Ironman Wisconsin - TriathlonFull Ironman

Used my inhaler before the swim and left it in my run bag in transition. It was crowded the first 200 yards. My plan was to stay 20 yards to the right of the buoys and look for open water - also to stay away from the slow swimmers and those breast stroking or treading water. I was able to get maybe 20 yards at a time of open water before it crowded up again. Twice I was kicked in the chest (swimming up on someone who stopped). Lots of jostling and body contact. Took the first turn wide which was very good - as long as everyone kept moving we did fine. The second turn I was not so wide and had lots of contact for the next 200 yards. At one point I realized I had open water and was near a kayaker - couldn't see the buoys. I asked if I was off course - he yelled "go right" - oh, there they are! Yep, I was a little inside the buoys. I stayed just to the left of the buoys with a few other folks for the long side of the rectangle. At the half way point (buoys change colors from yellow to orange) I had my goggles knocked off. No worries, just put them back on - nice to get a short reprieve from the suction around my eyes. I kept wondering why people were stopping to tread water. At one point I swam onto a woman who had swam up onto a man - poor guy - he had two girls on his back. Yikes!! The next two turns were okay - less crowded. The last stretch to the swim out was crowded, but not much physical contact. Overall, this was a great swim for me - a PR!! Water temps was perfect. The most physical contact I have ever experienced and it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it might be.

Not much. I was pretty happy with the swim

This is one very long transition. Wetsuit strippers are awesome, I was out of my suit in 10 seconds and running up the helix. Great having the crowds cheer you on as you run up the ramp. Grab my bag and head into changing area. The volunteers are fantastic. Literally one on one helpers. Dried off and put on yoga pants and long sleeve cotton t-shirt - a new addition due to the very cold weather and being wet on the bike. It was now about 50 degree's outside and would only warm up into the low 60's later in the day. My last minute plan was to ditch the yoga pants and t-shirt somewhere along the bike route when I got hot. Wore bike gloves (thank god, it was pretty cold). Put my helmet, sun glasses and socks on and ran carrying my shoes to get my bike. Volunteer brought me some water and ripped open my gel so I could eat it while running. Don't know how this took over 12:00 - but it's a LONG way. My bike was more than half way down the parking garage. I put my shoes on when I got to my bike, maybe should have waited to put shoes on until mounting area - but there was a log jam of people WALKING their bikes out of transition and a bunch of us could not get around them.

Not much - I was moving fast, no wasted time - - it is, what it is! I'm sure it would have been faster if I had not put on the extra clothes - but I did not want to freeze on the bike.

It was hard to get HR down, so I went easy on the way out. Felt like 1000's passed me on the bike. Very glad I had the extra layer - it was cold. 1st loop there were tons of spectators, guys with wigs and skirts on - clowns were spooky - they just appeared on the side of the road - silently - waving you to come on over - eerie. In the beginning the water at the aid stations was hot - I skipped them until I reached an aid station that had cold water - stopped briefly to fill my insulated water bottle with the cold water. One I used the portal pot while the volunteer was filling my bottle - it took 30 seconds since it was empty and literally right in front of me. great timing. Wardrobe change at mile 45 when I saw my friends Darlene and Jim. Jumped off the bike to take off the t-shirt and the yoga pants - down to my tri-suit. Perfect timing. It was still a bit chilly, but I warmed up quickly. Had some major chaffing from the t-shirt under my arms - ouch!!! At special needs I had a rice krispy treat, grabbed some gels and switched out my nutrition bottles. I had prepared four 24 oz bottles of malto containing 1840 calories. I froze two of the bottles - put one on the bike in the morning and one in my special needs bag (wrapped in ziplock bag, with bubble wrap and in a washcloth - it was still frozen) I had two cold ones also - one I filled the aero bottle in the morning and the other in special needs - wrapped the same way - it was still cold when I switched them out). I had a gel at the top of each hour. No salt tablet - was not hot enough. I'm not sure how much malto I consumed - somewhere between 50-60 oz, plus the 7 gels, plus the rice krispy treat. About 2000 calories or 1.9 cal/lb/hr - perfect!! Drank about 48 oz of water?

I stretched my back every 45 minutes. Glad I had previewed the course and knew the downhills. I was flying down them (fastest speed 41.6 mph) and getting good speed going back up the hills.

The second loop, I started to pass a couple folks. It was getting lonely out there - all the spectators were gone.

I was trying to figure out my time, but didn't know how long my transition was. I had different times on my garmin and my power tap, so wasn't sure which to go by.

My chain fell off 3 times - two of them were easy to pop back on. The 3rd one took several minutes of struggle. I finally had to remove my bottles and turn the bike upside down and yank on the pedals pretty hard - I was afraid I would break the chain, but I finally got it and headed back on my way. That was several tense minutes.

The STICK return was great - still hilly - but with a tailwind, so I picked up the pace and power - still MORE hills??!!! I was pretty tired of the hills.

I realized I was going to be close to 8 hours. It was a tough course for me - I struggle on the hills - I had a plan and I executed it.

Actual HR 135, Cadence 83, Normalized Power 106 (10 watts higher than my three prior IM races)!! woo hoo! I'm a happy camper

pay more attention to my time. I didn't realize how close I was to the cutoff. I had 10 minutes to spare. Probably could have pushed it more in the beginning. Also, I don't usually stop at all on an IM bike course - never put a foot on the ground. Having to change clothes, refill water bottles and stop at the porta pot probably cost me about 5 minutes - Not a big deal, but could make a difference in getting to finish the race.

Wow, another long transition - just don't know why these seemed to take so long. I can't say enough about the volunteers. Again, one-on-one service. Brought gobs of vaseline for my chaffing underarms - ouch!!! so sore!! Opened my run bottles and put them on my fuel belt for me while I switched socks (from my smart wool on the bike to running socks - this added some time, I guess), grabbed my visor. The volunteer cleaned my sunglasses for me while I used my inhaler - definitely was starting to wheeze the last 1 or so on the bike. Ran out and made a quick stop at the porta pot (this also added a little time)

not much - I thought I had a pretty good time - I'll have to compare to the rest of my age group

Ouch! my poor underarms - crazy chaffing from the t-shirt on the bike. Fortunately, I had some aquafor in my fuel belt and I applied it several times over the course of the run. So glad I had the inhaler. I seriously needed it. Lots of fluff in the air on the bike. I had to walk a lot in the beginning to get my HR down. The temps were perfect - lower 60's. The high for the day was 64 degrees. I kept the pace steady and walked 1:00 after miles 1-5 and :45 after miles 6-12 and :30 after miles 13-20. My plan was to run the rest of the race with no walks and keep the same pace. I wasn't paying attention and speeded up - did good until mile 23 and thought I could finish sub 5:00 - legs were hurting - come one! - just 3 more miles! you can do this!!

I had a couple ounces of my malto in the beginning, but it was not going down well. Water wasn't working either. Tried a gel and that was gross. Time to switch to the race food. Grabbed some cola - yeah!! nothing like it during a race. Then the chicken broth - love that stuff. Finally grabbed a gatorade - wow, that was good.

Used the wet sponges to squirt cold water over my head and down my back, then tucked a cold wet sponged inside my sports bra. Did this several times - kept me cool. Used my inhaler again at special needs. Walked several of the hills the first loop, the second loop I only walked a portion of observatory hill, otherwise jogged the rest.

It was dark - pitch black in some places - could not even see the path by the water - everyone is walking. I thought I would see spectators the last 1-1.5 miles - but that was not the case. Everything was closing up and they were sweeping the streets.

This is when the race gets interesting. I'm still running and starting to pass lots of people. Its time to bring it on home. I passed about 50 people the last mile and about 10 inside the capital loop. Finished very strong! woo hoo I'm stoked.

Watch my pace at mile 20 when I eliminated the walks - maybe wait until mile 23 to let loose - the last 2 miles were tough, I had to walk a couple times for 30 seconds or so - would have been better to keep the pace slower longer and then take off the last 3 miles instead of 6 miles - the hills did me in on this one. If it had been flat - I could have done the last 6 miles. Still very happy with my run.

Loved the catcher at the finish line. Walked me all the way to the food tent. Got my finisher pic, a space blanket, water, my finisher hat. Darlene and Jim had tracked me over the entire race - it was so good to have someone out there cheering me on. I ran into Lauren and Mary out on the course (at the Labs tent). Took a couple bites of pizza - but heartburn/indigestion - ugh! Yuck. Ate a little of the turkey sub. Darlene and Jim walked with me to transition to get my bags and my bike. Changed into my dry clothes in the bathroom and walked me to my car. Felt really good, the walk after the race is so important to recovery. Drove back to hotel and ate yogurt and some almonds. Drank a coke and tried to sleep.


strength on the bike - although this was a 10% improvement for me on the bike. So I did improve.

Great Race

Swim: Div 20, Gender 467, OA 1925
Bike: Div 26, Gender 553, OA 2275
Run: Div 19, Gender 443, OA 1868


Madison is a great venue. The best volunteers ever!! Treading water at the start of the swim, I looked toward the shore and the view of the spectators is breathtaking. Thousands of people lining the shore, all of the levels of the parking helix, the conference center terraces - its like looking at 3 cruise ships parked on shore with everyone waving you on. The spectator support on the bike hills is great motivation to get up the toughest of the hills - costumes, signs, music, cow bells, bull horns. It was a fun race to do.