Thursday, May 22, 2014

Rev3 Knoxville Wrap Up

This past weekend I decided to kick off my triathlon season with the Rev3 Knoxville Half Ironman.  Was I 100% prepared for it?  Nope.  Do I have anyone to blame other than myself?  Nope.  Am I happy with the result?  Nope.  Was it the result I deserved?  Probably not, but I'm lucky I ended up where I did.

I ended up finishing 2nd overall in the Half Ironman Distance Race.  The course was tough...especially the run course which was super hilly...not something  I was ready for.  So if you're reading just to see the result...there it is you have it.

Unfortunately, Brit couldn't come with me to this race as I wanted her to stay at home and work on building that little baby instead of travelling 9 hours each way to Knoxville and home...I definitely didn't want to be that far away and have her go into labor.  My mom did go with me though, and we had a nice weekend together.  Knoxville is a cool town...though it is FAR from Chicago.  In Knoxville along with the race it was the "International Biscuit Festival"...something my Mom found extremely entertaining...and there were some seriously large people there.

We arrived on Friday night after a few hiccups on the road travelling there.  I knocked off a quick run in my new Zoot Kiawe 2.0's and felt great (if only I would feel that good running on Sunday).  After a good old southern meal we called it a night.  Saturday was kind of a crummy day, and I knocked out my pre race run, easy spin on my Ceepo Viper all "Zipp"ed out, checked in and swam in my new Zoot Prophet 2.0 wetsuit.  I didn't feel great...though that's pretty typical.

An afternoon of getting set to race, writing L3 Endurance athlete programs and checking my bike in made the day go by quickly.

Race morning was pretty chill.  I arrived early, set up my transition and then went down to the swim start with my mom to hang out.  Prior to the race I was able to chat with a L3 Endurance athlete racing (who ended up winning her AG...YEA!!) 

THE RACE

Swim - 29:xx = I pretty much swam alone...and definitely not all that straight, but I'm alright with it.  I thought I'd be a bit faster, but I was able to come out of the water kind of towards the front.  Whenever I can swim under 30 minutes I'm happy...though still work to do.

T1 - I ran, took off my wetsuit, put on my helmet and sweet new Lake Cycling shoes, and Smith Optics VO2's and was off

Bike - 2:26:xx = I caught the leaders of the race by about mile 6 of the bike...then it was time to make a decision.  Either conserve energy and stay in the vicinity of them...or try to get away.  Well...I decided to try to get away.  I was successful and my Ceepo Viper took great care of me with the fastest bike split of the day by about 4 minutes.  It was a tough course...and pretty cool to have a police escort for most of the ride.  Nutrition was a non-issue thanks to GU...a few GU's and Wish I had a picture of that...sorry I don't.


T2 = I arrived in T2 with a lead...how big I'm not sure.  Time to put on the Zoot Kiawe's, trucker hat, and sweet Smith Optics shades and to run...

Run = UGLY...I'll just leave it at that.  At mile 12 I was run down by the eventual winner and I had nothing to go with him...no one to blame but myself.  I gambled and played the one card I had...lay it down on the bike...and it didn't pan out as I had hoped.  I wouldn't say the run was horrible...but it wasn't a half ironman run pace...more like an ironman run pace. 

I probably got a little more than I deserved with a 2nd place overall on the day...which just makes the motivation increase moving into the rest of the season.  Overall, a solid weekend.  A huge thanks to my sponsors: Zoot, Ceepo, Lake Cycling, Garmin, Smith Optics, GU, Bonk Breaker, PowerTap, Myothon, Speedfil, Fuelbelt and L3 Endurance

My new toy to build thanks to Ceepo

Gu keeps me going...

Knoxville Finish

My mom and I...not sure why it's sideways

Podium





 

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