Trihalvard: Rev3 Portland Race Report

July 8th was the date for my triathlon long distance debut. I had chosen this race mostly due to its hard bike course. It would be good practice for Norseman. My brother in law Chris joined me for the trip. I assumed it would be good to have help driving home after the race.

On Saturday it was race meeting and I dropped of my bike in transition. I also had a nice chat with the top American pro Jordan Rapp. He asked if I had driven through the bike course, I said no, and he said it was really hard. Well I was at the point at no return, but was glad I had uphill gearing on my bike. Rev3 really impressed me with good organizing the day before the race and I looked forward to race day.

Swim:

My goal was to have a positive experience on the swim and I succeed. It was not fast or pretty, but I did not panicked and had good control the whole way. The wetsuit was tight over the shoulders, but that is not an excuse for my time. According to the pros the swim was longer than 1,900 meters so I should be happy.

T1:

Quite uneventful, got some nice encouraging words from Chris and then I was ready for 90 kilometers on the bike.

Bike:

The bike course was hard with steady hills, some switchbacks, steep downhills and even some flats in the end. I managed to push steady and felt like I had good legs. Got passed but I also passed a lot of people. Most of the course was in the shade, but not the last part. When I got there I could really feel the heat. My back and neck also start to hurt.

T2:

It felt good to get off the bike. I was ready to the half marathon, maybe to ready...

Run:

First rule in long distance triathlon is: do not run out to hard from T2. Guess what I did? Yes I started way to hard and it hit me in the face together with the heat. I had to start walking the last aid stations and my legs start cramping up. It was not pretty but I pushed through. I manage to reach my goal, to get under two hours.