Musselman - Half Ironman

I’m a Half-Ironman!....sort of

Race: Musselman
Location: Geneva, NY
Time: 8:16:52 (Cutoff – 8:00:00)

I hadn’t slept for days by the time we drove into Geneva, NY on Friday evening. The only thing I had done properly was eat. I went to see Becky a week and a half prior and we discussed my ‘bonking out’ during the longer rides. In conclusion, I was eating about 500 calories less a day than I should have been during the week. I was feeling pretty good about nutrition because my long run/ride the weekend before went MUCH better after eating more during the week and I was maintaining nutrition (even with the 100 degree weather) during the workouts as well. I had a goal…to finish. But I also had a secondary goal…to finish somewhere in 7.5 – 7.75 hours. This would give me a good gauge on whether or not I could complete Ironman within the allotted time (double the time and add an hour).

Morning: I got about 6.5 hours of decent sleep which is a lot considering it was raceday eve. Ate a piece of bread with almond butter before I left. I had everything ready to go and Kerry B. and I got to the race site around 5 AM. Set up was smooth. I didn’t forget anything and had it all ready to go around 6:15. I saw Mary and Tina. :-) Big hug and I'm ready to go!
6:30 AM – Gatorade + banana
6:45 AM – Wetsuit is finally on
6:50 AM – They’re corralling the athletes…and I’m about to puke in the grass.
6:55 AM – I’m with the pink swimcap ladies and I see so many Team Zers. We all gave each other high fives, hugs, words of encouragement, etc. We can do this….still about to puke in the grass.
6:59 AM – Es says ‘Count your first 30 strokes…best advice Ed ever gave me’
7:00 AM – First Wave
7:03 AM – Second Wave…we start wading into the water.
7:06 AM – And we’re off.

Swim: 51:51

Here’s the actual course.

Here’s the course I took. :)

I was hoping for 45:00 or less but I’m just glad I didn’t freak out. I counted my first 30 strokes, and every 100 after that. I kept counting. It was the only way I could get through it and keep calm. The water was clear and VERY shallow but they said if we stood up, our feet would get cut up by the Mussels at the bottom (hence the name of the race…Musselman) so I made sure to keep kicking no matter what. Got pushed back into the group quite a few times by kayakers because I was off course (see red line).

Things to work on: Staying straight! And pushing myself a little harder. I can swim decently so I should go a little bit faster to save time during Ironman.

T1: 3:34

Hey! I wasn’t last in at least one category! YAY! :-) Felt good coming out of the water. Walked to bring my heart rate down. Calmly got my wetsuit off, bike stuff on, drank some EFS, got on the bike. And I’m off. Hammer gel in the first minute. And I see Ed, Mary, and Jacquie as I roll out of the park.

Bike: 4:02:14

For the first time, the bike felt good for most of the ride. I kept looking at my garmin and was shocked at my lightning speed of 16-18 mph going uphill considering to this point, my average pace has been 12 mph for most of the rides. Z2 TRAINING WORKS! I was getting passed by a lot of people but I was passing a few here and there. At one point, I passed a 21 year old guy and was very pleased with myself. We went back and forth the entire race. I passed him on the uphills, he passed me on the flats. I stopped to stretch my hip out which started bothering me around mile 40 while he passed me. I got back on, passed him going uphill and he screamed “and she’s back!” Me: “I’m an old woman compared to you…had to stretch my hip out”. We both had a good laugh and kept going. Around mile 50, I got stung in the face by a bee and holy crap did that hurt for a few minutes. I had to stop and happened to come across a few cars parked at an intersection…oh hey, they’re the 21 year old’s family (his name is Gio in case you’re interested)! I’m guessing it was his father who looked at my face, made sure the stinger wasn’t in the spot where I got stung, and off I went. Gio had stopped too. He wasn’t looking to good and I think he got sick. But he sped by me and I never caught up with him. So I was happy for him when I saw in the results that he got to the finish line.

All I could think of was Jacquie telling me to HTFU during the last few miles. So I did. Last 6 miles were a little rough, but nothing undoable. And I finished 20 minutes before I thought I would.

Nutrition went perfectly. No stomach issues. 1 bottle of EFS/hour, 1 swig of EFS gel at the 45 minute mark of each our for a total of 300 calories/hour. Drank almost 4 bottles during my time out there. I saw so many Zers on the ride and it felt good to see some familiar faces (shout out to Emily and Tracey who looked great out there).

T2: 4:35 (not last AGAIN! I like transitions)

Biking shoes were off as soon as I got to transition so I could run to my spot and get my running gear. I initially forgot my race belt and yelled “SHIT” really loudly which I did not mean to be rude. Other racers just laughed a bit. Just a little upset with myself bc I had to back to my spot, grab it, and then run out of transition. I ran out of transition and heard a HUGE "GO ROHINI" from Mary (I think).

Run: 3:14:38

It felt AMAZING to be off that bike. I ran the first 3.5 miles without stopping except at the stops to get some ice and water. I was SO thirsty. I think I drank too much water because after those first few stops, my stomach started feeling a bit weird. It felt almost distended, like I had entirely too much in it and I was starting to feel heavy. The first 3.5 miles were really great actually bc I got to see racers coming the other way. Yes, I was a bit envious at their amazing abilities to finish the distance so fast, but I got to cheer my friends on as they passed by me. I saw Sue which definitely made me go a little harder for a little while (until I got tired). She has so much faith in me, probably more than I have in myself and she looked great out there. Still running strong even towards the end of the race. I couldn’t be more cheesy when I say she’s definitely one of my role models on the team. :D

(It was also in the first 3.5 miles that I spoke with Amy. Amy had two flats during the bike and all I could say is keep going. One foot in front of the other and you'll get there. She was so upset and doubting herself, but she had trained hard for that day. So proud of her for getting through the tough points and finishing up the Half-Ironman!)
First obstacle. That damn hill. I roll up to it and a volunteer tells me I can choose the hill or the staircase. “Which is the lesser of two evils I ask” and she says probably the grass. So up I go. At the top, two volunteers are yelling “ YOU NEVER KNOW UNLESS YOU TRI”. Damn straight. So I ran up it. At the top Meagan and Talia came speeding by and gave me high fives. Off I went. More Ice and Water and Gu. My stomach is really not feeling good at this point.

I kept going, and started running the downhills, walking the uphills. There were SO many of them. Up and down. Up and Down. I asked myself why did I sign up for this? But surprisingly it wasn’t my legs that were the problem. It was my stomach. Then the gravel road came. 1.5 miles of gravel and two big (at the time) hills. Had to walk a lot of it. Got some ice, portajohn stop. I lost almost 10 minutes. At this point I had 4.5 miles left and under an hour to do it in order to make the cut off. I ran, Z4, sped down the hills and walked up as quickly as I could. I knew I wouldn’t make it but I wanted to finish as quickly as I could after. And I thought just maybe, I had a few 9 minute miles in me (not likely but hey, here’s to dreaming). I passed a woman who was probably around 80 spraying us down with her hose. She asked me if I was last and I said nope, think there are a few people behind me. “DOES THIS THING EVER END??”.”I don’t think so ma’am”. I just laughed it off and kept running.

Get through the tunnel and a volunteer walks TO me with water and ice. I had a mental breakdown at this moment. I knew I was getting in after the 8 hour cutoff and felt like a failure. But I had to get to the finish no matter what. Get the miles in. So I kept walking after she gave me some words of encouragement. Ran. Walked. Ran. Walked. It was embarrassing in my head, to still be out there while athletes were coming by me on their bikes with their gear and telling me I could do it. I was counting again. To 100. 100 counts running, 50 walking. Repeat. I ran the last .5 mile and booked it when I saw the Team Z tents. I started crying but for two reason. 1. Everyone stayed. Ed jumped out to hug me. And even though I didn’t come in the official cutoff time, I finished the distance. 2. I didn’t make the 8 hours and felt like I didn’t deserve the medal. I even asked Meagan if I should take it even though I didn’t finish. Her and Melody came up to me and hugged me as soon as I crossed the finish line. Thank you for talking me out of my mental state at the time. I don’t think I’ve ever been so happy AND unhappy to finish a race at the same time.

Two days later, I still feel like I can’t call myself a Half-Ironman because the official race cutoff time was 8 hours. I’m just praying that come September, that 17 hours time limit is enough.

Thank you to Team Z. Thank you to the most amazing course volunteers ever. Thank you to Coach Ed. Thank you all for having faith in me that I really can't seem to build up for myself.

Here’s to working even harder for the next 2 months.

P.S. I AM proud of myself for finishing regardless of the 8 hour time limit. :-) I pushed through the pain and the mental break. I did it.