Rev3 Cedar Point - Full Rev - TriathlonFull Ironman

I am a terrible swimmer, a fact that I've grown to accept at this point. Luckily, it doesn't tire me out, my brain just can't seem to process what I need to do to get faster, despite being told numerous times. As a result, I set myself up in the far rear corner at the start so as not to get in the way of the faster swimmers, then set off with my slow and steady pace. It was a bit choppy at times, and I occasionally had trouble sighting the next buoy after passing one, but otherwise, it was unremarkable. Very consistent too, with my first lap just under 50 minutes, and my second lap just over 50 minutes.

Nothing. I'd set a goal to finish under 1:45, which I did. I put in the training, and the endurance was there, I just can't seem to make my body do whatever it needs to do to make me swim faster.

I'd decided to change into bike shorts. Was not aware that there would just be a women's tent with open chairs, but I wasn't feeling shy at that point, and it probably helped speed up the process a bit! ;) Put on sunscreen, ate another PB sandwich and got ready to head out on the bike.

Nothing. Having never done a full, I'd allotted myself 10 minutes per transition, and I was under that. I could have chosen to wear tri shorts for the entire race, but I was happy to have dry shorts for the ride.

The bike was pretty unremarkable, which was good. No mechanical issues or flats to deal with, as was the case for some people. I started off a bit fast, but realized that I should reign it in a bit after the first 10-20 miles and kept things pretty consistent from that point on. I got passed by probably over 100 half guys in the first 30 miles, which was a bit frustrating, but I just tried to ignore them, since they were doing a different race. Only stopped briefly to swap out bottles and grab a PB sandwich at special needs. I really wanted to pick it up a bit throughout, but I kept reminding myself that there's no such thing as a great bike and a terrible run, and that I'd be happy later on if I kept things in check.

Nothing. I kept a pretty consistent pace and felt pretty comfortable throughout. I'd set a goal of under seven hours, and I hit that.

Once again, changed my bottoms into tri shorts for running. My toes were numb coming off the bike, but they regained feeling during the time I was in transition. Otherwise, put on socks and shoes, hit the bathroom and headed out on the run.

Nothing. Happy for the fresh shorts and bathroom break, since I didn't go at all on the bike. Time seemed reasonable for everything that I did here.

I had no idea what to expect for this, and suspected I was going to have to walk a lot of it. Felt great to get off the bike, but tried keeping my pace in check, and averaged a bit over 10 min/mile for the first 4M. After that, I settled into a 11-11:30 pace for the rest of the first loop, only walking briefly through the back of some of the aid stations. I stopped to grab a couple of Gus out of my special needs bag at the half, and headed out for the second loop.

My knees were starting to hurt a bit at this point, and I was a bit demoralized after having to pass the finish and head out again, so I decided to walk for a bit after the next aid station. After a few minutes, I decided I didn't feel that bad, and decided to start running again. This stretch was my slowest split with a 12:33 pace. After that, I had one more walk break when my knees started hurting again around 18-20 miles in, but otherwise, I ran virtually the entire run, and even picked it up a tiny bit for the final 5.9M stretch with an 11:56 pace for that. It got dark and started to rain during the last 2-3M, but I was pretty set on just finishing at that point, so it didn't really bother me.

Honestly, while I was happy that I ran as much as I did, coming from a running background, I would have liked to have put even more time in for this during training. Still, after seeing a lot of people walking a lot, I was happy this wasn't as painful as I had thought it would be.

Finished up and got my medal and shirt. Of course they were out of XS, so I got a S, which is too big for me. Why do races ask what size you are if they're always out of it by the time you get it? A woman pointed off in a general direction and said the food was there. I walked into where the packet pickup had been and only saw the Muscle Milk guys. I'd never had that, but thought I should have some kind of recovery drink. I couldn't finish it though, since I didn't like the taste and it was making me feel nauseous. I couldn't figure out where the food was and I was getting cold and still had to collect my bags and bike and drive back to the hotel, so I decided to just take care of that and skip eating, since I wasn't that hungry anyway.


I wasn't thrilled with my bike and run training this year compared to last, so perhaps I could have been faster, but given where I was at, I had set a goal of sub 14 for myself and finished 10 minutes under that, so given my current shape, I think I did well overall.


The weather was great for the most part, and I was happy that I ran such a consistent race. There were people that finished ahead of me in my AG whose run times suggest that they fell apart somewhat on the run. While I wasn't as fast overall, mainly due to my abysmal swim time, I was happy that I'd paced myself so well.

Overall, I was happy with the race organization, although I had a few issues. As I mentioned before, I would have liked to have gotten the T-shirt size I requested, especially for a race that cost this much. It would also be nice if they could move at least some food close to the finish, so those of us who finished after dark and had no outside support didn't have to wander around to find it. Otherwise, the volunteers were great and the actual race went smoothly.