Rev 3 Knoxville

    Knoxville Olympic distance was my second race this year with Rev 3, and I love their organization and attention to detail. You can always be assured a practice swim the day before, which I especially appreciate. Although one of my downfalls and biggest stresses is racing urban triathlons. It also seems that every time I do an urban triathlon I am without my "pitcrew."  When you have no family or support at a race it makes it a bit weird to finish and not really have anyone to high five or hang out with.  Fortunately I was rooming with another pair of pros and got to know them on this trip, which added a fun element to this triathlon.
    The swim was in a river, we swam up current and than back down and had to pull ourselves up and out onto the dock. I had a much better swim here than I have had in the last couple of races this year. It was a wetsuit legal swim for the first time this year and I go to wear my new Blueseventy Helix wetsuit and I think it made all the difference. I came out of the swim in 14th place out of 26 pro females, so I was feeling pretty good about the race so far. Anytime your not last as a first year pro you're doing well!
    The bike was actually pretty hilly and a more technical course, which is usually more of my style. Usually. I managed to lose contact with other riders in the event and found myself out on the bike course unable to see anyone, which sometimes makes it hard to push the pace and see where all of the turns are coming up at.
    Onto the run I pushed hard trying to catch other athletes and my perseverance paid off! I caught three girls by the end of the run. A new thing that Rev 3 is trying this year are tubes of water on the run, and they are amazing! Its like being given a superlight bottle of water to hang onto and drink during the race.  I wish every race had this as an option. I finished the run in 39:57, not a bad time for an early triathlon, thank you to Alaina Case for pushing me all the way to the finish line. My overall place was 18th out of 26 Pro Athletes.  Overall the bike course was really pretty and the run was on a peaceful bike path, I would definitely go back next year!

The transition area featured banners of every Pro in the race, super cool!