Ironman Wisconsin - TriathlonFull Ironman

Ironman Wisconsin

September 7, 2008

Dudes….here is my race report. One of my very best dude friends, Quinton sez “dude” a lot, so I can’t get it out of my head.
I just finished the Ironman Wisconsin Race affectionately known to many as IMOO, for obvious reasons. Everyone except Quinton, who asked “Dude, what is that IMOO thing?” I had to “school” Quinton about the course, take him on a “bike preview” (we drove the course the day before the race), to show him the ropes, and told him that the run was flat as a pancake and not to worry about it. Post race, Quinton “Q”, said, “Dude, that run course was full of hills, what the hell were you talkin about; dude!”
I had the fun of doing IMOO 2006 & 2008. The two events were so different; it is hard to describe. Even though they were on the exact same course, it felt like an entirely different event to me. Funny how HUGE a factor weather is for a multi-hour endurance event, its effect on the athletes, the attitudes, the spectators, the terrain, the safety, and so on.
Finishing an Ironman is a big “gut check” for most athletes. Training properly, and then attempting to follow that up with racing well to give yourself a chance to podium is a mega-gut check. Although the weather was terrific, it still is a labor of love to work your ass off for over 10 hours dude.
Following a typical IM swim, I got out on the bike course, trying my best to “hold back”. I would say that is the hardest thing for me to do in a race, but I none the less spun up those nasty hills on the double 40 mile loop dude. A bee found its way INTO my helmet dude, so I had to pull the helmet off to get that bad boy out! Try doing that on aero bars with one hand, and re-securing the chin strap with the other!
My moniker “Lar Dog” is emblazoned on the top tube of my tri-bike. The fun benefit of that is that people recognize me. I had three different guys ride next to me and say, “Are you Lar Dog” from Slowtwitch?” Slowtwitch is a popular triathlon forum website and a lot of athletes know each other by their screen names.
Off the bike, and on for the run. As I exited T2, I was ready to roll. As I took off for my 26.2 mile stroll, my wife gave me a HUGE shout out, and the fact that my bib name sez “LAR DOG”, I get all sorts of “love” from the crowd. A few hundred yards into the run, the lead male Pro is doing his 2nd loop.
The Bike Escort comes by me, and I look back and it is Chris McDonald (who eventually won the race) right behind me. I picked it up a bit, and we were running shoulder to shoulder for a while. The crowds were freaking out screaming, and I thought “how cool is this?” Chris started to pull away from me, and of course, I was no match for that pace. But it was great fun while it lasted. I told myself on the run, “Self, I am NEVER going to do another Ironman, this is freakin hard dude!” I was forced to stop 5 times due to a severe and recurring hamstring cramp. The routine would be to find a curb, and stretch it out gently until I felt it ease up a tad, then resume running. I was downing salt pills dude like a 6 year old pounding M&M’s. I estimated that I took down way over 6,000 milligrams of sodium. Finally, by mile 21 the cramping let up, and I could run without further problems to the finish.
The dude who finished ahead of me in my AG did so by less than a couple of minutes, and I think I could have beaten him without the hamstring cramps. The other 4 guys ahead of me, well, no way dude!
Had you asked me “pre-race” if a 10h46’ race would get me on the podium in the M50-54 at IMOO, I would have said, “Dude, oh yeah”. I had predicted my splits and wrote them down as “best case” scenario goals 10 days before the race:
Best Case Swim
1h10’
Actual Swim
1h11’

Best Case Bike
5h42’
Actual bike
5h40’

Best Case Run
3h43’
Actual Run
3h44’

The end result was a 6th place in my AG. The Kona slots went 4 deep. I have already been to Hawaii, so in that regard, it was not that big a disappointment. My wife and I will be in Kona this year to volunteer and to scuba dive, so I get to enjoy Hawaii, and chill dude!
This is my 4th IM in 4 years. I did Florida in ’05, Wisconsin in ’06, Hawaii in ’07, and now Wisconsin in ’08. I have to rank this as my best executed race; dude!


http://lardogskq.blogspot.com/