Swim Bike Run Survive: Musselman 70.3: A Humbling Race

Friday night dinner at a vineyard

After really enjoying this race two years ago, and Mike winning a free entry to it during the Tri Club raffle in Maine, we decided to come back. It was a Tri Club championship race so the Philly Tri Club showed up in force. Two years later it would prove to be a very different experience.

Last time I finished in 7h01 so I thought I had a good chance to break 7 hours, but I knew the heat would be a factor. There was also the issue of my plantar fasciitis for the last month. And there was the threat of a non-wetsuit legal swim, but race morning the water miraculously measured just under the limit.

We arrived on Friday, checked into our Airbnb, and headed to dinner at a beautiful vineyard overlooking the lake. With our house only being only one mile from transition, we avoided the crazy parking situation and rode our bikes down on Saturday morning for efficient registration and bike check in. Saturday afternoon Mike and I went to visit one of Mike’s work friends who has a house on Lake Cayuga. We returned for perfect timing to make our pasta dinner and hang with our housemates, Amy, Shuntae, Tom, and my sister Barb. We were in bed by 9am, and I had an unusually good sleep, waking up just before my 4am alarm. Like clockwork, we left at 5am to walk down to the race, got set up, and lined up for the race. But the race would turn into a different type of clockwork.

Swim: Ironman improved the swim entrance and exit from our last race (when we and over 700 athletes didn’t get a swim time due to a timing malfunction). I line up in the 46 – 50 minute seeding and to my surprise there are not many people in the seedings behind me so I’m in the last group of athletes to enter the water. I confidently follow all the sighting buoys with near perfect swim navigation, finishing in 57:57, just over last time.

T1: I’m delighted to see Barb cheering me on as I exit the water. The transition area was closer to the swim area this time, so I clock a 5:30 and go on my way.

Bike: After doing hilly Maine last year, I thought returning to this course would feel so much easier. As one of the top ranked bike courses, it is a magnificent ride through Amish farmlands with views of both Cayuga and Seneca Lakes. Knowing last time I averaged 16.29 mph, I start out strong, but I feel my energy draining on miles 20 – 30 so I stop for a bathroom break at mile 30, refill my water bottle, and take a gel. I pick up the pace somewhat but the heat is starting to wear on me so I’m surprised when I finish at 3:50:31, average 14.46mph, 25 minutes slower than previously and 5 minutes slower than the hilly Maine course. But, I’m always happy with a successful bike completion with no accidents or mechanical issues, no matter the time. I’m once again delighted to see Barb welcoming me back to transition.

T2: I take my time a little more than usual to regroup myself, with T2 at 6:08.

Mike had a great race!

Run: I start at my prescribed race pace for a few miles, stopping at every aid station for water and putting ice in my tri kit and hat. As I hit the “big hill” at the first loop, I walk it, run some and then walk more when I hit the next couple of “big hills”. Coming back down, I go into run mode but the heat is really starting to get to me. I pass the Philly tri club tent and Barb and teammates give me a boost of energy. Barb can see I’m starting to hurt so she walks aside me giving me motivation. I begin to run again, only to get sick to my stomach at mile 6. At this stage, I think I’m going to have to drop out but with a little rest I’m back on my feet. A volunteer who knows an athlete struggling like me, gives him a big pep talk telling him, “Jeremy, don’t get in your head”, “you’ve got this”, “the app still says you will finish on time’. I soak in that pep talk and keep going.

I see Barb again and tell her I got sick, but I’m ok and can still finish it. Doing the math in my head, I know I probably can’t walk the whole time though. Jeremy and I are both on a run / walk protocol for the second loop giving each other encouragement, with more walking than running. I know if I get sick again, that could be the end of my race, so I watch my heart rate and try to balance forward movement with stopping for water and ice and walking. My watch isn’t showing my total race time, so I keep doing the math in my head for what I think my splits are to judge what I need to do to finish in regulation time.

Down the finish chute

I have never been so happy to arrive at a finish line. Barb and Mike are cheering me in. Barb captures some of my best finish running photos – I look stronger than what I feel. I immediately take advantage of the chair right after the finish line. Soon after I finish, I see Jeremy sitting next me and we acknowledge our mutual accomplishment of finishing under the 8.5 hour regulation time cut off. I finish the run in 3:22:42, for a total time of 8:22:46. Turns out my calculations were pretty accurate, as I thought I had around 3h30 for the run.

And then I vomit. I gratefully accept the wheelchair escort to the med tent where I find myself amongst other athletes suffering from the heat. I’m in better shape than some who must be forced into an ice bath. They give me ice, hydration and after getting sick to my stomach again (right after I told the doctor I felt better and he wrote discharge orders), they give me anti-nausea medication. Barb and Mike pack up my gear, and Mike rides home to get the car. After a cool shower, I feel well enough to join the Philly Tri Club for dinner, where we celebrate our 5^th place Tri Club podium award.

I have never come this close to not finishing a race. At one point I thought my blog post was going to be about my first DNF, but the real lesson was one of perseverance in the face of adversity. It also showed me what it’s like to be in the back of the pack. The race course really clears out of athletes and the exiting athletes and spectators get in your way. The volunteers, however, were amazing and stayed with us to the end, many working in the hot sun the whole time. At the finish line, they ran out of finisher hats, but compensated with a nice Ironman hat. Every race has a story and lessons. This one truly humbled me.