Rev3 Coaching!!!

For those of you newbies out there who aren't quite sure how to properly train for a triathlon, or those of you veterans looking for some good course-specific training plans, behold the Rev3 Group Coaching Plans for 2012!!!  This is something Rev3 is adding to their busy agenda this year and I, personally, think this it is an awesome idea.  Here is the scoop:

 

Rev3 Group Coaching

At Rev3Tri, every athlete matters!  We'd like to build upon this concept to bring our "family feeling and support" to help get each athlete to the finish line. 

 

What each program will include:

* Monthly training program to include race specific guidance, equipment tips and nutrition suggestions.

* Password protected forum available to each athlete in the program.  Rev3Tri Team, Rev3 Race Director and Rev3 Staff will all be available on the forum for continued support.

* Advanced information given before the general public is told to include: course updates, course maps, race director tips, coach tips, race weekend schedules

* On-course training days

* Race weekend meet ups, racing tips, motivation & strategy, meeting Team Rev3

* Webinars and online chats on specific training topics

 

Cost of program:

Initial $200 start-up fee which includes a Rev3Tri training kit, $25 off Rev3 entry coupon, sponsor goodies, and your username & password for your schedule and forum access.  After the initial start-up fee, each additional month is $50.

 

When will programs start?

Knoxville                      January 16 (16 week program for both Oly and Half)

Quassy                       January 16 (20 weeks)    February 13 (16 weeks)

Portland                      February 20 (20 weeks)   March 19  (16 weeks)

WI Dells                      March 26 (20 weeks)       April 23 (16 weeks)

Maine                          April 9  (20 weeks)         May 7 (16 weeks)

Cedar Pt                      March 26  (24 weeks)     April 23 (20 weeks)

Anderson                     May 28 (20 weeks)        June 25 (16 weeks)

FL                                June 11 (20 weeks)      July 9 (16 weeks)

Frequently Asked Questions?

Q: What is the quality of the training plans?  

A: While the training plans are a more generalized plan, they are put together by pro triathlete, Carole Sharpless, who has over 10 years of experience.  These plans are geared toward the specific course and distance that you select.  They are perfect for beginner triathletes, or those of you looking for a course specific training plan.

Q: Do I need to be local to the race city?  

A: No!  Think of this as a virtual training program.  Everything will go through a password protected forum where you will receive advice from pro triathletes, the race director, as well as the Rev3 age group team.    

Q: Does Rev3 have something to offer if I am looking for a more personalized training plan?

A:  Yes!  Feel free to contact Coach Carole Sharpless and discuss coaching options with her!

Want to learn more?

Contact Carole (carole@rev3tri.com) or Ashley (ashley@rev3tri.com) at Rev3!   ...or feel free to contact me at heather.oravec@gmail.com and I will try to point you in the right direction!

Rev3 vs. The Competitor

Lacking in creativity lately, I turned to my FB friends for suggestions on a blog post topic.  This is what I got:

• Rev3 vs. M-Dot, why should I race Rev3?
• Snipers
• Make fun of Matt
• Sex

Well, I don't know much about snipers, making fun of Matt is just too easy, and sex has been black listed from my blog posts as inappropriate material for public discussion.  So, I will go with the first topic and I apologize, Melissa, for being so slow in getting this posted.  

Why should I pick a Rev3 event over M-Dot?

(Disclaimer - The following statements are my personal opinion and have been formulated from personal experience.  I am NOT receiving monetary or other compensation for this post, although I will gladly accept large unmarked bills from anyone willing to donate.  That being said, I am a member of the Revolution3 Triathlon Age Group Team.  I applied to be on this team because I LOVE the company and what it stands for.  The morals and values behind the company are similar to my own, so I will gladly stand by and promote them 100%.  I have personally seen the great things Rev3 has done for the sport of triathlon, and I believe they will continue to improve the sport.  If I didn't believe this then I would not have applied to be on the team, nor would I support them.  I do not believe in blowing smoke up people's asses.  So, take what you will from this post.  It is my hope that you will use this to experience all that Rev3 has to offer and then formulate your own opinion from there.)   

For the 'logistics' part I am going to directly compare two similar events.  The following information is all available online at the respective vendor websites (please note this is MY interpretation of the information and may be subject to change based on the individual company).

Rev3 Portland, Oregon 70.3 July 8     vs.    M-Dot Muncie, Indiana 70.3 July 7

Price:

Early Bird = $210                                        Early Bird = $225

After 12/21 = $250                                     After 1/11 = $250

After 4/22 = $275                                       After 5/23 = $275

Refund Policy:

With 60 day notification: 100%                   With 40 day notice: 

credit to the following year's event               $75 partial refund

(excluding USAT/processing fees)  

With 30 day notification and a 

doctor's note: full refund (excluding

USAT/processing fees)

Prize Purse:

$50,000                                                     $15,000 (from 2011)

Additional Offerings:

Olympic distance event ($125 EB)             Sprint distance event ($??)                                     

Relay Entry ($285 EB)                               Relay Entry ($300 EB)

Aquabike ($185 EB)

Little Rev Family Adventure Race ($25)

What You Get For Your $:

Discounts with Rev3 sponsors

crowd tossed freebies                    

Headsweats Rev3 Visor                              Ironman Muncie 70.3 Hat

Dri-fit Longsleeve Rev3Shirt                        Dri-fit Short Sleeve Ironman Shirt 

Finisher Medal                                             Finisher Medal

Personalized Bike Rack Name Tags

So, to summarize on the "nitty-gritty" of the races:  The savings will come into play when you register for early bird prices.  Rev3 events are slightly cheaper than the competitor at early bird prices.  Rev3 has a much more lenient and athlete friendly refund policy.  Whether you are injured or not, with proper notification, you will get the equivalent of a full refund (whether in the form of next year's event or an actual refund).  The competitor only offers a partial refund of $75.  The prize purse (not that I'll ever see it) is much more enticing for Rev3 events!  In addition, Rev3 offers more options for the athlete and their family.  From relays, to shorter distances, to the aquabike (for those of you who hate running), to the little Rev kids event, Rev3 HAS IT ALL!  So, pack up the kiddies and bring them along for a weekend of fun filled racing!  The competitor offers a sprint and a relay....nothing special in the way of family fun.  You also get much more bang for your buck at the Rev3 events.  From personal experience I will say the shirts are much nicer quality and design than what you would get at the competitor's event.    

On a more personal level....

From my personal experience having raced both Rev3 and the competitor's events I will say that Rev3 is geared more towards the overall athlete experience!  They throw in little touches that make you feel like a person and not a number.  For example, the bike racks are personalized with your name and bib number.  Another example was last year at Rev3 Cedar Point, which happened to be on September 11th, Rev3 put a flag on the beach for each and every victim of 9-11.  They also dedicated a race bib to the 'unknown soldier' who gave their life to fight for our freedom.  They took the time to acknowledge the bigger picture and it was absolutely breathtaking and touching.  It was more than just "another race."  My typical feeling at the competitor's events are those of anxiety, intimidation, and that I am just another number attached to a paycheck.  

In my opinion both companies do a great job with race day organization.  The volunteers are always in large volume and are wonderful supporters.  Something I will throw out there for some truthful humor is that at the Rev3 events you will see less of the 'geriatric crew' at the registration and packet pickup tables.  The competitor tends to get their volunteers from the local retirement home and while the help is greatly appreciated, they tend to be a little slower and have a tough time answering questions as they are clearly not triathletes themselves.  For this reason, registration has a tendency to not be 'as smooth' at the competitor's events.  

Another convenience is that Rev3 events do not sell out like the competitor's events.  While it would be an awesome thing for Rev3 to have this happen, it is also somewhat of a perk that race slots are still open come race day.  How frustrating is it to have to register for an event in the first 10 minutes of it opening, not knowing if you are even 100% committed to it, only because you think  you want to do it and if you don't register for it now, you won't be able to register for it later.  FRUSTRATING!!!  Especially when you know you can only get $75 of you hard earned money back should you get injured or have to drop out.  This doesn't happen with Rev3 and even if it did, and you had to drop out, you would get your money back.  They are not out to rob people!  They want you to come back and enjoy their events!

And my final plug for doing a Rev3 event over the competitor's event can be found here:  at DC Rainmakers blog.  In summary, the competitor has recently been known to cancel events a month out from race day, just because they did not sell enough slots.  This just rubs me wrong (head out of the gutter) in SO many ways!  DC's review is excellent so I will let him tell the story, but it is just clear that the competitor is a money hungry corporation with disregard to the athlete and their families.  

For those of you still on the fence be sure to check out the events page at rev3tri.com.  Rev3 has announced alot of new and gorgeous race venues this year (I wish money and energy grew on trees because I want to do them all).  They are also announcing a new virtual coaching program geared toward their specific races.  I will blog more about this later as there are ALOT of good things happening here! So, stay tuned!

If you have any questions, comments, arguments, rebuttals, or concerns please do not hesitate to email me at heather.oravec@gmail.com   

Behold the Future!

I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past. Thomas Jefferson

The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams. Eleanor Roosevelt

When I look into the future, it's so bright it burns my eyes. Oprah Winfrey

 ______________________________________________________________

And with those inspirational quotes I would like to present to you my official 2012 "Wishlist" Race Schedule!

I just love this image.  It's actually the front of a Christmas card.

1. January 21 - 2nd Annual Blue Balls and Glass Cutters 5K (all the cool kids are doing it)
2. February 18 - Chili Bowl Classic 5K
3. March 17 - St. Malachi 5 miler 
4. April 22 - Glass City Marathon 
5. May 6 - Rev3 Knoxville 70.3
6. May 12 - Nordonia Hills Duathon
7. May 20 - Cleveland Marathon 10K (Coaching TNT, not racing)
8. June 10 - Clay's Park Sprint Tri
9. June 17 - Towpath Ten Ten (10k or 10 miler)
10. June 24 - Monroe Falls Sprint Tri
11. August 5 - Greater Cleveland Triathlon (Oly Distance)
12. August 12 - Rev3 Dells 70.3 
13. August 26 - Rev3 Maine 70.3 
14. September 9 - Rev3 Cedar Point (Sprint Tri and Volunteer)
15. September 29 - Akron Marathon
16. October 7 - Rev3 South Carolina (Oly Distance and Volunteer)
17. October 14 - Nike Women's Marathon

17 races! Overwhelming, right?!?!  That's why this is just my "wishlist".  If I had a perfect injury-free season and was independently wealthy you can bet I would be at all these races.  But let's be realistic here, there is no way I am going to do all these without burning out and burning a hole in my pocket!  For the past two years Matt and I have done 11 races/season (not planned, just worked out that way).  So let's narrow this down a bit...

The races that are in bold are the ones that I will definitely do (pending no injuries, knock on wood).  The bold italics are my "A" races for the season.  That brings me down to 8 races.  For the 70.3's I will either do Knoxville or the Dells, more likely Knoxville because Dells is just two weeks before Maine.  I would love to do the Greater Cleveland Triathlon with TNT to work towards my Triple Crown, but that depends on if I do Dells as GCT falls the weekend before Dells.  And getting closer to the end of the season I will either do the Akron Marathon or Nike, but not both (they are probably equally as hilly) and Rev3 SC will be dependent on which marathon I choose.  So, this brings me to the 11 race/season mark if I do Knoxville, GCT, and one of the two marathons.

This schedule is also subject to change with the race desires of my husband....I know he is looking at doing Muncie again.  With two triathletes in the family it's alot easier to train together for the same races then to have conflicting schedules all the time.  I'm sure Matty will be happy to compromise though!

As far as goals for the season, really I have two, but would be happy if I met just one:

• break a 6 hour 70.3 (a 1 min PR)
• break a 4 hour marathon (a 10 min PR)

My marathon training plan officially starts in a week and a half!  I AM STOKED!!!

Half Marathon and Other Fun Stuff

Saturday Matt and I ran the Tour de Ashland Half Marathon Relay.  The weather was perfect; upper 40's and blue skies!  We couldn't have asked for a better day.  This is the second year running this race, except last year we both ran the Half.  My friend, Tim, is the race director and coaches the Ashland Cross Country Team, which this race is a fundraiser for.  The cross country kids' parents organize the race and I will have to say they do a fabulous job!  It's organized, prompt, well marked, well staffed, and has awesome post-race food!  

Remembering how hilly the course is and seeing as though this is an off season race for us we opted for the relay this year. Team Oravec made a smart choice for once ;)  Matt was set up to run the first leg which was 7 miles, and I was set as the anchor with the last 10k.  I had forgotten that the back half of the course was almost entirely uphill as you can see in the elevation chart.  Matt finished his leg of the race in 48:38 putting us in 2nd place for relay teams!  This was both good and bad; good because it gave us a pretty good lead against the competition, but bad because I knew there was no way I was going to hold that spot.  I knew my pace was going to be closer to a 9 min mile and while it was nice running that far up in a race for once, it sucked getting passed by a ton of people.  I held my own though and finished strong putting us at 3rd place for the co-ed relay teams.  We finished with an 8:06 pace, 8/25 relay teams, and 3/12 co-ed teams.  I am happy to say that I only got passed by guys (as far as the relay teams go) and that makes me pretty happy.  Matt took some video from the race and will be posting it on his blog so be sure to check it out!  Other than that I highly recommend this race if you are looking for a challenging course with great competition.

Race shirt, bling, and 3rd place beanies!

Elevation map.  Matt ran the first 7 miles, I ran the rest...uphill.

Here are some of our other weekend happenings in pictures and videos.  Enjoy!

Finally got our Christmas tree up and decorated.  I wish we could just keep it up all year! Oh Christmas Tree...

I came home to find this after a trip to the grocery store.  I am thinking the pups accidentally knocked it off when they were playing.  Uh oh!  They haven't eaten any ornaments since the first year in our house, 4 years ago, which resulted in a week of glitter poo!

 

I took the liberty of trying my first recipe from Baked Perfection.  These are the Mocha Toffee cupcakes with crushed Heath bars on top!  They are absolutely delicious, but I think one cupcake will hold me over for about month!  They sit HEAVY!

Matt and I got spent some quality time working in the backyard this weekend.  Who could ask for better weather in December.  Here are the chickens enjoying a little bit of playtime.  Shake yo' tail feathers!

Here is Monster Man himself playing with his chicken friends.  I was trying to get him to play "his game" with Stella, but he was a little camera shy.  Typically he runs up to Stella acting like he is going to pounce on her and then Stella runs up to him and pecks him on the head....then the game starts all over with Frank chasing her again.  It's a riot!

...And I know how you all enjoy a good "spy cam" video of Matty-O (only the first 30 sec are good).  This is him playing his Call of Duty video game with his new headset.  At this point he had been playing for approximately 4 hours.  It seems he is really getting along with all the 12 year olds that play this game!  (BTW... it kinda looks like he's naked, but I promise he's wearing shorts!)

What's Goin' On?

It's that time of year and way too much has been going on...mostly wonderful things!  However, I have been slacking at my blogging and for that I apologize.  Allow me to catch up:

• First and probably the most exciting.....I made Team Rev3!!! WOOHOO!  I couldn't be more excited to be a part of such a wonderful organization.  When they announced my name on Facebook I felt like a rock-star.  My iphone was blowing up with all the FB, Twitter, and text messages!  Talk about 15 minutes of fame...it was more like 24 hours of insane awesomeness!  I am truly looking forward to meeting all of my new teammates and racing in some awesome new locations!  Be sure to check out our sponsors on the right hand side of my blog as well as the Rev3 website for the new races they have added this season!

• Thanksgiving was fun and relaxing.  Matt and I started the day with the Aurora Turkey Trot 4 miler.  This was our first time racing at this venue and I have to say I really liked it.  It was much smaller scale than the downtown Turkey Trot which I hear had like 7000 people this year.  Aurora only had 700 so it was nice and quaint.  The course was pretty challenging as it was an out and back with the first half being down hill and the last half being uphill.  I managed to squeeze out an 8:37 pace which is better than I had aimed for.  I would have been happy with an 8:45 pace as this is really our off-season and we have only been doing some lifting and running here and there...nothing structured as of yet.  Hopefully this is a sign of good things to come.  After the race we hit up my moms place for some turkey, pie, and board games with my brother and sister-in-law.

Post turkey dinner family nap.

• I finally hit the big 3-0.  It was a little less anticlimactic than I expected.  Nothing fell off or broke and I am still walking without a cane so I guess that's a good thing!  I expected to feel ancient, but I feel quite the opposite.  I am wondering when I will actually feel like an adult.  It's weird because I look at my parents and my co-workers and it's clear to me that they are adults, but when I look at myself I still see a kid, someone who should be seen and not heard, someone who has no authority and still needs to ask permission to do stuff....but I digress.  The Friday after Thanksgiving some of my girlfriends got together and we went and got pedicures and then met up with the guys for dinner and drinks at the Winking Lizard.  Then Saturday my dad came over and we went to the movies to see Puss & Boots in 3D (great movie) and had a pseudo Thanksgiving dinner with him afterwards.  Matt surprised me with flowers and dinner at Melt on my actual birthday, so I would say it was a wonderful week worth of celebration!  

Birthday flowers from Matty O.

• Saturday morning I got back in the saddle again, spending a quality two hours at the Macedonia Rec with the New Level Coaching team.  This is the first time I had been on my bike since Rev.  It was a trainer workout with alot of simulated hill work and speed work.  I managed to hold my own and got a good 30 miles in, but I will say I probably lost a good 10 lbs in sweat and I definitely could have used my inhaler!  Definitely looking forward to the next workout.
• And with all this fun I managed to catch a cold and am combating a persistent cough and sore throat...boo.  I haven't done much training this week which sucks because Matt and I are registered to run the Tour de Ashland Half Marathon tomorrow.  Thankfully we signed up for the relay, but I am still anticipating getting my ass handed to me.  We did the half last year and it's definitely not a course for the feint of heart.  But it's for a great cause to support the Ashland HS CC team and my good friend of 20 years now is the race director....looking forward to catching up with him!
• And last but not least, I finally decided what to do for our Christmas cards this year.  I typically like to do something out of the ordinary and take it up a notch or two from regular old boxed cards (not that there is anything wrong with boxed cards).  I was fresh out of ideas until I remembered the caricature I had made for Matt's birthday last year.  I decided to have a new family caricature made with a holiday theme.  To say the least, I am really happy with how it turned out!  Chris, at Caricature Toons, does an excellent job and captures even the smallest of details.  

Original photo.

Caricature! (He even captured Frankie's "cow spots" on his chest.)

Happy Holidays everyone!!!