Mussleman 2011 lets hear about it

[watchman]

I hope others share what it was like for them

here is mine;

"Crash and burn, bummer, discouraged"

would be how I would have described this race in the hour after I finished but with a day to look back instead I see some valuable lessons.

I have never done a race with this kind off heat 92 + and 75 +% humidity.

The results of a few critical mistakes were my Quads completely seized when I got off the bike. The last 3 miles on bike they started to ( you know a muscle starts to get a Charlie horse and it locks up) it would start and on the bike I would try and rub it down. I have had foot calf issues but never any pain in Quads.

When I started to run it felt like someone inserted a 2 inch diameter steel bar just under the skin in the lower quad area. I could not bend my knees.The more I would stop and massage it or bend it the worse it got. It was the first time I almost quit a race. ( the only reason I did not was because I could not see posting on this forum "I quit" and since I tell my kids that I just couldn't)

I had to walk the first mile of the run. When I hit the first water station I drank a ton and dumped ice in front of my shirt and down back and on my head. At that point my quads loosened up and I could run. I did this every water station, I improved every mile and My last 3 miles were the fastest.

Looking back I easily found the problem. I did not drink nearly enough on the bike. I started with 4 bottles. Mistake # 1 a bottle fell off bike on a bumpy section leaving transition area. Someone told me but I thought " I don't need it" . Mistake # 2 at the expo someone talked me into using Perpetuim from Hammer. They warned you could get upset stomach with it. Well by mile 20 I felt sick and could not drink without feeling sick so I did not. The bike hides the feeling of dehydration because of the wind. I did not "Feel Hot". Mistake # 3. When I was packing after race the bottle on my seat post was completely full. I forgot about it.

The bottom line is I drank 2 bottles plus a little from the course but not enough. The proof and what made me realize dehydration caused cramp in legs was at the mile #1 water station as soon as I downed a ton of water salt and ice they immediately loosened up.

The most irritating part in all this is I knew I needed to drink alot on bike but just did not do it.

I used to think " just finishing " was a lame goal but you know I am so glad " I finished" also it was the first race my wife has ever been to and the thought of her waiting at finish helped me along.

Also Tim Walsh was everywhere on the course he was a great encouragement. I know he was lying to me when he said " how strong I looked" but it helped to hear it.

I am amazed what heat can do to you. I did a half in the fall 30 degrees cooler and though I am in better shape now than then I was an hour slower.

I am glad sore foot issue seems to be solved and hopefully calf issue. I guess every race has some new lessons.

Well these are some good lesson that I better remember for the REV 3.

I am going to pray for 60 degree weather

mike

[watchman]

one more lesson.
My first 2 years with tri's I focused on the swim. Last year the run. I know now it is all about the bike. I am just plain weak on it. I have focused the last 6 months on distance and endurance but not speed. Someone just told me about "intervals " on the bike which I have never done.

Time to become a cyclist. I have yet to have a good run after bike. I thought the problem was my running . I am certain it is being weak on bike.

mike

[marie]

The swim:

As a member of the 6th of 7 waves, I got some practice swimming through people. 5 minutes in between waves made it tough, but I managed to swim through quite a few of the two waves ahead of me. My time was 34 something, which would have to be my slowest 1.2 mile ever. I was still in the top 10 of my age group and no one in my age group was under 30 minutes, so I am wondering if the swim was potentially long or if they put us in the wrong wave. I know that when I got to my bike, it was 31 minutes after I was suppose to start, but who knows… maybe I should invest in a waterproof watch if I am that concerned. I will say the water was choppier than expected, there was more seaweed than expected, and I was struggling to see buoys as there was quite a distance in between them so I don’t think I swam the shortest 1.2 miles. I spent most of last night absolutely sulking when I saw this time as I though I had possibly finally broken into the sub 30 swim, but apparently, not even close.

Transition: fastest T1 ever, I actually took the time to think through the sequence of what I needed to do, who knew that would help???

The Bike:

I don’t remember all the false flat on this course despite having ridden it twice before. My average after the first 15 miles was barely in the 18’s so I knew that there were descents and some tailwinds coming my way that would help push that average back up. Being in one of the last swim waves helped provide some extra motivation as the course was just lined with other cyclists, and I was able just to use each one as a carrot to push pass until the next person. I would say I probably passed 200-300 people on the bike. When I got to the one solo climb on the course, I felt awesome, felt like I was dancing on my pedals all the way to the top. I had one little incident in Sampson State Park, where some guy got mad at me. For those of you who have done this race, you know the penalty pictures at the pre-race meeting with people riding all the way across the road, well, that image was laid out right in front of me in the exact same location. I said something to one person, basically saying, “you have to ride to the right if you’re not passing.” Apparently, his notion of 15 seconds was a bit longer than mine. Oh well. I got off the bike in a little under 2:56, averaging 19.2, which was close but not quite my goal, but I knew that the hard part lay ahead.

The “Run”

Despite my forward thinking on everything in transition, I forgot one crucial element: gum. It was so hot and humid that I knew I needed something to keep the fluids in my mouth moving. I searched my camelbak running belt in vain, heck, even stopped just to make sure I wasn’t just missing it, but I forgot my little baggy of gum. In a panic, I started eating/drinking everything gummy I had. But, then I ate too much, and my stomach started not to feel great so I stopped eating. Looking back, I stopped eating around mile 2-3 of the run, well, aside from ice and maybe 5 gummy bears, and that was probably not a good thing. I repeated the IM Louisville trick of stuffing the sports bra with ice, and that helped as did getting sprayed with all of the neighborhood hoses, but I was just miserable. I kept telling myself things like, “once Jen passes you, you can walk the rest of the way.” So, when Jen passed me around mile 4, I walked for a few minutes and then said to myself, “try to run as much as possible until Katie Z passes you,” and so I did, averaging about 11 minute miles. Seeing Tim Walsh around mile 8 reminded me that I would finish and that all races don’t go as planned and that I would muscle through like the last time I saw Tim on the run course at Louisville. This race and this run were learning experiences for sure. Then, around mile 9-10, both Katie Shaw and Katie Z passed me, and I knew that I was giving up the fight with the stomach, that it was going to have it’s way, and I was going to be walking more than running. Really, I walked most of 12 and 13 because there just weren’t enough port-o-loo’s, and I didn’t want to go that far off course to hit a bathroom. I was able to run maybe 2 tenths of a mile in mile 12 and in 13, and was able to run in with a trot at the finish. I saw Katie after she had apparently passed out. Seeing Josh there, I knew there wasn’t anything I could do, but I kind of started to cry as I walked by. When you see someone you consider a friend and respect as an athlete on the ground, it puts a whole new perspective on what’s important. The run was 2:33 something, although my watch had it as longer, and I honestly didn’t care.

I will say that the announcer was quite excited to announce CTC. He even called my name out when I got off the bike course. The support from everyone in CTC who was there was outstanding. It was definitely an experience, and not my best race, possibly my worst, but hopefully, my one outrageously hot race for the season is over, and we will get decent weather in Wisconsin in September.

[MattCollister]

Marie, that's pretty good. Good race. I wish RDs would just paste the phrase, "Ride right, pass left" on everything they print and say.

[MarkD]

Good reports.

I've learned over the years that you can never get disappointed when uncontollable circumstances influence your personal outcome. In this case - extreme heat. Although we get competitive, we do this stuff for other reasons and can just chalk it up to a learning moment.

[katie]

My First DNF – Musselman Race 2011 report

I’d like to start this report with a huge thank you to Josh, all of our friends for their well wishes and concern and the volunteers that helped Josh! You are all proof of why I love the sport of triathlon and the athletes that participate.

I certainly felt different going into Musselman this year than last, not because it felt hotter, but because this year’s goal was different. I was focused on finishing faster than last years and having a much better run. Granted last year was about finishing and giving me the confidence that I could complete an Ironman distance two months later. My speed work had been going well during training, so I was ready for this race to be over faster than last year.

Race morning I felt a bit more rushed setting up my transition than normal; luckily we racked our bikes the night before. I was forced to leave the closed transition area before my chance to use the porta-poty, so I had to use one without flip flops outside transition. Yuck! Between that and not getting a warm up swim, not starting the way I had hoped. I panicked to find Josh for our good luck, “I love you” and kiss before his wave entered the water, twenty minutes before mine; I didn’t need something else to be off before the race! Luckily Jen Petkovsek and Kim Sewall were in my wave. Chatting with them and Tim Walsh made the 15 minute wait to get into the water much more tolerable. I started the swim to the far right, which seemed to be a good place to start because I only had to do two dolphin dives before being able to swim, as I watched many people to my left walking in the shallower water. There was a bit of chop (something I hadn’t swam in awhile) forcing me to strictly breathe to my right, which ended up causing me to get a crap! Trying to time the waves to breathe on my left to get rid of my crap I swallowed a mouthful of water. Choking, I slowed down to catch my breath. I calmed down and with my cramp gone I started to swim well, just before the first turn. From that point on I felt strong, passing people from every wave that started before mine. I was feeling good as I exited the water at 38:24, not as fast as I had hoped, but not terrible.

T1 I actually took the time to spray on sunscreen, a lesson learned from the year before, and headed out on the bike. Being the second to last wave gave me the opportunity to pass many racers, but there were so many of them! Some weaving back and forth, riding three wide, even checking their cell phones which kept me on my toes. I settled in my zone and took on one after another. My goal was to keep an average at least 18mph and I was doing above that – great way to start! After taking a bottle of water to water down my second bottle of Gatorade I headed down the large decent to Cayuga Lake, mentally preparing myself for the biggest hill on the course. I charged up the hill, breathing hard but not unbearable. I actually thought the false flat after it was worse! I kept waiting for it to smooth out and it felt like it never did. As I was feeling demoralized by the false flat, Jen P flew by me. Off the false flat, I was able to get back into my rhythm picking up the pace. Feeling great, but afraid I may have drank too much to compensate for the heat with the 5.5 bottles of fluids I turned into transition ready for the run. I hopped off the bike with a time of 3:04:30. Running my bike through transition I had to ask people to move as they walked because I was feeling so good.

Another spray of the sunscreen, I certainly didn’t want to get burned this year, I grabbed my water bottle and I was on my way to complete the last 13.1 miles of the course. The bottle was heavy and warm so I quickly dumped half of the Gatorade Endurance out so I could fill it with ice and cold water at the aide station. I arrived at the first aide station and decided it was OK to walk those.  I got my ice, dumped water over me, got a drink of cold water, my plan for each water stop, and I was off. I kept checking my watch to ensure I wasn’t starting out too hard and backed off my pace a bit, planning on picking it up after mile eight if I felt good. I didn’t want to have to walk half the run this year!! Stopping to take a walking break at each aide station to get ice and water, when I came to the bigger hills I decided it was OK to walk the steep parts of those too. Knowing the gravel hill was coming up I felt good, but not passing too many females in my age group, I started telling myself that racing triathlons for fun was OK; I didn’t have to be competitive all of the time. After I walked up most of the gravel hill I began running again. Tim Walsh, a fantastic fan, told me I was looking great and that Josh’s lungs and legs were feeling good too, so I was pumped up to finish the last four miles of the course. Then I started to come up upon females in my age group and started picking them off one-by-one. The whole conversation I had to myself before about not being competitive went out the window. The competitive edge kicked in. Since I was feeling good, I started to pick up my pace. With two miles to go I thought I may be going a bit faster than I should have, but kept going. I figured I had enough in my water bottle to get me the last two miles, so I didn’t slow down to get anything at that water stop either. I began to think about actually smiling and slowing down as I crossed the finish line, instead of my usual serious push through the finish. I was excited that I was going to totally crush my time from last year! I remember making the right turn after the Ramada and remember feeling like I was weaving a bit and the next thing I remember is being in the ambulance en route to the ER.

Yep – I collapsed on the course with a measly 1 mile left. Josh tells me that I passed him at the 12 mile water stop (didn’t stop there either) and was redlining – I don’t remember seeing him (but I would have actually beaten him in a triathlon for once!). I was told some great racers stopped to help me out and luckily my wonderful husband was there within seconds. I was talking to people, but it was all gibberish. Had I been a little more with it and knew what was going on I would have tried to crawl the last mile to finish or at least sent Josh to finish and come back for me. This resulted in both of us having our first DNF. Only 1 mile left of a 70.3 mile race – how frustrating. I would have had a great improvement over last year, being at 5:39:41 after 69.3 miles.

Another huge thank you to Josh, all of our friends for their well wishes and concern and the volunteers that helped Josh! You are all proof of why I love the sport of triathlon and the athletes that participate!!

[watchman]

Wow amazing story and scary.

I read in runner's world ( August 2011 edition) the progression of heat exhaustion. It is cramps to nausea to dizziness to vomiting to passing out.

You jumped about 5 steps. It is a good article. I recommend everyone read it.

You still had an awesome time and very impressive. I was feeling the best the last 3 miles but I hit every water station.

I am glad you are better

mike