The quaint town of Geneva, New YorkBecause I'm a little behind on my blog posts, I thought I'd summarize 2011 in race reports for my big events. So...here goes the story that is Musselman!
Background
I have always wanted to do this race, but the timing has never worked out. It happens the third weekend in July, which is the weekend before IM Lake Placid, or last year, four weeks after IM Coeur d'Alene. Since this was my year free of IM, I could finally get it into the schedule. Yea! The race was on Sunday, July 17 - Half Ironman distance (1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, 13.1 mile run).
Geneva is about 1.25 hours from Pennellville (home of Ma and Pa Woodruff), so a bit of a hometown race. The event is staged out of the park in downtown Geneva, the heart of 'wine country' in Central New York (Finger Lakes Region). The swim is around Seneca Lake, which can be a little choppy, and even in mid-summer was wetsuit legal, as it's the deepest of all the Finger Lakes. The bike course goes south down Seneca Lake to start off (for about 15 miles), then cuts over to Cayuga Lake, south down that lake, then cuts back over to Seneca Lake and back to the start. It goes past about 7-9 very tempting wineries along the course. The run is out of the park and then up and around Hobart and William Smith Colleges, winding around some neighborhoods in Geneva. Overall, the bike is not too hilly - it's more WINDY. Boy, was it windy. The run is challenging, but not horrible. There is one big hill around mile 8 that can take the wind out of your sails pretty quickly.
I came up over Memorial Day weekend and went out to Geneva to ride the bike course, but...directions are not my best suit. I managed to do the majority of it, but just along Seneca Lake. The rest was a surprise. I did get a good workout, though!
Pre-Race
My plan for my season was split into two: aerobic base for Musselman, then after focus on speed/tempo for the Syracuse/Poconos double later in September. In retrospect, I should have just gone for it with Musselman, as I have enough endurance built up over the past three years of IM racing so that it wouldn't be too much of an issue. So, I was prepared for Musselman, but my threshold and speed work was limited, so I didn't have a lot of pop. I was also probably a little tired from volume.
Seneca LakeSwim (36m, 41s)
I actually thought I had a good swim - it was probably the highlight of my race! The beginning was a little weird because it was shallow for awhile out, so people were wading long after the start gun had gone off - what's up with that?! I started swimming ASAP, as I can freestyle swim MUCH quicker than I can wade through thigh-level water. Seneca Lake tends to be a bit choppy, which suits a strength swimmer like me. I had to get used to breathing with the waves, so after awhile I got into it. The choppiness almost distracts me from the intensity of the swim, which I think is good for me. I can put my focus into bridging the waves versus gauging my intensity factor.
The only spot that I wish I could forget was running into a dead fish. I thought I had hit someone, so I looked up and saw...a big floater. HUGE. Grody.
Transition 1: 2m, 22s
I really can't remember too much of this. The one memorable thing that stands out is that the night before I had frozen all of my drink bottles, thinking they'll thaw out on the bike and I'll have (slightly) cold beverages. Yeah...ALL my drink bottles, even the one that was supposed to go into my aerobottle to start the race. I discovered this in Transition in the AM when setting up my bike. So, I had a Perform Slushie for a bit. No harm no foul...it worked out fine, but not something I'd like to repeat. Rookie mistake - I should have been more focused than that.
Bike: 3h, 13m, 50s
Like I mentioned earlier, the bike isn't so much hilly as it is windy, because you're going up and down all the lakes. My goal going into the bike was to watch my watts and stay around 170-190 watts the entire time. In retrospect (again), that was a mistake. I doubt I will race with watts again. I really think I was too conservative and left a lot of time on the bike course. I was worried because it was hot and I wanted to save stuff for the run. As such, I wasn't aggressive, which is not my racing style. I like to be aggressive and RACE THE BIKE, not lay up. Part of this could have been my inexperience at the HIM distance (I think I have done more IMs than HIMs at that point!), so I wasn't sure how to pace, but now that I have more experience, I know how aggressive I can be.
The bike course was really great, for the most part. The first fifteen miles are pretty much all against the wind, going south down Seneca Lake. The end of it was on a bike trail, which I didn't enjoy all that much, to be honest. The path wasn't very smooth and it was pretty rough. It was hard to maintain a good speed because you were all over on the bike. The bike course was not bad and all together, was good, it was just that portion that I wasn't crazy about.
Nutrition-wise, I did ok. I went through lots of fluid and my three gels, as I thought I should. It was getting hot out and was up to the mid-80's (and sunny) toward the end, so I knew hydration would be an issue. I believe I took some E-caps, if I remember.
Transition 2: 2m, 13s
I also don't remember too much about T2, but from my times, it looks like I didn't dawdle that much. Yea me!
Run: 2h, 19m, 21s
So...this is where the meltdown began. Literally.
me on the run at MusselmanAh...the run. Let me set the stage: 85 degrees, sunny, little shade. It was humid, but I don't remember that being the big issue. For those who know me, you know...I don't do heat well. I'm a big girl with more muscle mass than the average, so I do not do well in these conditions. They are a nut I have yet to crack.
I knew it was going to be a struggle, which is part of why I regret not being as aggressive on the bike as I should have. If blowing up on the run was inevitable, then why not go for broke on the bike to gain some time? Hindsight is 20/20.
Thankfully, the aid stations were loaded. I took all the sponges and ice I could shove down my shirt - loved it! By mile 3, I was full-on struggling. I was seriously wondering if this would be a DNF and thought I had no business being out there. Somewhere around mile 4, I found my HTFU and got into a groove. I was running aid station to aid station and walking through those, loading up on ice, coke and sponges. Lots of residents out in the streets had sprinklers out, which I took full advantage of.
That good juju lasted until the hill around mile 8.5. It's back on some private property and a gravel road. On a normal training run, it's not a big deal - it's challenging, yes, impossible, no way. But, at that point in the race, I walked. Not something I'm proud of, but I did. That hill, and the one after it, slowed me down a lot. I probably lost about 5 minutes between the two of them.
After that, I was really just ticking the mile markers off and figuring the fastest way back to the car was on course, so might as well stay on the straight and narrow! I did a walk/run thing the rest of the way, usually running for 8-9 minutes, then walking about 30-45". I tried my best to stay focused and keep my eyes up, as that helps me feel better usually.
The end: 6h, 14m, 17s
The end was the FINISH LINE, me meeting my family and my aunt, uncle and cousins who had made the trek to Geneva to see everything. I was so happy they came - it was so fun to see them! It was even better to have my cousin there to schlep all my stuff out of transition so I didn't have to carry a thing!! Thanks again, Matt!! I was so happy to be done.
I learned a lot out of this race. Even though the time was not what I was hoping for, I learned a lot of lessons that I think helped me during Syracuse/Poconos, and will help me next year. I probably learned more during this race than any others.
Until next time - happy training!
I knew it was going to be a struggle, which is part of why I regret not being as aggressive on the bike as I should have. If blowing up on the run was inevitable, then why not go for broke on the bike to gain some time? Hindsight is 20/20.
Thankfully, the aid stations were loaded. I took all the sponges and ice I could shove down my shirt - loved it! By mile 3, I was full-on struggling. I was seriously wondering if this would be a DNF and thought I had no business being out there. Somewhere around mile 4, I found my HTFU and got into a groove. I was running aid station to aid station and walking through those, loading up on ice, coke and sponges. Lots of residents out in the streets had sprinklers out, which I took full advantage of.
That good juju lasted until the hill around mile 8.5. It's back on some private property and a gravel road. On a normal training run, it's not a big deal - it's challenging, yes, impossible, no way. But, at that point in the race, I walked. Not something I'm proud of, but I did. That hill, and the one after it, slowed me down a lot. I probably lost about 5 minutes between the two of them.
After that, I was really just ticking the mile markers off and figuring the fastest way back to the car was on course, so might as well stay on the straight and narrow! I did a walk/run thing the rest of the way, usually running for 8-9 minutes, then walking about 30-45". I tried my best to stay focused and keep my eyes up, as that helps me feel better usually.
The end: 6h, 14m, 17s
The end was the FINISH LINE, me meeting my family and my aunt, uncle and cousins who had made the trek to Geneva to see everything. I was so happy they came - it was so fun to see them! It was even better to have my cousin there to schlep all my stuff out of transition so I didn't have to carry a thing!! Thanks again, Matt!! I was so happy to be done.
I learned a lot out of this race. Even though the time was not what I was hoping for, I learned a lot of lessons that I think helped me during Syracuse/Poconos, and will help me next year. I probably learned more during this race than any others.
- Be aggressive - B - E AGGRESSIVE! This is my new mantra during races. I need to stay aggressive and go for broke. If I get to the breaking point, I can wrangle with how mentally tough I am. I have not reached my breaking point yet, but eventually I'll find it. Until I do, I should keep pushing myself to give more, go further. I have proven that I can do it and won't break.
- Race by RPE from now on. I will still train with watches/watts, but I'm done racing with them. They give me a false sense of security, knowing what my cushion is. I need to race scared, having a fire under me. With the watch, I lose that because I immediately know that a) I'm out of it, or b) I have a cushion I can use. I don't want to know either of those - I want to push until I can't push any more.
- I have lots of endurance built up from years of endurance training. My limiter at this point is not endurance, so I don't need to spend hours upon hours upon hours training in Zone 2. I need to spend time at Zone 3, 4 and 5, increasing muscle strength. Then, I can put muscle strength on top of the endurance I have, and be FAST!
- Stay focused the days before. I added stuff to my schedule the few days before that I shouldn't have - I need to keep things in line and shut down during then. On the day before the race, I need to be shut down, ready for bed, bags packed, etc. by 5 p.m. the night before. I was distracted at this race, which is why I had a Perform Slushie for my aerodrink to start off. Now, I'm turning stuff down the day before and purely focusing on race prep activities.
Until next time - happy training!
