I went out at an easy pace and kept it easy the whole way through, except when trying to escape a guy backstroking that i was tangled up with. This was the best navigation i've ever done, not perfect, but pretty damn good, hitting the turns about spot on. Even though i was going easy, i was kind of surprised at my time here, thought it would be faster. But even if the course was a little long, rankings dont lie and i need to swim more, lots more.

I really need up my swim volume, especially in open water. This swim set me up for hard times ahead.

Everything started to go a little haywire after the swim. Got my wetsuit off, but started cramping in my right calf, then my left hamstring into my arse. I planned on wearing socks on the bike and run, but when i started bending over got bad cramps in my stomach. Not GI, muscle cramps in the abs. When it seemed like the day might be shot, i stood by my bike breathing and settling down to reassess for what seemed like 1/2 an hour but must have been about 2 minutes. Managed to get my bike shoes on without the socks and get moving down the road.

Nothing in T1, fix the swim.

The bike started with a lot of pain, a shooting pain from my butt to left knee (felt a lot like my old sciatica but i knew that wasnt it) and the fingers of my right hand were cramping into claws. These things settled down by about 20 minutes in and I was able to focus more on riding.
HR - I couldn't get it down and averaged zone 5 for 56 miles. I knew I was being set up for a terrible 13.1 run, but there was nothing to be done. Taking it easy on the hills would have only made them last longer.
I started feeling better sometime in the mid-30s but it didn't last too long. At around mile 40 I bent down to sip from my aero bottle and my abs cramped up again, pretty much no more aerobars for the rest of the ride. After this, I started getting a little punchy but mostly kept my wits about me. A few times I changed gears in the wrong direction (ouch) and popped my chain once. It only cost a minute or so, but going from a standing stop on a hill is discouraging.
Overall, this is a very nice course. One loop, scenic, and even the "rough" parts of the road aren't too rough. Directions were great. So was traffic control and even bright tape around potholes. some of the course is newly paved and felt great on the downhill and few flat parts, like riding on a cloud compared to what I'm used to.
Nutrition - I think i was spot on with this. Every 30 minutes, took a couple squirts of my homemade GU and just drank water. Refilling the aerobottle worked well until I couldn't bend down to it any more to drink.


Same old, same old. Train much more

This wasn't so bad. I was cramping some getting off of the bike, so walked it in and took it easy.

I had a secret goal to run this in the low 9:xx, but such is life...
I felt okay starting out but had very rubbery legs. Had a Gel to start and another at the first aid station, but that was too much. After 3 miles my stomach starting hurting, so laid off of the calories for maybe six more miles. When the stomach starting hurting my time kept creeping up. For the first half of the run, I couldn't keep my HR down and for the second half I couldn't keep it up. My legs just wouldn't move fast enough to tax the heart.
Walking - I noticed that I kept playing leapfrog with a 59 y/o man with a 2x m-dot on his calf. He was walking the hills and we were at the same pace, so I started walking the steeper hills. I'm really glad I did, or the day could have ended up walking the entire last few miles. The hill at mile 12.5 is just plain mean...
At mile 8 the dislocated shoulder started in on me, so my right arm just dangles making my run look like a brain-eating zombie. I'm glad it held out this long. In January, it would go dead after about 10 minutes of running, even without the swim and bike before. I did clean up my form for the last .25 mile for appearances.
I love that Rev3 let's your family cross with you. Eileen had the big kids at the start of the chute so I grabbed them to run in with me through the mud, after checking that I had no one on my tail.

Not much run specific. I was set up for a hard run before I ever started. Spend more time swimming and biking. And embrace the walk, might need more of that in AZ. It used to be that if I walked, I was pretty much done and couldn't really start running again. I did better on that at Quassy and should probably make it part of the training routine.

Went around the park with the fam. Got woozy just riding the carousel. I was kind of jealous of the folks getting a massage and E was the first to suggest that I get in that line, but I figure standing in the sun for 2 hours was enough for the kids without waiting for me to get a rubdown. E brought me a sandwich and they seemed to have some nice fare for the athletes, but I couldn't eat anything until around 8:00pm, when I went to town on some takeout Chinese.


I am very happy with my actual execution at the race, give what it was and where I am with training. The fact is that I was undertrained for this event and risked a total meltdown at a few points. I've been able to ramp up my volume a great deal after busy season ended, but I should have had longer time at higher volumes since I'm not a long time athlete.


These guys put on a great race. I can't say enough about the staff, volunteers, cops, spectators. If I ever do this race again, it will be the Oly since, unless I change careers to one that allows for early season training. But I will definately try to schedule more Rev3 events (Maine, Williamsburg?)