Musselman Race Report
So the thing I love about races is the race weekend. Team Z goes big on race weekend so I made it a 4 day weekend filled with fun. We traveled up to Geneva, NY (about 6.5-7 hour drive) for a sprint on Saturday (about 10 teammates did this including my roommate) and a half Ironman on Sunday (85 teammates did this). I cannot run still so I did the aquavelo race (1.2 mile swim and 56 mile bike). These weekends are so much fun to see all my friends and cheer people on. We stay together, laugh a lot, and enjoy our sport. So of course, I was looking forward to this and it didn't disappoint. I drove up with Bob and Jen and I don't think I could have had more fun on a car ride. We were super loopy and had so much fun catching up on life, laughing at signs in PA, and more. I stayed with 6 teammates in an non-air conditioned townhouse but despite the heat, we had a great time. Have I mentioned how much I love my team! Way to go everyone that competed and survived the heat on Saturday or the monsoon on Sunday. Everyone did great things!
As for my race, it went well.
I have never been so nervous about a race in my life (not even Ironman). Not knowing if you can finish a ride isn't fun. I was doubling my longest ride since surgery after a 1.2 mile swim. To add to the insanity, the swim wasn't wetsuit legal. You could still wear a wetsuit but you aren't eligible for awards. I fought with this decision for a long time and the nerves kept creeping up. I decided to wear my wetsuit since this wasn't a race for me. All week and weekend long I had been telling myself that this isn't a race...just a ride. I was going to not push but just see what my body could handle. For those of you who know me well, not being competitive is hard for me. I hate people passing me and not chasing...I hate taking it easy instead of seeing the fastest time I can finish.
The swim was choppy and rough. The waves pushed into you from random directions depending what part of the swim you are on. I am extremely glad I wore the wetsuit (thanks Ryan!) because I would have tired my knee out before I even got on the bike. The wetsuit allowed me to use upper body only to save my legs for the bike. I felt great on the swim and loved my new goggles. The official time has me at 37:06 but I actually finished sooner than that because it took me awhile to walk to the timing mat up the ramp of the swim. It is really weird to walk transitions by the way (another hard thing for me to do). I beat last years swim by 40 seconds and it was much calmer water last year. Yay for getting better at swimming!
As for the bike...the part that was making me nervous all week....it went great! I really did stick to my race plan of not letting it be a race. I wanted to stay in Z2 (pace that you are able to talk at) and not race, chase, or try to keep up with others. I actually started singing "Take it Slow" in my head (not a good motivator for racing by the way). It was supposed to rain that day, but held off until about mile 18 or 20. I took a left turn on to the road and up ahead was completely dark with stray lightning bolts. It was the perfect storm to watch from your window but we were riding through it instead. All I could think was "Wow, dad would love to watch this storm."The rain came down hard for about 10-13 miles. I enjoyed it for awhile since riding in the rain is kind of fun. It did get old and scary when you couldn't see ahead of you or you were braking hard down a hill. Overall, I smiled the whole time and loved it though. The rain ended just before I had to climb the big hill which was nice.
My knee never really hurt but got tired several times during the ride. When it started to get achy, I slowed down for a mile and the pain went away. It hurt around mile 35 and then again around mile 50. I averaged 17.7 mph (I was expecting around 15) so I call it a success especially with the rain. Overall bike time of 3:13:23.
My knee was very sore for the rest of the day but manageable. I need to get to the point where I can bike and then at least walk after it. By the next morning, my knee felt really good and today it feels as normal as it has since surgery. This was a great pump up for Ironman Wisconsin that I do believe I can continue to get better in the next month and a half to prep for it.
Thanks Team Z for an awesome weekend!
As for my race, it went well.
I have never been so nervous about a race in my life (not even Ironman). Not knowing if you can finish a ride isn't fun. I was doubling my longest ride since surgery after a 1.2 mile swim. To add to the insanity, the swim wasn't wetsuit legal. You could still wear a wetsuit but you aren't eligible for awards. I fought with this decision for a long time and the nerves kept creeping up. I decided to wear my wetsuit since this wasn't a race for me. All week and weekend long I had been telling myself that this isn't a race...just a ride. I was going to not push but just see what my body could handle. For those of you who know me well, not being competitive is hard for me. I hate people passing me and not chasing...I hate taking it easy instead of seeing the fastest time I can finish.
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| Buckle up PA! |
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| We had way too much fun with these signs! |
As for the bike...the part that was making me nervous all week....it went great! I really did stick to my race plan of not letting it be a race. I wanted to stay in Z2 (pace that you are able to talk at) and not race, chase, or try to keep up with others. I actually started singing "Take it Slow" in my head (not a good motivator for racing by the way). It was supposed to rain that day, but held off until about mile 18 or 20. I took a left turn on to the road and up ahead was completely dark with stray lightning bolts. It was the perfect storm to watch from your window but we were riding through it instead. All I could think was "Wow, dad would love to watch this storm."The rain came down hard for about 10-13 miles. I enjoyed it for awhile since riding in the rain is kind of fun. It did get old and scary when you couldn't see ahead of you or you were braking hard down a hill. Overall, I smiled the whole time and loved it though. The rain ended just before I had to climb the big hill which was nice.
My knee never really hurt but got tired several times during the ride. When it started to get achy, I slowed down for a mile and the pain went away. It hurt around mile 35 and then again around mile 50. I averaged 17.7 mph (I was expecting around 15) so I call it a success especially with the rain. Overall bike time of 3:13:23.
My knee was very sore for the rest of the day but manageable. I need to get to the point where I can bike and then at least walk after it. By the next morning, my knee felt really good and today it feels as normal as it has since surgery. This was a great pump up for Ironman Wisconsin that I do believe I can continue to get better in the next month and a half to prep for it.
Thanks Team Z for an awesome weekend!