Ironman Wisconsin - TriathlonFull Ironman

The swim is always my favorite event, but nothing can prepare you for an Ironman swim (except a previous Ironman swim I guess). The first loop was nuts! There were people everywhere and it was impossible to find an open area to swim. I got hit in the head a few times, but nothing I couldn’t take. I think I might have kicked some people in the face, but they had it coming. They kept grabbing me and pulling my legs down, and I wasn’t having any of that. DON’T TOUCH ME! I hardly kick at all when I swim, so if I do, you better watch out. Once I rounded the buoy to start the second loop, the pack had thinned out enough that I could stay a little to the outside and it was completely clear. I could finally start swimming!

That second loop felt great and I was enjoying every moment of it. As I started the last long stretch I realized this Ironman swim was getting closer to being done. I was a little sad. I never noticed it before, but the buoys were all numbered (8 on the long stretch) and it helped give me an idea how far I had to go. I made my way to the final stretch and swam as far as I could before I had to stand up. I looked at the clock and it said 1:10! Exactly what I did last time, and there’s nothing wrong with that!

Nothing. Josh saved my swim by bringing an extra pair of goggles, and I am forever grateful!

I took off my goggles and swim cap and walked on over to the strippers and got stripped, which is pretty cool. My peeps had a perfect spot so they could see me run to the helix from above. They were waiting for me at the top and they were cheering sooo loud!! There was a ton of them. All I could do was smile and wave because I was so excited to see them. They rocked!

I then got into the Terrace and went to change into my bike gear. My volunteer lady helped me get all my stuff on, sprayed some sunscreen on me that I had brought, and sent me on my way. My bike was at the beginning, so I ended up running with my bike for a ways and then put my shoes on right before the bike mount.

Not a thing!

I rode the stem out to Verona and saw one of my co-workers on Whalen Rd. I had to yell for her, but then she saw me! It took a little while for my heart rate to come down. It was pretty high for awhile. Once I did, I was a lot more comfortable. Josh and Chad both came up on me at the exact same time, so the Beschs had reunited! We were at about mile 20 on Highway G at the time. I got passed by a boat load of people, but every time I did, I thought to myself, “I’m a faster swimmer than you, and you, and you...” It’s the little victories :)

My bike was making this weird clanking noise and I couldn’t figure out what it was. Once I got to Mount Horeb I stopped at the aid station to try and see what it was. It sounded like it was coming from my wheel, but I couldn’t find anything wrong. I went on my way and just prayed that nothing would explode or anything. I made it out to the 3 big hills and saw some of my friends out on the first hill (Old Sauk Pass). Tara had a megaphone and was yelling my name and cheering me up that entire hill. So fun! I saw my friend Pat near the top of the hill and he looked at his watch and yelled, “you’re killing it!” I really wasn’t sure how I was doing compared to what I had predicted, so I was pretty pumped when he said that.

Then the next hill (Timber Lane) I knew my peeps were waiting for me at the top of that one. I got to the beginning of the hill and saw my brother waiting for me. He spotted me and started cheering me on. He ran with me to the top of the hill and I couldn’t believe he was keeping up with me! He tried this 2 years ago and he didn’t stand a chance, but this year he was right with me, and I was even going faster! To top it off he just turned 21 a couple days before, so he had gone out the night before and was hungover. WTF?! The rest of my fam spotted me and yelled soo loud! They all were just so great! I made it to the last of the 3 hills and saw my friends Julie and Matt there. That hill is my least favorite so it was awesome they were there. My co-worker Heather and her family were waiting at the top of that hill which was also awesome!

I made my way into Verona to start the 2nd loop and saw a couple other friends of mine that I didn’t expect to see out there, so that was a nice surprise! Every time I would see someone out there for me it brought a huge smile to my face. It was so uplifting and so cool that they came out to support. And the bigger I smiled, the louder the cheers got from people I didn’t know :)

I made it to special needs and wanted to stop and check my bike out. I still couldn’t find what was making that clanking noise. I knew I didn’t need anything from my Special Needs bag, but I took a quick look just in case. The first loop was packed with bikers and it was pretty difficult to stay the required 4 bike lengths behind them. By the second loop it had thinned out and there was more room. The crowds had also thinned out, which I knew would happen, but I knew my peeps would be out there. I saw some friends on the 1st hill, and my friend Pat decided to run with me the rest of the way up the hill. And go figure, he kept right with me. Seriously, how slow do I bike up hills? It was cool to talk with him for a bit though. I got to Timber Lane and TeamBesch was just as loud as they were first time I passed them by! Once I got to the top of Midtown I was hoping I would see Heather again, and I did! I remember last time I did Ironman how effortless the hills felt, and they were again this time. The spectators deserve all the credit for that. They were amazing, but I have to say our fans were by far the best :)

I finished the 2nd loop and headed for the Terrace. I saw my co-worker Fran right where I saw her on the way out on the stem. I couldn’t believe how great my legs felt that entire ride. Taper was very good to me! I ended up getting a PR on my bike split by 30 minutes from last Ironman! I was sooo excited!!

My nutrition plan was to eat a PowerGel at every 1/2 hour, 2 salt tabs at every 1 hour, and drink water and PowerBar Perfrom as well. I replaced a bottle at just about every aid station, so I think I had around 7 bottles. That plan seemed to work out perfectly as my stomach didn’t have any issues.

I don’t think there is anything I could do differently. George (that’s my bike) got me through the day without falling apart, so I was super happy! I kept telling George that if he would just get me through this ride, I will give him a break afterwards. Thank you George, you earned it!

I got off my bike and a volunteer took my bike and I went inside to change. I had an awesome volunteer help me out in the changing area. She pretty much dressed me.


Not a thing! My T2 split was almost 3 minutes faster than last time.

I started the run and I felt great! For some reason I usually run faster after I bike than I do just stand alone running. Not sure why, but it works out for this sport. I saw my big yellow-shirted crowd right away and I went and gave them high fives and hugs. There were so many spectators along the course that I couldn’t help but smile a majority of the time. Running through Camp Randall was pretty cool. My co-worker Heather was there and she was just as great cheering then as she was on the bike!

I got to the State St. aid station and a bunch of my friends were working there. They told me Josh was just ahead so I knew I would be seeing him soon. I ran to the State St. turn-around and I heard the roar of my family before I even got there. I got my high fives and hugs and went on my way to catch my husband! I saw so many of my Endurance House teammates and other friends along the course. It was so cool to see them and cheer each other on.

I ended up catching Josh right before mile 8 and gave him a big ol’ bear hug. He was cramping quite a bit and getting light headed and said he was going to need to walk a lot. He told me to keep going, but that isn’t what we had planned on. We had planned on finishing together and that is what I intended to do. He would have waited for me at mile 26 for an hour if he had to, so I wasn’t leaving him. And if I would have left him and something happened to him, I could never forgive myself! I was feeling great, so sure I could have gone for a big PR, but this is the only time that Josh and I will ever do an Ironman at the same time again. Never again will we get to cross that finish line together. I have plenty more Ironman races left in me to PR, so this was far more important to me. I had also made an agreement with the big man up top a couple weeks before the race that I would walk as much as Josh needed to as long as he got me to the run. You never know what will happen at an Ironman-bike mechanical, the weather, another douche bag on the course-so I just wanted to have the opportunity to run with him. He got me to Josh safely, so now it was time to enjoy the rest of the Ironman with my husband. :)

We made it to the turn-around and the special needs bags and I got some more PowerGels and chap-stick. I was needing that chap-stick since the start of the run! I felt so much better after I got that on. We saw both of our dads and a couple other friends around there and they did not disappoint.

We ended up run/walking the rest of the way. Josh’s legs and feet felt better walking, and mine felt better running, so we compromised. We saw a bunch of friends scattered along the course cheering for us. And of course when we got to State Street our big group was screaming their lungs out! We made our way back to the capitol and I couldn’t believe my 2nd Ironman was almost over. Ironman is 140.6 miles, but it seriously goes by so fast! I was a little sad it was coming to an end. We got to the square and saw our friends Mike and Katie working the aid station and gave them big hugs. Then we got around to the other side of the square and saw Matt, Julie, and Pat, and that’s when I started to tear up. From start to finish, Ironman is a very emotional experience, and it sure is for me. We made the turn for the finishing chute and saw our big group of family and friends and made sure to go over and get high fives and hugs from them before we crossed the finish line. A bunch of them were crying, so of course that made me cry even more. Josh grabbed my hand and we jogged in hand-in-hand to that finish line. Mike Rielly was calling us an “IronCouple”. He said, “Those who train together, stay together. Josh and Stef, YOU are an Ironman!!”


I was able to cross the finish line with my husband... I would never change that! I heard the statistic that 1% of the world does triathlons, and 1% of those people have done an Ironman. How many of those people can say they crossed the Ironman finish line with their spouse?!

We crossed the finish line and Josh and I gave each other a huge hug and kiss and I kept right on crying! Our volunteers asked us if we wanted to place the medals on each other, so we did! We got our photo taken and met up with all of our wonderful family and friends. We took a bunch of pictures with everyone and then went to the food tent to get some food. After that I went and got myself a massage!


I. Love. Ironman. Nine months of training and sacrifices is totally worth this one day of absolute bliss. I can’t wait to do my next one!!