Ironman Wisconsin - TriathlonFull Ironman

The swim was insane! I need to take a self-defense class before I do that again! The first lap I got clobbered from all sides, got my goggles knocked off, and someone actually grabbed my ankle. It seemed like every time I took a breathe I got a mouth full of water.It got even more congested around the buoys. Just tried to keep going and the second lap was a lot better than the first after people got more spread out.

Stay outside towards shore or just inside the buoys-where there are less people.

The volunteers are so great, I had someone grab me right away and she dumped everything out of my bag and helped me change my clothes and decide what I was taking with me and what I would leave. Drank another Ensure and grabbed a PB and honey Uncrustable-which I tried to eat on my way to my bike-but it felt like my mouth was full of glue so I pitched it. I ran holding my shoes because I had along way to go. When I got to my rack there was another volunteer waiting for me with my bike-that is so cool!

Put on some body glide.

Over all I think the bike was my best event of the day. I was relaxed and took it pretty easy. The hills seemed so much easier with all of the spectators there! much easier than any time I road the course in training. When I got to Mt. Horeb on the 2nd loop I noticed that I had some chaffing under my arms that was really starting to hurt-I couldn't find my body glide I must have forgotten to grab it or I dropped it. So I went to the port-a-potty and lo and behold someone had thrown a used package of butt chamois on the floor. and there was some left! so I rubbed it all over my underarms. I know-how gross is that that I grabbed something off of the port-a-potty's floor and rubbed it on myself-but desperate times call for desperate measures, right?

I think next time I could go a bit faster, I tried to be conservative because I didn't want to die on the 2nd loop and since this was my 1st IM I wasn't sure what to expect. Also If I could avoid visiting the port-a-potty 6 times during the bike that would cut off some time!

Again, another volunteer grabbed me right away and sat me down and got all of my stuff sorted out. Took 1 Immodium and grabbed more salt tabs and goo. couldn't bring myself to chug anymore Ensure so I left that. grabbed a blister kit-thank goodness because i got a big blister on the big toe of my right foot at mile 14.

Take more Immodium or something like that.

I couldn't believe how great I felt coming out on the run, I felt really fresh and excited to be on the last leg of the day. I felt like I was running at a really good pace and was ahead of the time that I had estimated. This kept up until half way through the marathon and then my stomach cramped up and I felt bloated and nauseous. i had a really hard time making myself eat and drink. I did keep up with taking the electrolytes. I had to make a couple of mad dashes to the port-a-potties because I thought I might get a sudden bout of diarrhea. Tried not to spend too much time in the toilet-I was afriad of possibly passing out in there. so the 2nd half of the run ended up being a walk-run.

Take more Immodium and when I started to feel bad, cut out the sugary stuff and switch to water, pretzels and chicken broth until I felt better.

A volunteer met me with a space blanket and got me a cup of Sprite, got my medal and T-shirt and took a picture with Brook and Dylan. tried to keep moving. Met my family and friends outside of the finishing tent and then went to get some food at the athlete tent. I grabbed some pizza, fruit and water but I could not force anything down but the water. My stomach was still cramped up.


I could have pushed harder on the bike but really my goal for my first IM was to finish so I was conservative-I didn't want to bonk on the bike or have nothing left for the run. I definitely had some issues with my stomach on the 2nd part of the run that made it really hard.


I am thrilled that i finished an Ironman race. It is a big accomplishment for me.I feel really proud and hope that I have been a good example for my kids- for working really hard for something and not giving up.