Ironman Wisconsin - TriathlonFull Ironman

This was my first IM so my main goal was to finish. With that in mind I wanted to make sure the swim didn't wipe me out so I started approximately 3-5 minutes after the gun went off. This plan worked well for the first 5 minuted then I spent the remainder of the time fighting my way through the pack. I won't guess how much actual time this strategy cost but my last two full length training swims were at 1:07 and 1:08. Basically it felt like trying to swim through a moving maze. I would strongly discourage anyone from using this swim start strategy unless you are a slow swimmer.

start in the middle of the pack and put up with the fighting for the first 400 meters vrs fighting for the length of the swim.

This is a long race, there was no need to sprint up the helix and out to my bike. I didn't rush but I didn't intentionally go slow.

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My goal for this was to keep my cadence at 90 rpm and my HR in the low to mid 130's and to never exceed 159 while climbing. I reached those goals but overall the bike was a disaster. I threw my chain 3 times on the first lap, my wonderful RTC shifters decided not to shift half the time and somewhere after I reached Verona for the first time I crashed. I have no idea how or why. I remember getting to Verona and the next thing I remember is being on Hwy G just before getting to Messerschmidt Rd. I had trouble focusing on riding so I would occasionally notice my RPM's had dropped significantly and my HR was in the 110-120 range. Everything cleared up by the time I hit Mt Horeb in the 2nd loop. From that point on I decided to just take it easy and make sure I finished the race.

no bike "tune up" 3 days prior to the race and not crash.

As always, the volunteers did an amazing job. Thank you!

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I actually felt great when I got off my bike with the exception of my shoulder, head/face and neck. As I mentioned above my goal was to simply finish the race so I took it easy on the run and never actually pushed myself. Part of this strategy came from my bike crash and part was I had no idea how much I could push.

Now that I am officially a finisher I would absolutely push harder during the run.

ate pizza and walked around.


I had a few health issues during training and came into the race about 25-30 lbs heavier than I expected. Training went very well for the first 15 weeks then the wheels fell off at the end of May. I tore a calf muscle, then was diagnosed with stage 2 hypertension which took about 4 weeks to get under control and last but certainly not least I crashed my moped in the beginning of August and broke my left foot. Regardless of everything I believe I left about 1-1.5 hours out on the course. Overall I am still happy simply because I finished the race.

As an update to my bike crash, I have road rash on my face, right ear, right shoulder, right knee, I was diagnosed with a concussion and a separated shoulder.






As always the WTC did a great job with this race. The volunteers were amazing. I was told the spectator levels were down this year. Even if that was true there were still enough to make each participant feel like a rock star.

It was an awesome experience to see my wife, sons and two sisters during the run. My friends Craig, Amy, Calvin and Karen always seemed to pop up when I needed them the most. Thank you! During the run I got to meet several people who were not only supportive but inspiring as well. Seeing fireman Rob during the marathon is always inspiring and I was fortunate enough to spend about 15 minutes of the run with a young lady named Ingrid. Ingrid was in an automobile accident a few years ago and suffered a broken pelvis and broken neck. She was told she would never run again but she was doing the IM anyways. She did finish and I hope she was able to receive as much support in return as she provided to me and the others she met during the race. Coincidentally we started running/walking/shuffling together when I was at one of my lowest points mentally. I never came close to the feeling of wanting to give up but sometimes it helps to have a reminder of all the different ways we have been blessed.