Rev3 South Carolina Race Recap

Last week, I stayed in Clemson for fall break so that I could race just down the road on Sunday in Anderson, SC. It was my 4^th Rev3 race and I continue to be impressed with their organization and the production of their events. Prior to the race, my coach and I discussed the possibility of coming off the bike around the same time to start the run. He was competing in the pro field over the half-iron distance while I would be taking on the SECTC Collegiate Championship event over the Olympic course. We knew it would be fairly close off the bike and we’d be running about the same pace for the run.

My race started well, for about 5 meters I was actually leading on the swim! I had started on the far left of the field and stayed on the shallow side which meant I could easily run further than everyone else. My lead was short lived, however, and I rapidly faded to the back half of the pack, settling in for my longest swim in a long time. The swim ended up being about 1.1 miles – not too good when it’s the weakest leg for me. I was out in 35:54 and, with a decent transition, hit the bike course. I could feel the lack of recent cycling (and swimming) but I did my best on the bike passing a couple of teammates (Lee and Nick P.) along the way. I couldn’t quite hang onto a small group that formed early on but I entered T2 just behind one of the two other riders. In the end, I managed a 1:07:15 split which was just 33 seconds shy of my time last year and was good enough for the 3^rd fastest split by a Clemson Tiger on the day. I felt good starting the run and passed an Auburn athlete (Robert) early on who had seemingly thrown in the towel for the day. I knew that he usually ran sub-36 minutes off the bike so I should not have been catching him, but he was jogging along with one of his teammates well placed in the women’s race.

I hit 6:16 at the first mile and felt good so I continued along, passing several more runners on my way. Mile 2 in 6:27 brought me to the start of a very hilly out-and-back section that caused me to slow slightly to 6:45 miles for the next two. With almost no one near me – ahead or behind – at the turnaround, I became slightly complacent in the final two miles relinquishing to some fatigue and slowing further to 7:12 and 7:02 for miles 5 and 6. With about half a mile to go, I realized Robert had left his running companion and taken to running his best. I made him work to catch me, running my last few hundred meters in an ever-quickening 46 seconds (5:10/mile), culminating in an all-out sprint up the finish chute. Unfortunately, Robert got me at the line officially by 0.167 seconds, however having started the run a few seconds back, I can say I had a faster run split. My run of 41:09 was the 2^nd best put up on the day by my team, and is a significant improvement upon my disastrous 44 minute run at Rocketman back in August.

Overall, my race was average. I could have swum better, I could have biked faster, and I definitely could have run faster – but with almost no consistent training lately it was acceptable. Heading into the triathlon off-season my biggest goal is to be more consistent in training. I race okay with little training, but I know I can perform at a much higher level if I get out and put in the miles regularly. I made a good step in the right direction this week, logging my first 40+ mile running week since February.

I have some big goals for the next 12 months so stay tuned for a preview!