Ironman Wisconsin - TriathlonFull Ironman

Went into the water a few minutes before the pros started off. found my spot in about third line right next to the ski jump ramp.

Started swimming on the gun but ran into people straight away which turned out to be the theme for the whole swim. Lost my goggles once after a kick in the head and head to stop to readjust them. Did not really spend much continuous time swimming since i kept running into people or people were running into me. This definitely was not the most favorite part of the race.

I am not sure. I have to practice a bit more. I am disappointed by the time and can't blame it all on the people commotion.

I never know what i do in T1 so long. I guess this time i at least had to strip off the wetsuit, run up the helix and put on my stuff. Still....i believe i can speed up. Of i forgot, i had to make a quick pitstop.

i stuck to my plan. I wanted to ride the first part of the course (until the beginning of the 1st loop) at an easy pace (avrg 18-19) and then pick up the pace on the first loop. I thought i was picking up the pace on the 1st loop but i guess not enough. the hills slowed me down. i was so scared i would burn myself out for the run that i did not push the hills too much. i was being constantly passed in the climbs by a 51-year female rider which was pissing me off. i would always pass her back on the flat just to loose the next climb to her. She landed a Kona spot later which made me feel good. I felt fairly strong in the 2nd loop so tried to maintain my speed and speed up a bit on the last stretch. That’s when I passed the biggest number of people which gave me a moral boost.

had to make 2 pitstops. I am not sure whether that is good or bad (too much hydration or just OK). Well, at least i remained healthy and hydrated.

Overall, i think i was too conservative. I could have done a bit better but i guess this pace saved me strength for the run.

I need to practice shifting gears a bit more. My chain fell off in one of the climbs due to poor shifting.

i have to figure out where to put my salt tablets. I had them in a Ziploc bag attached to my aero bars. I spilled water in the bag on the first bump and had to eat salt porridge from then on. Nasty. I still feel salt on my fingers.

next time, i will try to rent aero wheels. we'll see what difference they make.

Figure out the hydration a bit better.

try a bit faster. Now, i know i can do the run fairly good.

Fairly good. I had a nice chat with one of the volunters and still did fairly good T time.

Not much. Not to chnage my socks perhaps. I don't think it was necessary.

I started off a bit on a faster end and tried to slow down as soon as I realized that. I wanted to run at 10 min/mile but i soon realized i might have to go little slower. I started feeling pretty hurt as of mile 6-7 but kept on pushing. No walking except in aid stations. the walks increasingly became longer but never longer than a minute. at about mile 18, I could not really eat or drink anything. Not that I was getting physically sick, I just could not handle the taste of anything but water. Nevertheless, I tried to have a cup of water and a cup of Gatorade + a handful of something (chips, pretzels, bananas) at every aid station. At about mile 20 I got a 2nd wind. Suddenly I realized that I could go sub-12 as I wished and perhaps better. That gave me strength and I even had enough juice to pick up to something around 8 min/mile for the last 3 miles. The last 3 miles were the best 3 miles of my life. I know I was almost there, I knew I would do below 12hrs, I knew I would become the Ironman and noone could take it away from me. I couldn’t stop laughing. I felt extremely strong in the finish. Stronger than ever before.

Not much. Great run. Better than I expected. I was very scared i would not last and i actually not only lasted, i could run and accelerate.

Not much. IM picture, 3 slices of pizza, a handful of grapes, a sandwich for my kids (sorry, i had to make the 500 bucks worthy somehow) and off for hte bike.

I took a swim with my kids when i got to the hotel. Great relax.


This was my first IM. I did not know what to expect, how my body would react to the weather, to the course challenges, to the nutrition, etc. I think I am smarter now. This was a great lesson for me.


Well, here I am. I have done what I would never expect I could do. I ran my first 3 miles, did my first 15-mile bike ride and swam my first 0.5 km about 11 months ago....now, i can do 8 times more on the same day. I pushed my boundaries on almost every training session and was always surprised how much more I can do. I did my first HIM in April, my 2nd HIM in July (I improved my PR by 51 minutes) and my first marathon ion June (below 4 hours). But that all fades before this race. It is amazing what a human body can do when you can manage your mind.

2009 has become my greatest year ever. I have lost 40 pounds, finished an IM, and added a 4th kid to my family (right next to my 1 yr, 4yr and 5yr olds). I am on cloud 9.