Rev3 Full Iron / Cedar Point Weekend Recap

What a weekend for me and the family! The Rev3 Full Iron triathlon took place September 12th at Cedar Point, in Sandusky, OH – the roller coaster capital of the world. What an awesome venue to bring the kids! We stayed at Hotel Breakers right in the amusement park, which was very nice and convenient not only for the race, but also for visiting the park, swimming in the lake, and in one of the three pools there. To make it better – the weather was quite good for the weekend as well.
Friday night the park was open only for Rev3 athletes, volunteers and family. There were literally no lines for the big rides! I was in heaven! In less than 2 hours, I was able to ride Top Thrill Dragster 4 times, Millennium Force twice and the Magnum. If we wanted to ride again, we just stayed on or waited in the station for the next train! I’m spoiled now! These are rides you have to wait 90minutes – 5 hours for on a normal weekend. Plus Camp Snoopy was open for the kids – and Andy and Tommy both rode their official first roller coaster that night. (The video I took of Tommy during the ride is PRICELESS!).

Our hotel room was a Snoopy Suite in the towers of Hotel Breakers. Very nice, big, comfortable and had two separate rooms so the kids could go to bed early and Amy and I could hang out in the evening… and wake up early without disturbing them. Plenty of room for a triathlete to spread out everything before the race to make sure it’s ready too.

Saturday was an interesting day. We had a lazy morning together, then I had to go swim the swim course… get my things ready for the race… check my bike in to transition… pack my bags and make sure I hadn’t forgotten anything. Then we bummed around the hotel… played “Extreme putt-putt” (Amy actually lost her ball in a water hazard! LOL) and then drove the go karts. Andy was so excited to get to drive – I think that made his weekend! The Ohio State – Miami (FL) football game was on in the afternoon – and we went to Danny Boy’s in Sandusky to have an early dinner and watch the impressive victory. A few of my friends from the Cleveland area triathlon scene were there too – it was a fun time.

I had good sleep both Friday and Saturday nights. I was amazed how well I slept Saturday night before the big race. The whole lead up to the race, I was so relaxed – I was worried that I was TOO relaxed. But as you’ll find out – that wasn’t a problem for me!!

Amy and the kids were awesome on Sunday. The swim start literally was right outside our hotel, so Amy came down to the beach to see us off and take pictures/video and such. Then she collected the boys and they watched me exit the swim and head out on the bike. After seeing me off and knowing I wouldn’t be back from the bike for like 5h30m… they went into the park to have fun and ride rides. Apparently they came back (based on my schedule of “expected” and “best case” times) to watch me finish the first half of the marathon… but I was having such a good race, I had already been through 10-15 minutes before they got there. Luckily, she saw one of my teammates who told her – so they didn’t stand around and worry about me.

When I came to the finish line (at 10H 41M) – they were all there cheering me on. When I checked in for the race, they took our picture to display on the Jumbotron. I had Amy, Andy and Tommy in the picture with me –so we had a nice family photo on the display. They have been such a big part of my training and preparation for the race- they are a part of this personal victory as well!

After I finished (10:41) and we talked, my coach Gregg took me into the recovery area for an ice bath (ugh), massage and recovery drinks. I said goodbye to Amy, Andy and Tommy, and they drove back to Avon for the night since the boys had school Monday. After that, I went back to the hotel to shower and put some clean clothes on to watch my other friends and teammates finish their races. It was exciting to know so many Ironman finishers that night. Saw Marty Mason (10:36), Ken Beech (12:09), Ben Norton (12:56), Mark Murphy (12:56 also), Mike Briehl (13:44) and Mike Cousino (14:06) finish. Plus there were a ton of teammates and friends from the Cleveland area who raced the Half Rev. It was great I stayed another night at the hotel and had a nice, easy morning with Mikey Donuts and Mike Briehl before coming back to reality.

For me – it was a perfect weekend!