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 Swim
Comments: The race director announced, “go” and my right calf spazzed out - a charley horse. I pulled my heel down and stretched as I swam off. Wow, all those hours and yards in the pool and my “natural” and “pretty” stroke (as my coaches refer to it) did not prepare me for getting swept along by Seneca Lake. After a few lungfuls of lake water, I gave up on my form and just pulled through the swells with my arms, holding my head above water. I rolled onto my back twice because the wetsuit was choking me, but the swim felt like it passed very quickly. It was physically not demanding, but very frustrating because I wasted probably over three minutes out there flailing around instead of swimming efficiently with good form. This was the only part of my race where I feel I *should* have done better given my current training and fitness levels.  Transition 1
Comments: Moved along just fine. Wetsuit peeled right off. The sunscreen application, posing for the camera, carefully hanging my wetsuit, and triple-checking that I wasn’t forgetting something all probably cost me half a minute here, but no big deal.  Bike
Comments: Very scenic, and I wish I could bike here every weekend. I pedaled at my best pace, which just happens to be only 15 mph. I need to put more miles on the bike to get faster, plain and simple. I also lost my water bottle (full of Nuun) and had to pull over, throw my bike in the ditch, run uphill to retrieve the bottle, and then back to my bike, replace the bottle in its cage, then get moving again. Bike people were very nice… lots of “good job” “good luck” etc etc from passing riders. Transition 2
Comments: How this time could have been any faster, I do not know. I hustled here. Apparently my “hustle” after getting off the bike is akin to pouring concrete.  Run
Comments: Speaking of concrete. Picture my torso atop two heavy stumps. That’s how running felt coming off the bike. I saw my folks immediately and said “see ya in 30 minutes!” as I passed, and I was barely putting one leg in front of the other. No form, no stride. No glide. I just told myself not to slow to a walk because I’d never get moving again. So I “ran” for three miles like that. I paced a power walker, in fact. A guy power walking was moving at the same speed as my jog. I need to do more bricks. I approached the finish line and my eyes started welling up. I rounded a corner and heard the announcer say my name over the PA. I reeeally lost it, then. That was right when I looked up and saw my family there, and the waterworks just opened. The volunteers cut the champion chip off my ankle and I moved out of the corral, tears streaming down my face. Good tears, “wow, I just finished a triathlon” tears, “damn I’m tired but my adrenaline is crankin” tears. Post race
Warm down: The first person I saw beyond the finish was my aunt Marty. I gave her the biggest hug and buried my sweaty face and snotty nose into her shoulder and just bawled. Then my Dad got a big long sweaty hug from me, and my mom got off easy because she was busy snapping photos and I was starting to dry out by the time I grabbed onto her. I headed back to the transition area, where I intended to return a borrowed race belt to another competitor I met, Lisa, but she had already cleared out, so I will remember to pay her favor forward one day. I packed up my gear and my Dad drove my Jeep out of the park. It was over! Event comments: The rest of that afternoon I pretty much felt like I was coming down with the flu. I wasn’t, but that’s the only way to describe how I felt. Fatigue, soreness, coming down off an adrenaline high. I had been so tense during the entire race, and that made me more sore than I should have been. My charley horse finally relaxed overnight, after a good long sleep. And that’s about when I started wondering when I might be able to do another! For real! Last updated: 2007-08-30 12:00 AM
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United States
Musselman Triathlon
Sunny
Overall Rank = 435/496
Age Group = Female 30-34
Age Group Rank = 21/28
Pre-pre-race: Thursday morning, I wore my wetsuit to swim practice at the pool and got a feel for it. No rubbing and as a bonus it was super-buoyant. My coach told me that I looked “so cool” and I got some last minute encouragement from my peeps at the pool. After practice I ate, packed the car, and hit the road.
8 hours to Geneva NY and I drove directly to the race course to check it out. I walked a section of the run course, killing some time until I was to meet up with my Aunt. It was a gorgeous afternoon and the breeze was blowing off the lake. I started to get psyched because I knew if that breeze was blowing again Saturday, it would keep me cool for the run.
Friday morning, my aunt and I rode our bikes from her house in town down to the race start and transition area to check things out. The Musselman volunteers were hard at work setting up. We rode out of the park and out a little ways onto the race course but I didn’t want to fatigue my legs in the slightest, so we turned back. Rode about 11 miles that morning round trip. My parents arrived in town that afternoon.
Saturday morning, breakfast of sprouted grain toast with organic peanut butter and jam from Wegmans, Stonyfield organic yogurt with fresh blueberries and banana, one small coffee and more water.
After running through my checklist one last time, I headed out and got to the transition area at about 8:30. I set up my area and gabbed with some neighbors, sucked on a Clif Shot (apple pie flava!) and waited to hear if the race would be wetsuit legal or not. Got my chip and numbers and hit the porta-pot. As soon as we got the wetsuit OK, I pulled it on and headed off to the pre-race meeting.
While at the meeting, I spotted my family who were waving colorful decorations so that I could easily spot them. My mom started snapping pics and I got one more round of good luck hugs.