Rev3 Cedar Point - Half Rev - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

The conditions were perfect. I have never seen Lake Erie as smooth as it was which was great considering how bad it was on Saturday.
The swim started in about waist deep water. When they sounded the horn, it was pretty rough. I was hit in the head and other places a few times and I also accidentally hit a few people. The group separated pretty well by the first buoy. As usual, the fast swimmers took off and I tried to find someone to draft off of. However, I did not have any luck. It seems like I am always on my own for swims, too slow to hang with the fast guys and not able to find anyone slightly faster than me to draft.
Overall, it was a decent swim for me. I was never uncomfortable and felt like I could have kept going a lot longer. I kept thinking of the phrase I heard..."you can't win the race on the swim, but you can lose it".
I did my best job of sighting this race (helped with the smooth conditions). I kept a straight line and made my turn up against the buoys each time.

Looking back, I could have pushed a little harder. I played it conservatively which probably cost me a couple of minutes.

Good transition. I passed 5 guys in my age group.

I was very worried about the bike prior to the race due to a couple of bad experiences with my quads cramping during long training bricks. My plan was to go at 85% and to make sure I stuck with my nutrition plan of drinking every 5 minutes (alternating water and sports drink) and taking a gel every 30 minutes.
The bike started fast as the wind seemed to be at our backs on the way out of Cedar Point. I passed a lot of people the entire ride, but especially on this portion. At about mile 20, 2 guys passed me (legally - not drafting). I wanted to hang with them but then remembered to stick with my plan. They ended up slowing down and the 3 of us played leap frog for the majority of the race, but I ended up in front of them at the end. I was also passed by the race winner and one other guy that I never saw again.
At about mile 45, I decided to switch to all sports drink every 5 minutes instead of alternating water. I just kept thinking about the cramping I had experienced and wanted to make sure to keep it away. I never had any cramping sensations during the bike and ended the bike feeling like I needed to pee (went away once I started the run) - so I guess it worked.

There is not much I would change. The outcome of the bike was much better than I had during training and my plan seemed to work.

Good transition - no problems.

Plan was to take a gel every 3 miles, and drink sports drink each mile in between. I felt myself starting to fade about 2.5 miles in so after taking the gel at mile 3, I started taking a gel every other mile.
About mile 8, I felt a little cramping in my right quad. I immediately stood a little taller with my posture to take some of the pressure off of my quad which made it go away. At mile 11, the cramping started coming back. I just tried to keep as much pressure off of it as possible and pushed through the end of the race without it ever locking up.
Overall, the run was very comfortable. I felt great until about mile 10 and then it started feeling tough.

I need to look into other methods of nutrition that could help with cramps - possibly with higher sodium content.

Sat down after finishing and thought for sure that I was going to puke. I even stood next to a trash can for about 5 minutes because I thought it was coming. Fortunately, it subsided.


Slow swimmer.


This was my first Rev3 event and I had heard nothing but good things about them. This was all true. Everything they did was top notch: the swag, letting family run through the finish, picture and name on the jumbo-tron, finisher's medal, etc.
The awards were even amazing. For winning an age group, the award was $25 at the Rev3 store, a full box of Powerbar products, and a FREE ENTRY in any Rev3 70.3 next year. I would recommend this organization to anyone!
I feel very lucky that I won my age group. Compared to last year, my time would not have even been 3rd. Luckily, all the fast 40-44 guys stayed home.