The day started overcast and cool, mid-50s or so with low humidity. The breeze made it feel colder, but not entirely unpleasant. It had rained the night before which left the air fresh and clear of pollen. Pre-race jitters were at a minimum despite the difficulty of the course ahead!
2018 is shaping up to be a big year! Members from Revel Racing will compete in over 30 different races ranging from sprints to IRONMAN. Add in a few ultras and this is shaping up to be an epic season!
Please see below for the full race schedule
Watch
Heart Rate Monitor:
Tires: Vittoria Rubino Pro (http://amzn.to/2CAgqbo)
Self-maintenance
Repair Kit
Tools
Helmet
New for 2018 we will offer a group training program for athletes racing IRONMAN Mont-Tremblant. This will be a fixed program leveraging our experience in coaching almost fifty successful IRONMAN finishes, which includes fifteen finishes on the IRONMAN Mont-Tremblant course! (Check out Melissa’s review of the 2017 course)
The group training program is a 30 week starting January 15th and will be designed for beginner to intermediate athletes. All athletes will receive the same schedule, but each athlete will receive customized training zones (heart rate, pace and/or power) and have the benefit of a watchful eye looking over their training.
It’s hard to believe it has already been a year since we started Revel Racing. While this certainly is not an all-inclusive list, as I take time to reflect, here are some of the things that stand out to me as high points of the season.
I participated in the 2017 Baystate marathon in Lowell,MA yesterday….touted as a good one for first timers as it is mainly flat. And it was mostly flat except in mile 4 and 14, and the bridges. The temps were perfect to start, wearing my cooling sleeves and light gloves. I started up my marathon playlist and Gettin Jiggy with it came on! I started up my Garmin so the gps would be ready and got a low battery warning for my HR monitor. Oh well, nothing I can do about that now!
Overview
Course: B+
Athlete Experience: A
Community: A
Final recommendation: This race should be on your bucket list, especially for athletes who like hills. Challenging but worth it!
Well, Ironman Santa Rosa is done and dusted. For a number of reasons (some that I’m still working through), this race is taking a bit longer to fully process than races past. Santa Rosa took a lot of grit. There were not many moments on Saturday where I felt like it was all clicking, but luckily it all came together quite nicely nonetheless.
The support crew was second to none as usual. I cannot say this enough—without these people (and the many I’m sure I’ve forgot with my post-IM brain), this would not be possible. Period. Andy, Brian, Sue, Patti, Dave, Revel Racing, Ann, Brendan, Mark, Craig, Endurance Swimming: Open Water Training, Breakthrough Performance Coaching, Sara, Labell And Associates Physical Therapy, Kathey, Sports Rehabilitation Unlimited, and of course all my amazing friends/training buddies (you know who you are). THANK YOU.
I’ve had several requests for a little race report, so here goes. Feel free to stop here if you’re not interested in all the details.
So Mike Reilly called me an Ironman … so it must be true even if I still don’t really believe it. However, let’s just say that last Saturday was one of the most amazing experiences in my life. And I can’t wait to do it again!