Musselman Half-Iron Triathlon - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

Pretty good swim for me. Haven't really done nearly enough swim training all year. This was my longest swim so far this year with my second longest being an Oly I did a few weeks ago. Could have sighted better, but overall a good swim. A little choppy, but I found a good rhythm to go along with the chop. By the time I got to the canal the sun felt hot on my back which would be the theme of the day. Got out of the water feeling good and ready to hop on the bike.

The time includes the walk from the water to transition. I checked my watch when I got to the boat launch and it said 39:something.

Swim more!

Way too slow!

Move faster!

I was already feeling hot at the start of the bike, I knew it was going to be a long slow day, so I decided it was wise to not push it too hard. I did go harder on the fast stretch between Ovid and Cayuga, and passed a fair amount of people including a couple of small groups. I don't know if they were intentionally drafting, but at one point I did see the USAT Official writing in their little notebook.

I had one water bottle that I used just to pour water over my head and the back of my neck, but that ran out pretty quickly. At 2 of the aid stations I grabbed 2 bottles of water; one to replenish my aero bottle, and one to pour over me to keep cool. I was just about out of water at the last aid station at about 50 miles, but I figured I would be OK for another 6 miles, so I didn't grab any water. Mistake. Could have used the water both on the bike and in T2.

Took in fewer calories than planned, but I didn't feel like I needed anymore. Felt like if had eaten more, my stomach would have rebelled and I would have trouble drinking enough.

Grab a couple of water bottles at the last aid station.

Not horrible, but still too slow. The temp was getting into the mid 90's and I was really feeling hot. Could have used some water to dump over me and to drink.

Move faster

As I started the run my legs felt pretty good, but I was way overheated. Was running OK until I got out of the shade and the sun hit me. I do not do well in the heat, plus I am not in nearly good enough shape to deal with it very well. Felt my heart start to race, my scalp tingle, and got a little faint so I started walking and felt better. Was hoping that I could cool off enough at the first aid station to get going a little better. Man, it was a long way to that first aid station. Once I got there, I had to stop at the porta potty; another thing that happens when I get overheated is my body wants to get rid of anything solid.

Each aid station I did pretty much the same thing. Drank a couple of cups of water, poured a cup of water over my head, poured a cup of ice inside my jersey, and grabbed a couple of sponges. I would cool off and be able to run a little better, but it wasn't long before I would heat up and have to slow it back down.

Walked a lot more than I would have liked. During the race it felt like I was walking as much or more than I was running, but checking my run at Garmin Connect after the race I found I was running more than walking which was good to see. Fortunately, the run is fairly flat because I think I would have had a hard time with any big hills.

Since I was having a slow race, I wanted to have as much fun as possible. I was taking my time at the aid stations, so I did my best to be as thankful and friendly to the volunteers as possible. It was a tough day for them also being out there in the heat of the day, and they were really great. They were enthusiastic and ready with whatever we racers wanted even though I was one of the slower people in the last wave and they had already been out there a very long time.

The last few miles I was trading places with a guy in my AG, and when I passed him back with a mile or so to go I decided it was time to finish as strong as possible and not let him beat me which I was able to do.



Train more. Race on a cool rainy day. But mostly train a lot more.

Wanted to get back to transition quickly so I could call my wife to let her know I was done. Thought she might be concerned because I took pretty long.

Ran into kenj walking into transition and started babbling about my race while very rudely not asking about his. Sorry Ken, but I think I was slightly delirious. Turns out Ken had a great race, and met his goal of breaking 6 hours under very difficult conditions. Outstanding!

Also met up with dexter in transition. He also had a tough day, but did very well and he kicked my butt as usual.


Don't train enough. I'm slow. Heat. Don't train enough.


Very well run race. I hope to be back.