Ironman Wisconsin - TriathlonFull Ironman

TOTAL SWIM 2.4 mi. (1:31:14) 2:24/100m
After getting a late start I swam to the outside for the entire race except I somehow ended up veering in near the first bouy on the second lap. My goal time was 1:45. I didn't get bumped into or punched or kicked or anything since I stayed far outside. I swam faster than during my 2.4 mile practice swim, but felt like I was swimming slowly. Maybe drafting helped, maybe it was all the adrenaline. I was 164/189 for my age group which says I'm slow comparatively, but this race was fast for me. Overall was 2015/2550.

I would like to be in the water a little bit ahead of time to adjust and not feel rushed. Otherwise couldn't have asked for anything more.

It was really far from the swim end to the swim-to-run bag and then really far back to my bike. Everyone went this far so no big deal, but I was surprised at how far it was. My volunteer was super helpful and picked up all my stuff for me. I did a full change from swim shorts to biking gear.

If I would've hurried through here I could've probably broke 13 hours. I didn't know this at the time so I just took my time. I was expected a 15 hour day.

BIKE SPLIT 1 40 mi. (2:22:25) 16.85 mph
BIKE SPLIT 2 43 mi. (2:36:13) 16.52 mph
BIKE SPLIT 3 29 mi. (1:46:30) 16.34 mph

I thought my bike was going to be my strongest event since it is my favorite part of swim/bike/run. My training was all on relatively flat land, which was a mistake, but I rode the bike course in Madison once back in June so I knew what to expect. I ate a lot on the bike taking in 2 gu's a banana and a half bottle of powerbar perform every hour plus whatever water I could get in besides that. I took in a few more bananas and a little less water on the second loop as I started to get a small cramp in my left calf. My bike splits were:

The first two splits involved no stops and the third split involved a lengthy stop to use the bathroom (which was in mud) and about 5 minutes to scrap the mud out of my cleat since I couldn't click my left cleat onto my pedals (damn speedplay). Once I got clicked in I spent about 20 minutes trying to move my foot side to side to loosen up the mud and finally had some side to side movement back. I kept my heart rate under 75% for 90% of the the ride. During the other 10% I kept my heart rate under 85% (this was mostly on the monster hills. Overall my goal was under 7 hours though I thought without issue I could've maybe made it under 6:45. I really got to thinking when I saw my age rank and overall rank that I am a slow swimmer since I moved up about 20 people in age group and about 400 some people in overall on what I would consider a slow, take it easy bike ride. At this time in the race I'm feeling great.

I think I would've pushed a little harder throughout to get my pace above 17 miles per hour. I was nervous I wouldn't have the energy for the run since during my brick training I normally felt terrible and couldn't keep my heart rate under 85%. I definitely would have avoided the mud, but no one else seemed to have a problem, but they must have not had speedplays.

I disassembled my duct tape garmin and left the USB battery on the bike. I handed my bike off to the volunteer and took 2 steps with my shoes on and heard "take off your shoes before you walk around" since I just had to get the cleats replaced from walking around in them too much. So I stopped grabbed a railing and took off my shoes. I once again walked inside grabbed my bag and changed. A volunteer grabbed me some water which was awesome. I did a full change from biking gear to running clothes. A different volunteer grabbed my gross biking clothes and put everything in my bag for me. I saw a lot of slow movers in here and that made me nervous. There were some people getting massages and that made me nervous. So I decided I just needed to go. I got a bunch of sunscreen put on me (I did this in the bike transition too). Then I took off.

I'm sure 8:48 is not a respectable transition time, but I was pleased and felt like I could've maybe shaved 30 seconds off that.

RUN SPLIT 1 6.35 mi. (1:03:04) 9:55/mile
RUN SPLIT 2 6.65 mi. (1:09:32) 10:27/mile
RUN SPLIT 3 6.23 mi. (1:04:55) 10:25/mile
RUN SPLIT 4 6.97 mi. (1:07:34) 9:41/mile
TOTAL RUN 26.2 mi. (4:25:05) 10:07/mile

I felt good at the start of the run. I left transition at about a 9:45 mile pace with my heart rate at 70-75%. My goal was to keep it under 80% for the first half marathon and under 85% for the second half. I got some much needed cola at the first two aid stations. After that most of the aid stations were out of cola already somehow (what happened there?). A tendon in the back of my left leg got really tight at about mile 2.5. I slowed to a walk and then stopped completely. Stretched and wished I had some ibuprofen (not until mile 13). After about 2 minutes it loosened up and I was ok again, but something behind my left knee was sore. The crowd was awesome and there were people along most of the run except for the area out by picnic point, which was a huge downer on the course. After the first turn around I told myself not to push it too hard since I was running under 10 minute miles. I slowed to about 10:30 minute miles for the next 13 miles and then I had 6.5 miles left and decided I had enough energy to pick it up. My goal was to keep it under 10 minute miles. I did that without problem and was passing a lot of people. My last mile was 9:15 and I crossed the finish line at 13:04. I got ushered around by two volunteers to get my shirt, medal, picture, etc. Finally saw my family and friends that cheered me on all day and gave them all hugs.

Nothing! I ran the entire marathon at about 10 minutes miles. I ran a marathon about 8 years ago and it took me 4:30. So this was awesome!

I walked to the food tent after a few pictures with friends and family. My stomach was a little upset. I ate two pieces of pizza in under a minute and felt a little better. Got in the car went back to my friends house stretched a little. Fell asleep on the floor watching It's always sunny in Philadelphia. Apparently I made a few weird noises and drifted in and out of sleep. I woke up about an hour later and ate a good portion of a Qdoba burrito and went back to bed about 11pm. Got up early the next day and my left leg is sore, but otherwise feel surprisingly great.


I held myself back for fear I would run out of fuel. There are no real hills near my house, but I wish I would've trained more for the bike on hills.


Everything was perfect, except the lack of coke on the run. Some of the water on the bike was warm. Overall everything was great.