Musselman Half-Iron Triathlon - Triathlon1/2 Ironman


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Geneva, New York
United States
Musselman Triathlon
75F / 24C
Overcast
Total Time = 5h 33m 55s
Overall Rank = 251/700
Age Group = F35-39
Age Group Rank = 5/42
Pre-race routine:

drove to geneva on sat am. nate and I went right to park to swim and bike. started swim and got a quick 5mins in before getting kicked since there was no swimming with no guard on duty. then went and met the crew (kristin, brad, laura, tim, doug and kelley) for lunch. over to check in and then race meeting. drove the bike course with k and tim. pasta dinner and over to race site for bike setup and check in.
Event warmup:

woke at 4am and ate while driving to the site. arrived before 5am and right to transition to setup and then relax.
Swim
  • 31m 59s
  • 2112 yards
  • 01m 31s / 100 yards
Comments:

with only 4mins btwn waves and them not allowing the next wave in the water until the previous start, K and I barely made it to the line for the start. we same within 5 ft of each other on the right side of the line until the first turn buoy. some chop on the way out as the wind was from the south. Then turned east and we still had a bit of chop for the first 200-300 yards. k took an inside line while I stayed right since we were starting to swim into the wave infront of us. focused on the long smooth strokes and noticed I was starting to move foward and pass a fair amount of people. rounded next buoy into channel and finally able to find some feet for a couple of minutes. but then started to swim into the first wave (think I saw nate) so lost my feet and just went for the straight buoy line.
What would you do differently?:

not neglect swim training. I really have not put effort into swimming this year, so I can not complain with the result.
Transition 1
  • 02m 18s
Comments:

good exit of water and jog to transition. got suit below hips by time at bike, but then could not get off ankles and got caught on chip. so sat to take it off.
What would you do differently?:

practice suit removal more. this is the second race this year and both times had same issue.
Bike
  • 3h 01m 48s
  • 56 miles
  • 18.48 mile/hr
Comments:

First half of bike was fabulous and second half was ok. wind picked up and was throwing me around a bit. also the 2.5 miles on the pee gravel was not fun. obviously I slowed down second half as at 28miles I was averaging 19.47mph and then the second half only 17.93. some due to hills, some due to the pee gravel and some to me.

missed a bottle at the second bottle exchange so went a without one water. then noticed when cleaning up bike that I must have skipped a gu since I had one left.
What would you do differently?:

lots more training and bike time. keep training with power and learning what my magic numbers are that make me go fast and yet not drain me.

be on top of nutrition and take time to at bottle exchanges
Transition 2
  • 01m 41s
Comments:

overall a good transition. I had tried a on shoe dismount the week before but had some issues so decided not to risk it at the transition. maybe on a sprint I will try it. overall felt good and took time to get all I needed.
What would you do differently?:

run with visor and number belt instead of putting on at rack.
Run
  • 1h 56m 9s
  • 13.1 miles
  • 08m 52s  min/mile
Comments:

felt good and started out a bit fast so slowed and made sure to take the first grass climb slow and even walked some of it. then made it through town and the college. started to feel not so hot at around the 5.5 miler hill. but kept talking my way through the run that I only had to make it to the big climb after 7 and it would be all down hill home. finally got to the gravel road and started the climb at a slowwww pace. then a 56 year old calf went by me walking so I walked for 200 yards and then finished up the hill running. just then a 26 year old female came up along side at a good pace and I latched on. we stayed together until mile 10 working together and getting back to a good pace in mid to lower 8s. then she dropped off right as we turned back to main st. I was not happy, she was a perfect pacer. so continued on and tried to push a bit more. the last 2 miles were a push and I was starting to cramp a little bit. nate's dad appeared at 1 mile to go and cheered me on. I was running down a woman in front of me, I knew she was not in my age group but really wanted to catch her. but ran out of room and she was about 10 feet in front of me at the finish.

I ran out of transition with the fuel belt in hand and put on as I got out of transition. but realized as I got to mile one that I must have lost my gu flask off fuel belt. but fortunately I had shoved 1 pack powerbar cola chew in my sports bra for the bike and as back up food and forgot about them until the run. so too a chew every mile and drank small sip of gu2o every mile. Drank water when ever I wanted. Started the coke after the gravel road and it was heavenly.

mentally was a really good job controlling my normal race demons.
What would you do differently?:

still need to work on pacing, I had done 2 long runs recently that I paced perfectly, now I just need to do this in a race. Although I did ok I have a lot of room for improvement.

also think I need to train on different road and trail surfaces.
Post race
Warm down:

immediate sat in cool water pool and drank hammer recovery drink they provided in water bottles at the finish. massage and packed up after reviewing the day with our great group of friends. Tim (4:54) and Brad (4.51) destroyed the course on the men's side, and Laura (5:19) on the women's side. Doug in his second ever tri did awesome with a 5:28. Kristin (6:20) crushed her previous PR by over an hour. Nate (6:51) of course amazingly finishes respectively with only 200miles of running/100miles biking/800yards swimming under his belt for the year. Love these races and training, but really would take being able to do it with all my friends over a faster time any day :)

What limited your ability to perform faster:

training and practice

Event comments:

overall this is a great race and they put on an excellent race. great volunteers, challenging course and a beautiful venue. Funny athletes meeting, good athlete dinner and creative housing options (dorms).

only complaints I had were the lack of approved swimming on saturday.

The rough pee gravel section of the bike course and off road sections of the run course make the course fun and challenging - so being the masocist I am, I would not change those.




Last updated: 2009-07-09 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:31:59 | 2112 yards | 01m 31s / 100yards
Age Group: 8/42
Overall: 172/700
Performance: Average
Suit:
Course: clockwise, starting in 3ft water and making way to deeper water by first turn buoy then swim parallel to shore and turn again into a deep water channel up a small canal where boats were docked to a boat ramp
Start type: Wade Plus: Waves
Water temp: 72F / 22C Current: Medium
200M Perf. Average Remainder: Good
Breathing: Good Drafting: Below average
Waves: Good Navigation: Good
Rounding: Average
T1
Time: 02:18
Performance: Below average
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
No
Wetsuit stuck? Yes Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike:
Getting up to speed:
Biking
03:01:48 | 56 miles | 18.48 mile/hr
Age Group: 12/42
Overall: 312/700
Performance: Average
Wind: Cross-winds
Course: a nice figure eight through the wine country. a couple of smaller climbs and then 1 or 2 good short climbs. false up hills and head/cross winds on all portions of the course.
Road: Smooth  Cadence: 86
Turns: Good Cornering: Below average
Gear changes: Average Hills: Average
Race pace: Comfortable Drinks: Not enough
T2
Time: 01:41
Overall: Average
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike
Running with bike Good
Racking bike Good
Shoe and helmet removal Good
Running
01:56:09 | 13.1 miles | 08m 52s  min/mile
Age Group: 9/42
Overall: 261/700
Performance: Average
Course: nice flat path along lake for 2 miles, up a grass path to down town then around college, up some hills to the biggest climb which was a one mile gravel road with a good climb. then rollers and down hill back to park.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Average
Mental exertion [1-5] 4
Physical exertion [1-5] 3
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Good
Race evaluation [1-5] 5