Revolution3 - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

Had my usual panic-attack when I was about 150 yards in. "I can't do this, I can't breathe, I'm going to drown, I'll leave my wet-suit here and pick it up later" - that kind of thing! But thought about how angry my friends would be who left NYC at 5 to be there for the race. Settled down, crowd thinned out (read, left me for dead) and I pressed on.
Got kicked in the eye at some point, the goggle filled with water, but I just breathed to the other side and I could still navigate fine.

Get better at swimming. This was a PR, but still pretty poor. I try, but it doesn't seem to happen. Planning to take some lessons this summer and see how I go.

9th in my division - woop! Of course I was helped by the fact that there were only two bikes left on my rack!

Not much. Maybe run a bit faster in the transition area.

For the first 54 miles I rode the race I wanted to ride. Comfortable, with a high cadence. Span up the hills, passing a lot of people in the process. Loved watching the guys in the later waves, the 40s and 50s men, come roaring past with their disc wheels and aero helmets - I'll earn them one day. Right now the limiting factor is the engine more than the wheels! A couple of people didn't seem to know about the seven mile uphill section, I'm glad I rode the course a couple of weeks ago. At mile 54 as I was starting to relax and spin up the legs for the run and take in the last couple of calories - BANG. Sneaky little pot-hole, lying in wait. Immediate flat. What do you do? Muck about with the tire irons or just run it in? I'm not one of these super-techy bike guys who can change it 3 minutes flat. I'm more in the 15 minute camp. What the heck? Two miles will only take me 15 minutes, I don't have to worry about screwing it up and it'll save me having that awkward bike-to-run gait thing at the start of the half-marathon. :O) The scalding hot tarmac was probably a good thing too, encouraged me to keep my leg turnover nice and high! The other athletes were great, I got lots of encouraging shout-outs and offers of kit. Triathletes are just the nicest people.

Get out and ride more. Summer is finally here, time to hit the streets. Not flatting would be good. I think maybe I need some different tires. Had four flats in the last six rides. Two fronts, two rears. Hmm.

"Running with bike" - hahaha. Yeah, I had that down pat.
Actually, I joke, but I was 4th in my age group here. Best result of the day for me. Why is it I'm so good at changing clothes quickly?

Nothing.

The run course is a beast. I would say it's the hardest half-marathon I've done, either in or out of a tri. Lots of hills, several short but very steep.
But beautiful countryside, so scenic. The five mile out and back segment was great, got to see Mirinda Carfrae coming in, a couple of the other guys I know doing the race. High-fives all round. Was great. Worked well for the spectators, saw my cheer squad four times. Just had one GU and water. Was very conscious of the nutrition on the bike, so it worked fine for me. The roads weren't closed and there were a couple of nutters out for a Sunday drive. Saw an ambulance leaving and was told afterwards that a car hit someone on the run. Mind-boggling. Another bloke tried to do a three-point turn in the road with athletes running past. The cops went ballistic and rightly so.

Nothing really. Didn't get passed by a single person. In fact I caught quite a few of the people who passed me while I was pushing my bike. They were super nice and very complimentary about my run. Triathletes are great!

Just lay down on the grass bank, watched the rest of the field coming in, poured cold water on my burning feet, got my picture taken with Mirinda. She was so nice. Chatted with us for a while. I can't believe she won this race and she's also racing Eagleman next weekend! What a stud!


Poor swim technique, not having Zipp wheels (hahaha), the puncture, the hills, my DNA, where do I stop?


Great first effort by Rev3. I understand they're planning sprints, olympics and full-irons now. Need to sort out their website. Had loads of errors on it. But can't fault the organisation on race day. And the pro-field was awesome, so inspiring.