Rev3 Portland

Rev3 Portland!!
I don't get a chance to race that much in front of my family (most of them live in Oregon) so when the chance to race in Portland presented itself, I had to jump on the opportunity! Even though, I was coming off a very tough IMCDA performance just 2weeks prior, I didn't want to miss this chance....

The Rev3 Portland course was great and would make for a PR for anyone seeking it at the Half-Iron distance (1.2mile swim/56mile bike/13.1mile run). Unfortunately for me, I was just hoping I wasn't too thrashed and went into the race with a positive mindset.

Having some pre-race jokes with my teammate Anthony!

The swim was in beautiful Blue Lake and was pretty calm. The first turn buoy was only about 150meters or so from the start, so I knew it would be a tad congested, but once that turn was made, it was a good 1/2mile or so until the next turn. While swimming, I remained relaxed and was really enjoying the moment. I even spotted Anthony and hoped on his feet for a bit....Thanks bro for the draft! Once the next two left-hand turns were made, things were spreading out a bit, but I still had some fast feet to follow. With about 400 meters left, I started to build into a faster pace and kicking more.

Coming out of the water

Once out of the water, I made a pretty quick transition into my running shoes...we had about 1/2mile to run to the "real" transition zone. I also heard the cheers of my Oregon family which made me smile and wave! Rev3 did a great job of staging gear bags so we could change out of our wetsuits and into our running shoes. The volunteers did most of the work, as I stripped out of the suit and threw on my shoes-leaving a wet mess for the volunteers to put back in my gear bag. THANK YOU!!!

Immediately, I could feel the muscles in my legs scream! The two weeks between the full-iron and half was not enough and I made up my mind to bring my heart rate down and just make it to the bike. This was only a 1/2mile run, but the legs were really heavy.

Rev3 Portland bike course if amazingly fast!

Once on the bike, I settled and found my rhythm. Things were going great and I was starting to pick a few people off that had passed me in my slow-ass trot from the swim exit to transition. The bike is a two-loop out and back, so it was really spectator friendly and I'm pretty sure most families were able to see their athletes 3 or 4 times on the bike from just standing in one spot!

My first loop was fine. No issues and was making good ground. Then came lap number 2!! At about the 30mile mark or so, my glutes and hamstrings told me they had enough! My ass felt like I had a giant rock under each butt cheek. The muscles had tightened, and I ended up losing the ability to get into the aero position. I stood up for a bit, tried stretching while riding, twisting, turning, and even massaging my ass, but nothing seemed to work. So, I said screw it! I sat up, maintained a cadence of about 95 rpm, light on the pedals, and just went with what I had for the day. I knew there was a 13.1mile run just around the corner, and if I was thrashed from the ride, the run was really going to suck!

Heading out on the run...beautiful course!!

The first couple of miles (like 4!!) were pretty challenging for me. I had to stop and stretch a ton! This was also an out and back, sorta shaped like a bow tie...which made for great spectating and cheers for all. Once I finally started to loosen up I felt much better! When I finally made the little turn to head towards the finishing chute, I was really happy to done! This race was not a PR for me by any stretch; not because the course was difficult, but because on that day, I just didn't have it.

Thank you Rev3 for another great event! Your attention to detail is amazing and I look forward to racing Cedar Point in a couple of months! Thank you to Morgan from All3Sports for loaning me your brand new helmet to pre-ride the course, even though I totally stunk it up with my nasty sweat! TYR, First Endurance, Kestrel, SBR (makers of TriSlide!!), Recovery Pump, Avia, Rudy Project, Morris Trucking and All3Sports---thank you for your support! Family!!!!! Thank you!!!!! I had my mom, dad, step-mom, aunt, uncle, and wife all there shouting for me to hurry up!! Great seeing you all and I'm glad you were able to come watch, even if it wasn't my best performance I know you are still proud. Emily, thank you for always taking care of me and organizing my life! You are definitely the glue that makes this possible. You take care of all the logistics, so all I have to do is show up and race! Love ya honey!!

Time to recover and enjoy our Pacific Northwest Tour!!