The weekend started with a Friday morning drive up to Sandusky, Ohio for check-in, etc. Along the way, the skies began to darken, putting a lot of worry into Sarah as the only reason she was coming was to ride the 17 roller coasters at Cedar Point amusement park, where the event was being held. Of course, as soon as we rolled into the parking lot to check-in, which was in a tent outdoors, the rain began to pour down along with a massive lightning storm. Luckily the storm passed pretty quickly and we were soon on our way to the park.
I don't think I'm exaggerating in saying that during the 4 hours we were in the park (with the first hour being early entry people only), I rode more roller coasters than I did when I went to this park on a normal 12 or 15 hour day. The weather and it being late in the season meant we had lines of maybe five minutes at most. That is in contrast to a sometimes two hour line in the height of the summer. My only complaint about Friday evening was the beating I took on a roller coaster called Maverick. I've never been so jostled and jolted on a coaster. More on this later.
Since the weather looked threatening for much of the day on Saturday, Sarah and Jessica decided to drive home a day early. They had already planned on heading home Saturday evening so Jessica could go see the Pats play the Titans and Saturday was going to be another day of roller coasters for Sarah. Turns out they made a good call as after they left the weather turned nasty again. So much so that the Saturday Rev3 events, including the practice swim and kid's tri, were cancelled. Had me a little worried for Sunday but turns out we had nothing to worry about.
As I said last year, the night before the night before is the key night of sleep as I know I won't get great sleep the night before the event. I got a good 9/9.5 hours of sleep and woke up feeling well rested. The first item for me on Saturday was to knock out a one mile run to keep my running streak going (today makes day 108 in a row of running one mile or more). I headed out and almost immediately, I felt a pain in my hip/quad that I thought was a bruise from Maverick! I finished up the run as I thought maybe it was just stiff but it didn't feel much better. My friends and I had to head over to the expo to pick up or timing chips anyway so while I was there, I saw one of the free massage therapists that Rev3 has for us and after a quick five minutes with him, I felt better almost immediately. WHEW!
Next was bike check-in, then some chill time as it was time for us to get off our feet and relax for the big day. One of the little perks Rev3 provides is a personalized name plate at your bike
A nice little touch! Bike check-in was nice and smooth so I went off to try to find the Michigan State football game on TV (no luck) so spent a few hours relaxing with my iPad and keeping up with the game. We then headed to Olive Garden for the must-have pre-event pasta. After returning to the hotel, it was time for one last check of all the gear bags and an early bed time followed by a 5 am alarm.
After the weather the last couple of days, even though the forecast was awesome, we were all anxious to see the Sunday morning weather. Well, here's what we saw as we stood on the beach waiting for the swim to start
So our weather worries appeared to be unfounded as a gorgeous day unfolded.
This event would be significantly different from IMKY as the course is almost entirely flat, the weather is much cooler, and the number of athletes is much smaller. This helped shaped the goals I posted in my preview. I felt good about achieving them.
The swim was wetsuit legal, unlike IMKY and the water looked very calm. Kept my heart rate down, relaxed and enjoyed the swim. Because it was two loops we came back close to shore to the start the second lap and that meant a few hundred meters of water running. The only rough spot I encountered was at the start of the second lap, the waves or current (maybe the tide?) were coming in a bit stronger so I had to work a little harder to get out to the first turn on the loop. Otherwise, no issues. Swim time: 1:31:26 compared to a goal of 1:40 with a stretch goal of 1:31. Right on target. My transition goals were 10 minutes each and hit 10:38, so still mostly on target.
The bike started and I couldn't believe how fast I was riding without killing myself. Yes I knew the course was flat but I was riding 18/19 and it felt like I wasn't doing any work. We had some headwind in places but it didn't seem to slow me down much. The miles kept ticking away, my nutrition was good, so was hydration and I was still averaging just over 18 mph. Then disaster struck at about mile 48. I heard a loud noise and then the sound of metal hitting the ground. Had my chain broke? My drivetrain? With the help of another athlete, I figured it was a spoke, so I nursed it to special needs and had a volunteer call for race support. That's when I met this volunteer...
This guy is named Caleb, and he is my all-time favorite tri volunteer. Since I was waiting for race support, he asked if I needed anything. I was really ok on fluids and such but he was so eager, I asked him to top off my aero bottle with some Gatorade. That's when I really got to know Caleb. He loves to ride his trike, he even wrecked it but got back up and kept riding. I assume he has some medical issue to ride a trike but he was so eager, friendly, sincere, honest, and was helping anyone he could. Just a refreshing sight when you're pissed off at the world over a silly broken spoke.
I then began waiting (and waiting and waiting...) for race support. I asked a volunteer to text Jessica as she was tracking me and probably freaking out when I was stopped for so long. The minutes passed. I had a volunteer call race support again. Still nothing. Now I was really pissed but I wasn't going to let this end my day. I told the volunteers to send race support down the road when they came and started walking. Part of the reason I got moving again was Caleb. I couldn't have all his hard work go to waste. After about a mile walking and still seeing no race support, I was really pissed. I rigged my now wobbly rear wheel as best I could, opened the brakes and started riding. I rode the last 62 miles, mostly alone and NEVER saw a race support vehicle, draft marshall, etc. My pace was obviously hampered and the best guess was I stood still at special needs for 43 minutes. End result: 16.92 mph/7:15:19. The goals were 16 mph/7 hours or 17.23 mph/6.5 hours.
(Unfortunately, my buddy Caleb had gone home by the time I got around to his station on the second bike loop).
If not for that mechanical failure, I had the 6.5 hour bike split or even better! T-2 was 10:34, another goal met.
As I got dressed for the run, my stomach wasn't feeling great. Perhaps it was the Tylenol I popped at T-2? Too much sweet/sugary stuff all day? I knew I had to hunt down something salty/crunchy as soon as hit some run aid stations.
I started out maybe a little quick as my first few miles were: 10:38, 11:00, 11:03, etc. But my heart rate was good and I was feeling ok. My stretch goal was 5:30 so felt good about achieving that. Due to a relatively small number of athletes, the run was lonely at times but the volunteers each mile did a great. My only complaint was the inconsistent availability of some items like chicken broth. Worked some walk breaks in, usually at aid stations and at about the 10-11 mile mark, even walking my heart rate was a little high. So I slowed but it was still high. Figured if I could just make it to the halfway point, get my Red Bull, maybe see some familiar faces, I'd be ok. The odd thing was my heart rate was much better running than walking. I'll leave that to an expert to explain.
Got to the halfway point, saw Ken, grumbled about my bike and the lack of ice at the aid station, saw a killer text message from Jessica and was on my way. Only 13.1 miles to go. I was still keeping up with my 5:30 marathon pace. The last hurdle was a random rain shower that lasted about 5 minutes at mile 15/16 but it actually felt good.
Got to about mile 22/23 and then the emotions start. Some tears, some pride, some relief that it will soon be over. Thinking about all the people who've helped along the way. The training partners, the supportive family, the tri-club friends, the people on Facebook, etc. They all played a role. At the last aid station, the volunteers were cheering so loud, I could hear them for a good quarter mile. It certainly put some pep in the step.
The last piece of the puzzle as I neared the finish. What do they call you at a Rev3 event? They wouldn't/couldn't say Ironman, so what would it be? I got within a hundred meters and there was Ken. Had to stop for a high-five, maybe a hug, it's all a blur, then the finish was all mine. "Jeff Johnson, welcome to the revolution!"
Marathon result: 5:30:18 with goals of 6 hours/5.5 hours. Right on target. Total time for the day was 14:38:16. Take out that mechanical and I had a sub-14 in my grasp. I guess I owe this course a beating in the future?
I have 2 half-marathons coming up and the Bourbon Chase. Updates to follow!
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