Musselman - Half Ironman
When I joined the team in 2010, they were all training for Musselman in upstate New York. The weekend consists of a fun "micro-mussel" on friday night, with incredibly short legs, with the "biking" portion performed on tricycles in costume, a "mini-mussel" (or Sprint) on Saturday, and then the "mussel" (half ironman) on Sunday. Because of the timing of my busy season at my old job, I had never been able to do it. I was pretty excited for it this year.
The crazy thing is that in 2010 when I trained for my first half-ironman, the distance scared the heck out of me. This year, it wasn't an "A race" and wasn't even the second week of a build week (typically the harder workout before recovery). For me, this was just another training weekend (an incredibly well supported one). The only thing that made me nervous was the swim since I have only had one open water swim in the last year and a half, and that was in a contained quarry compared to a huge lake. I love this new mindset, but I also recognize how absolutely insane it is. Ironman training changes your perspective but the bottom line is a half ironman is HARD.
The weekend started off pretty badly. I ended up getting a flat tire on my way up to NY. Luckily, I was carpooling/caravan with a great group that helped me get it resolved. Unfortunately, the first place I went to didn't really fix anything and I had to stop 5 miles down the road. That place was AWESOME though, put on my spare (my tire couldn't be fixed), and called ahead to Geneva to find me a good place with the tires I needed. Despite leaving my house at 5am, I didn't get to Geneva (7ish hours away) til 5pm.
Patty and Katie waiting at the first tire place with me
It was a classy establishment...
that unfortunately didn't fix my tire (I don't have pics of the great places but they lacked the same character)
The little nail that caused all the trouble
That night I got to witness the micro-mussel which was hilarious. After that and dinner at the team tents, I headed to bed. Saturday I woke up, got my new tires, and then spent the day hanging out with the team and watching the sprint race. It was nice to have a day between the travel and the actual race.
Caroline, one of my Wisconsin carpool buddies
an unusual triathlon transition area (there was a "regular" bike division as well...much less fun)
Sunday morning called for storms. I have been lucky so far in my training to have avoided riding or running through a bad storm. I said all weekend if I was going to have a bad/stormy race, I would rather it be this race rather than the Ironman. Boy did I get my wish.
First though, I got to transition and saw "Be Cal Ripken's hero" beneath my number on the transition rack. I was pretty confused and thought he had sponsored the race oddly. I later discovered that apparently when I signed up for the race you had to put who you most admired, and I put him (I cannot tell you why though and wouldn't say it now, not that I don't like him). Anyways, I thought it was pretty hilarious and was looking forward to inspiring him.
Right before the race, they declared it not wetsuit legal due to the temperature. What that means is that you can still wear a wetsuit (up to a certain temperature) but you can't qualify for an award. Since I had no intention of doing that I put on my wetsuit and got ready to get into the water. That is when the nerves hit. Up until that point, I had been treating it as just another weekend. No matter what though, races are always nerve racking.
The swim was incredibly rough. It had been calm when we started, but as the swim progressed the storm started to roll in, kicking up the waves pretty badly. I struggled with sighting and my calves/hands started to cramp but I just kept moving. After almost 50 minutes, I made it to the end and was so thankful to be done.
The rains held off until about 10-20 miles into the bike ride and then it POURED. The rain was painful and I had incredibly hard time seeing. Luckily, the storm passed before I had to pull over but it would continue to rain on and off. The rains brought in some interesting winds and for a portion of the course I had a beautiful tailwind. I focused on just having fun, chatting with random people passing me, and working on making sure I was eating/drinking properly. About 20 miles into the race, I saw Mennonite families in their horse and buggies on the way to church and as I told one person passing me, my race was complete. I was passed by several people older than 50 and I used that to inspire me for the future. I hope I am that awesome in 30 years! Overall I was happy with my time and enjoyed the bike.
When I got to the transition to the run, I barely felt like I could walk (I had trouble holding back on the bike). However, after about 3 miles on the run I settled into a rhythm and just loved the rest of the race. I felt strong and passed a significant number of people on the run. Afterwards, the results would show I was something like 37th in my age group on the bike, but 29th on the run. There were aid stations every mile with cold sponges and awesome food/volunteers, and people were out on their lawns with hoses, spraying us (after asking) as we ran along. It was fun and I really enjoyed myself. When I finally saw the home stretch, I felt great and I was able to sprint to the finishing line, giving my awesome Team Z teammates high fives as I passed the tents.
Overall, I am pleased with how the race went. My time was slower than my last half-ironman, but the conditions were worse and I felt better and finished stronger. All in all, it was a good confidence boost.
106 mile weekend
Last weekend was our second to last "big" training weekend. I struggled during the week with the workouts and for the first time, was unable to complete some of them. My gym is pretty humid and I was having a lot of trouble breathing. Back in high school, I had exercised induced asthma but it only really ever bothered me for a few months and never has since. In fear it had come back and recognizing that breathing is important, I headed to the doctor on Friday (which rarely happens) and got an inhaler. Of course I forgot it for Saturday's run.
The run Saturday was a 2 hour and 40 minute run (we run until we hit a certain mileage or time, whichever is first) in a light drizzle. I definitely struggled the last fourty minutes but it felt good to get it done. After relaxing the rest of the afternoon, I met up with Sam and Jen for an early dinner, and was in bed by 9:30.
Sunday morning I woke up at 4am (15 minutes ahead of my alarm, again) and headed to Culpeper for one of my least favorite team rides. It is far and it is never ending hills. I did 90 there before the Wisconsin training trip and I knew if I could do the 106 here, then Wisconsin would go fine. The first 40 miles did not go well at all. I was feeling tired and this was the "easy" portion of the ride. Around mile 40, I thought I would end up crying by the end of the day. Luckily, we stopped at a rest stop and I had an Uncrustable for the first time (a frozen PB&J) and it was like magic! By far, it is my new favorite ride treat as even now I can't really handle the thought of more gels (though they are necessary). The rest of the ride did not feel nearly as hard. I stayed with Aileen the rest of the day, and while the hills were relentless I was a) more prepared mentally than the first time I did the ride and b) better with my nutrition. It was a long day in the saddle (8 1/2 hours in total, 8 of which were biking), but overall I was pleased and finished feeling much better than I did after the 90 mile day. It also helped it wasn't 100 degrees.
The ride gave me much more confidence because my biggest fear for Wisconsin is not making the bike cutoff (5:30pm, 10:30 hours after the race starts and probably about 8 1/2 hours after I finish the swim/transition). However, I did well this ride and September 9th I will be much more well rested and won't have done a 1/2 Ironman the weekend before and a 16 mile run the day before.
Recovery week and a look into the future..
This week, I was grateful for the recovery, and I loved seeing my family. Next week is the final "build" week before we begin tapering (decreasing volume) for the race. It is going to be incredibly difficult. My body is tired, and I have my friend's wedding all day Saturday. After trying to think about how I am going to fit it all in, I decided to take Friday off of work. I will run Friday, CELEBRATE Saturday, and bike 120 miles Sunday. Wish me luck. Chances are, the crying will come this week but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel!
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