Rev3 Williamsburg Intermediate Race Report

Race Report: Rev3 Williamsburg Intermediate Distance:

According to my training plans, I had to race an Intermediate Triathlon 6/23/2013. I had heard that Rev3 put on great races and knew that I wanted to check out the Virginia area in hopes of landing a teaching job down South for the 2013-2014 school year. When I heard that Rev3 Williamsburg was holding an intermediate race on the exact day I needed, the perfect opportunity presented itself. Nonetheless, it was the weekend of my buddy's birthday who is currently living in Virginia Beach.
 I traveled down with two friends on Friday morning and as we were in no rush to get anywhere, it took us 12.5 hours including stops. A painful experience compared to the 10.5 hours it took us to get home from Virginia Beach, which is further South. When we got into Williamsburg, we forgot that you have to request non-smoking rooms when not in New York. After walking into what I can only describe as an ashtray, we promptly checked out of the hotel, packed up the car, and settled into a classy motel charging $39.99/night. The motel was a short drive from the race site and turned out to be a great location.

The plan for the race was to show up, throw down 100% effort, and see where the fitness was as I prepare for Musselman and Mont-Tremblant. I knew I could swim with whoever showed up and form there on out, it would be a matter of staying away from the runners on the bike and marking anybody that tried to get away on the bike or run. Sounds easy enough, on paper.

Swim: 0:21:43 (1 AG / 3 OA):
We sat on the shore of the beautiful James River waiting for the start of the Olympic race.

As with most races of this distance, I was expecting a very fast swim, at least from the gun. There was a considerable amount of dolphin diving at the beginning of the course as it took a while to get deep enough to swim. Through the first 200m there was a good group of about 5-7 swimmers. I sat in the middle of this group and kept an eye on the front of the group, ready to cover anybody that made a move. People started shifting around and jockeying for position. I am extremely comfortable in the water and being on the larger side, for a triathlete, the bumping and thrashing doesn't bother me one bit. The swimmers that tried to cut in front of me quickly realized I wasn't about to budge and decided to drop back. Through the first buoy at 500m our group was down to 3-4 swimmers. Around this turn, the lead swimmer decided to make a move which I almost missed seeing. I quickly got around the swimmer in front of me and started making a move to close the gap. I noticed the swimmer settle back in and I made a push to get on his feet but he had put too much ground on me around the buoy. Instead of wasting a ton of energy trying to close the gap, I just held a steady distance behind him as he wasn't putting any more ground on me. I knew I would catch him on the LONG run to T1 or in transition as long as I could stay within 15 seconds and stay comfortable. The rest of the swim was uneventful and soon enough we were approaching shore. I don't know why people like to throw away time but the lead swimmer decided to stand up in water above his waist and start wading into shore. I dolphin dove up to him very easily and thought "well, that made closing the gap really easy. Thanks!" We reached shore together and stripped our wetsuits to waist level. I decided it was time to start the mind games. I caught my breath and briskly jogged past him as we left the lake and in my calmest and most cheerful tone said "Nice swim, bud" and ran past him without looking back.

T1 0:02:32 (Including the longest run of my life):
Besides being the longest transition of my life, T1 went perfectly. I guess Rev3 decided to make up for cutting the run course short by 0.2 miles by making the run to T1 0.25 miles long.

Bike 1:00:04 (1 AG / 2 OA):
I got out of T1 on a mission to put as much time as possible between myself and the pure runners who typically aren't as strong on the bike. I knew I could handle a HR of 170 bpm on average for the ride and dialed my HR in right at 165-170.

I rode the first 12 miles solo until a young kid from Virginia Beach caught and passed me. After a quick survey, I decided to change the gameplan a little bit. This kid was pretty large and I guessed that if I had to put money on it, I'd favor myself in the run. From that point on, I decided to pace off of him and keep checking back to make sure nobody was bridging up to us, a dangerous game in a wave start. Fortunately, this allowed my speed to increase with a decreased HR as I wasn't stressing over being caught. The catch had happened and now it was time to race which was far less pressure for me. The there cyclist was very strong and tried to make a few moves but I was able to cover them pretty easily thanks to my new bike fitness, thank you QT2 Systems! I could tell the cyclist was frustrated that he couldn't drop me and I made sure to make things look effortless every time he looked back. The rest of the ride continued this way and I started to prepare myself for a monster run. Continuing with the mind games, I smiled as I took over the lead heading into T2, letting him know that whatever he thought was going on throughout the ride, that I was in control despite being second. I was very happy to finish the ride with an average speed of 24.0 mph on a beautiful rolling course.

T2 0:01:05:
I wanted to throw socks in since I hadn't raced in my new Mizuno Musha 4s yet but didn't have time as the other fella was quick in transition and left me chasing him out.

Run 0:38:21 (1 AG / 1 OA):
Exiting transition, I had about 15 seconds to close down on the race leader. I had a guy on a mountain bike pull up beside me and tell me "Hello, I'm Rob. I'm your guy for the rest of the run." It was extremely exciting to have a lead bike and I wanted Rob to be at the front of the race.

The goal was to average 180 bpm on the run and I knew my HR would rise in the last ten minutes of the race so the goal to keep it 170-175 in the early stages of the run. I was very happy to see that I was running 6:00 per mile at 165-170 bpm and knew that this was enough for now. The gap started to come down and closed within the first mile. I raised my HR to 170 as I passed the lead athlete to ensure that he would chose not to go with me. I ticked through the first two miles at 12:02 and reached the 5k in 19:10 including the largest uphill portion of the run. The big hill from mile 2-3 beat my legs up a bit and I was slowed to about 6:30 pace for the rest of the run. I could see that some of the pure runners were starting to work their way through the field once I reached the turn around at the first out and back. I knew that half the race was over and it was time to go to work. The HR started to rise quite a bit, a great sign so deep into the race. I was able to bring it up to 180-185 and settle into a pace for a few miles. We ran past the finish line and there was a 0.4 mi out and back that went downhill and turned around to come back uphill to the finish. I knew that if I could hammer down the hill without being caught, that all I would have to do is jack the HR through the roof and get home. On the uphill to the finish, I reached 191 bpm which is just about a max for me. The only time I have seen higher since I started Ironman training was in a pure running race of 8k or less. Certainly a new high for 10k at the end of an olympic. It was great to come through the finishing chute solo and wait for the resuts of the other wave to see if I had won my first big Olympic distance tri. Results were funny but it turns out that 2:03:45 was fast enough to win it that day. The weather held out great for us and I couldn't have been more pleased with the results.

Things are looking right on track for Musselman and Mont-Tremblant. I cannot thank Tim Snow and QT2 Systems enough for teaching me what endurance training is really about this year. I look forward to more PR and fun racing. I also would like to thank my friends and family for their understanding and support as I make sacrifices each week. I could not make it through the long, tiring, blocks of training without being joined by my awesome training partners and friends. I assure you that your efforts are in the back of my mind as I suffer in the late stages of a race. My trust in my run form is courtesy of RunSmart and the great work they are doing helping athletes become more efficient and less injury prone. Finally, I want to give a big shout out to my sponsor X2 Performance for believing in what I'm doing as they send me to Ironman Florida in November. Be sure to check this company out and use the coupon code "Daniel" at checkout for a $5 discount. I look forward to racing on the X2 Performance Triathlon Team for the remainder of the season.

*Places reflect standing within the race at the end of each leg, not ranking based on split time.