Musselman Half-Iron Triathlon - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

What was funny here was that I walked to the first buoy after the start, it was so shallow! Then rounding the first turn buoy heading into wind and waves. Forget bilateral breathing! Water washed over me on the right side. Got lost a few times as I couldn't see the last turn buoy. Got kicked in the face and goggles went askew. Recovered quickly and finally got to the next turn buoy. Practically body surfed in! Not really a bad swim. Still slow.


Perhaps sight a bit more often and I think I'm going to have to try different goggles. I probably shouldn't have waded as much as I did to the first buoy. Think I adjusted pretty well to the amount of chop.

Better than Eagleman. Decided on socks for the bike and those took a bit of time.

Perhaps have the shoes on the bike, but I'd have to practice that.

Into the wind after transition and in low gears/high cadence. But turned the corner to go north and flew past many people in high gear but still high cadence! What a rush! Turned south again for 5 miles and slow going once again. Then crossing over to go north, went screaming down a long hill with a slight tailwind. Max speed 34 mph. Going north again cautiously thru a park for 4 mile and rain had started up. Couldn't see well here and didn't want to crash or flat. Finally back on the road for last part and flew/hammered once again! Nice ride but slower than Eagleman.


Not much as I was doing about as expected on the bike.

I tried getting out of my shoes while still on the bike but this didn't work well and I had to get back in them.

Practice more getting out of my shoes prior to T2

Raining as I start and continued through most of the course. Flat to begin and legs not happy about the hammering I did on the bike. Worked that out but every now and then, legs would still remind me they weren't happy. Mostly rolling course with one steep uphill coming up to mile 7. Really didn't mind the course but could've done without the rain, along with the close thunderstorm. Good volunteer and crowd turnout despite the conditions. Not pleased that legs were having problems. Plus I had a piece of dirt or something in my one shoe that was irritating the entire way and couldn't clear. Still, an under 2 half marathon isn't something to sneeze at.


I'm not sure if I just didn't save anything for the run or what. But legs were definitely not happy.

Difficult to adequately cool down as the rain squall came in and thoroughly drenched everything. Would've done the ice bath if it had been warmer.


Weather was definitely a factor on nearly all parts of the race. Plus training needed to be a bit different to stress the muscles more for endurance.


So, the slower times on the swim and bike I made up for on transitions of all things. The run is really where I made the most gain from Eagleman but I expected this as I was able to run nearly all of the Musselman course. I was a little disappointed that it wasn't sub-9 since I knew I was capable of this though the course was rolling. Considering the 6 hour drive, I'm not positive about coming back next year but it will be something to think about.

An overall positive experience for the whole Musselman Triathlon Festival! The Triathlon Festival and the amenities for all the athletes made for a very worthwile event/weekend. If it hadn't been for the weather, I would've called the event big success. Highly recommend this one!