Ironman Wisconsin - Triathlon

Started just inside the ski jump, about 4 rows back. For a huge mass start I didn't think it was too terrible. I think I got out ahead of a lot of it. Halfway down the first stretch I ended up on the buoy line and just continued to follow it for basically the rest of the race. All the turns were very crowded as expected but cleared out quickly. Down the back stretch I got into a good groove and had some room for most of it. I never felt out of control and I think this is the swim that I should have done. Could I have put in a little more effort, sure but how much would I have gained really. This was still about 7-8 minutes faster than my average pool swim of the whole distance so I was very happy.

Not much, I felt really good and the plan was not to elevate the HR much at all and just cruise along and see what the time comes out to be.

Used the wet suit strippers because why not. Jogged up the helix with some walking, no need to crank up the HR before a long bike ride. Got my bag, put on my HR monitor, loaded up my gels, lubed up and off I went with my helmet and shoes. Got some lotion from the volunteers on my neck and ears. My bike was exactly in the middle of the giant transition so I carried my shoes to my bike and then put them on since I only had to wear them half way. Saw the family off to the side and gave everyone a big hug and kiss before taking off.

Honestly went really smooth. The volunteers were awesome and took care of my wetsuit and all my other gear. I kept it very simple which helped a lot as I just used everything in my bag and didn't have to think about anything. Reading other reports this transition cane take twice as long as I spent there so I was very happy with my time.

Holy hills! They are not kidding. We drove the course on Saturday so i got to at least see these hills in person, and there are plenty of them. For the first almost half of the bike I could not get my HR down and was staying up around almost 150 for a large portion of the first loop. Finally something happened and I got it down into my range and kept it under 140 for the second half. Basically every hill I cm too that i was going to slow down for I just put it in my easiest gear and just spun it up the hill and then used my energy to get that speed back on the other side a la Endurance Nation. This really did work, but it does lead to a lot of leapfrogging but you have to ride your own race. Some of the downhill portions are the most fun I have ever had on my bike, wow! So much speed combined with some slalom type turns is just fun!
This course was more difficult than I thought it would be but my time was only slightly longer than I was expecting. I wanted to be right around six hours and I only missed it by 16 minutes. I also dropped my chain three times (my fault), and stopped to pee twice as I just couldn't pull the trigger on my bike with that many other people around me.

Wasn't sure if I was going to leave my shoes clipped in or not. Couldn't decide and ended up only getting one foot out and wearing the other shoe through transition, whatever. Dried my feet off and got shoes hat and belt and out I went while putting on my watch. Got more lotion on my neck and ears and ran out.

After all those hills and an elevated HR for half the bike I was worried how my legs were going to feel on the run. Legs felt good but I could feel something brewing in my stomach, and it was really slowing me down. This was not all bad as I was supposed to run the first six at a do no harm pace anyway. At mile six decided to hit the port a potty. Sat down and released so much pressure and felt amazing. Its true what they say, never trust a fart in an Ironman. Ran out of the potty and felt amazing. Picked it up to race pace, 8:30/mile, and walked the aid stations to get in what i needed. I drank Perform and water at almost every station as I could tell I was dehydrated. Took a gel every 4 miles and a salt tab at roughly the same pace. Made the turn around and felt really strong, until the stomach issue came back. Took the same measures at about mile 16 and felt fantastic afterwards again. At about this time I tried to do some math to determine if I could finish under 11:30. I knew it would be close and decided to give it everything I had after the turn around for the loop, at about mile 19 or so. I was running past so many people it was ridiculous. I was averaging somewhere are 7:30 miles and it was like everyone else was standing still, so much fun. I knew I had nothing to save my legs for and gave it everything i could up until the very end and passed people all the way up in to the finishing chute. I flew past the last few people and finished clear by myself and got to hear Mike Reilly say my name all by itself. Amazing!

Poop sooner. If you feel stomach problems deal with them,they won't just go away. Shorter breaks at aid stations and pick up the pace sooner if i am feeling strong.

Not wanting to trash my legs on the bike. I was very conscious of taking it easy as I knew I could have a good run as leg as I didn't destroy my legs on the bike. Next time maybe push a little harder now that I know what I need for the run. Not sure what caused the stomach issues as I followed my nutrition plan exactly on the bike. Maybe the different flavor of Perform on the run? I don't know.


Of course it's the best, it's my first Ironman!