Rev3 Report
What a difference a day makes! Saturday, the winds were up and the waves on Lake Erie were crashing down during the practice swim. There were more than a few concerned looks about what was in store tomorrow. Then the rain came later in the day turning an already sparse Cedar Point into a ghost town (much like the ones they were setting up for the halloweekends.) As the day broke on Sunday, the clouds were already giving way as those full Rev souls were preparing for their long journey. Coming out to support the athletes, I was deeply touched to see their final embraces with their families as they approached the start. There was a ting of envy (and perhaps relief) walking away on rout to prepare for the half. By the time we got underway, daylight had fully broken. The water had significantly calmed from yesterday for the rectangle swim. Still, it was much harder than Steelhead and after the first turn to parallel the shore, there was some brief disorientation on my part when all I could see was water. Overall, the swim was slow, but uneventful. Heading out of transition on the bike, everything seemed smooth. The first part of the bike course was flat, had good tale wind, and took you along the shore. At this point I was really liking it. Then you hit some rollers as you entered more rural farm roads. There seemed to be a lot of turns, but again nothing terrible. My aero water bottle came loose on some rough patches of road. That should have been the first sign of trouble. The rolling hills kept coming and getting slightly larger; then it just seemed to keep going. Where at Steelhead, I felt like I was flying, today I felt as slow as molasses. (I feel entitled to use that cliché given how much molasses I passed.) Something didn’t feel right and when I started to slide during a turn, I knew something was wrong. Pulling over, I realized my back tire was starting to flat. Initially I panicked as I had only successfully changed a flat once or twice in my life. I took some deep breaths and started to proceed to repair my tire. Getting the tire off was the most difficult part. Then it was a matter of getting the new tube in place and using the CO2. Even though it took forever, there was a sense of accomplishment that I was back on the road thanks to limited mechanical ability. It was hard to get my rhythm again and I took it easy the rest of the way. Happy to see transition, I set off on the run which turned out to be a great course. A bit winding through the town of Sandusky, but enough historic buildings, waterfront, and spectators to keep you going. Returning on the causeway to Cedar Point there was a sense of relief because I just hadn’t fully done my homework for this event. Entering the park was awesome and I still felt a sense of accomplishment even if it wasn’t my best race. I suppose I was expecting a sophomore let down after Steelhead. On the positive side, because I just didn’t have it in me to physically and mentally push myself to the limit, I was able to enjoy the rest of the day in the park, have a much more rapid recovery, and hopefully enjoy the last bit of triathlon season before fall running gets under way.
