Rev3 Olympic Race Report

June 5th was my first of three high priority races of the year.  The race was the Olympic distance Rev3 race, held at Quassy Amusement Park in Middletown, CT.  The distances were 1500 meter swim (0.9 miles), 40km bike (24.8 miles), and 10km run (6.2 miles).  This was the culmination of my 16 week training program and included a full taper.  The target time was sub 3 hrs.

 

I came into the race feeling a bit flat after recent training sessions.  I was feeling generally very fatigued and my workouts weren’t particularly sharp.  However, I decided to keep my faith in the training plan.

 

The day before the race I went for a practice swim at the venue, as I had not been able to do any open water practice swims.  I had been able to try the wetsuit out in a pool.  The practice swim went well, but afterwards I got a severe neck spasm which left me unable to move my head.  I was really concerned about being able to race effectively the next day.  Ultimately, I ended up getting a professional massage which loosened it up significantly.  I slept well during the night and awoke with the neck at 90-95%; it wouldn’t be an issue during the race.  However, initially it looked like weather may be an issue.  Here is the radar prior to the start (race location in the middle of the screen).

Ultimately, it rained lightly while setting up transition but we missed the heavy thunderstorms.  By the time the swim was starting the sun was beginning to break through.

 

The swim course was perfect - flat water and no wind.  Large buoys marked the course, making sighting a breeze.  The course was a clockwise triangle with 2 turns.

I was the second wave off.  I positioned myself on the outsight and in the middle of the pack.  It was a good spot for me to start, I was in the right pace area and avoided the inevitable scrum at the start on the inside.

 

In the pic below I’m on the top row, 2nd from left, breathing to right:

I’ll also link to the professional photographs – they got some good ones.

http://www.backprint.com/view_user_photo.asp?PID=bp%1EyFu&EVENTID=68865&PWD=&ID=90020327 (arm on bottom left)

 

 

The swim went well.  I didn’t get the battering I was expecting.  I thought most people in my wave who weren’t the top guys did a worse then average job of sighting.  I thought my sighting was quite good.  I eventually made my way over to the “wrong” side of the buoys on the first leg which was less crowded and from my vantage point more direct, as the intermediate buoys didn’t seem inline with the turn buoy.  After the first turn many people veered way off to the right, again following the intermediate buoys.  It was very obvious they had drifted closer to shore.  I made a beeline for the next turn buoy and had all kinds of real estate in the water.  My direct line was confirmed when the leaders from the next wave came by me as opposed to where my age group was swimming.  Rounding the last turn buoy it was mayhem, lots of people swimming in every direction, even the wrong way.  I checked my watch and saw that at 2/3 distance I was on track for a quicker then expected swim.  I did end up swimming more breast stroke then I planned, but I felt I needed to use it to sight.

At the exit of the swim, in the pic below I’m the arm above the guy with the green cap:

 

Professional pic coming out of the water:

http://www.backprint.com/view_user_photo.asp?PID=bp%1EyFu&EVENTID=68865&PWD=&ID=90020600

 

T1 was a long uphill run to the transition area, but Rev3 did a great job of carpeting the entire run and transition area.  Had a pretty quick transition, but made an error forgetting to take my energy gels with me!  I had put them in my running shoes to keep everything dry during setup and forgot to move them back to my cycling shoes.  This made me very nervous on the bike as I wouldn’t be able to get my gel until on the run.

 

Out on to the bike and I tried to immediately settle into my pace.  I had pre-ridden the course 2 times and I knew that there were several long hills and many shorter steeper ones.  Shot of the elevation profile.

 

Professional pics heading out on the bike and cresting one of the hills:

http://www.backprint.com/view_user_photo.asp?PID=bp%1EyFu&EVENTID=68865&PWD=&ID=90021829

http://www.backprint.com/view_user_photo.asp?PID=bp%1EyFu&EVENTID=68865&PWD=&ID=90023412

 

I was getting passed by some of the faster folks from later fields and I passed some slower people from fields ahead of me.  I didn’t ride too aggressively as I knew the 10k run would be what would decide a good versus bad result for me. 

 

T2 was pretty quick and then it was time for the feared run.  Rev3 seems to pride itself on having a difficult course and the run was no exception.  There were 3 major hills on the course.  I was glad I had driven the course the day before as it would have been a nasty shock had I not known what to expect.

 

Just starting the run:

 

I started off quickly and then dialed it back in the first mile to what I hoped would be a sustainable pace.  The first mile went by in 8:31 and the second in 9:05.  Then came the first hill.  My goal became only to keep running, no matter how slow.  Many were walking – I took satisfaction in knowing I was moving faster.  And I knew that as long as I maintained 10:00 min/mile I would achieve the 3 hr goal.  The third and fourth miles had 2 of the hills and they were 10:11 and 10:14 respectively.  Mile 5 was better as it was flat and downhill, good for 8:54.  I got into a good rhythm with a few other runners and I just tried to keep pace and find someone on the horizon to try to catch.  It was one of these people that I reeled in all the way up the final long grind up to the 6 mile mark.  Mile 6, up the hill, was 9:46.  As I closed in my effort was rewarded when I glanced at his leg and found out he was in my age group.  Even better the professional photographer captured the pass:

http://www.backprint.com/view_user_photo.asp?PID=bp%1EyFu&EVENTID=68865&PWD=&ID=90024033

 

From there it was a sprint to the finish line, less than a 1/4 mile to go.  This final sprint was at 7:47 pace.  I crossed the line well ahead of my target time, beating it by over 3 minutes. 

http://www.backprint.com/view_user_photo.asp?PID=bp%1EyFu&EVENTID=68865&PWD=&ID=90026709

http://www.backprint.com/view_user_photo.asp?PID=bp%1EyFu&EVENTID=68865&PWD=&ID=90026710

 

Walking thru the chute after the race. 

The heat had increased significantly on the run and I was looking for some shade and relief from the heat.  I ended up getting back in the water which was refreshing.

 

All in all, I’m happy with the result.  I beat the goal and felt like I had a pretty good race on a tough course.  I finished nearly in the top half of my competitive age group and top third overall.  Here are the final stats:

 

 

	Time	Distance	Pace	AG Rank	AG %	Overall Rank	Overall %
# Entries				40		381
Swim	28:44	0.9 miles	1:59/mile	18	45%	147	39%
T1	2:35
Bike	1:24:54	25.8 miles	18.23 mph	19	48%	93	24%
T2	1:27
Run	58:44	6.2 miles	9:28/mile	30	75%	188	49%
TOTAL	2:56:25			22	55%	128	34%