Musselman Triathlon - 7/15/2007

Background

My goal for this season is to get a podium spot at the USAT Long Course National Championship in St Louis this September. You can either qualify by time or finish in the top 25% in your age group in one of the qualifying races. I only did one 1/2 IM last year (Mighty Mantauk) and finished 15th overall and well within the qualifying time limit but the bike course was shortened by 8 miles due to the severe weater and I wasn't sure my time would count. The other advantage of using a qualifying race is your entry fee ($195) to the Championship is paid by USAT. In the Northeast, the two qualifying races are Mooseman and Musselman. I was racing Escape from Alcatraz the same weekend as Mooseman. So....Musselman it is!!

I have to say that this is a great race. The town is unbelievably supportive and Hobart College provides a great "Athletes Village." The pre race dinner was fun with a nice speech from Olympian Victor Plata. On Saturday, there was a sprint race in the morning and a Professional ITU race in the afternoon. It was pretty fun watching the pros hammer the 8 loop bike and 6 loop run course. The 1/2 IM course on Sunday was very senic and everything was VERY convenient. Over 600 athletes and parking was a breeze right at transition. The walk is longer at the Lake T sprint than it was for Mussleman. The aid stations came often, were very well manned with encouraging volunteers and they were well stocked with just about everything you would want. The post race meal was pretty good with lots of fresh fruit and an Ice Cream stand for the participants. There were post race Ice Baths, a chiropractor tent and two massage tents. And finally a very fun kids race to cap things off. Put this one on the calender, you will not be disappointed.

Down and Dirty

This was one disappointing race for me. For a lot of reasons I'll ponder later, I melted down. I better be a lot better in September. The good news is that I accomplished my main objective and qualified for Nationals.

Pre Race

About two weeks ago, my Softride frame cracked. Not safe to ride. Two weeks to go....No bike....Not good. Oh well, I really wanted a new bike. I wasn't really ready to buy one, but what better excuse could I have? Honey, I don't just want a new bike but for my safety, I need one!! True I could have got something cheaper than the Felt DA....but have you seen the picture?? Thats bike porn!! The biggest problem with the bike is that it arrived Friday afternoon before the Sunday race. So.... I rode it for 5 min on Friday evening and then about 30 min with Jamie on Saturday. Not exactly the ideal situation but there really was no other choice.

The good part about the pre race was I went up to Geneva alone. My family had just returned from 10 days of vacation and it was too much to pack up the whole show again after just 5 days back. Don't get me wrong, I love the family support, but a 2.5 year old and a 5 month old in your hotel room never provides the kind of relaxing pre race evening you're looking for...

Friday was tough...I was really scrambling to get my bike set up, pack, etc....I was up until after 2 AM. Up early to hang with the family and then drive 5 hours to Geneva in time to register etc. Very little sleep. Then race night....I'm an idiot....I stayed up until about 11.30PM watching boxing?? I don't even really like boxing.....I think I was so excited to watch something besides Thomas the Train I couldn't help myself!!

So, race morning I was tired at 4AM when the wake up call came in. But I rallied and made my traditional Hammer Nutrition breakfast. I forgot to buy water Saturday night and the hotel was out of bottled water in the vending machines, so tap water. Tastes like crap but readily available. I got my stuff together, checked out and was at the race site by about 5.15AM. Things went so well, that I was ready to go at 5.30AM. No stress. I hung out a little and started to warm up around 6AM. First wave went off at 7AM. At the pre race I notice I'm hungry and I'm a little queasy? I think it must be pre race nerves?

Swim

The swim was my least favorite part of the race. The first wave went off at 7AM, I was in the second wave 7 min later and then 3 more waves 4 min apart. So, by the time the last wave went off, the faster swimmers were almost finished the first lap. So, the second lap was VERY crowded. Also, because it was so close to shore, it was very shallow!! I don't think it was ever deeper than about 6-8 feet and many places you had to walk or porpoise!! The wind was also howling straight onshore, so the waves were as big as they were in San Francisco at Escape from Alcatraz. It was a tough swim.

I got a good start and I though I was swimming really strong. The one thing I have to work on is drafting. I've tended to race less but do bigger races these last few years. I think I need more "racing" to get better at drafting. I've raced 3 times so far this year for well over 3 miles of swimming and I've probably drafted for about 100 yards. I need to find those faster feet and follow along.

Anyway, I got out of the water and looked at my watch....I thought for sure it was going to say 28 min. It said 36 min!!! Are you kidding me!! My slowest IM swim is 1.03. 36 min in a wetsuit 1/2?? I still had 100 yards to wade to shore!!

Therein lies the first lesson. I need to stop racing the clock and start racing the course and my other competitors. The good thing about sprints is they tend to all be a little different...1/4 mile sim, 1/2 mile swim, 10 mile bike, 14 mile bike, 5k run, 4 mile run, etc. there is no "standard." In 1/2 IM or full IM you tend to get fixated on time. For me, I get fixated on 4.30....how stupid. My Lake Placid IM was MUCH better my Florida IM, but was 27 min slower, but I finished almost 200 places better....

37 minutes did get in my head....turns out, everybodys swim was slow. Course must have been long or the walking really added up. Very few people broke 30 min.

37.49 - 83rd overall out of 520 finishers

T1

Uneventful and pretty quick. 1.26 - 33rd fastest

Bike

With math jumbling in my head, I start the bike. First thing I noticed is the race director did not lie!! He promised a head wind for the first 20+mile and the Gods did not disappoint!! Now my head is really spinning, I think I need to go sub 2.30 to make my "time" and I'm simply not going fast enough. The other BIG red light is that I take my first sip of Hammer Sustained Energy at my standard 10 minutes into the bike and I can't get it down. I usually set the alarm on my watch to ring every 10 minutes to remind me to eat and I find myself skipping turns. I just can not get my concoction down. I am passing alot of people. But, I hit mile 20 in a little under an hour and I do not feel good. That pre race queasiness has not gone away and there is another problem, my hip flexors. Turns out my new bike was shipped with 175mm cranks, I've been riding 172.5mm my whole life. With a little adaptation, I'm sure it wouldn't have been a problem, but remember, I have 35 minutes on this bike. Between the two, I just do not feel good. At about mile 30, I start to become very concerned about nutrition. When this has happened in the past, I drink some gatorade and the sugar helps me get the calories down. No gatorade on the course, only HEED. I love Hammer products but HEED and Perpetum bother my stomach and always leave me feeling bonky. I don't know why it bothers me and I've given away all my HEED at home. I do get it down better than the SE but sure enough, my stomach starts to bother me. The last 16 miles were VERY tough and already I'm thinking, how am I going to run well??

I finish in 2.34.12 - 27th fastest bike of the day. I'm now feeling very bad and I'm way behind on my calories.

T2

Uneventful and pretty quick. 1.30 - stopped to put on socks

Run

I need a new goal. I think....ok.....3.15....run 8 min miles and you'll salvage something.....first mile I stop to fix my shoe, stop to pee and run 7.53.....ok....maybe not so bad.

Next mile 8.41.....oh no.... 200 yds into 3rd mile....I have to stop!! My first race ever I have to walk something but a water stop. I start to run for about 100 yds and stop. I'm dizzy, I think I'm going to pass out and I seriously contemplate a DNF. Then I say to myself....your whole season is about this National Championship, no qualify, no championship....You only have to finish in the top 25%....what's that going to take....who knows....just keep going.

I just watched the Jimmy V speech on ESPN...Don't give up, don't ever give up....I have to figure this out. I feel terrible for this guy from an earlier wave. He's shuffling at about 10-11 min miles, I must have passed him 10-15 time. I would run by him and then I would have to walk and he would pass me over and over again. Mile 3 was 10 something minutes on my watch. Mile 4 was 11 something. I think... will I break 6 hours?? I have only felt this bad in a race once before and it was mile 15 in IM Lake Placid. I didn't stop then because I thought I would pass out in the tall grass heading away from the ski jumps and no one would find me.

I think to myself, I'd kill for a gatorade....I hate HEED....Hmm what do you like about gatorade....sugar and carbs...HEY... They have flat coke. I down 2 cups at mile 5 water stop and the sugar hits me like crack and I run/jog the whole 6th mile!! Mile 7 is a BIG hill (Colechester like) and I walk alot of it. More coke at the top. I end up running the rest of the way, just walking the water stops. Don't get me wrong, I still feel terrible, just less terrible. I still think my 1/2 marathon time will be 2.30ish. The end is near and I actually pick it up just to be done with this day.

I ended up run / walking a 1.51 for 8.36 min / mile. I've really been working on my running and I have to say, I can't believe I ran a 1.51.51 - 140th fastest with sooooo much walking. I had at least 2 miles well over 10 min. So, there is a sliver lining somewhere.

Final time 5.06.33. I ended up 57th out of 530 official finishers and 11th out of 67 in my AG. I came off the bike 1 min behind the guy who finished 2nd in my AG and he ran a 1.37. I could have caught him!!

Lessons

So....get more sleep before a race, adapt to the new cranks or get shorter ones, and back to the chemistry lab for pre race and race nutrition. I've been doing the same thing for 5 years but this year in race simulations, I've struggled a little and clearly struggled Sunday. Find feet on the swim and finally.....get the time goal out of your head! Next stop Litchfield Olympic then St Louis!!