Musselman Half-Iron Triathlon - Triathlon


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Geneva, New York
United States
Musselman Triathlon
90sF / 0C
Sunny
Total Time = 5h 40m 31s
Overall Rank = 168/718
Age Group = F40-44
Age Group Rank = 3/49
Pre-race routine:

Drove over to Geneva on Friday with Nate and Sloan. Got into town and checked into the Condos (offered through the race at the local college). Went to play at a playground, dinner and out to get some food for place. Stayed up until Amy and Craig got into town. Saturday morning slept in and took our time getting organized. Rest of crew arrived around 10:30 and we headed to registration. Very low key day. Focused on staying relaxed and spending time with family and friends. Amy and I went for a quick swim at the boat ramp mile 2 of run course. Also got in a couple quick bike rides from condo. Issues with pedal and cleat caused me to do some adjustments and go back out for a second spin. Athletes dinner and back for final prep before bed. In bed about 10pm with alarm set for 4:30. Woke up at 4:15 and got out of bed before alarm went off. Breakfast consisted of bagel with peanut butter, banana and starbucks premade ice coffee. Out the door by 5:20 and at site in no time. Set up transition, pumped tires and hit the port-o-pots a couple of times. Wet suit on, group photos and then headed to the beach.

Additional: 2 Sport Legs at 6:20am. Ate 1/2 a banana at 7am.

NOTES FOR SELF: Previous Sunday during swim, realized issue with goggles leaking so switched to backup pair for race. While cleaning bike and switching out tires (new Continental GP4000s) week of race found issue with my front 404 hub. Tim let me borrow his 303 to race on. Also found left cleat of bike shoe was missing 2 screws, so replaced them. Had issues with this cleat while riding on Saturday so worked on screws and greasing cleat/pedal. Setup horizontal bottle in aerocage and setup rear cage for spare extra bottle
Event warmup:

I was the 5th wave (3-5 mins between waves) so was not rushed to get there. Watched waves before. Once our wave was allowed to enter the water, waded out to half way to start then swam the rest of the way.
Swim
  • 33m 42s
  • 2112 yards
  • 01m 36s / 100 yards
Comments:

Started mid line front row. There was no contact due to smaller size of waves and the amount everyone was spread out. Stayed to the right of the buoys for first leg as I found some good feet to draft. Then at the turn lost them and started to swim into previous waves. Continued to stay right to swim past the congestion. Would have liked to draft a bit more and stayed closer to the buoys but found the outside line was the cleanest. Swimming up the channel is always neat as you are so closed in.
What would you do differently?:

push it a bit more and be more aggressive with positioning on the buoy line.
Transition 1
  • 02m 50s
Comments:

This was slowwwww. Suit down to waste, googles and cap off before I got to bike. I had to sit to take wetsuit off as it was stuck on feet. Also both feet began to cramp a bit so figured it was best to sit.
What would you do differently?:

Need to practice, practice, practice....
Bike
  • 2h 54m 48s
  • 56.87 miles
  • 19.51 mile/hr
Comments:

Set out at a really comfortable pace trying to make sure that the first 20-30 mins were spent in a high cad. In the past when I ride at a higher cad. to start, I have better rides. Immediately took 2 sips of roctane concentrate. Bike nutrition plan was to drink a couple sips of concentrate on the hour/half hour, eat 1 chomp on the 15/45mins and sip water to thirst.

We had a slight headwind on the first south bound section that was a rolling up section, so continued with high cad and staying in aero at all times. This really worked well and I was staying comfortable and passing quite a few people. as soon as we headed east my speed went up and I was able to click down to some bigger gears. then the northbound section I was flying at 24-25mph, nothing like a little tailwind. Passed K on this section and she looked great. Then headed east again and passed Laura C. Nice fast down hill to Cayuga lake. I had set Garmin to split at the half. It went off at : 1:23.38 / 20.1 mph / 92 cad / 133 avg / 136 NP.

Continued south into headwind but worked on staying aero. Turned right into the only really hilly section and stayed seated and spun up hills. This section winds west and south for a bit so speed came down a bit but felt good. A slight right neck / back pain started here, but focused on stretching and looking right more helped.

Once I hit the down hill section back to Seneca lake, I put it in largest gear and tucked. Felt great and happy with speed. Turned north again onto the rails to trails section and tried to focus on powering thru it. Glad I opted not to ride with standard aero bottle as it would have been all over me. Back on the road and pushed home. No one passed me from my age group and no other woman passed on the ride.

lap 2: 1:27.20 / 19.2 mph / cad 90 / 132 avg / 138NP
When the Garmin split again, I focused on making sure left shoe would unclip before going over mat section back into park. Normal stop and dismount. Run it into transition.

Final: 2:53.56 / 56.87 miles / 19.6mph / 91 cad / 132 avg / 137 NP

Nutrition: ended up drinking 3/4 of bottle of Roctane mixed for 750cals (so 550-575 cals drank), ate 6 chomps (135 cals), 4 salt tabs, 2 sport legs (1:45 into bike), ~40oz water
What would you do differently?:

push the power a bit more as this ride felt really comfortable and I was not really trying to push it very much. Drink a bit more water, think I was a little behind starting the run.
Transition 2
  • 02m 31s
Comments:

Once again this was slowwwww. switched socks as bike socks were soaked and always love the feeling of fresh socks.
What would you do differently?:

practice, practice, practice
Run
  • 2h 06m 40s
  • 13.1 miles
  • 09m 38s  min/mile
Comments:

Well this was not my best run by any means. In fact, I think it was one of my worst time wise in a while. The heat got the best of me on this run and I ended up walking a lot of the hills instead of pushing thru. I knew it was a hilly course and was ready to move thru the hills but it just didn't happen on this day. Garmin was charged and ready to go when I put it in my bag at 10pm, but when I went to set it up in transition it was dead. So went by feel on this run.

I got a side stitch 1 mile into run which I believe was due to concentrate and too little water. It finally went away at around mile 4. Ran with a handheld 8 oz bottle that had roctane in it, but only drank about 1/4. I mainly drank water at all water stops, dumped water over head and then put ice down top and carried a cup in had. Started coke after mile 7 water stop. Dropped hand held bottle at condo sign (picked it up after race). Did 4 salt tabs and 2 sport legs on run.

Passed a couple women in my age group and had no idea what place I was in. But then was passed by 2 women in my age group on run both after mile 8. Wish I had known my place as I might have been able to pull it together for a half way decent run.
What would you do differently?:

mentally push thru.
Focus on hill training. Work more on nutrition.
Post race
Warm down:

Walked over to hose and sprayed myself down. Drank some water and headed over to see friends / family. Sat for a bit before getting some food. Talked with friends about their races and cheered in the rest of our crew.

It was amazing to see everyone do so well and overcome the HOT conditions.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Heat. Not pushing the swim. Hill training on run. Mental toughness.

Event comments:

Musselman is a great race. The venue is nice. The housing options are great. The course is fair and challenging. And the race director really cares about the participants and putting on a great race. The individualized labels on the bike racks put a smile on everyone's face. The volunteers at registration and on the course were extremely attentive and helpful. The medal and water bottles are my favorite to date. And the post race food was amazing and the best I have seen.

Only things slightly negative I have to say, all are minor:
T-shirt color is horrible but the design is cool.
Pasta dinner was crowded and they ran out of certain foods.
Water on course was tap water that tasted bad.




Last updated: 2013-03-01 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:33:42 | 2112 yards | 01m 36s / 100yards
Age Group: 8/49
Overall: 145/718
Performance: Average
Suit:
Course: The single-loop swim features an in-the-water start and deep water throughout. Counter clockwise course. Swim out 2 buoys, turn left, swim 2 more buoys, turn left again, then swim into a channel. Swim up the channel to the boat ramp.
Start type: Wade Plus: Waves
Water temp: 75F / 24C Current: Low
200M Perf. Average Remainder: Average
Breathing: Good Drafting: Average
Waves: Navigation: Average
Rounding: Average
T1
Time: 02:50
Performance: Below average
Cap removal: Below average Helmet on/
Suit off:
Wetsuit stuck? Yes Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike:
Getting up to speed:
Biking
02:54:48 | 56.87 miles | 19.51 mile/hr
Age Group: 3/49
Overall: 192/718
Performance: Good
NOTE: using milage from Garmin 505 and official time. Garmin time was 2:53.58
Wind:
Course: The rolling, single-loop bike course debuted in 2008 for the fifth anniversary race. Starting from Seneca Lake State Park, it traverses the byways of Seneca County to the east of Seneca Lake, including long stretches of shoreline on both Seneca and Cayuga Lakes. You'll pass wineries on the Seneca and Cayuga Wine Trails, penitentiaries, small towns, Mennonite farming regions (look out for horse & buggies!), and a shady stretch in Sampson State Park.
Road: Rough Dry Cadence: 91
Turns: Good Cornering: Good
Gear changes: Good Hills: Good
Race pace: Comfortable Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 02:31
Overall: Below average
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike
Running with bike Average
Racking bike Average
Shoe and helmet removal Average
Running
02:06:40 | 13.1 miles | 09m 38s  min/mile
Age Group: 8/49
Overall: 202/718
Performance: Below average
Course: The single-loop run heads west along a lakefront path and winds its way through the city of Geneva. After a quick jaunt through the gardens of Houghton House and quintessential Geneva neighborhoods, the route weaves north through vineyards and the campus of Hobart & William Smith Colleges before returning downtown and a finishing stretch along the same lakefront path from which it began.
Keeping cool Average Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 3
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