Rev3 Branson was my third and final race in a big September of racing. With a lot of fitness still in the bank from the HyVee/Vegas block, it was just a matter of staying sharp in the lead up to my third Rev3 race of the year.
With cold air temperatures (45F) greeting us on race morning I opted for the Russian swim warm up. That is, I didn’t warm up for the swim. This ended up being a good decision as I still got a good start and felt great in the water and I didn’t have to freeze my ass off before the gun went off. A low layer of fog was giving swim leader Eric Limkemann a hard time as he attempted to find his way through the water. Those dark red turn buoys were hard to spot! After the first turn Eric went off course a bit but I was able to stay straight towards the next buoy and found myself leading the train as we made the last turn towards the shore. It was at this point that things went awry for me – I sighted towards one of the Olympic distance buoys instead of the next half-distance buoy. Eventually a jet-ski roared up to me to tell me I was “way off course.” Sure enough, I was all alone, and I couldn’t see a thing. I swam in the direction the jet-ski man pointed and eventually zig-zagged my way out of the foggy water. I knew I was in trouble when I saw the next person out of the water was the first place female, Jen Spieldenner.
The Russian swim warmup. I have yet to master that look of disdain for the people who are doing a real warm up.
With no idea how far down I was and knowing the motorbikes up the road – Ben Hoffman, David Thompson, Eric Limkemann – I knew I was pretty much screwed. I went into “finish the race” mode, because I might as well get a good first training day for my late season Florida races in October and November, and who doesn’t love a good unhealthy meal after finishing 70.3 miles of working out? But I was so pissed at myself. A perfect racing opportunity ruined!
Shaking my head in disgust at how stupid I am must have contributed to improved aerodynamics.
Up onto the Ozark Mountain High Road I was surprised I could actually see the group up ahead. I took time splits – 50s, 40s, 30s, 20s – I honestly couldn’t believe I was riding my way back into the race. I made it up to the main group at mile 18, went straight through them and dragged everyone up to race leader Limkemann. This was certainly not a race scenario that I had considered before the race so I was unsure of what to do next. I just stayed at the front keeping the pace honest until about mile 30. At this point a series of attacks started that effectively kept the pace high and ensured that the race winner would come from our group.
Out of T2 a group of four formed up for the first five miles of the run – Hoffman, Thompson, and myself with Leon Griffon setting the pace. I lifted the pace at the beginning of the second of three laps and Thompson dropped off. Hoffman came around me at mile 7 and lifted the pace even more. Leon was the next to go. I held on for about a mile before getting popped myself. I came through in second – my third second place finish of the year – but considering the way the day started I was happy with the performance. Kudos to Ben on the strong performance, seems like he is ready for Kona.
Getting punk’d by a little aid station volunteer – he pulled back that water cup at the last second! Ha.
Ben, myself, women’s race winner Radka V (one lap down), and Leon.
Now I have five weeks to rest and bring my form back up for some home state racing in Miami and Venice.