Well, hey there party people!
When we last left our hero (Um, I think that's me) she was about to take on a
last minute 70.3 - Musselman, the everlasting evil race that I love to hate -
the actual race is awesome, but between weather, bad decisions, and GI
distress, I have never been able to pull off a good race execution. Oddly
enough, it represented 5/5 of my half Ironman attempts, with a 6:33 PR, back in 2011 (yikes), so I
did at least sign up for Barrelman for 2019, a half iron in September to break
the damned streak and hopefully break 6 hours at the distance. But as
I've said in previous posts, I signed up for Musselman this year on a whim, as
my buddies were doing it, I was sort of trained (swim and run, yes, bike, no)
and honestly....I knew a good race at Musselman would allow me to set some good
benchmark goals for Barrelman (my true A race for the reason) on September 22.
Famous last words, right? The
week before the race, I set a few tentative goals - I really had no idea what
to expect. I shot for a 6:10 - :38 swim (PR :40), 3:15 bike (PR 3:22) and
a 2:10 run (PR 2:10). I knew I could run faster if I rode smart, but since
I had only ridden up to 44 miles and had done no substantial bricks....or
practiced any sort of 70.3 nutrition...these goals felt safe. Add in
transitions, and a 6:10 was wise. (I did have the super secret goal of going
under 6 hours, but didn't want to get greedy). I shared my goals with my
training buddies and Greg, who were pretty quiet about it and offered almost no
thoughts on the matter (this isn't like them. At all. Shrugs).
The week of the race I rode outside
as much as possible, took it easy on the run, and hit up mini mussel sprint tri
the day before the race to cheer on Greg and the Reapers with the kiddos (we
are the best sherpas)...picked up my packet, and headed home to race prep.
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| You know you smiled. Admit it. |
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| Man I look amped. |
We arrived at the race about 6:15,
and pumped up our tires and headed into transition. I set my stuff up
with little fanfare, used the potty, said hello to our buddies - and a Happy
Birthday to Matt!
After my initial set up, I ran
through my final checklist - one of the fun little touches of this race is they
ask you when you register for a motivational phrase that they hope you'll
forget (which didn't work for me as I registered 3 weeks ago, but it's still a
cool thought). Apparently I decided to carry that "Big Scary
Goals" theme and in case I forgot my real name was "Pants", I
was good to go.
As I did a double check to ensure my
bike computer worked and my gears were where I wanted them, I discovered two
things. 1 - my bike computer did not work at all, and 2 - my back wheel
was rubbing. With about 2 minutes left in transition, I couldn't decide
whether to cry or to try to grow up and solve the issue. I gave it the
ole college try - ignored the bike computer (which would be the second failure
in two big races - Ironman Lake Placid and now...apparently the thought over a
3 hour plus ride freaked it out) and worked on the wheel. Nothing.
So I did what I usually do when I can't figure out shit on my own - I found The
Banter, who has saved my ass multiple times in the 9 months I have known him -
he diagnosed the wheel as slightly misaligned, fixed it in about a minute, and
wisely left my bike computer alone. He is amazing and I do not deserve
him - with that being said, I know now that 30 minutes in transition is not
enough for this hyped up pre-race Rae and I'll likely either promise him a
bigger bottle of wine next time or drive myself.
At this point is was 6:50 and I was
slated to go off in 15 minutes....I literally ran to the water, wriggled into
my wetsuit, stood by for the anthem, gave a few high fives, and did a super
quick dunk in the water as they were calling my corral in. I'm not sure
if the lack of time freaked me out (I felt so not ready to race) or actually
did good to get out of my own head space, but either way, it was time to
FREAKING JUST GO!!
Swim: 37:34 (1:42/100) -
actual distance swam 2189 yd (I suck at sighting)
My wave went off second of 6 waves -
the swim for this race is a sort of rectangle out to Seneca Lake, ending in a
canal for the last half mile. The water was an absolutely perfect at 74
degrees - the biggest issue is the first 200 yards of the swim are about knee
deep - so you either dolphin dive, run, or swim super shallow. I've
always chosen option A or B, but to save my legs, when the gun sounded, I dove
right in and started swimming. The out was a bit choppy, but not too
bad. I leapfrogged with a few women, and then settled in, as usual, to my
own rhythm and lonely swimming about 10 minutes in. I had a few issues
spotting due to sun on the second turn, but I really don't have much to
say about the swim except I honestly never felt like I was racing. It was
a nice, easy OWS that could have been a training day. My watch is set to
beep every 500yd and every 10 minutes (I really need to fix this, as I never
remember which is which), so I had no idea about my time until I exited the
water and looked down - a 37 minute swim was exactly on par, and I was super
happy about it! I ran into T1 with a smile on my race and ready to rock
the bike - my true test of the day.
Bike: 3:05:11 (18.5 mph) -
57.11 actual distance cycled
Ahh, the bike. I ran out of
T1, mounted and rode off with little fanfare, and set out for my 56 (57) mile
trek. Oddly enough, I had no mental block going into this ride - usually
I start to freak out about halfway through the swim, but I was actually looking
forward to it! I really think my increase in riding outdoors and outside
my comfort zone have helped here. I spun out easy for the first 20 miles,
which are false flats, but with the wind at out back, averaged about 19.5,
which was way over my goal of 17.5. I'll take it. I was on a time
race not only with myself, but with The Banter - who started 25 minutes behind
me - he is a faster athlete than I am, so this wasn't a true race, but my goal was
to hold him off as long as possible (I gave him 10 minutes on the swim and
about 3mph faster than me on the bike, so I figured I'd see him at mile 25 - 30
if I was lucky). At mile 20 we turned onto a main road where you can fly
- oh, wait, and there was the wind! Shit. We had a pretty decent cross
wind at this turn, and with the traffic, I started to lose it a little
bit. I remembered all my outdoor riding techniques in the wind, but
admittedly let a little bit get to my head, and burned a few matches from mile
20-28. I passed a guy wearing nothing but an old school speedo, which was
impressive and hilarious, and got a random song stuck in my head that would
stay there for the rest of the race - Billie Eilish's "Bad Guy". Which is a horrible song, but had a great cadence beat to
it....I kept repeating to myself "I'm a Bad Guy....I'm Only Good at Being Bad"...(I don't know, perhaps this was to convince myself of my inner
badness?)
We finally turned off the stupid wind
road (that's its new name, I made it up, but it works) about mile 28, and had a
nice easy, fast spin across to the next lake, with a great downhill that I DID
NOT BRAKE FOR (Score!) and then turned on to shitty windy road 2. I think
I finally changed gears here (Yes, I know. I need bike work. I
think "train wreck" really applies to my whole bike ability and we are
assessing one car at a time) and slowed quite a bit on this split, averaging
about 17.5. I was still about 18.5-19mph overall at this point, according to my
shitty watch math, as I had no basis for my ongoing speed or speed at any time
unless I looked at my watch. SMH. Mile 30ish offered the only real
climb on the bike, with a right turn and then a sharp uphill that tapered off
for a half mile. I did shift into my easiest gear on the big chain ring
(guys, I KNOW) and motored up the hill, undoubtedly a stupid move but hey, it
worked.
The next 10 miles were a
mental game - with the wind and the terrain, it was a slower go, but I had the
benefit of experience and knew we would have a turn soon, so I took the time to
actually shift into an easy gear, take in nutrition, and spin it out. We
turned onto a super busy road about mile 37, and my second mental block of the
day - once again it was a stupid cross wind and I found myself gripping my bars
trying not to lose my shit. Thankfully it was a short stretch, and we got
another beautiful windless descent at mile 40, where the Banter finally zoomed
past me yelling "FINALLY!" (scaring the shit out of me, but I tried
to recover and yelled something resembling encouragement, which apparently was
terrifying and snarlish in it's execution. Whoops). Another great
descent to mile 44 (no brakes, yay!) and we hit Sampson State park, which is
great with the fact that it has no traffic at all, but the trail is half grass,
half stones, and half gravel (yep, you read that right) so its a 5 mile stretch
of bumpy ride, praying for no flats, and leapfrogging bikers. We turned
back on to the main road about mile 50, and the last 6 (7) miles of the ride
were sort of a struggle - I ran out of nutrition and water at mile 51 (this was
totally my fault and I need to learn to take a bottle hand off), and the winds
from mile 53 on were headwinds which was just punishment at this point. I
had thought I might go under 3 hours for the ride, but I remembered it was a
long course and not to push it too much at the cost of the run. I rolled
into T2 at 3:05, and nailed my epic flying dismount i had been
practicing for ages.
Oh, wait. That's not my race
report, that was a fantasy. Whoops. I rolled into T2, got my right
foot stuck unclipping, and completely fell on my ass. Checked to make sure it got
on camera (it did - and video - thanks guys!), looked down for injuries, nada, hit
lap on my watch, and ran into transition, where I spent way the hell too long
looking for my damned spot (I need better markers).
OH! BTW, ICYMI:
Oh yeah. They got that on
film. Note that I am super amped about this being caught on camera.
I still crack myself up when I watch it. Sorry, Banter. I
know. I know. I'll work on it.
Run: 1:47:48 (8:06)
And now...IT WAS TIME TO DANCE!
You'll see from the spoiler above that I need to stop setting my own run goals (I was off by 23 minutes WTF),
but this one is totally worth discussing in more detail. I ran out of T2 nutritionally depleted, so I slammed water and a gel, and threw on my race
number and visor. I flashed a thumbs up to our appropriately concerned
teammates who now know how much I suck on the bike, and assured them that I was
totally cool now that I was on my own two feet. My legs felt crappy, as
they always do off the bike, but I looked at my watch for overall time (3:49
with transitions) and knew that if I could pull off a 2:10 half, I would go
under 6 hours - YESS!) I decided to run the first 6 miles at about a 9
minute mile, then reassess after the stupid hill that no one runs at mile
7. Yeah. That worked until I hit mile one in 7:32.
Whoops. I quickly devised a strategy of easy run to aid station, dump ice
down my bra, take in water and every other station a gel, repeat. Miles 2
and 3 clocked in at just over 8 minute mile, then the first unrunnable hill at
mile 3 slowed that split to an 8:30. I felt conflicted - I was working,
yes, but I was so damned happy and felt good at the pace, so I continued to
click off the miles at about an 8-8:15, too fast for me but hey, I now figured
if I could go under 2 hours for the run, I might hit 5:50 for a finish time, which was something
i had not even considered.
I made a new running buddy at
mile 4, Offo, who was my resident 45-54 year old dude that I always connect
with during a race (seriously, this happens 75% of the time on long course -
marathons, half ironmans, ironman - I seem to find a random dude in this age
group and make a bestie while we run together). Offo and I lasted until
about mile 6.5, when i determined his pace was just slightly fast for me
(though we did find each other again at mile 9 for 3 miles - thanks
Offo!) At mile 6.5 I turned onto Stupid Hill Rd Barracks
Hill Rd, which is the one part of the course that's about a half mile long stone
path of unrunnable rocky crap. I channeled my inner "Bad Guy"
(yep, I had this song stuck in my head for about 4 hours) and tried to run
until the steep part of the hill. Up ahead I saw a familiar ass race
kit - it was the Banter! I had no expectations of catching him on the run
(remember - he still had 25 minutes on me as I started first, so this had
little bearing on our overall finish - he still dusted me). I caught up
with him and chatted for about a minute, where he praised me on having a
fantastic race - I told him I was gonna bust that 6 hour mark and he yelled
after me "Never doubted it!". Onward. I picked it back up
to run and passed another tri buddy, Marcus, who wasn't having the best race
but certainly powering through it - I tried to give him some encouragement -
hopefully it worked.
As I reached mile 8, I knew the rest
of the course was flat or downhill, and I began to tick off the miles at
roughly an 8 minute mile."I'm a bad guy....(yes, song still
stuck)" I tracked down one woman at mile 9 I had been eyeing for
several miles only to find out from her she was running the relay - she told me
I looked ridiculously strong and too happy (seriously, people, its possible to
go fast and be happy) and encouraged me on. There was one more small hill
at mile 10 - I looked at my watch and realized at that I could likely go under
5:40 if I pulled out 9 minute miles. WTF. I thought about my previous track
record with the ":40's" - trying to go under 3:40 at the marathon (so
close). Trying to go under 1:40 at the half marathon distance (within
spitting distance) and trying to go under 2:40 at the Oly distance (totally did
it). It seems as if this was a theme for the year, and now that we'd
moved beyond the 6:10, to the 6:00, to the 5:50, to the 5:45 I
thought....hell...why not go big or go home. Sub 5:40, baby!
Was I tired? Absolutely.
But at this point in the race, a feeling I can only describe as ebullient came
over me. The last 3 miles were a blur of random aid station jokes (I'm
pretty sure I asked for prime rib and beer at one, joking, which is ridiculous
since I like neither). I ticked off miles 11, 12 and 13 all under an 8 minute
mile (yes, I either even split or negative split this half, with no mile over
8:57, even the ones with walking). With .4 to go, I saw my buddies at the
finish line. Matt, who has become a close friend and frequent training buddy, yelled out so
much encouragement and how I looked amazing! (I love the way you lie, Matt),
Maria, who is one of the best girlfriends I could ask for, and all the reapers
spectating. I got the tingles, guys. I haven't felt that way since
Ironman Lake Placid 2010. I was overwhelmed with emotion, and almost
crying with happiness. I ran the last bit into the finish line for an
overall time of 5:36:15, which was insanely beyond any time goal I had and a
whopping 57 minutes off my best time ever.
Post Race
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| Birthday boy and I celebrating our new PR's! |
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| Non selfie with Matt Kellman. I know. I'm also shocked. |
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| 2/3 of my training crew. This makes sense now, right? |
After the awards, the epic day of Musselman 2019 was over - we headed home a sunburned, tired, and (in my case at least) an ecstatic mess.
And now what? Well, obviously my goals of going sub 6 hours at Barrelman are moot. I talked to Gary (um, he's The Banter in case I've never referred to him by name), Greg and Ryan and all three basically said they thought I was going to shake out about 5:40-5:50, which explains why they had no comment on my lame ass 6:10 goal. It's time to reassess for Barrelman - I have some tentative goals - and they aren't go under 6 hours. Or 5:30. They are now way more aggressive. We will see as it gets closer - I have 9 weeks to work on these big scary goals!
It's also time to step back and re look at myself as an athlete. The whole theory of my untapped talent, which seemed foreign to me, might have merit. I've landed some major PR's this year, not by minutes but by ridiculous amounts. Part of that is my mental game, part of that is my team, and part of it is listening to wisdom imparted by said team. And, you guessed it. I finally (who had the over under for July?) hired The Banter as my coach. I'm ridiculously amped to begin working with him, though I feel sorry for the man - he might regret taking me on (whoops, sorry Banter).
You rocked this congrats
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