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%

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Jason – Week 12 – Rev 3 Olympic Training

Monday – 1 hr 20 min bike

 

Tuesday – 1575 yard swim

 

Wednesday – 1 hr 30 min group bike ride

 

Thursday – OFF

 

Friday – 31 min run

 

Saturday – 1450 yard swim

 

Sunday – RACE – SUDBURY SPRING SPRINT – 400 yard swim, 25 min bike, 20 min run

 

Week Summary

Swim – 3425 yards

Bike – 3hr 15 min

Run – 51 min

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Jason – Week 11 – Rev 3 Olympic Training

Monday – 2325 yard swim

 

Tuesday – 55 min run

 

Wednesday – 1800 yard swim

 

Thursday – OFF

 

Friday – OFF

 

Saturday – 50 min bike

 

Sunday – RACE – GREENWICH BIATHLON – 40 min run, 26 min bike

 

Week Summary

Swim – 4125 yards

Bike – 1hr 16 min

Run – 1 hr 35 min

 

Race report to follow for the Greenwich Biathlon.  Not a great week of training.  Cold and windy weather kept me limited to swimming earlier in the week, and off on Thursday.  Friday got stuck in the city for work and didn’t get home in time for a workout, Saturday couldn’t do a tough workout with the race the next day.  Hoping to get back on track next week.

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Jason – Week 10 – Rev3 Olympic Training

Monday – OFF

 

Tuesday – 1800 yard swim (main set: 5 x 200)

 

Wednesday – 1 hr bike (main set: 4 x 3 min intervals)

 

Thursday – 40 min run (main set: 10 x 1 min intervals)

 

Friday – OFF

 

Saturday – 1 hr 45 min bike (steady state)

 

Sunday – OFF

 

Week Summary

Swim – 1800 yards

Bike – 2 hr 45 min

Run – 40 min

 

Missed a swim and a running workout this week, but it was a hectic week.  I think I may have found a solution to the ongoing running issues with the new shoes.

 

Still waiting for the race pictures to get uploaded before I post the Wrentham race report.

 

This coming Sunday is the Greenwich Biathlon where 2 of the 3 Tri Guys will be racing.

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Jason – Week 9 – Rev3 Olympic Training

Monday – 40 min run (threshold intervals – 18 x 30 seconds)

 

Tuesday – 1 hr 10 min bike (steady state)

 

Wednesday – OFF

 

Thursday – 1 hr 10 min bike (long hills – 3 x 5 min)

 

Friday – 1850 yard swim (base and lactate threshold intervals – 5 x 100 and 7 x 75)

 

Saturday – OFF

 

Sunday – RACE – WRENTHAM DUATHLON – 44 min run, 33 min bike

 

Week Summary

Swim – 1850 yards

Bike – 3hr 4 min

Run – 1 hr 13 min

 

Race report to follow for the Wrentham Duathlon.  Pretty solid week, but again missed one swim workout and combined second run workout into race to keep miles low while my foot recovers from the injury.

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Jason – Week 8 – Rev 3 Olympic Training

Monday – 1450 yard swim (base and lactate threshold intervals)

 

Tuesday – OFF

 

Wednesday – 1 hr 10 min bike (lactate threshold intervals)

 

Thursday – OFF

 

Friday – 1300 yard swim (threshold intervals)

 

Saturday – 40 min bike (steady state)

 

Sunday – BRICK – 1 hr 15 min bike and 10 min run (steady state)

 

Week Summary

Swim – 2750 yards

Bike – 3hr 5 min

Run – 10 min

 

 

Halfway thru the program! 

 

This was a scheduled recovery week and had 2 major interruptions to training.  Although it was a lighter volume week, the intensity was higher.

 

After my run last Sunday, which had been my longest and fastest to date at about 6 miles, I developed some top of foot pain on Monday.  Enough that it was painful to wear shoes.  After researching online, I feared a possible stress fracture.  I was able to get an xray on Friday that was negative.  I have switched to my old running shoes and have since run without issue.  Also on Tuesday I had a bit of oral surgery done.  This was more annoying than painful, as the only thing it hampers is the ability to eat normally.  I was able to train the next day, although it was slightly uncomfortable.  We had some unseasonably warm weather, with temps over 90 degrees.  I love the hot weather, so I couldn’t pass up some outdoor training.   I also was able to ride the new tri bike outside for the first time this year.

 

I was really happy with the Sunday brick workout.  I was able to get off the bike and hold an 8:00 min/mi pace straight away.  Hopefully I will be able to execute the same pace at next weeks race.

 

Next week will be my first duathlon of the year, near my hometown in MA.

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Jason – Week 7 – Rev 3 Olympic Training

Monday – OFF (traveling back from CA)

 

Tuesday – 1550 yard swim (fartlek and short sprints)

 

Wednesday – 30 min run (sprints)

 

Thursday – 1 hr 5 min bike (short hill repeats)

 

Friday – 27,000 vertical/50 mile distance snowboarding at Mt Snow

 

Saturday – 1 hr 45 min bike (steady state) – Rev3 Bike Course Recon

 

Sunday – 1 hr run (steady state)

 

Week Summary

Swim – 1550 yards

Bike – 2hr 50 min

Run – 1 hr 30 min

Other – 27k vertical/50 miles snowboarding

 

Saturday I rode the Rev3 Bike course.  As you can see from the profile this is a tough course.  The hill up to Mile 14 is brutally steep.  Looking forwarding to riding a few more times before race day.

 

Also had my best run of the year on Sunday.  6 miles at a respectable pace.

 

 

Snowboarding Report:

Likely the last day of the season.  Went to Mt Snow.  Warm temperatures in the 60’s, but the hill still had great cover on almost every trail.

 

Views from the summit:

 

Weren’t running the Canyon quad, so that area was oddly deserted.

 

This was probably the thinnest trail I saw:

     

Carinthia.  Superpipe and the trail with medium jumps and features.

          

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Jason – Week 6 – Rev 3 Olympic Training

Monday – OFF

 

Tuesday – 1500 yard swim (base intervals)

 

Wednesday – OFF

 

Thursday – OFF

 

Friday – 49 min run (sprints)

 

Saturday – OFF

 

Sunday – 47 min run (steady state)

 

Week Summary

Swim – 1500 yards

Bike – none

Run – 1hr 6 min

Other – none

 

Tough week, as expected, with the trip out to California.

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Jason – Week 5 – Rev 3 Olympic Training

Monday – 1250 yard swim (fartlek)

 

Tuesday – 32 min run (fartlek)

 

Wednesday – 53 min bike (short hills)

 

Thursday – 1400 yard swim (fartlek)

 

Friday – 46 min bike (steady state)

 

Saturday – 29,000 vertical/53 mile distance snowboarding at Killington

 

Sunday – 45 min bike (steady state)

 

Week Summary

Swim – 2650 yards

Bike – 2hr 24 min

Run – 32 min

Other – 29k vertical/53miles snowboarding

 

This was my best week of training so far, due in no small part to the beautiful weather during the week.  I really felt like I followed the plan, with the exception of snowboarding rather than running on Saturday.  Bike distances were slightly shorter than plan although the core of the workout was followed.

 

Snowboarding Report

This is spring riding at its best.  Nice soft snow and warm weather.  Crowds were not too bad either.  Last time I’ll be able to ride the lower Skyship and Ramshead areas on the mountain as they close next weekend.

 

 

The day started out bluebird with a few laps on Superstar and the Needles Eye area.

Took a few laps thru the terrain park and was having trouble getting speed in the soft snow for the jumps.  Also need to work on ollies as I had issues trying to get onto the rails and boxes.  Medium boxes and rails require you to jump onto them rather than ride on. 

  

Got a picture by the sharpshooters which is really cool (but I don’t know how to embed it)

http://photos.sharpshooterimaging.com/pr3/photocard.aspx?pc=755B5BA40359C5EEED239F1BF04D77E0

 

Unbelievably the Squeeze Play woods were very hittable with lots of soft snow and even untracked. 

 

 

Started to cloud up with some threatening skies but made several more runs after lunch on some nice easy trails as the steeper trails were getting heavily moguled and my legs were toast.     

 

Great day out and hoping there will still be snow Easter weekend for more riding.  Next weekend will be in LA to watch Rico at Ironman California 70.3.

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Jason – Week 4 – Rev3 Olympic Training

Monday – OFF

 

Tuesday – OFF

 

Wednesday – 40 min run (fartlek)

 

Thursday – 1050 yard swim (base intervals)

 

Friday – 32 min run (steady state)

 

Saturday – OFF

 

Sunday – 28 min run/5k race

 

Week Summary

Swim – 1050 yards

Bike – 0 min

Run – 1 hr 40 min

Other – none

 

Completed all the run workouts, plus an extra one for the race.  Again missed all bike workouts, but without an indoor trainer it hasn’t been possible to get in rides.  With daylight savings time in effect, should be able to get in rides after work.  Missed a swim workout this week – was planning to get it in on Saturday but will hopefully make it up Monday of week 5.

 

This was a recovery week, so hopefully these missed workouts aren’t dramatically affecting the overall plan.

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Jason – Week 3 – Rev 3 Olympic Training

Monday – 1300 yard swim (base intervals)

 

Tuesday – OFF

 

Wednesday – 40 min run

 

Thursday – 1600 yard swim (fartlek)

 

Friday – 44 miles/31,000 vertical snowboarding at Ascutney

 

Saturday – 43 miles/20,000 vertical snowboarding at Bolton Valley

 

Sunday – 57 miles/35,000 vertical snowboarding at Stowe

 

Week Summary

Swim – 2900 yards

Bike – 0 min

Run – 40 min

Other – 144 miles/86,000 vertical snowboarding

 

Still waiting for daylight savings time to start riding.

 

Snowboarding Report

Day 1 - Ascutney

Never been to Ascutney, but it worked perfectly into the 3 day plan and there had been fairly recent snowfall so decided to give it a shot.  The biggest thing Ascutney has going for it, unlike many other southern Vermont mountains, is it’s proximity to the highway.  Another apparently is the lack of crowds.

 

Views to Killington and Okemo.

 

Immediately on the chairlift it is obvious that there is a lot of interesting terrain, and judging by the number of tracks there is a lot of potential for challenging lines.

Unfortunately, I wouldn’t get to try any of them because the recent snow had frozen solid.  It seems the lack of traffic and temperatures that weren’t quite warm enough meant real hardpack ice-like snow.  They were running a groomer during the day which is pretty unusual, but even fresh tracks in his wake did nothing to loosen the snow.

  

Couple more shots of some trails:

So, Ascutney ended up being a bust.  Had to stick to the same couple of trails.  Positives were proximity to the highway, lack of crowds, interesting terrain, and a fast lift.  Negatives were poor grooming and a lack of truly open trails.  I’d give it another try with better conditions. 

  

 

Day 2 - Bolton

After staying the night in White River Junction, it was off to Bolton Valley and another new resort.  On the way got some a cool shot of Camel’s Hump.

Bolton has a progression terrain park with nice medium features which was right at my level, as well as some big jumps that were not.  Hard to see, but the medium park is behind this large park.

Views were spectacular from the summit.  This is as bluebird as it gets.  Views to Camel’s Hump to the South, across Lake Champlain to White Face to the West (55 miles away) and towards Mt Mansfield/Stowe to the North.

       

Bolton, unlike Ascutney the day before, had excellent grooming.  So the day started out, like many Spring days, on some fast perfectly groomed trails.

 

As the day went on, moved over to the Wilderness Peak area which had some nice low angle trees on the runout.  View towards the summit and back across to the main part of the mountain.

  

As the snow softened further, also hit the Timberline area and a few runs through the summit glades.

 

Wrapped up the day with multiple laps through the medium park hitting all the boxes, rails and jumps on offer.

    

Excellent day at Bolton and can’t wait to return.  It has a mix of nice long runs with some easy trees and a terrain park I can handle.  Best of all its completely uncrowded – and this was as it good as it gets for conditions and weather.  Only minor negative is they have no fast lifts.

           

 

Day 3 – Stowe

Stayed in Williston just outside Burlington on Sat night and Sun morning it was onward to Stowe.  First impressions, now this just “looks” like a mountain.

 

Stowe is known for their “front four” trails which are some of the longest, steepest terrain I've seen.  They open up the quad that serves this area at 7:30 am so it was an early start.  Crowds were very light to start so got a few runs off this chair before it got a little more crowded.

 

Looking across at the Spruce Mt area, which has an expansive beginner area, and down the North Slope trail.

At the bottom of North Slope was Stowe’s medium terrain park.  Notice the difference in size versus Bolton.  These were too big for me, although I did take a few runs through the small terrain park.  First thing in the morning, perfectly groomed.

  

From the top of the Forerunner quad, I traversed over to the Gondola area before it was loading and scored 3rd tracks down Perry Merrill.  Best snow of the day was here early on, buttery sugar which was perfectly groomed out.  Shots of the traverse on Rim Rock and my tracks.

Hit a few runs off the Gondola before it got crowded.  The gondola brings you in just under the summit Mt Mansfield, which is the highest mountain in Vermont.  The terrain above the gondola is very gnarly but I did see some people hiking up the slackcountry later in the day.

Headed back over to the main face and did a run down Toll House which is a super long trail.  Long straight lift back to the main area.

Time for a few more runs on the steeper terrain of the main face.  The traditional front four are too much for me as they are moguled double diamonds, but just to the side trails like Nosedive and Hayride were nice cruisers.  Hit some of the low angle Nosedive glades as well.

 

From the summit, looking at the “Nose” part of the Summit.  The steep entrance to Nosedive, Nosedive glades, and a view back to Nosedive from the Gondola area.

 

In the afternoon, took the transfer gondola across the street for some runs on the Spruce side.  Very soft conditions here as it was baking in the sun.  With three days in the legs it was a lot of effort to make it down, even with easier trails.  Looking back to the summit, the front four, and the main face, and some soft moguls on Upper Smugglers.

 

Spruce has one of the nicest lodges I’ve ever seen, but I didn’t take any pictures of that.  Shot down towards the lodge and the huge beginner area.

   

Great first day at Stowe and I can’t wait to go back.  The length and sustained difficulty of their trails is something I haven’t seen at other mountains.  On a Sunday at least, the crowds were manageable and easily avoided by rotating lifts.  Given that I predominately like to blast down trails and score a lot of vertical, this is a perfect mountain for those sort of days.

 

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