Rev3 Cedar Point - Full Rev - TriathlonFull Ironman

I was concerned about the swim because my practice swim Friday was a disaster. I did one lap in 38 minutes which was fine with me, but it really tired me out. The first 100 yards were shallow, so you walked at the start. Once I started swimming I felt great. The bouys were perfectly spread out and large, making sighting a piece of cake. I just got in a groove for both laps and enjoyed the swim. There was very little contact or opportunity for drafting. Much different in these respect from Lake Placid which I did in 2008. My stopwatch stopped at 13 minutes for some reason, so I never knew my swim time until the race was over. I was about 10 minutes faster than I thought

Nothing

Ok transition

Nothing

Biking is my weakness. I was on the bike for 8 hr 8 min in the rain at Lake Placid in 2008. I hate and dread getting on a bike at any time. This time the plan was to finish the damn thing in under 7 hrs. I found the course to be pretty easy. Flat, no hills. It was lonely however. There were long stretches where I saw nobody. I got in a groove, shut my mind off for most ofthe bike and just pedaled. It seemed like I was riding into the wind the entire time, but that may have been because of the spoke that I broke around mile 30 that caused my wheel to wobble and rub against the brake for the last 82 miles. I heard an ominous sound around the 30 mile mark. I can barely change a tire, so any mechanical issues are probably the end of the race for me. I figured the prudent course was just to pretend it never happened. Around the 80 mile mark a fellow racer told me that my back wheel was really wobbling. This is when I started freaking out - afraid that my wheel would explode somewhere in the final 30 miles. I began to feel better again once I got 5 miles from the finish - I was close enough to carry my bike in from there. Thankfully I finished. When I got off the bike at the finish and spun the tire, it only revolved 3/4 of the way before stopping on the brake.

Not brake a spoke

I felt good getting off the bike. All the bricks from training really paid off, because my legs felt really fresh. My unrealistic goal for the run was under 4 hrs. My secondary goal was to beat the 4 hr 10 min my brother ran in his latest stand alone marathon. I started out fast - on pace for about a 3 hr 48 marathon at the half way mark. Once I hit 13.1 I decided to allow myself to walk the aid stations. This is really where the race gets away from you if you let it, and it did for me. I walked the aid stations through mile 20, and it seemed to make me feel better, but then the wheels fell off. With 5 miles to go I could have still run a sub 4 with 10 min miles, but my brain wouldn't allow my legs to move that fast. The brain kept saying "run 6 telephone poles and walk the 7th", and that is what I did to the finish.

Know the course a little better I guess. I thought the run was poorly marked and I went of course about 5 times. I actually ran about 26.6 miles, making this my first ultra

walked around a little


Nothing really. I may have been able to go 15 min faster on the bike without a broken spoke


I enjoyed the race, but I was expecting more based on all the hype I have heard about Rev3. The volunteers were great and I thank them all for giving up their time, but it seemed like they may not have been trained up on the race specifics by Rev 3. On the run I went off course several times and none of the volunteers stopped me. I realize that it is my responsibility to know the course, but there were a ton of little turns on the run. Also I only saw 1 or 2 porta potties on the bike. Maybe I missed the rest, but if not,there needs to be more. When I came into the finishers shoot the race official tried to convince me that I had only done one loop and needed to do another - not exactly what you want to hear as you are finishing. The medals have the run distance as 13.1 instead of 26.2. Not much of anything food wise at the finish. All little things, but not even close organizationally to the Ironman branded Lake Placid race I did in 2008. There, you truly felt like a rock star. I will still do a Rev 3 race again though. The little things they missed are probably due to this being only the third year. The effort and love of the sport are there with them even if all small details aren't yet.