Monday, September 17, 2012

Cedar Point 70.3 Report - To Rev Or Not To Rev


Last weekend, I set out to complete my very first Rev3 race with the Cedar Point 70.3 triathlon in Sandusky, OH. I had been hearing lots of good things about Rev3; some people even said they thought their races were as good as MDot ones. So I wanted to find out for myself. The other reason I signed up for this race was because my wife.  She grew up in Ohio and spent many a summer riding the rides at the Cedar Point amusement park with her family, and she really was looking forward to going back there.

This race would mark my fourth attempt at a 70.3 distance race. Up to this point I had not experienced a lot of success with the 70.3 distance. My first 70.3 race took place late last year in the Pocono Mountains. Overall, I had a strong race for that one, but the swim portion was canceled due to heavy rains leading up to the race. So I don’t really count that as a full half Ironman distance race. My second attempt took place earlier this year with the Kinetic 70.3. For this race, I had a decent swim but then it went downhill as I was plagued with multiple flats on the bike segment and a piss-poor run giving me a lousy finish time. My third attempt at the 70.3 distance was with the Honu 70.3 in Hawaii. After getting lost in the sun for the swim portion, I failed to meet the swim cutoff time and wasn’t able to finish. My first official DQ.

So going into this race, I had some doubt whether I could pull off a strong half Ironman distance race or not. It didn’t help that I had been struggling with Plantar fasciitis in my left foot and was able to do my first long run without experiencing any significant discomfort just a week before the race.

The race was on Sunday, but we arrived in Sandusky, OH on Friday. My wife’s parents, sister, and brother-in-law were joining us for the weekend to cheer me on and ride the rides at Cedar Point. We stayed in a hotel right next to the park which had its own indoor water park which was interesting.

The weather for the weekend was questionable to start with rain forecasted for Saturday and Sunday. That Friday night, some severe storms moved through the area and lasted into Saturday morning. The storms brought lots of rain and wind. Enough rain and wind in fact that Rev3 canceled the Sprint distance race they were doing on Saturday. Basically, there was too much standing water on the road, and the swim buoys were blown off course. They also had to cancel the practice swim for the half and full Ironman distance races the next day. That morning I got up early and ran three miles on the treadmill in the hotel fitness center. I hadn’t done any training that week because I wanted to be well rested but felt I needed to get in a small run to get the blood flowing. I also wanted to test my foot to make sure it was still okay, which it seemed to be.

Morning of the race

After that we got dressed and headed over to the amusement park. I had enough time to get in a ride before heading over to the race location to pick up my packet and rack my bike. We rode a ride called the Dragster which went from 0-120mph in 3.8 seconds going up to 420ft in the air. It was a pretty fun and fast ride. After that, my wife and I headed over to the race expo where we picked up my packet, got a race briefing from the officials, and racked my bike. After spending an hour or so there, we headed back to the park for an afternoon of rides. In hindsight, I must admit that riding roller coasters the day before doing a half Ironman probably wasn’t the best thing for me. Riding many of those rides tends to put a lot of wear and tear on the joints and body. The next morning I could definitely feel it some in my neck (which had been sore since a bike accident I had six weeks earlier). That night, we went to bed fairly early and managed to get a decent night sleep. Waking up at 5 a.m. on Sunday morning, we got dressed, packed up the tri gear and headed over to the amusement park. There was a full Ironman distance race going on as well as the half. The people doing the full had to be out of transition by 6:30 a.m. because their race started first at 7 a.m. Those of us doing the half had until 7:30 a.m. to get ready with our race starting at 8:20 a.m.

Getting a warm-p swim before race start

After getting my stuff set up in transition, we headed down to the beach to check out the water and see the people doing the full distance race start. The water at first glance seemed to be calmer than the day before. There was a line of grey clouds in the sky keeping the sun at bay, but it was hard to tell if the sun was going to break through by the time the half distance race started. With about 20 minutes or so until our race began, I had a chance to get in the water and do a warm-up swim. The swim portion for the half distance race would be done as a wave start. My wave consisted of males ages 40-45 and would be starting at about 8:30. As I was doing my practice swim, I could feel my neck was still a bit tired from doing the rides the day before and could also tell that the chop in the water was pretty bad. Whenever I would stick my head under the water and try to swim, I would feel a little seasick. So right off the bat I could tell this swim portion wasn’t going to be much fun.

Giving a thumbs up before heading into the water

The race course was a swim out keeping the buoys on my right followed by two right turns and then a swim back in. The first leg of the swim seemed like the worst portion to me. I had to swim directly into the chop which would hit me directly in the face every time I lifted my head. I also experienced bouts of seasickness whenever I tried putting my head underwater. It was a wetsuit legal race which was good, but still it was a bit tiring swimming with the chop. On the first right turn, I could see the shoreline and many of the rides in the amusement part. These rides made for nice visual points to spot with. My original swim time goal was to complete it in about 45 minutes but by the time I made the second right turn and started swimming back to shore, I could tell I wasn’t going to be able to make that time. My final swim time was a dismal 55:38. I was the last person in my age group out of the water so I had a lot of ground to make up.

Exiting The Water - Time 55:38


As I ran back to T1, I realized that finding my bike was going to be harder than I initially  thought. The bike racks were not well marked. There was nothing on the ends of the racks indicating what numbers they were for, and the individual numbers were on the bottom of the bike racks which often times were covered by people’s stuff. After finally finding my transition area, I began to take my wetsuit off and get ready for the bike portion. My T1 time was 5:10.

As I began the bike portion of the race, I was feeling pretty strong. My neck was a bit tired and riding in the aero position certainly didn’t help it, but I managed to power through it. Most of the course was relatively flat which was nice. Not only was I able to get some good speed going but it was also good practice for Ironman Florida which I will be doing in early November. The bike course had a couple of stretches of road that weren’t well maintained which made for a very bumpy ride at times. The worst part was the last couple of miles riding on the road going back into the park. Very bumpy with a strong headwind to boot. I spent much of the bike portion passing and getting passed by another female athlete. It got to the point where we even joked with each other about it. Towards the end, I was able to pass her and finish the bike portion before her, but it wouldn’t be the last time I saw her during the race. My final bike time was 2:45:41. Originally I was shooting for a time of 2:30, but overall I was pretty happy with this time.

Final Bike Time 2:45:41


Back in transition, I had to search around a bit for my transition area again. Once I found it, I was able to get ready for the run portion fairly quickly. T2 time was 4:22.

As I began the run portion, I really had to pee. I actually had to pee after starting the swim and held it for the entire bike course, but I decided at the first aid station on the run that I was going to have to go. After a quick stop at the port-a-john I was back on the course, but the slight delay allowed the girl from the bike portion to catch back up to me. We ran together for a while but eventually she got the better of me and took off - never to be seen by me again.

Final Run Time - 1:52:25


The run portion was flat and took us through town. The weather was great, not too hot with temps in the low 70’s and some cloud cover to keep the sun from coming out in full force. Aid stations were plentiful and well stocked. I didn’t have my fastest run in this race, but I had a pain free one which was something I hadn’t experienced in some time. My final run time was 1:52:25 making my total race time 5:43:15. I came in 276 out of 715 racers. I came in 57 out of 93 in my age group.  Considering I was the last person out of the water for my age group, I felt I did pretty good coming back.



After crossing the finish line, I got my finisher medal, shirt, and a free Gatorade towel. We grabbed some food from the food tent. The medal was cool because it was shaped like a Ferris Wheel, and I give Rev 3 credit for serving some of the best post-race food I have ever had at one of these events. What was even better - they allowed you to serve yourself so if you wanted a big bowl of fruit, you could have it. After eating, we headed back to the hotel for a quick shower and then it was back to the park for an afternoon of riding rides which was a lot of fun.
Sporting my new Finisher shirt and medal


As to the question of how good a race Rev 3 puts on, I would say they did a pretty good job. I don’t think they do quite as good a job as MDot. Mainly they just don’t quite have that level of excitement yet an Mdot race has. When I finished Ironman Louisville last year, there were tons of people standing there at the finish line cheering me on and giving high fives. And that was finishing the race at 10:30 at night. At the Rev3 race, it just wasn’t quite the same feeling. Still Rev 3 probably puts on a better race than anyone else, and if you have an opportunity to do one I would say go for it.

As for me, I have two more races for the season with the Marine Corps Marathon in the last week of October then Ironman FL the first week of November. Yes some would call be crazy for doing a marathon a week before doing a full Ironman, which I probably am. I felt pretty good overall with this Rev 3 race and hope it helps propel me into having strong performances in the final races of the season. This season has had a lot of ups and downs for me, but I hope that I managed to save the best for last.

Rev3's Finisher Medal