Rev3 Knoxville - Half Rev - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

Jumped into the river and immediately panicked as the frigid water shocked the system. I am a weak swimmer who has never done an OWS in temps under 70 so this was basically a welcome to Hell for me. Several people swam back to the start right away. I kept my head above the water and panicked for a few minutes, thought about finding a kayak, thought about swimming to shore and finally decided to just gut it out. After a few minutes I got into somewhat of a rhythm. There was definitely a current, so the downstream portion was easier. I could not stop shivering throughout the entire swim, and when I finally got out I was so cold and dizzy that I could barely walk to transition.

Avoid races with cold water swims! That was just too brutal.

Wow, I had to wrap myself in a towel and try to warm up for about 10 minutes. It was at this point that I lost my timing chip. A few people asked if I was ok, because apparently my lips were blue. After a long while, I put on a fleece and headed out on the bike.

Safety pin the timing chip so that it didn't come off with my wetsuit! I had noticed the velcro was flimsy, but the genius idea of a safety pin was not learned until I headr someone mention it later.

This was a miserable ride. The fleece was not a good idea, as it was soaked after two minutes and kept me cold. I shivered throughout the ride. 2 miles in I dropped my chain and could not get it back on since my hands were shaking so bad. Got back on and it happened again another mile in. Other than the mechanical difficulties and borderline hypothermia, it would have been a good ride. COurse was less hilly than expected. Ate two waffles and a gu and drank about 20oz GU brew. Garmin said about 19mph moving time so that was fine for the wet, cold conditions. I passed a ton of people and only got passed by the pro Olympic guys, which was cool.

Bring a raincoat!!!!!!!!! I will ALWAYS have a raincoat in my gear bag from now on.

No idea, maybe 5-10 minutes? Got into transition and was starving for a Clif bar. My hands were shaking so much that I could not open it. Tried for several minutes before stabbing it open with a coat hanger, and stabbed my thumb in the process. Finally, put on shoes and headed out.

Have my food pre-opened.

I knew right away that this run would not go well so I decided to take it easy and hit 8-8:30 pace. My legs were just too numb and cold, and everything hurt. Then, the blisters kicked in. By day's end, I would have 9 and 11 blisters on my feet, and shoes covered in blood. I guess that is why they say don't wear anything new on race day. At the turnaround I saw my hubby just in front of me, running barefoot and carrying his shoes. The blisters got him, too. I grabbed a big bag of pretzels from an aid station and started eating them and offering them to other runners as I passed them. No one wanted any and no one looked too happy to be passed by a girl stuffing pretzels down her throat. FInally, caught up to hubby and we suffered through the last five miles. Held hands across the line and kissed for the photo!

SIgn up for a different race with warmer water temps. Rev3 did everything right, but man, this was about the most difficult thing I've physically ever done.

Ran to my bathtub and after twenty minutes in hot water I stopped shivering!


That damn, freezing cold Tennessee River combined with the cold rain. I had no shot of a good performance.


Nicely done event but glad it's done.