Umm...let me explain my race title first: I had a GREAT TIME at the Mussleman Triathlon Festival this weekend! It was by far the most fun I have had at a race since my Beach2Battleship victory last fall.
Having said that: Good Lord, I want my 2009 IM/Wedding body back! I'm busting out of my darn Team Z kit and with Irongirl around the corner in August, I'm NOT really looking forward to what my Team FIGHT kit is going to look like in photos. I've been working hard at the solution but the progress is slow and not readily apparent in the pictures....yet. Must keep working hard - I want my new bike *before* Beach2Battleship Half in November!
Saturday, Mini Mussel Race Day with Team Z teammates Priscilla and Mike
Now onto the - RACE REPORT!
I was supposed to race the MicroMini but pouring rain and lightening forced the race director to modify the event and the "regular bike" division of this race was canceled. We still had a BLAST watching IronCat and Es and a few other teammates - Rock IT OUT in a "Tricycle Duathlon" in the pouring rain! GOOD TIMES FOR EVERYBODY!
Mini Musselman: Sprint Distance Triathlon
750yd Swim - 16m Bike - 3.2m Run
Overall Time: 2:14:35
SWIM: 750 yds - 21:08 (New Open Water PR for this distance!!)
The swim was a lovely 750 yards in Lake Geneva with an in-water start. The water was about 74F and crystal clear and even though I didn't really need it temperature-wise, I still wore my wetsuit. I had no problems with the swim overall but I think I could have taken another minute or two off my time if I had sighted a little more efficiently - doing Tarzan drills instead of stopping dead in the water and looking around like a "holly-sized buoy". I pretty much stayed in the back of the pack of the Yellow Caps and only ended up seeing a few of the Dark Green Caps that started 6 minutes behind. To stay with my pack - even in the back - for the entire swim is a huge improvement for me. My pace may not be mid-pack but now I am not getting completely dropped! Room for improvement but still a PR so I am thrilled!
T1: 3:36
Nothing of note here, this is a typical T1 time for me - I take time to dry my feet and put on my socks cause I hate blisters on the run!
BIKE: 16 miles - 1:02:49 (Pace 15.7 mph)
Whoot! There it is!!! - The goal that I set for myself for the bike for this race was 1:00-1:05 - as close to a 16 mph pace as I could get and I did it! I'm VERY satisfied with this pace and felt - if it had been a little cooler, temperature wise, I would have been able to maintain a solid run pace off the bike even after this kind of effort.
Of course Keri and Leanne, my close friends and Team Z mates, will tell you that I wandered around pouting a bit all day Saturday afternoon/early evening because I *thought* the bike course was short by a mile and my bike computer was giving me an average pace of 13.8 mph for the Bike. NOTE TO SELF: Trust the GARMIN 3:10XT and not the Bike Computer which is fussy and can change just because a magnet shifts slightly or a battery is running down...
Riding on Sunshine and enjoying a strong Bike ride...
T2: 03:16 - WTF?
Completely baffled by this time that I spent in T2 considering that all I did was rack my bike and change my shoes and put on a hat - I have no clue where the time went as it didn't feel that slow but it was sooooo slow.....
RUN: 3.2 miles - 43:46
What can I say except that today I just didn't have it for the run? The temperatures were in the high 80s and the course was not hard or hilly. I started out with what I hoped would be "a nice easy pace" and by the time I reach Mile 1 - I just was not feeling it - at all. I did some self-reflection on my race goals for the day and decided that I wasn't in the mood to "suffer" or "HTFU" so I just went with the flow and ran when I felt I could and walked when I wanted to.
I saw plenty of teammates out there - all looking great - and while I today I would not "catch" my teammate Jackie on the run (she was looking to strong and nearly a 1/2 mile ahead of me) - I did have in the back of my mind that my teammate Priscilla was out there somewhere - catching up to me. That kept me running more than walking and by the time we got to the near the finish line, my teammates Tracey and Emily confirmed as they cheered me in, that Priscilla was right on my tail because they cheered for me and then less than 30 seconds later were "Whoohoo"-ing for Priscilla! By that point, we were about 300 yards from the finish line so I just sucked it up and ran it in to the wonderful cheers and high-fives of my Team Z teammates!
On the run to the finish line - see the green the background
- that's Priscilla closing in on me...
So that is my Mini-Musselman Race Report. The rest of the weekend was spent cheering on my Teammates who were racing the Musselman Half Ironman and AquaVelo and ringing a cowbell all day long! That's my kind of fun!
Cheering folks on Sunday at the Half Ironman - More Cowbell!
My CONGRATULATIONS to all my friends and Team Z teammates who ROCKED the Musselman Course this weekend! It was a great way to spend a summer weekend and I highly recommend the race to anybody!
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