Ironman Wisconsin - Triathlon

The swim went well. I had been having problems with calf cramps, but had been supplementing with magnesium and potassium, and no problems today. Navigation was okay, but could have been better. I should have tried to start closer to the inside, but still on the back, and tried to get in on some of the draft packs. There was a group on the inside that I saw pretty much throughout the race, swimming about my pace, that if I would have linked up with, I could have saved some energy. Overall, I swam as I wanted and as I expected.

Draft better, navigate better.

There is a long transition, it was a long day. I was not going to set any records for speed here. I walked up the transition helix - bare feet plus bare concrete plus 140.6 does not make a good combo. Not eating any paste today. Took my time, got my nutrition.
Hit a portapotty that took a bit longer than expected but left me feeling better. Nothing problematic, just necessary :)

Nothing.

This course is brutal and unforgiving. My goals was to not eat any paste (i.e., not due anything stupid) and run my race. The course makes it all too easy to burn matches and kill the run, and my goal was to avoid that. I kept my heart rate around 130 or in the 120s for most if, and took the climbs as best I could. Shifted early, shifted often, and put the 34-28 combo to good use. Spun out on the downhills, but did not push hard, to take advantage of the speed and spin out the lactic acid.
Had to stop at an aid station to use the potty again, and stopped at special needs to stretch and get sunscreen.
Nutrition was spot-on. Drank plenty, ate every half hour, salt every half hour. No cramps, no upset stomach, no problems.

Nothing. Not one single thing. The bike split was slower than I wanted, but was exactly what I set out to do.

Smooth. Hit the head again, took my time. Had some difficulty getting the big sticky bandages for the nipples on, but oh well.

Nothing.

I had a clean marathon - and that's all that matters. I am satisfied with the run.

I kept a good pace - my goal was around 12:00/mile, which I maintained for the first 10 miles or so. After that, between the hills and fatigue, there was only so much more I could do. The course is very oddly shaped and a double loop, and there is one stretch that is on a shaded forest path. Once the sun starts to set, it is a very, very lonely and isolated place. After 7:30pm, most of the spectators and partyers go home, so all that is left is those folks doing the Ironman Shuffle.
About mile 18, I linked up with folks from Illinois, and they were doing honest-to-goodness Grandmom Mall Powerwalking. I joined in, and that stuff works. It was a happy pace between the death shuffle and the eternal suffering of a real jog.

Not much more I could do here - I was beat by a lack of fitness base.

Kept walking, got my medal, heard Mike Riley say my name.


Fitness base, period. This season is my second in triathlon, and coming off a good 7:30 bike split just limits the ability to really push the body on the marathon. I did jump 36 spots overall on the run.


There were a lot of small screwups and misinformation given by Ironman here, which was frustrating. One would think, after doing this race so many times, it would be all routine by now. I was given four different stories, throughout the week, as to how to pick up special needs bags. At one point, there official story was that it was going to be a wave start. Also, early athlete guide had next year's even in late October. Lots of minor but significant screwups.