Musselman Half-Iron Triathlon - Triathlon

Overall, the swim leg went fairly well for me. I'm generally ok swimming with a line in a pool, but sighting in OWS is not one of my strengths. I think I did better sighting this year - tried to adjust my stroke to look at the buoys more often and tried to follow others' feet. Beat last year's time by 8mins, so I can't complain, and I even passed some folks from the previous wave.

More OWS practice. Don't have the time to do it per se, but I could use some more practice.

wow, spent too much time in T1. Walked in from swim to T1, honestly wasn't interested to run to save a minute or two, but prob could have done better. Reapplied sun screen, and walked to mount line. Overall, my T1 was pretty shoddy.

I need to be more motivated to get out of T1. It's not that I enjoy spending "wasted time" in T1, I just need to streamline things and run a bit. I figured I was going to run 13.1 miles a bit later, so I could walk T1. Probably should have at least jogged a bit and hustled more. Should have saved a few minutes. Lesson learned for next race.

Felt pretty good on the bike leg, at least for the first half. Legs felt strong, nutrition was going ok, and things seemed like they were going well. My bike computer was acting up, so I wasn't sure exactly how I was doing. The second half seemed to drag a bit. I definitely started feeling the impact of the sun and heat, and my legs started to wilt some. This was a bit surprising, since I tried to get in alot more TITS in my training leading upto the race. I thought I did ok in training, but somehow it didn't translate to race day.

The one revelation that I did learn about my biking is that I'm pretty good on hills - both up and down, but I need to work on flat biking. Sound a bit weird to say that, but somehow I can climb with relative ease and get into good aero tucks on the way down, but flat biking is something I need to work on. More TITS for me, and probably more quality TITS rather than spinning too easily. Perhaps I need to look into Sufferfest videos.

When I came back into transition, but back was aching some and my legs felt pretty drained. Not a good omen to start the run. I did see my family as I approached T2, so that was nice.

More quality TITS.

ok, here's where the rails started to fall off the tracks. Again walked to my rack. Changed shoes and socks fairly quickly, and put my running hat on. Reapplied sun screen. Picked up some Clif shots and started out. Oh darn, no race number, so back I went. Took too much time again, but I was really starting to feel the impact of the heat and sun. Saw my family on my way out - the smile on my daughter face was great!

A bit more organization would have helped.

Well, this run was hard. The course is very fair, a few hills here and there, but my legs were tired and the sun and heat were kicking my backside. I just don't do well in heat - I'll own that. I was raised in snow country, so mid-90s and hot sun just don't work for me. I wilted, plain and simple. I had been taking electrolytes all day, so I think I had that covered. Water, ok. Nutrition, might have been a bit off my plan, but not much. It was just hot.

First two miles along the lake were rough as I tried to find my rhythm, though I did pass some folks who were dragging big time. Walked the hills and aid stations, and tried to run the balance. Overall, my plan went ok. Even felt decent by the big hill next to the corn field. Toward the end of the race, the aid station walks became longer, so I wasn't pleased by that, but I really didn't have a choice. When I started running each time, I think I had a decent pace, but the heat and sun were so strong by this point.

I really wanted to finish strong, so I ran/jogged the final two miles with the exception of the final aid station. I ended-up running/jogging most of those final two miles. Passed a number of folks who were just walking, so I was happy I had some left in the tank.

Found a running buddy for the final 2ish miles. He was a great guy and really helped me finish strong. He could have run by me with ease, but he slowed down and we ran to the finish together. Huge thanks goes to him - I really needed the assistance/motivation at that point. "Sprinted" the last 50ish yards and finished.



Not sure I could do much better in such heat and sunny conditions. Probably needed to do more mid-day training runs to try to get used to the heat, but those are hard to fit into my schedule with work and family commitments.

I'm sure part of my relative poor performance is to due to my training regimen (was it enough and of sufficient quality?). But the big story for me was the heat and sun. I just have a hard time doing anything in those conditions. I can run all day long in the 40s, 50s and 60s, but once it gets over the mid-70s, that's hot for me. And since it was low 90s yesterday, I was behind the 8 ball from the getgo. Oh well. No bid deal. Had a great day out.

Went right over the 'ice pools' - it felt so good. My knees and muscles felt ok, but I was just drained. Ate a bunch of watermelon and other foods (thanks Red Jacket Orchards and Wegmans!), got a massage and simply tried to recover some. My family was suffering with the heat and sun, so I didn't have a chance to really cool down as we had to get going.


First and foremost, heat and sun. Second, TITS.


The Musselman is a GREAT race. Superb organization, great volunteers, generous swag (this year's swag included a nice pair of sandals!), very supportive town, cost-effective accomodations/athlete's village at Hobart and William Smith college - overall, I can't say enough good things about the Musselman. Jeff Henderson, the RD, does a fantastic job. I highly recommend this race! If you want a non-WTC branded HIM, you definitely should consider the Musselman. Special thanks to all the sponsors too.

Hope to be back next year for my 4th Musselman.

On a more somber note, my heart reaches out to the family of Michael Coyle. I never met him, but what a horrible story. He was so young and according to the news reports, had a young family. This really put things in perspective. PLEASE BE SAFE OUT THERE - we all want to go home to our families at the end of the day and it's kinda scary that such an accident can happen and his two kids will never see him again. Again, please be careful, watch out for cars, and keep you head up while in aero.

And to the family of the young woman who fell at the aid station at mile 35ish. The newspapers said she was airlifted right to hospital - it sounds like it was pretty serious. I saw her on the ground, and being tended to by volunteers. Praying that she's ok.