I started well, despite the hole in my suit. Got to the first bouy quickly, but took too wide a turn around it and ended up a bit off course. Same for the last turn. I was surprised at my swim time, because I didn't feel like this was a particularly good swim for me.

Navigate better. I did a much better job at the Great Hudson River swim the week before in much tougher conditions.

I couldn't find the zipper on my suit and it took me forever to get it off. I felt light headed and dizzy after the swim, so I needed a moment to get myself together before I started getting on my helmet and stuff. Not a good transition for me.

Not sure. That never happened to me before.

This was the hardest course, by far, that I've ever been on. There was never a moment when I wasn't either grinding up a steep or long climb or flying down a hill at breakneck speed. I hit 49+mph at one point! But this bike leg was absolute torture, esp knowing that a hot hilly run course was coming up. I tried as much as I could to conserve something for the run, but you can't coast uphill. I was gassed by the time this was over.

Train on more hills.

This was a little better. Got into my shoes and out of T2 pretty fast. Put on my visor, sunglasses and race number on the way out.

My plan was to run as fast as I could and take walk breaks of :30 to :45 at the aid stations as needed. I started off ok and felt pretty good up to about mile 2. At that point, on the first big hill, my quad started to cramp, and I had to walk for a while before it loosened up. At about mile 3, my calf started to hurt, and at that point, it became a deathmarch. I probably walked almost as much as I ran over the last 3 miles. My legs hurt like he!!, I was having trouble keeping anything down, though I didn't puke, and I had nothing left in the tank after the bike.
I was able to run the last .3 miles or so, and ran down the finish chute with my son, which I've never done before-- that made the last couple of hours of misery feel a lot better.

No way did I give this race the respect it deserved. I didn't do nearly enough due diligence in either my training or my preparation. I should have run and ridden many more hills than I did. I was severely underprepared for this course and I paid for it big-time.

I consider it a huge victory to finish in anything close to 3 hours.

Got a masseuse to work on my calf and quad and felt ok. Went and got some food and then spent the day at the amusement park.


Hills, lack of proper training or preparation.


This was a GREAT event. Incredibly well run, great expo, transition area, swag, post-race, website, everything. Being able to go with my family after the race to the amusement park was fantastic.
I would do another REV3 event in a heartbeat--I'd even do this one again, as much as it hurt.
It was 100% my fault that I wasn't prepared for this race. My one callout is that REV3 does such a great job of being family-friendly that they could easily give one the impression that this is a good beginner's race. It's not. It's a tough, hilly, technical course that can eat you alive if you're not prepared for it.