Ironman Wisconsin - TriathlonFull Ironman

I got spooked going out to start and decided to start farther back and right then I originally planned. The cannon sounded and we were off.
I has some trouble with my goggles leaking in the beginning, but it was easy to stop and readjust. While I started wide, I ended up by the buoys the rest of the swim. Things were most congested around turns and the final stretch in to the finish. There was contact and I took a couple of shots, but it wasn't as bad as I'd feared.
My intestines had been crampy the day prior to the race, and I could feel them again during the swim, which concerned me. They eventual calmed down toward the end of swim.

I think I would have started closer to the front so I didn't get caught up in the congestion. My nephew ( a state high school swimmer) told me it was easier to be swam over, then to swim around other people - I probably should have listened. I planned to come out around 1:15-1:20, so I was a little slower then I'd wanted to be. I cruised most of the swim until the 2nd back stretch and final home stretch where I pushed it in- maybe a little too much.

Relatively smooth transition. Had a little trouble getting my wetsuit off my arms. Also, almost tore a muscle in my groin as I went racing into a port-a-potty with my cycling shoes on and slid into the backside. At least I didn't come out blue!

Physically practiced the transition and slowed down going into the port-a-potty!

Got on my bike and was excited to be out of the water. I was settling in when I turned on my Garmin and found it was only registering my heart rate - no speed or cadence. I played with it for a bit and thought I'd fixed it, until I realized it displayed 16 mph no matter my speed and had my cadence at 90 when I wasn't peddling! Played with it some more and then it warned me it was detecting multiple bike sensors. That figures... Curse you Garmin! On to plan B: GPS. I knew the battery now wasn't going to last the whole race, but I really didn't have a choice.

Things slowed in the no passing zone and under the bridge where someone had crashed. I really tried to hold back on the stick and first loop. My RPE seemed right , but my heart rate was telling a different story. Part of that was probably due to cardiac drift as I was slowly getting dehydrated. I had planned to drink about 32-36 oz an hour between water and Performance; maybe peeing every couple of hours. Not only did I not go every 2 hrs, I didn't even go once on the bike! At the 4 hr mark, I knew I was in trouble, and started pushing the fluids/electrolytes even harder and backed off the gels. By the time I got off the bike, I had salt crust all over my forehead. I was able to go a little by the time I made it to transition.

My family was out on Old Sauk. They were great. Somehow, we had a "Hot Rod" theme for this race, and they were holding a sign: Power Of the Bottle Nosed Dolphin. I yelled "h-whisky" back to them. It was hilarious!

As far as the course goes, I did as I expected. I cornered and climbed/descended well for me. My average pace was slower then it was when I rode the course in August, but not by too much. My toes were tingling/sore on my right foot coming back on the stick That's never happened before and not really sure why. I was looking forward to being done.

1. Do something about that damn Garmin! I've had trouble with it in a lot of my races.
2. Back off my effort. Save more for the run.
3. Fluids, fluids, fluids. What more can I say? Going into a marathon dehydrated doesn't work!

Again, really no problems. I did forget to grab electrolytes.

Grab electrolytes.

Oh, here is where the wheels came off.
It felt really good to be off the bike. In fact, my legs felt great. It was warm, but not terribly hot. As I ran though, I could feel I was loosing it. By mile 4, I was walking outside of the aid stations, and by mile 6, I was going into survival mode.
I knew I needed fluids and was taking 4 cups of fluids at each stop. That made for a bloated/sloshy stomach for most of the run. I gave up on gels by mile 13 and switched to cola. I also knew I needed salt, and that I had forgotten mine in transition. I saw some salt capsules on the road and grabbed one - I was desperate.

Again, John and the rest of my family were great. They ran from point to point cheering me on. Kevin and Drew were dancing to "Two of Heart" (again from Hot Rod) on top of Observatory. Lots of encouragement, it was great. I ran/walked with various racers and made conversation which helped pass some miles.

At one point, I thought I must have trained for a biathlon and not an Ironman. I didn't expect to feel that bad during the run. I ran/walked most of the final 13, with mostly walking the final 8 until mile 25. By then, I was starting to feel a little better and was able to run again. I ran in and the next thing I knew, I was an Ironman.

Wow, where to begin...
1. Definitely need to take the bike slower.
2. Fluids on bike
3. Maybe more of a running base before starting training program.
4. More Bike/Run bricks

Pizza and family.


As above


Based on my training and half IM times, my goal was to finish under 12 hrs. I missed it by an hour and 23+ minutes. But, it was my first Ironman and I finished.