Submitted by Ken Frankenbery 5-15-2011

Henry and I traveled to Knoxville, for the Olympic distance Rev 3 Tri (1 mile swim/ 24 mile bike- 10 k run)

I have been focusing on off road Tri’s for the last few years, and have done some local conventional Tri’s- this was the first big time national level event I have raced at.

Wanted to get in a early season tune up race, before the off road Tri’s start in June- and with cold weather here- wanted to get in a open water swim.

The difference was obvious as soon as we arrived- everyone had high end equipment, lots of National teams there, and as Henry said, when you pay $160+ to enter a race- you’re serious!

The Race was held in downtown, the swim was in the Tennessee river- swim upstream, turn around, and back. I didn’t like the start- there was no warm up; they let you jump in, tread water for a minute, then go. We did a open swim on Saturday, and water was shockingly cold. The current was not that bad, but river was running very high.

Weather looked bad, rain, and a cold front moved in with highs only in the 50’s.

We got lucky on race day, rain held off, and temp in low 50’s and over cast.

Swim – I started off slow, not used to not warming up, but tried to work into a rhythm. Got passed by what seemed like most people in my wave, but was far from last. The course seemed long to me, much longer than a mile, but maybe that’s because I was weaving back and forth most of the way.

I hit the dock, and shot through the transition like a rocket, passing quit a few people along the way.

The bike started out down a closed interstate in the city- and things were clicking right off the bat. I was passing people, feeling solid, and after 5 miles caught Henry, who had a great swim. From there we headed out to suburbs, with some decent hills, and fast downhill’s. I was in a zone, and passing people in groups- averaged over 20 mph for entire 24 miles. It was one of best bikes I have had.

I hit the run hard, and in transition did not see any bikes from people in my class, so felt I had a solid shot at winning.

Run went very well, felt very strong the whole way, and just like bike, passed groups of people.

I finished strong, I won with a 2:31, a racer from Canada was 7 minutes behind in second, and Henry had a solid race to finish 3rd with 17 people in our age group.

A great event and a great showing for Team ER!

Ken Frankenbery