Half Full REV - Half 70 Mile Distance - Triathlon1/2 Ironman


View Member's Race Log View other race reports
Ellicott City, Maryland
United States
REVOLUTION3 Triathlon
48F / 9C
Precipitation
Total Time = 5h 24m 12s
Overall Rank = 25/221
Age Group = M 40-44
Age Group Rank = 7/33
Pre-race routine:

Revolution3 and the Ulman Cancer Fund for Young Adults Welcomes You to Howard County, Maryland!

Welcome triathletes, volunteers, spectators and families to the Rev3 Half Full Triathlon! We are in our third year with the Ulman Cancer Fund for Young Adults and the Half Full Triathlon and this is the first year that the Half Full is part of the Rev3 Series. We are more than excited to be working with the Ulman Cancer Fund and Half Full. You will see that the Half is not quite a 70.3 but is instead a 70.0 this is to represent the 70,000 young adults affected by cancer every year. 70,000 is the estimated number of young adults diagnosed with cancer each year. This is a statistic that needs people’s attention. The Half Full Triathlon will help make the young adult cancer issue a priority and together we can improve the 70,000 statistic. With every mile you race you’re helping support this population of young people battling cancer.

Thank you for choosing Revolution3 Half Full Triathlon.

Our goal at Rev3 is to maximize the enjoyment for everyone at the race, and this includes the spectators! So, whether you’re competing, volunteering, or spectating, we intend to make it a memorable experience. If we can do anything to help you, please let any staff member know and we will do our best to make your experience a better one. Be sure to read the enclosed Schedule of Events that includes course overviews, Expo details, fun kid’s activities, and ALL of the important race day details. On behalf of the Revolution3 Triathlon team enjoy being a part of Rev3 Half Full and thanks again for adding Revolution3 to your race calendar. Make Rev3 Half Full more than just a race. Make it an EXPERIENCE!

Respectfully,
The Revolution3 Team &
The Ulman Cancer Fund for Young Adults

I decided to do this race very late in the game but after all the hub bub about Lance doing the race and it was the right thing to do the race and support Ulman so I got in at the end. Drove down at 2:00Pm on Saturday after doing a cycling class and mowing the lawn and packing. Got to the Expo and checked in around 4:45pm, and racked my bike. Got my front brakes adjusted since the mechanics were still there and there was no line. COnsidering the wet conditions forecast that was a very smart move. Headed to Lausby, found my hotel, got a pre race dinner of Chick-a Fila and watched some college football before calling home and hitting the hay early.

Got up at 4:30am. Had mixed my bottles the night before and only had my race stuff so other then brushing my teeth and getting dressed didn't have much to do. Drove back to Centennial Park, got bad directons from my phone (defaulted to Ellicott city instead of the park which it found yesterday, but still got to the park by 5:30 ish, got a spot to park, and brought my stuff to transition. Had a bottle of Restore in the car and drnk that for breakfast. Set up and then had an hour. Pumped up my tires before the crowds, layed my stuff out. Didn't want to get out of my sweats since it was pretty cold but eventually did so about 20 min before getting tossed out of transition. Had a Kona Punch Powerbar gel and washed it down with some Perform from my bike bottle. Then headed to the potta potties and down to the starting area.
Event warmup:

Since the HIM didn't start until 8:30 with Lance and the Pros, Collegates, and Olympic AGs went first, and it was a TT start there really was no warm up. Listened to Mr Ulman speak, the national anthem and then went to the stage to sit down and watch the start. Started raining right before Mr Ulman took the mic. Basically sat a shivered in my wetsuit then hit the potta potties for a second time, got my uniform caught in my wetsuit but was save by a nice lady who fixed it and zipped me up. Thanks. Finally they called for the HIM survivors wave and since we were the second wave I headed towards the start corral. Head a few words of wisdom from Lance (still didn't actually see him), then they were off and we were shuffled forward in groups of 2. down to the water.
Swim
  • 29m 37s
  • 1640 yards
  • 01m 49s / 100 yards
Comments:

Got off to a nice start, and the water wasn't too cold. Nice run into the water and got off to a nice quick tempo to get warmed up. With the water about 20 degrees warmer than the air it felt good. Unlike Wisconsim (my only other time trial start, I didn't feel like I was getting freight trained by everyone behind me. Kept a nice smooth stoke and nice position in the water. Navigated well on the way out but drifted inside on the down leg and had to cut the buoy very tight. Finally started seeing people from the other waves towards the end and then I swam at the multi collored buoys at the boat ramp which were there to keep you from going too far so had to make my way back left to the ramp. Not a terrible swim
What would you do differently?:

The end was a mess as I added a ton of extra time and distance with my poor navigation. With no warm up and little swimming this year it wasn't too bad. Got to where I wanted to be and didn't use too much energy.
Transition 1
  • 06m 24s
Comments:

Long run up the hill and then up to transition on the grass. Nice carpetted run was good. Got to my spot and took my time. Got my wetsuit off with no major issues. Put on my glasses and ring, arm warmers, then my bike jersey, load my gels and second bottle into my back pockets, got my number on, wool cap and then helmet, shoes and socks, and then grabbed my bike then stopped and pulled on my gloves.

Relatively slow time but actually made up ground. Up to 11th from 14th,
What would you do differently?:

SHould have brought something to cover my stuff. Was going to fold the towel over but didn't seem like it was going to rain before the start and of course it did. Did stack it so it wasn't as wet but suck to put on a wet bike jersey over an wet uniform from the swim. Plus it was muddy.
Bike
  • 2h 57m 27s
  • 56 miles
  • 18.93 mile/hr
Comments:

Started out and was already wet and cold. Took it easy at first pacing behind a Team fight person shifting through the gears and getting some heat in my legs as we climbed out of the park. Once I settled in I found a good gear and started moving forward. Reeling and passed my pacer and got going. Each downhill was really chilling as the wind and the wet just made me feel rotten. Had a Mid Maryland Tri Club guy pass me and we went back and forth throughout the ride. I was the better climber and he was flying on the decents, so we balenced out well. Was very temtative on the decents and turns breaking to a crawl, but accelerated out of them well. Have a few more folks join us in our back and forth including a team fight guy and a Foxy Racing guy. With the time trial start, after about 10 miles I really slowed down passing people except for some of the folks doing the Olympic we were catching. The spray from the bike in front of you kept you from getting or staying in the drafting zone which was good. Finally started to warm up by the end of the first loop and didn't decide to cut things short as I was seriously considering for the first 15 miles or so. The volunteers and aid station crews did a great job out in the cold and wet but they kept cheering us on and hooting and holoring. The second loop I started to work harder on the hills and started to dispatch my crew of back and forth people finally loosing the MMTC guy at around mile 40. Picked off a few people every so often during the second half and noone came up from behind over the last 20 miles. My back started bothering me during the second loop so I was sitting up alot. Nutrition wise I did a really bad job. Grabbed a gel at about 15 miles and a big drink after the first loop, but over the last few climbs my legs felt like I was going to cramp so I drank some more around mile 40-50 but got way behind.
What would you do differently?:

Due to the constant rolling hills and rain and cold, I hardly drank at all. I almost lost control getting my gel and putting the wrap back, and never used my second bottle. Felt like I did a good job pacing and going fairly consistantly and it paid off on the run.
Transition 2
  • 02m 15s
Comments:

Long trot from the road up to transition. Unloaded my bottle and gels, and changed my shoes grabbed my hat and went. Stopped at the transition porta potty and took care of that before heading out to the run. Picked up a bunch of spot up to 7th in AG and 25th overall.
What would you do differently?:

Not much
Run
  • 1h 48m 28s
  • 13.1 miles
  • 08m 17s  min/mile
Comments:

Started out feeling a bit rough for the first couple miles and felt like I had a rock in my shoe. Had three people go past me in the second mile, then a fourth right before the park. Despite getting passed, my legs started to come in and I was feeling better. Drank the gatorade on course each aid station. Going downhill on the back side I started reeling the forth guy back in. Gained alot of ground back up to him and was right on him as we completed lap one. He picked it up for a bit holding me off until after we passed the inspiration ridge and started up the first hill in the park on lap two. Went past him and didn't look back. Towards the end of the first loop we started catching people from the Olympic (felt bad for them 30+ min head start and 28 extra miles on the bike and I was still satching them). On the second lap I was lapping people on their first lap which felt good but was mentally hard since I wanted to ease up. Worked through it and actually ran a negative split up to the time line. Coming back I was pushing it, but started really tighting up and shortening my stride. Had two relays pass me on the way back on the second loop which was depressing but it was easy to spot who was 67 miles into a race and who was on a relay 4 miles in. Looks totally different. Could hear two people coming up behind me over the last two miles but I held them off over the big hill and past the 12 mile sign but they caught me right outside the park. It was the 5th place woman in a tema fight outfit and a 51 year old guy. He was coaching/encouraging her along and they obviously had been running together a while. She was hurting. I tried to match there pace but fell in behind them so where could make the turns. We caught a more Team Fight person they both seemed to know on the end of his first lap. Kept them both fairly close and let them open up some ground in the chute so I got a good photo. Head my spot from start to end 7th AG and 25th OA, so the people who passed me early were already ahead of me as I started in front of them, and I must have put enough time on the fourth guy over the last loop to offset the last two. Great run.
What would you do differently?:

Not much other that eat/ drink more on the bike to keep legs under me but after a hilly ride and hilly run I sort of expect to tighten up. PRed my HIM run by about 4 min and the mystery rock in my shoe disappeared after I stopped thinking about it.
Post race
Warm down:

Got my medal and water and tshirt. Hobbled over to the NormaTec tent and got in the boots for 20 min. After crashing in the chair for a while started to get cold in all my wet clothes. Changed out of my jersey and uniform and got a dry finisher's shirt on. Got done and passed on more time to get dry and some sweats on. Waddled up to transition and got changed and packed up. Took my stuff and bike to the car and loaded up then headed back for some food (chicken sausage) and looked at the results. Pumped up about the run and shocked at the PR, then bummed out that in addition to the PR I made a time better than the USAT Halfmax qualifying standard but since this isn't a USAT sanctioned race I didn't qualify. :(

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Lets see cold morning, raining, wet road, freezing cold on the bike, numb feet, terrible nutrition execution ( barely drank and only 1 gel on bike and only gatorade on run) and a very hilly course. And of course I PRed!!! Started cramping at the end of the bike but somehow pulled out a HIM PR run, don't know what clicked but whatever it was it sure did.

18th HIM and ended up PRing by close to 2 min on one of the hardest courses (Not as hard as Black Bear, but comparable to Quazzy). WOW!

Event comments:

Great event! Weather condtions made it very demading on SUnday but the day before it was 70 and sunny, so bad luck there but nothing within the control of the RD. Having Lance Armstrong there was really cool, but rest of the cancer survivors high fiving you going into the water and at the finish really drove home what this event was all about. Great job by the volunteers, Police, and Army hang out with us in the rain making sure we were safe!


Profile Album


Last updated: 2012-09-28 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:29:37 | 1640 yards | 01m 49s / 100yards
Age Group: 14/33
Overall: 93/221
Performance: Average
Time Trial Start
Suit: Hurricane Cat 5 Full Wetsuit.
Course: Loop of the lake starting at the far side of the lake out around a little island to the end and back to the boat ramp. Long run to Transition.
Start type: Run Plus: Time Trial
Water temp: 67F / 19C Current: Low
200M Perf. Good Remainder: Average
Breathing: Good Drafting: Bad
Waves: Navigation: Average
Rounding: Average
T1
Time: 06:24
Performance: Average
Cap removal: Average Helmet on/
Suit off:
Wetsuit stuck? No Run with bike: No
Jump on bike: No
Getting up to speed: Average
Biking
02:57:27 | 56 miles | 18.93 mile/hr
Age Group: 8/33
Overall: 29/221
Performance: Good
Wind: Some
Course: Two loops through the Howard county country side. Very scenic course and lots of rolling hills. About 1600 feet of climbing in the half. No majorly steep climbs or very technical decents but the wet conditions made them alot more nervewracking.
Road: Rough Wet Cadence:
Turns: Average Cornering: Average
Gear changes: Below average Hills: Good
Race pace: Hard Drinks: Not enough
T2
Time: 02:15
Overall: Good
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike
Running with bike Good
Racking bike Good
Shoe and helmet removal Good
Running
01:48:28 | 13.1 miles | 08m 17s  min/mile
Age Group: 7/33
Overall: 25/221
Performance: Good
First 3.1 miles 25:32 (8:14/mile) Second 6.7 miles 54:30 (8:08/mile) Last 3.3 miles 28:27 (8:37/mile)
Course: Two loop course thru the park, with two hills, then onto the roads for some rolling hills, through anoth park/ nature area to the other side, then road pack to Centennial Park with 2 hills including a Cat 5 three tiered hard hill. Then through the park past the finish, then on the trail over to the boat dock to meet up with first loop.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 4
Physical exertion [1-5] 5
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge Too hard
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Average
Race evaluation [1-5] 5