We were greeted with some solid rain in Knoxville and Rev3 did a great job of putting the race on as planned in some pretty inclement weather. I had some experience racing in the rain and cold after Rev3 Maryland last year (where I finished 2nd), so I was actually excited to race in the rain. However, another side of me was pretty sick of bad weather. After what seemed like snow every day for the whole month of April and the rain storm in Kemah the week before, I was looking forward to racing in the sun. But the rain didn't let up in Knoxville for about 3 days so it was going to be a wet race...
The water temperature was in the high 50s so it was a very cold swim. Not Alcatraz cold, but still very cold nonetheless. I didn't have a great swim by my standards and came out of the water about 30 seconds down from one of my training partners and eventual race winner Cameron Dye. Once on the bike, I rode hard to try to make up the time I lost in the swim and rode solo for about 30min or so. I didn't see anyone in front of me or behind so I thought worst case scenario was that I was maintaining time to the group behind me and Cameron in front. However, at the turn around point I was disappointed to see that I had been caught by a group of about 5. I spent the remainder of the ride with them before getting to T2. Once out on to the run I felt like I was running on stumps because my feet were so numb. I knew that everyone else was dealing with the same problems so I just tried to focus on my form and see if I could pick up any of the athletes ahead of me. I just felt like I was running in slow motion the whole time and flat like I did on the bike. David Thompson was about 50meters ahead of me for 4 miles and I just couldn't close the gap. With about a mile to go I finally caught up to him and then had to start planning on how I was going to beat him to the finish. He wouldn't let me just run right by him when I caught him so it took a couple of surges towards the end and fortunately for me one finally stuck and I got a gap. I didn't have much more in my so I was running out of options. I ended up finishing 7th on the day.
My overall placing wasn't what I thought I could produce on the day; but, I was just off the whole day. Since the race I have had a good meeting with my coach and I am ready and excited to start preparing for my next race at Rev3 Quassy.
I want to point out something that most people might not know about from this race. On Friday night Rev3 put on fun 5k Glow Run for a local charity. There had to be over a thousand people there running at night, with glow sticks, and anything else that would light up. The event was amazing to watch and just shows how great of an organization Rev3 is for endurance sport. They put on events like this and the adventure race the following day, that no other triathlon company is producing. I feel very honored to hopefully be a small part of what they are doing for triathlon.
I also want to thank the companies and people who have helped get me to this part of the season. I feel like now that the first Rev3 race is underway my season is just getting started. But I've had a lot of help the last few months to get to this beginning. My coach Grant Holicky of Apex Coaching, Davis Wheelworks, Clif Bar, Rudy Project, Reno Running Company, Champion System, Boardman Bikes, and Blue 70.
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