Ironman Wisconsin - Triathlon

Wow. What an experience. Gun went off and it was a little battle for a couple hundred yards. I then thought I weathered the storm as I had open water around me and was able to get into a groove. The groove lasted about 400 yards and I was thinking to myself that this is great. Open lane, able to settle in and felt great in the water...and then it was rugby time again. Lots of bumping, kicking, punching, etc. It didn't let up until after the halfway point. The rest of the swim went pretty well and I was amazed how relaxed and comfortable I was. Took the last turn around the bouy a bit wide and had to fight the current to get back towards the buoy line. I am positive the I could have had 10 minutes taken off of my time if I would have taken that corner better.

Sighting with my swim can always be improved upon. Other than that, I don't think I would have changed anything.

Good transition. A little weird as Ironman is a different triathlon transition than any other race. Walked up the Helix as best as I could as suggested by Craig. After a bit, I couldn't walk anymore and had to jog. Got into the Monona Terrace and grabbed my bag and headed to the changing room. Found an open spot and changed into tri shorts and tri top. Volunteers were great to make sure I took everything out of my bag and was ready to go. Also a little weird changing in a big open room but oh well. Helmet on out to the ramp, sunscreen on and off to get my bike.

Run more into the changing room. Maybe save a minute or two by picking up the speed a bit.

Holy shit balls was this slow. Felt great the whole ride and no wonder why. This was the slowest I have ever biked. Oh well. Plan was to cover the distance and have enough left to not hate the marathon. There were a couple times where I held back just to save my legs. I remember saying to myself that Wow...I feel really good. Of course I did at that pace...lol. Left Madison just spinning the pedals and "just riding along". Hit the loop and thought I went into a decent pace but must not have. Made the mistake of not inflating my tires fully and that hurt. I had about 85#'s of pressure in my tires that are designed for 170#s. Ouch. Tires actually squeaked going up the hills and sounded like rubbing a balloon. Stopped at three rest stations and got my fluids mixed, took my Gu and hit the porto potties.

As much as I hate my pace on the bike, I wouldn't change a thing. The race was enjoyable and I had a great experience. The one thing I might change would be to pre-mix all my fluids and just stop at special needs to get three new bottles.

Good transition. Rode up the Helix, handed my bike off and headed inside. Grabbed my transition bag, put the shoes on, hat, glasses, shoes and off I went.

Nothing....pretty smooth.

Run went well. Marla and Jason said I left transition looking upset but didn't really feel it until about a quarter mile into it. Lower back was a little stiff but the main issue was my stomach. It cramped up pretty badly. Found out later a lot of people had the same issue with the Perform drink. If it wasn't for that stomach cramp, the run would have been great. Felt fine otherwise. Tried everything. Ginger, Gu chomps instead of Gu, water, soup, Perform, cola...finally after about Mile 8, it went away. I was worried that I wouldn't be able to take in fluids for a while there. The next goal was then to just get to the half way point. All my training was better after I got through the halfway point of all my training efforts. The second half went fairly quick considering how dark it got. Trail was pitch black at points. At about mile 19, I crested a hill and heard a huge crowd roar. It was my route rocking crew and they were all wearing Gene Simmons masks! And they WERE LOUD! It was great. Definitely road that energy into the finish. Got to Mile 24 and said that was it, no more stopping at water stations, just head into the finish. Turned the corner and had a woman right in front of me. I remember reading articles that said to make sure to give the other athletes "their moment" so I backed off a bit. She started to slow too, so I slowed more. Then some ass hat came by and tried to pass us both. Because of that, none of us heard the "you are an Ironman" but rather had all three of our names rattled off. Crossed the finish, got my hat, t-shirt, choco milk and a huge hug from Marla. That was the best!


Avoid Perform on the bike.

Excellent race. Fairly well organized (not as good as ours in Door County but pretty good). Volunteers rocked it. Most of all, my #BSCRAZY crew was the bomb! They made this race. Thank you to Marla, Stosh, Sarah, Ty, Jill, Mom, Dad, Steve, Jason Woelfel, Mark, Nicole, Jody, Todd, Julie, Parker, Carol, Jolene, Kuklinski. Marla put together one hell of a crew and I could never recreate this part of the experience!