Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Rev 3 Cedar Point Full Race Report

This is my BEST race yet! Loved the course AND I had a fantastic day!!!


We arrived in Cedar Point on Friday after flying to  Cleveland.  Rode a few awesome coasters and saw some teammates.

Saturday led to the practice swim. Storms had blown up disgusting black gunk, and the visibility was very low. I had a head on collision that led to a bump on my head and a quick knock on my confidence...BUT I enjoyed seeing my teammates!




Headed to the briefing and to meet up with teammates/bloggers in the afternoon.  Then, had a dinner of rice/soy sauce. YUM, right?! I am pretty exciting with my food before a race!






Race morning! Feeling a little nervous, but hop into the swim and it is physical the WHOLE way. I swam 1:22, which is fine. Nothing too good or bad for me...kindof just normal! Here with two teammates/team spouse pre race!



Hopped on my bike, and I had the BEST bike ride of my entire life. All3 sports had taken care of my bike, and replaced my cracked race wheel for the weekend. I am SO grateful to them for that.

The race was suprisingly beautiful! I loved riding by the lake, I loved riding through the farms, and I loved the terrain. There were a few little rollers, and one tiny punchy hill. Those little hills gave me a chance to stand and strectch.  Finished the bike leg in 5:47, which is a HUGE bike PR for me. I think race wheels helped, but I also went into this race feeling strong. I already have one 140.6 in my legs this year.

I have always felt that the bike was my weakness, but this race convinced me that maybe I am not as terrible on my bike as I have always thought!

I was talking with people as I passed them/they passed me the entire ride. The weather was great, and for the area, the wind was minimal.  Fantastic ride!

I came into T2 on cloud nine! AND my friends and teammates were telling me that I had a chance to podium in my age group if I had a decent run! I said, "are you sure you are talking about me???" 


The run felt fine. Nothing great, nothing awful, just kind of fine. Just kind of running. I did get the news from George that he had won his age group with a 4:29 half ironman (his first ever!). I was really proud of him, and I kept this in my mind throughout the run.


I saw teammates out on the run, which was awesome. I met up with Kristin, who became my running sister for the last 7 or so miles. Once we were running together, it was awesome! My mood lifted and my feet felt lighter. It is amazing what a friend can do for your running! At one point, I was singing a song to the mile 22 marker. Maybe I was loosing it a little....but I felt great!

At about mile 25, I told Kristin I was tired. She was supportive (and I was secretly thrilled that it took until 25 on the marathon to feel tired!), and said we should drink coke at the last aid station and then finish!


She ran ahead to enjoy every second of her first ironman.  Rev3 is awesome in that they let you cross the line with your family. So George and I ran across the line together, and it was awesome!  AND, my family all got to see me cross the line onine, which is SO great! I loved this race!




I give Kristin SO much credit for helping me pick up the pace at the end. When you see my splits, you'll see that my last bit was the fastest thanks to this girl! (There were two bathroom stops in that middle split!).  I am SO proud of her!



So here are the numbers....

That performance meant that I came in third in my AG. I am really proud of this.  To be perfectly honest, I have never place in a triathlon. I have in running only events, but never a tri.... So this means a lot to me! Not only that, but the great people at Rev3 gave me a fuel belt, goggles, and a bottle! Yippie!




I loved this race, and I have every intention of doing it again.

Now....it's time for me to speed up my running. I have and can run faster than that, but I had not been training to run any faster.  At the moment, I have 10 weeks and 4 days until my next 140.6 mile race.....gotta heal up and get back to it!

20 comments:

  1. Awesome job out there! Way to take that podium spot! Go Team Trakkers

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  3. Wonderful, amazing job, Kacie! I am so proud of you (and inspired, too!). Also, that picture of you and George crossing the finish line totally made me tear up sitting here in my office in Illinois--I love you guys and miss you like crazy!!!

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  4. So proud of you and excited for you! I had a wonderful time out there cheering you on and spending time with George while we waited for Trakkers (and spouse) sitings!! Kel said you really encouraged him as well, so a double thanks for making it a great day for everyone!! CONGRATS!!

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  5. You already know how I feel about you. But I was honored to run next to you. Your experience really helped me get through it for sure. You smacked that bike split girl. Look at you!!! Awesome job. I was thinking the same thing about the run. Need to get faster :-)

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  6. Not going to lie... you kicked some MAJOR BUTT OUT THERE! sub 6hr bike?!?!?! HELLO!!!!

    Wow, wish I got to meet you in person... well, like chill out and chat type meet up, not running by you on the marathon meet up haha.

    You and Kristin did wonderful this past weekend, so happy for both of you :)

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  7. Incredible race Kacie and excellent race report! It was great to meet you and George!

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  8. you had such an amazing race. I'm so proud of you. Glad I was there to see you finish!!! YOU are a 140.6 ANIMAL this year!

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  9. I just knew you were flying on that bike when I checked on you. Super impressive race! Great job Dardens and happy Birthday week, Kacie!

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  10. Awesome Kacie, I'm so excited for you. You deserve to have had such a great race. You rock and it sure seems Mr. D. has a bright future in front of him. Congrats to both of you.

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  11. It was so fun to get to be the one to tell you that you earned that podium spot! Way to execute an awesome race!!!!!!!

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  12. UM, SERIOUSLY YOU ARE MY HERO!! CONGRATULATIONS!! That is awesome that you had such a huge bike pr! LOVE your beautiful smile with the your trophy. Girl, you are an inspiration to me!

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  13. Awesome job homeslice! It was great seeing you on the bike while I was still semi-conscious and hydrated!

    Congratulations on another great race. I hope that we get to see and support each other out there again soon!

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  14. Way to go! You are definitely an iron force of nature this year!

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  15. You had such an amazing race!!! I'm so proud of and excited for you!! Love that you and Kristin were able to help push each other on the run, what a great feeling!! Great job Kacie! On to Cozumel!!!

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  16. congratulations, what an awewsome race! and fantastic bike split!

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  17. Amazing! :) You had such a great race and I didn't see you once without a smile on your face! That was awesome! I loved you saying "ME???" when I told you you were in third. So real. Congrats!!!

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  18. Great Job. Sounds like a great race.,

    Kevin
    HalfTRIing.blogspot.com

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  19. Congrats on an awesome race! We finally got moved in enough in NC that I had a chance to catch up on blogs. It was so nice meeting you, and after seeing the pic of all of us at the blogger meet up, I look like a giant in that picture. Congrats again, and I will definitely see you next year at that race. I'm coming back to finish this time.

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