Rev3Maine: Part 1

Endless Pools & the Ice Bucket Challenge at Maine’s REV3 Triathlon

REV3, the family-friendly triathlon series, rolled through Old Orchard Beach, Maine,
this past weekend. In addition to the usual events – including the always-popular
Endless Pool demo swims – the weekend featured particularly spirited tributes to
the continued fight against ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s disease.

Team REV3 triathlete Jen Small did the ‘Blazeman Roll’ at this weekend’s event. 

The lively finish-line crossing is named for Jon ‘Blazeman’ Blais, who was 

diagnosed with ALS before he’d fulfilled his dream of completing the IRONMAN™ 

World Championship in Kona. He vowed, “Even if I have to be rolled across the

 finish line, I'm finishing.” Miraculously, he did just that, ‘log-rolling’ across the

 finish line in 2005 to become the first person diagnosed with ALS to complete 

the grueling course. Since his passing in 2007, triathletes continue to do the 

“Blazeman Roll” in his honor. At this weekend’s REV3 triathlon, the memory

of his fire and determination was alive and well.

REV3 announcer Sean English opted for the super-dunk version of the ALS

 Ice Bucket Challenge. As the voice of the REV3 triathlon series, which hits

 12 U.S. cities this season, Sean is known for his high-spirited encouragement 

of all attendees. Here, he’s feeling the chill to raise money and awareness for 

ALS, the progressive neurodegenerative disease that frequently leads to total

 paralysis and death within two to five years of diagnosis. As of this Tuesday, 

Ice Bucket donations to the ALS Association reached $88.5 million, a 3,400%

 increase over the $2.6 million they’d received for the same period last year.

“Ma, this is awesome! I gotta get one of these.” This little girl gave the happiest 

Endless Pool recommendation of the weekend. As a proud sponsor of the 2014 

REV3 series, Endless Pools was on hand this weekend with our Commercial

 Performance Pool. Triathletes love our smooth, adjustable swim current for 

being an ideal, at-home trainer for open-water conditions; kids love Endless 

Pools because they’re fun and not too deep. This girl’s mom, Barbra, kindly

 shared this video with us and reports, “Her father and I will be looking to invest 

in one.”

In addition to attending most U.S. REV3 events this year, Endless Pools is also
raffling off an Endless Pools Fastlane® swim-current generator. With wall-
\and deck-mount options, the Fastlane turns any pool into an Endless Pool. 
You can enter to win online or atthe next REV3 event, at the Cedar Point
 amusement park in Sandusky, Ohio, September 5th through 7th.

As with this past weekend’s Old Orchard Beach event on the beautiful Saco
Bay, you can expect another full weekend of family fun. In Ohio, Friday will
kick off with the nighttime Glow-in-the-Dark 5K and 1-mile Fun Run, followed
by a dance party. Saturday's highlights will include Youth and Sprint Revs,
plus the Little Rev Adventure Race for parent-kid teams, featuring fun obstacles
 and low pressure. Sunday's main events – the Full- and Half-Rev Triathlons, with
Aquabike options for both – will be followed with a family picnic. All are welcome.

Rev 3 Maine HalfRev Recon {part I}

I am so excited for the Rev 3 Maine HalfRev (1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, 13.1 mile run) race that will be making it’s debut in Old Orchard Beach, Maine this August 26th!

Not only am I lucky enough to be part of the awesome Rev3 Team, I am blessed to call Maine home and this race is taking place on my own stomping (training) grounds. What a perfect opportunity to give everyone a sneak-peak at what’s to come with the HalfRev course!  Today, I will take you through the HalfRev bike course and later this week, I'll give you the "run down" on the run course for both the Rev3 HalfRev and Olympic distances. Also to come is a preview of the Olympic bike course (which IS different than the HalfRev).

The Swim

What can I say about the swim other than this is where you will be swimming.
Gorgeous. Simply wonderful-the (cool) Atlantic ocean.
Somedays the water is very calm, other days there are rolling waves to contend with. You never know what kind of weather Mother Nature will dish out on race day but I promise you will enjoy this swim. The water is even getting warm (by Maine standards) and I have already had several open water swims in the ocean.

Transition-this is the view from "BIKE OUT"

The Bike

Upon exiting transition, you will head up a very short, little street with a bit of incline out on the main road through town. The road is basically 3 miles of flat with some short, easy inclines. This is a good time to get the legs warmed up and get ready to ride! This stretch of road has some “cranky” spots of pavement but nothing major and it is easy to navigate around the rough patches of road.

Shaded roads along Flag Pond Road

A side view of the overpass and the Maine Turnpike

Once you cross busy Route 1, you will be bearing left, heading inland and into farm country with some fun rollers and beautiful views. Right away you will hit up a small little hill-which is the overpass crossing the Maine Turnpike and a bit after that, you will turn left through a lovely residential area with lots of big trees (shade!) then onto Route 112. The first part of this section is flat and fast but get ready for a little (or even a lot) wind as this area can windy even on a calm day. The roads here are super smooth and clean and this road tends to be very busy. Lucky for us, we will be racing on a Sunday which should limit some of the larger vehicles like 18-wheelers.

After a couple miles here, you will come upon a gorgeous equestrian farm with a long, white fence and the typical “big red barn”, this is your warning that you will be making a 90* left hand turn. Be ready for some gentle rollers, pretty farmlands and some fun, fast flats. This is also the start of the “meat and potatoes” of the course. I’d like to quote my Rev3 Team Mate, Ryan now from his Rev 3 Maine bike report, because he sums it up so well:
“Here's the thing: when you hear "flat," if you are from, say, Kansas, this course will come as a shock to you. If you live in Montana, then this'll be considered pancake-flat. For the rest of us, I think the most apt descriptor would be "rolling." This course isn't like Rev3 Quassy, which is a beast to climb. But what it will do is separate those who can use their shifting to their advantage and those who attempt to go at courses with the idea of smashing it.”

The white fence

get ready to turn left!

After the horse farm, you'll head into the country and hit up the rollers

Also note, if it is a hot day, there is little shade now to protect you and being inland, you will no longer have the cooling air of the ocean so keep this in mind come race day and make sure you are hydrating!

As you head further inland on these picturesque country roads dotted with farms and large fields, you will be hitting up lots of (what I call) gentle rollers. There is nothing that really screams “climb!” but there are several short hills to get up and over.

 My co-riders cresting the top of one of the rollers on Rt 5

an aerobar view of another roller

one of the longer rollers to get over,
 this picture does not do the incline justice!

As you head into South Waterboro Road (mile 17.76 per Rev 3 map) you will have some steadily undulating terrain, the shade will return. This is also my favorite part of the course! Lots of ups (I think the longest, steepest climb is here) and some fun downs. This will then lead into some flats where you can take a break from the rollers (only for a bit) and you are roughly half-way done.

But don’t get lazy here either--because while flat, there will be more winds to contend with. I ride this road often and it always seems to have a strong headwind and crosswind regardless of the weather. You’ll have several miles of (mostly) flat to enjoy!

Around mile 40, you will head right onto Simpson Road. Be aware of the road conditions here. There are some rough spots and some uneven road from frost heaves and such, but you are not here for long.

see the warning for the stop sign on the right?
 you can just barely make out the upward turn to the left
 where the road will eventually go. UP UP UP

This is also where the Rev 3 sense of humor can be seen.

You’re trucking along, feeling pretty happy about the day when you see a nice little downhill coming up. You will also see a sign that says “STOP” and another that says ONE LANE BRIDGE AHEAD. But you can’t really see much more.
So this quaint little downhill that then goes over a cute single lane bridge and then WHAMMO!
There is this steep little bugger of a hill...but once you get up that steep part, it continues on up up up and around. Now, it is not a long hill or a hard hill (heck, after Quassy, I really wonder if there are any hills anywhere that compare...) but just be aware of it.

I’ve done it in a hard gear--trying to power DOWN the little hill to float up.
That’s not gonna work unless you can get some shifting in early on the downhill.
I’ve stopped at the STOP sign (as directed) and then spun up the hill in a super easy gear (no issues) but lost some time doing it that way.
There is definitely a happy medium to be found to get up the hill quickly without mashing or crushing your quads.

After this stretch, you are homeward bound! You’ll pass the familiar red barn, white fenced horse farm and turn left, back into some country farmland. There are lots of turns here and you will find yourself heading back through familiar territory (the first 3 miles of the course).  Now you can take advantage of the decline on your way back. Get those legs spinning and ready to run!

I love this course and I think anyone doing this race will enjoy it as well. It has enough challenging elements to keep the seasoned triathlete working, definitely a course to seek out a PR and yet gentle enough to be a perfect first at the HalfRev distance (70.3 miles).

Stay tuned for a step-by-step breakdown of the run course!
Here's a hint of what's to come!!

Friday Fun

Lola has a "big girl bike" now and is already stead-fast on the helmet rule.

This week she wanted to get out for a ride and her helmet was in the house, so she grabbed mine, put it on and proceeded down the driveway...out onto the street, me chasing after her with camera in hand!

Much like her bike-loving Mommy, Lola always has a blast when out on two (plus two) wheels!!
Literal squeals of delight!

She loves to descend!(see that false negative-flat she is screaming down?)

I just love her expression!

Lola often pretends to have bike trouble while out riding too--this time, she discovered a FLAT!! OH NO

take THAT flat tire!

back in action!

WoRdLeSS Wednesday

photos courtesy of Brad at S&W Sports, Concord NH

Brad spent hours with me on Tuesday getting the fit on the QR dialed in. I love my new "local" bike shop (so what if I have to drive 90 mins to get there--it was worth it).

FREEZE!

So seriously, I have so many things going on right now and everytime I sit down to write about it all I have total brain freeze and then something distracts me and POOF! gone...I have about 100 different drafts sitting in blogger and not a single one seems coherent! I promise I'll get my act together and get these posted to share some info with you soon-
I feel like a bad blogger! 

Training is going well -really well, in fact-I just came off a huge training block, happy to report that it went great! But I am starting to get a bit of anxiety about the Quassy and the course. The anxiety is more related to the fact that I have no idea what to expect. I read blog posts like this one (from BadAss 2x Kona chick & Maine triathlete, Ange -- if she thinks it's a killer). I felt the same way about Timberman and heard all kinds of horror stories about how difficult that bike course was THEN I made my little pigramage to ride it myself and all my fears faded away.


I am planning a trip down to Quassy to freeze those fears and show 'em who is in charge here (ME!)



Plus, I'll get to see Rev 3 Team Mate extraordinaire-Laura (who just finished up Run Across America with Ulman Cancer Fund)

Tuesday I had a power session on the bike and then a run later in the day--it was in the 90's here (yes, in Maine and in April) so it was certainly not freezing. I decided to take my run down to the beach and on a dare from GOTRIbal gal, Marison I ended up in the ocean.
The 45* ocean.
FREEZE!!!

Bone chilling cold shot up my legs even though I was hot! hot! hot! I made it up to my knees, twice and dunkin' was NOT happening. But rumor has it that my favorite local pond to OWS is rocking at 50*
Hmmmm.....

 My training partner, Marc was ready to make a dive for it on our long ride Saturday.
I only dated to place my fingertips in the water...it was sunny but a cool, spring day.

But I did strip off my winter layers at the pond. We started in low 40's, clouds and fog. At least the sun came out.

caught with my pants down! 

Hope you enjoyed that risque strip show!! lol

Happy Monday

The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

The Good?

I got a new bike (though if you follow me on Dailymile.com, EnduranceAthleteProject.com or Twitter then this is not NEW news to you)!

I got a new bike (can you tell I'm psyched!).

Being a stay-at-home Mommy with a penchant for gear & gadgetry (HRM's, Garmins, shoes, shoes, shoes, running skirts, headlamps, reflective gear, winter running tights-I could go on and on) I really thought that getting a great bike would be out of my grasp until I returned to work full time. This was sad for me (tissue??) because while I did ok on Bertha, I really wanted to get into something a bit lighter than 150lbs (slight exaggeration)!! Even if I did have something in common with Chrissy Wellington when it came to first season bikes (remember THIS post??)

As things turned out, I had a couple contacts through my tri club and the YMCA to check out a couple bikes, both road and tri specific, but it was a casual running/race schedule related e-mail exchange with an old friend from school that led me to THE bike.

So without further ado, here SHE is...no name yet. And it's not the best pic. I have an appointment to get portraits done, don't worry. I know you like your bike porn classy, right?!

de Luca carbon frame and fork- de Luca is an Australian brand but the frame design is Masi, de Luca just stuck THEIR name on it and sadly, are no longer in business. Do you have any idea how much research it took me to find THAT out??

The components are Shimano-a mix of 105's and Ultegra. The wheels are Mavic Cosmos, Bontrager handlebars and saddle. It also has a Trek Incite 11i computer which is pretty cool now that I a) put a battery in it and b) figured out how to get it off km's.

I think with a sweet pair of Zipps she will be looking pretty on race day. Now to add some clipless pedals and some areobars we will be rockin'!

The Bad

After lots of resting my knee is still bothersome. I ran 2 miles Sunday and 3 miles yesterday and it is a mixed bag of "feels just fine" to "I think I should stop now". With my first (fun) triathlon in 2 months, I need to be running.

So I put a call into the Orthopedic Associates Performance Center and I have an appointment for an evaluation on Thursday morning. Hopefully I will have some good answers very soon as to what is up.

The Ugly

When I got my bike, I also got a trainer in the deal. While I wait for my riser block to arrive, I knew my years working in medicine would pay off eventually.



Lola's checking the tension on the trainer

Say hello to my PDR (Physicians Desk Reference) -- which is holding up the front wheel while I ride the trainer just fine. Ugly but it works!

The 40lb PDR being put to good use--finally!

Speaking of ugly--what do you think of this BIKE THONG I found on TriSports.com?? I love the caption "remote & phone not included" I think I might need this...

I would love to hear from you and your suggestions on what to name the new bike :)

Giveaway Time!! Hooray for Happy Hoo Ha's Part II

Happy Labor Day Weekend~I hope each and every one of you has a fun, active, safe and relaxing weekend!


Hurricane Earl made a visit to kick off the holiday weekend and luckily, the storm lost a lot of it's ferocity and it's visit to Maine ended up in just some rain showers. I might still be able to get in a run this morning (Sat).

But let's get to the fun stuff!! It's time for my very first GIVEAWAY!


Laurie at Reflect Sports was nice enough to send me some HOO HA RIDE GLIDE to test out (remember THIS post??) and this week of 90's+ heat and humidity was the perfect week to really give HOO HA RIDE GLIDE a good test. While this product is targeted to cycling, I decided that I would try it for running too!!



The original skin and chamois cream formulated for women by women. Protects your most girlie parts from infection, chafing, friction burns, irritation, inflammation, and saddle sores. Provides healing and a lasting cool feeling so you enjoy the ride. Do apply to your nooks and crannies. Do apply to your chamois. Do apply to other skin areas where exercise chafing occurs. Enriched with barley extract, lavender, eucalyptus leaf, tea tree and peppermint oils.




Here's a list of the "tests" run (yea, yea pun totally intended) on the HOO HA RIDE GLIDE:

• ~Brick #1: 18.5 mile bike ride followed by a 2 mile run


• ~6 mile run hill work


• ~6.5 mile run with the jogger


• ~ Brick #2: 13.8 mile ride followed by a 3.2 mile run


• ~6 mile run with the jogger with a mile of speed work

Each day it was HOT and HUMID-and when I say HOT, I mean HOT!! Each workout I wore a variety of bottoms to see if the HOO HA RIDE GLIDE would really eliminate the chafing issues I have been having in this hot mess of weather. I tested track shorts, capri tights, running shirts, cycle shorts...


The results?? Not a bit of chafing. Zero irritation. My Hoo Ha was very happy!

My rides were more enjoyable because I was not distracted by discomfort.

My hot and sweaty runs were not cut short because of irritation or chafing.

The Hoo Ha Ride Glide was not sticky or gooey. It went on smooth and did not come off all over my running or biking clothes. It has a pleasant, light scent.


I am SO impressed with this product that I will no longer get out without it!!



So here's how YOU can get some HOO HA RIDE GLIDE yourself! (fellas-feel free to enter and share with the active lady in your life!! this stuff really rocks. She will thank you!!)


There are several ways to get a chance to win! Please leave a separate comment for each entry. The giveaway will end on Sat Sept 11th at 11:59 pm. I will pick a winner on Sunday Sept 12th.


1) Become a follower of my blog or let me know that you are already a follower.
2) Visit Reflect Sports and tell me which product you would like to try out most!
3) Like Reflect Sports on Facebook.
4) Spread the word about this contest by posting a link on your blog, Twitter or Facebook.

I am happy to have Hoo Ha Ride Glide as my first giveaway! I was seriously impressed with how well it worked :) Good Luck!!


*while Reflect Sports provided me with free product to try, the opinions stated here are purely my own.


Reflect Sports was also kind enough to give the readers of Miles, Muscles & Mommyhood a discount on their orders! Save 15% off your order by using discount code: MMMH1015