Hello everyone,
While waiting for them to open the feeding trough so I can get my post race lobster on, I figure I'd send you all a...wait for it...LIVE [1]...race report.
Rev3 Old Orchard Beach takes place in beautiful Maine. Old Orchard Beach is kinda like the dirty jersey shores under achieving cousin but the scenery is beautiful (and the raunchy t shirt shops are plentiful). There's both a half iron distance race and a Olympic distance. Since I did Timberman last weekend, I did just the Olympic with a friend from high school. I also came down with a cold on Thursday so I wasn't at 100% but yolo lets do this.
Swim:
The swim took place in the ocean. There weren't many waves and it was pretty calm but the tide was low so there were really low patches that made for interesting swim start and finish - probably 50m into the swim I was still dolphin diving off the bottom and doing no work to keep pace. The actual swim was really terrible for me, the water was 60 deg and my feet and hands went super numb into the bike even.
The swim took place in the ocean. There weren't many waves and it was pretty calm but the tide was low so there were really low patches that made for interesting swim start and finish - probably 50m into the swim I was still dolphin diving off the bottom and doing no work to keep pace. The actual swim was really terrible for me, the water was 60 deg and my feet and hands went super numb into the bike even.
Side note, one of the guys in our wave only wore a Speedo. He was later described as "the white whale" when people spotted him.
I also did ok not drinking salt water until the last turn when I swallowed a little. It wasn't terrible because I was nearly five but I think it hit me a little on the bike.
T1:
Only real complaint with the race - there was a 0.3 mile run from the swim finish to the transition area. It wasn't terrible, because I couldn't feel my feet anyways, but it was annoying to run on pavement. They allowed you to have a bag of shoes at the swim finish and I did but feet were super sandy and I ended up just HTFU and running barefoot. I forgot to kick hard before getting out of the water so I was kind of dizzy.
Only real complaint with the race - there was a 0.3 mile run from the swim finish to the transition area. It wasn't terrible, because I couldn't feel my feet anyways, but it was annoying to run on pavement. They allowed you to have a bag of shoes at the swim finish and I did but feet were super sandy and I ended up just HTFU and running barefoot. I forgot to kick hard before getting out of the water so I was kind of dizzy.
IMPORTANT LIVE UPDATE... (11:01AM): LOBSTER HAS ARRIVED, WE GET TWO OF THEM EACH
IMPORTANT LIVE UPDATE...(11:08AM): RIP LOBSTERS
Bike:
The bike course was a nice out and back through farm lands. Road was generally ok although there were definitely some hairy patches. I had probably 1 bottle of water on the bike, a granola bar and 1 shot block. I wasn't super hungry on the bike because of the rough swim and was mainly focused on hydrating. I was under the impression drafting was illegal but a large percentage of the field around me apparently did not know this. It was annoying but i didn't see any officials saying anything- they might just have signed penalties over the radio. The bike course was super flat compared to Timberman and really only had maybe 2 at all significant hills. I wasn't feeling great on the bike and was struggling to maintain my speed over 18 or 19 on some flats that I felt I should have been able to hammer. Finally got to the end and into T2.
The bike course was a nice out and back through farm lands. Road was generally ok although there were definitely some hairy patches. I had probably 1 bottle of water on the bike, a granola bar and 1 shot block. I wasn't super hungry on the bike because of the rough swim and was mainly focused on hydrating. I was under the impression drafting was illegal but a large percentage of the field around me apparently did not know this. It was annoying but i didn't see any officials saying anything- they might just have signed penalties over the radio. The bike course was super flat compared to Timberman and really only had maybe 2 at all significant hills. I wasn't feeling great on the bike and was struggling to maintain my speed over 18 or 19 on some flats that I felt I should have been able to hammer. Finally got to the end and into T2.
T2:
Very quick for me, put on my race belt and got out of there
Very quick for me, put on my race belt and got out of there
Run:
Normally the bike is my favorite event and the run is painful but this race pulled a switcheroo. I started out slow and used a portopotty around mile 1 but then dropped the hammer and just felt great pushing the pace hard. I think I was channeling a little Timberman Antoine because I just felt great. Moved up a bunch of positions, only took in water and Gatorade and took a goofy race photo around mile 3[2] and the turnaround. Mile 5 was rough but I pushed it out and finished strong[3].
Normally the bike is my favorite event and the run is painful but this race pulled a switcheroo. I started out slow and used a portopotty around mile 1 but then dropped the hammer and just felt great pushing the pace hard. I think I was channeling a little Timberman Antoine because I just felt great. Moved up a bunch of positions, only took in water and Gatorade and took a goofy race photo around mile 3[2] and the turnaround. Mile 5 was rough but I pushed it out and finished strong[3].
Other thoughts:
Rev3 runs really fun races and do a lot for their competitors. This race was a little smaller than most of theirs but they had the lobster dinner option, invited family to run the finish with their competitors, had a "worst wetsuit" contest to win a brand new wetsuit, and many more things. Also they had this crazy announcer dude who may have been on speed but was awesome, had no filter, and was up at like 5am blasting Katy Perry and the final countdown. I'd definitely be interested in racing one of their bigger races in the future.
Rev3 runs really fun races and do a lot for their competitors. This race was a little smaller than most of theirs but they had the lobster dinner option, invited family to run the finish with their competitors, had a "worst wetsuit" contest to win a brand new wetsuit, and many more things. Also they had this crazy announcer dude who may have been on speed but was awesome, had no filter, and was up at like 5am blasting Katy Perry and the final countdown. I'd definitely be interested in racing one of their bigger races in the future.
Happy racing,
Nick
Nick
[1] well almost, neither I nor the report are totally live anymore
[2] available upon request
[3] comparatively
[2] available upon request
[3] comparatively
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