Tim Cronk Rev3 Florida
The Venue here is quite nice. Easy to get to , lots of parking, beautiful gulf coast swim , bike flat and fast with smooth pavement , run flat and fast on a cement trail. Was kind of using this race as a prep for IMCZ , very little taper , but I still planned on racing it even though only 4 weeks to go to IMCZ.
Arrived a couple days early, the water was calm and there were dolphins playing. Thanks to Hurricane Sandy the next day the Gulf was angry and there were riptides issued thru race day. Got in a 17mile ride , 3 mile run , and checked out the course. The day before the race was worse, no practice swim, they wouldnt even rack the bikes 25-35mph winds. Forecast for race day 20-30mph winds.
Race Day - Swim cancelled. Bike run only. Bike start as TT , line up via bib number, and go every 3 seconds. Even the pro's swim was cancelled but they did 1.5mile run in place of swim .
Bike - Lined up in my 407 bib slot but I was actually 274 to start due to no show's and pro's etc. Turns out they just counted 1,2,3 go , so we were really launching every 2 seconds or less. They actually started you outside transition so you would get a T1 time which was 55 seconds. . I started 10 minutes after the first guy. Course was very crowded , had to pass lots of people , roads were crowded as well and there were a few bike crashes, and an instance where a bike hit a wheelchair. Very fast with tailwind first 20-25miles. The goal was to ride .IF 85 , NP195 and ended up IF .86 , NP 198 , hit the interval button every 30 min , NP splits were 197,196,198,199,199 and the total time was 2:25:23 , TSS 177. http://connect.garmin.com/activity/238717715 ; Little higher than I was aiming but very happy with how it felt and how steady it was. Ran a 46 front wheel and disc in the rear with no problems in the wind. When I got to T2 there were only a handful of bikes? What this is wierd. Turns out I was 38th after the bike.
T2- 1 min even
Run--Goal was 7:30-7:35 pace---Ended up with 7:20 pace-- http://connect.garmin.com/activity/238713668 ; Like I said it was flat and fast. wind was only a factor for about 10 seconds per mile and only for a 1-2 miles on each lap. Started out in the 7:20 range and just left it there with a few slower miles and then pushed it for the last couple. The course ended up measuring 12.67 on my garmin and my girfriend got 12.64 on hers. The volunteers were very nice, very old , and very inexperienced. It was kinda hard to get what you wanted from them and at the second aid station a woman looks right at me holding a cup and yells water , I grab it and over my head it goes. COKE all over my head. At least it was cold. Raced in a non EN tri suit sorry , but I really liked it , dumping ice down the front and back , ice would settle at my belly in front and kidneys in back , really helping keep the core temp down. Very happy with run pace just felt great! Ended up going from 38th at the start of the run to 31st overall by the finish.
After--- My sister calls me to congratulate me. I said on what . She said your first place. Awesome. Then she says no wait they changed it to 2nd. By the end of the converstation she said it was back to first. And the time she was giving me didnt add up.
My Drafting Penalty- 4 minutes added to my time. I had no idea I got a penalty. Nice I didnt have to stop but woulda been nice if they told me. My first bike split was 39:25 and I had passed 168 people , 2nd split was 47:11and had passed 46 more, last split was 58:54 and 22 more , that is 236 total passes in 2:25 or 1 every 36.8 seconds on average. I was probably more aware of the rules on this race over any other I have ever done and really concentrated on keeping the distance if possible, making passes (burned a few matches doing this probably why a little hotter on my IF than planned) even dropped back a couple times if I failed to pass. I'm not saying I never drafted but I never did it on purpose and if I did it wasnt very long. I dont know when I got the penalty . But its impossible to ride any HIM or IM without drafting at some point whether intentional or not.
First Place in AG by 8 seconds with 4:04:18 as my official time with my penalty (4:00:18 without it) and 2nd place was 4:04:26. So I had no idea what place I was in the whole race , glad I didn't stop to pee on the bike or the run, glad I sped up the last couple miles since I was in second place at mile 11 , and maybe I should rethink taking those seconds to stop and kiss my girlfriend on the run????
Misc-
Nutrition - done as an IM for the day before and morning of , bike was one gel before start, 500 calories in 48 ounce perform , 3 gels on the run drinking perform , water with the gels , and Coke over the head!
There was also a redtide warning out to go along with the riptide. We notice that we coughed a little while walking on the beach(thought it was salt and sand in the wind) . Apparently this if from the redtide. Just off the coast and on the course was not a factor.
Alligator was visible in the little pond the run course went around.
Recovery day was spent walking the beach collecting some fossilized sharks teeth and then a nice Vegan Restaurant in Sarasota.
Low T billboards on the sides of the road in Florida!
Small World story- Turns out my girlfriend Heather who did the race as well has and Aunt and Uncle with a seasonal home in Venice, turns out its on the course, turns out they saw her, turns out they took and picture of me and they dont know me. Met them for coffee next day.
Great Race bummer no swim. Feel it helped prep me for IMCZ specially with the wind. Will help me do some caclulating for IMCZ race plan!
As usual Questions , comments , thoughts are very welcome!
Comments
I was particularly impressed with your NP splits, very tight. I assume that without the swim it was easier to manage a higher than planned IF. What were your VI #s for each of the splits? Were you able to keep them low, like 1.03ish?
Too bad about the Coke and drafting penelty. Yes, letting you know would have been good.
You mentioned ice in your singlet, what was the air temp and humidity?
In all a good race I think. Rock it in Coz!!
@Paul thanks looking forward to CZ!
Tim, all in all you sound really ready to rock the Cozumel course, which is flat and windy I understand. You don't get the disc wheel, though. Keep up weekly max efforts to stay sharp.
Looking forward to seeing your results on Thanksgiving weekend!