Knoxville Rev3 Race Report

Race:  Rev3 Knoxville Half (1.2 mile swim / 56 mile bike / 13.1 mile run)

Weather:  Low 60’s, overcast, 10% chance of rain and 5-10 mph winds.

After waking up at an unreasonably early hour, I got ready and headed out for the 20-minute walk to the transition area.  After my area was set-up and warm-up was complete, and grabbed my wetsuit and headed for the swim start.  The swim course is in the Tennessee River that cuts through Knoxville, and swim start is about a 10-minute walk up-river from the swim exit.  The swim course heads upstream for the first third, before returning back for the remainder two-thirds down stream.   The water temperature was reported to be about 65F.  Due to the race logistics there is no swim warm-up, so I made sure to get in as early a possible before my wave start to get used to the water and my wetsuit.  Since it has been such a cold spring in Michigan, I was not able to get in any open water swims prior to race day.  This was the first, but part of racing is making the best of your situation and I just had to do my best to be ready.  As the start drew closer, I made my up to the start line and bobbed in the water…..calm and waiting…and then the horn sounded.  The race was on!  I started with good form and was able to find some clear water to find my rhythm.   I felt good in the water, and seemed to be pacing well, holding a draft when possible and passing others as I caught them.  By the time I finished the swim, I was in a mix of my wave and the first wave, so it was not clear what position I was in.  After the race I found out I was 25^th overall and 6^th in my age group.

T1 went smoothly, and I was quickly on my bike and out on the course.  I planned to start conservatively and build throughout.  This worked for about the first 5-7 miles until we hit the hills.  After that, the course turned into a constant stream of uphills, downhills, rolling hills, and fast, technical descents.  In other words, no clear way to establish a steady pace and constant power.   Given the local roads in Michigan and (again) the cold spring, I had many hours on the trainer with limited time outside.  So my riding style was better suited for a more steady state type of course….which this was not!  In anticipation of the variability in my power, I paced myself accordingly on the uphills and made up time on the flats and downhills in order to finish the race with a strong run.  All went according to plan on the bike and I finished my ride with an average power of 83% of FTP power.  Pretty much right in-line with the general guideline of 80-85%.  

My nutrition plan worked perfectly, consuming 2 bottles of First Endurance EFS Drink, ½ of a flask of First Endurance EFS Liquid Shot, 2 Salt Stick capsules, and ½ bottle of the on-course sports drink.  I felt energized throughout and no cramping and ready for the run.

After the race, I found out a nice bonus:  My pacing and nutrition plan must have been good because I had ridden the fastest bike split of the day (2:30:24 and 22.3 mph)!

T2 also went well, and I was quickly able to get out on the run.  For races of this distances and longer, especially courses like Knoxville with lots of rolling hills, I like to wear compression socks.  The downside is the time it takes to put them on in T2.  I was able to address this by wearing my SLS3 calf sleeves.  I put them on before the race (so no time penalty), and I was able to take advantage of the comfort and support they provide.  For my shoes I went with my race tested K-Swiss Blade Lights.  Lately, I have been logging more miles in my K-Swiss Kwicky Blades, but I am still not convinced they are the right race shoe for me, so I stuck with what I know works.

My plan on the run was similar to the bike; start conservative for the first half, then pick it up for the rest.  As I started the run, I was feeling good.  I was able to hold a comfortable pace of around 6:45-6:50 min/mile.  Sticking with my plan, I figured I would stay with this pace as long as the effort felt like something I could still finish strong with.   Due to the out and back layout of the run course, I didn’t see another competitor until I as almost at the turn around.   First I saw the leader, then about 2 minutes back I saw 2 more competitors about 30 seconds apart.  Since I didn’t know which wave they started in, the first or the second, I didn’t know if I was ahead or behind them.  I did not want to leave it to chance, so I made the decision to take control of my race and push the pace and catch them.  With 7 miles to go, I picked up the pace and started running with everything I had!  It wasn’t until mile 10, I had closed the gap to Third place enough so I could see him in the distance.  As I got close to him, I noticed his age and he started in my wave, so I needed to pass him to get that spot.  I finally caught him just the aid station around mile 11.5.  He went to grab a cup of water, and I just ran straight through.  Shortly after, I turned around and he was about 100 yards behind.  One man down, one to go!  I now set my eyes on second place who was now about 200 yards in front of me….with just over 1.5 miles to go.  Again, I maintain my focus and ran as hard as I could at this point, keeping the pace under 6:00 per mile.  I caught him was we made the turn for the final half mile up hill to the finish.  As I got close, I saw he was in the first wave, so essentially I was already ahead of him.  As I passed him I said ‘good race’ and continued to push for the finish….not knowing how far ahead the first place competitor was.  As I crested the hill to the finish flat, I was still feeling strong and pushing…..with the 2^nd fastest run split of the day.  My 1:23:47 (6:24 min/mile) was a personal best half-marathon by over 5-minutes!  Awesome!

Overall I am ecstatic about my performance.  The goal of this race was to benchmark my fitness for Ironman Coeur d’Alene and compare it to last year.  Based on my training metrics, my actual race performance is right in-line, which is a great indicator I am on track with where I want to be in June.  Now from here, I will go into my final 6 weeks of training with a complete picture on where I’m at and what I need to work on.

I also need to give a shout out and thanks to crew at Fraser Bicycle.  Thanks to Paul, Ron and the guys in the shop for helping me set-up my bike exactly how I like it (which isn't easy), and to Coach Bonnie and the rest of the coaching staff for helping me further develop my fitness.