Rev3 Venice: The Finale

Race Overview: I was pumped going into this race but at the same time excited that it would be the last one of my 2013 season. I had decent position out of the water and the swim felt pretty relaxed. The bike was extremely tough due to wind but I was able to push it and had the fastest bike split on the day. There was a mishap on course and several top men took a detour. It didn't make a difference because I was falling apart on the run anyway. All that mattered was I got the points necessary to race the age group series in Knoxville next year.

Swim: Before the race I saw a buddy of mine Anthony Agnello in transition who I knew was gonna give me a run for my money that day. In races past he beat me out of the water by a good margin. So as we toed the line I lined up right next to him. We swam side by side for the first 5 or 600 meters and I knew I was in good position. There were only a couple of guys that had broken away from us. Inevitably Anthony dropped be about a third of the way through the swim to end up coming out of the water :40 ahead of me. I was out in 23:14 with fairly low effort and ready to get on my bike!

Out in front with Anthony

T1: In transition I passed 2 of the 4 guys who came out of the water ahead of me. I didn't know this information at the time.

4th out

Bike: Right from the start of the bike I wanted to push the pace. I didn't know at the time I had two people I needed to catch but I did know I had people hot on my trail and I wanted to gap them as much as possible. Most of the ride you had a cross wind from either side. A decent amount of the course was into the wind and probably less than 3 or 4 miles with a tailwind. I pushed the harder sections knowing thats where I'd make my time. I came off the bike in second. less than 30 seconds behind the leader who was out of the swim almost 4 minutes up. I averaged 290 watts and 25.2 mph to put me at 1:01:07 for the 25.6 mile bike course. This wasn't a standard Olympic distance.

Run: Out of T2 I could see the only guy ahead of me. As I ran out I heard my coach say "just 20 seconds". I put in a pretty big effort my first mile to make up the time and probably gained 8 seconds or so. I fell apart and I was losing almost 20 seconds per mile after the first mile, struggling to hold onto a 6:50 pace. My only goal at this point was to hold onto 2nd because I knew 3rd was hot on me by this point. I got passed by 3rd place at mile 6 and ended up finishing 3rd. After the race they adjusted overall times because apparently the first 10 guys or so off the bike missed a turn that was not obviously marked and had no one giving directions. After adjustments which added about 4min to my time I was ranked 4th overall and first in my age group with an unofficial run split of 38:56.

Photo Credit to Caleigh

My Final Thoughts: Again I have to say that Rev3 puts on a really well organized race that is fun for everyone and fast races for the athletes. I look forward to racing the age group championship half distance next year in Knoxville. I had such an awesome time with so many friends in Venice for the race. Had a blast out there with good friends Caleigh and AJ. Massive thanks to my coach Sara McLarty for really cultivating my racing, helping me have a great end to my season, and supporting me along the way.

2/3s of my AG podium

Thank you to all my Sponsors and Supporters Throughout my 2013 Season! I look forward to making some big gains over the next couple months and coming back a more well rounded athlete in 2014.

Of course I wouldn't be able to do all of this and have a blast doing it without the support of the most wonderful woman in the world, my mom. Thank you for being so supportive of me mom.