Rebecca Bollweg – Rev 3 Williamsburg – Saturday, July 8, 2017

Originally I was signed up for the Half but after dreadful heat at Raleigh 70.3, I really wanted to shorten the day, esp since my training takes a plunge once school lets out. Plus I had my parents there and my boys and I know half's are long days for them too. Stayed Saturday night at the Comfort Inn, highly recommend. Clean, nice, great area with lots of restaurants. Ate at Zoe's kitchen twice. Saturday, went for a short swim to test waters and then played by the dock in the water with my boys, who wanted to "race" and jump off the pier. Swim -27:55 (1:35/100)- I went to the athlete meeting the day before like the good little triathlete I am (ha ha) and knew my wave went off at 7:30 am. So, 7:11 am comes around, and I know I still have 20 minutes. My son says, "mom, all the white caps are in the water" I look around and there is only one more group waiting, pink caps. I'm totally confused. I look at the sign again, and my wave says 7:30 start time. Fortunately a lady said "no, no, they moved up the swim waves! Go!" So, I take off, run over the timing mat and I hear "one more is coming" I quickly set my Garmin, pull down my goggles, did one breaststroke, then the gun went off. Phew! That was close. I was calm though and ended up having my best swim. The water was warm, yes, 85 degrees. Halfway though it was as if I was closing my eyes when my face was in the water. Pitch black. It was the weirdest feeling ever. Some contact, handled well, sighting was good. High fives to my boys coming out of water. T1- 2:06 Bike – 1:25:57 (18.99 mph- SO CLOSE) Knew the bike course was fast, knew this was my last race (yes Bryan, it is in fact my last race this season) so I really wanted to give it my all, even if it meant sacrificing my legs on the run. My goal this year has been to "just be faster" and the first 5 miles looked like I could show myself some good numbers. I was steady at low 20's for the first 10 miles, but there was enough wind, inclines, cars, bikers, to slow down my average a bit. I was SO close to seeing that 19+. Oh well. My garmin shows 19.0, I'll take that. Great roads, lots of shade, pretty scenery, pretty much a clear, uneventful ride for me. Played cat/mouse with a couple people. I did find out later that an athlete was hit by a car (is ok) and that there was a truck or two that really caused some distress out there on the course. I fortunately did not cross paths with them. T2 – 1:27 Run – 56:19 (9:06/mi) Right away, I felt pretty strong, looked at my Garmin and was in the low 9's. A faster pace for me right out of the shoot, but I decided to go with it. Enough shade, flat course on a trail, made for a solid run for me. Chatted a bit with some other athletes and cheered for those I saw. The last hill over the bridge, in the sun, was a bit tough, but knew the finish line was close. Rev 3 allows family to cross finish line with the athlete, so my boys met me way up from the line and ran with me the rest of the way. It was so cool. The ice cold wet towel at the end was a God send. This was my first Rev3 race, and I will say, I am a huge fan! I will do another of their races next year, perhaps this one again. Such a great job they did! Highly recommend. One way of showing why, they offer a "red cap" program, which means, if you feel uncomfortable in the water, you can ask for a red swim cap so the volunteers know to keep a good eye on you out there. How great is that! I think only one person took them up on this, but for her, that was a huge plus! Kudos to all MMTC who placed this weekend! Such amazing athletes you all are! I can only dream of ever getting a podium spot it seems like. These 40-44 women are amazing. Sorry for the long report, I do this for my extended family as well, so I just write one for both parties.