewer watts of normalized power. To ride a 3:40 at Quassy this year I had to expend a lot more power (and still felt pretty good after the ride). Overall, however, it was a beautiful course, a challenging ride and I had a great time.

Trained more over the winter and spring on the bike.

Bike shoes and helmet off, running shoes and hat on. Not sure exactly how 4 minutes went by (unless the porta-potty stop was considered to be within transition).

Now this is the interesting part of the race for me from a comparison to prior races standpoint. All of my prior runs in half iron-distance races have been in the two and a half hour range. The difference has been that my prior halves (Montauk and Eagleman) were much easier run courses. So, I'm not looking at this that my run time didn't improve but rather that I was able to run a comparable time on a much more difficult course. The first few miles were fine and I really started to think that maybe the reports I had heard that the run course was as hilly and hard as the bike course were overstated. Then I hit mile four and the dirt road straight up the hill. Very difficult. I made it up and got into a rhythm for the rest of the race. I had planned to definitely walk the water stations (which I did). I also walked the steeper hills and saved my energy for the spots where I would get the most bang for my efforts. It seemed to work and I felt pretty good toward the end of the race (as opposed to prior run segments where I just hold on for dear life and pray for it to end one way or another). The hill at the end is tough but the finish area suddenly appears and the sprint down the finish chute with my 4 year old daughter is a memory I will cherish forever.

Just gotta keep running. I'm getting better, I'm just not any good yet.

Got my medal, t-shirt and sat down in the shady little recovery tent with a bottle of Muscle Milk (surprisingly delicious after a 7 hour race). Hung out with my family, had some food, made my way over to the now almost empty transition area and packed up for the ride home.


This was my early season let's see if I can do a half iron-distance race on general fitness race. Timberman is my A race for the season and I plan on showing significant improvement for that race.


Great race. Great organization. My highest praise is the fact that my wife and I plan on coming back in 2012 to race again (next year I'd like to do the Olympic).