Taking a cue from my horrible strategy (or lack thereof) at Lake Mills, I started on the outside and not right at the front. Perfect! The out portion of the swim was only about 25 yards before turning to swim along the shore. Was probably 10 feet off the buoy which worked out well as I was able to just focus on taking it easy and settling into a rythm without getting clobbered or redlining the HR.

Nada!

Wet suit stuck on the heels a bit, but no worse than usual.

When I got to the bike mount line, there were five guys all STOPPED to clip in. For reference, the mount line was about five guys wide. It would be so cool if everyone learned how to jump on their bike while moving (TIP OF THE DAY: Try to land your upper-inner thigh on the seat and then slide onto your, um, ya know, taint and then clipping in. This way you don't jump onto your junk.) The time I had to wait for these ding dongs to make room at the mount line allowed me to notice that my run visor had hooked on my pedal. Whoops! Threw it at someone I knew and got it back after the race.

Hot damn. I felt great on the bike! Just eased into it and couldn't believe the speeds I was seeing on the bike computer. Felt nice and relaxed the whole time, kept it aerobic, focused on RPE and nutrition. My rides on the tri bike this year have been with some heavy azz wheels with 700x25 tires, so switching to the tri spokes made it feel soooo fast!

I think the Tri Wis Lannon rides have given me bike strength I haven't had in past years. The intensity of those rides is something I haven't had before. Going to keep going in the weeks leading up to IM.

Roads were pretty rough. Seems like after every aid station there was a rough patch. Translation: Every time I topped off my aero drink it got bumpy enough to splash Perpetuem all over me.

Well, if I was emperor of the world, I would have required that there either be more waves with less people in each wave, or at the very least, more time between waves. This was The. Worst. Drafting. I have ever seen. Packs of 30 people, three wide, just cruising down the road. If you were in one of these packs around me, yes, it was me that yelled at you.

PSA: Per USAT rules, if you start a pass you must finish it. If you get passed, you must back off so as not draft. It's the rules kids. Know them. Live them. Love them or leave them.

In sum, given my limited powers as a mere citizen, I would not do anything differently other than drink a little less. From mile 45 on I had to pee soooooo bad! Tried to do it on the bike with no success. So, probably over hydrated a bit.

The hill that you climb right out of T1 is a 100 yard long descent into T2. Nice because you can get out of your shoes at the top and ride down without losing any speed. Unless the guys in front of you ride their brakes all the way down. I'm going to just let this one go. No, I'm not. HEY DOOD! YOU DON'T NEED TO ACTUALLY STOP UNTIL YOU GET NEAR THE DISMOUNT LINE!

Uneventful run in and racking of bike etc.

Remember that visor that hitched a ride with me to the bike mount line? Fortunately I had a run hat in my bag. So I took a few seconds to dig it out. Glad I had the backup.

Now, I was doing this race almost entirely analog--no HRM or even watch. My bike computer told me that my bike split was solid, but had no idea 'bout the swim. Peggy was cheering by transition and I yelled for a time check. It was 10:04 per Peggy. This means if I was able to run under 2:02 I could break 5 hours. Hmmm... In 07 I ran 2:16. I have a few more stand alone half mary's in the bank since then where I learned a whole bunch about pacing. But before applying that knowledge, I headed out of T2 and right to the porta potty to relieve my oh-so-overfull bladder.

Not have to dig a hat out of my bag!

Fist lap was great. Just kept even effort and felt good. Second lap got hard. Probably about mile 7 or 8 my thighs started to fade and I walked more than I would have liked. Just kept up with the run / power walk approach that seems to work pretty well for me. Asked for time checks from a few people along the way and knew I was soooo close to making the 5 hour mark. Really gave it all I've got as I'm not sure I'll dedicate myself to trying to really race iron distance again.

Around mile 12 or so, just before you go into the zoo, I so wanted to run but was just beat so I was walking with my hands on my head. Another racer said something to the effect of don't think about it, just run it, you are almost there. I really appreciated this--we must have been experiencing about the same thing there. I ran again for a few hundred yards before taking another walk break. Very, very frustrating to want it that bad, know that you are that close to having a finishing time that starts with 4, but not have gas in the tank. Just kept on with my shuffle as best I could.

Ran from the top of the hill down to the finish. Not too fast, but an easy cruise was about all I had. Managed to whoop it up in the finish chute as there was nobody in front of me. Nice to hear your name and acknowledgement of RACC over the PA!

Walked the aid stations and took in something at every on, whether it be some gel, heed, a bite of banana, and or Endurolytes. Volunteers were awesome at the aid stations, cheering while they handed out supplies. Good stuff.

Post race I decided that I need to do some plyometrics to work on the core and leg strength. The legs were a limiting factor the last few miles of the run. Did I go too hard on the bike? Don't think so. It was really comfy. This is my best run leg by a long shot. Credit it to the off season half mary's and perfect weather.

Walk, recoverite, cheer, sit, eat.


Leg strength. (see redundant theme in my RR's of run fitness)


Crossed the finish line and didn't see a race clock anywhere. Grabbed some water to rinse my head and stop the salt stinging my eyes. After that I asked a volunteer what time it was. 12:06! Oh boy. On the dot 5 hours since my 7:06 wave start. Did I make it under the line? Didn't know. Unless his watch was slow I was at least 5 flat.

Went to transition to grab Recoverite and then back to the Donkey cheering section to say thanks and wait for Lori to come in. She was having a solid race too so excited to see how she did.

After she came in we went over to the tri wis tent and hung out there. Got some pizza, pulled pork, beans, fruit, coke. Gooooood. Checked results. Confirmed sub 5. Celebrated. Lori went 5:21, totally awesome too!

PR'd every single segment. 10 minutes for the swim, 6 seconds for T1, ten minutes for the bike, 20 seconds for T2, 15 minutes for the run. Overall 34 minute PR. That's solid!

Great race. Weather (and a swim course that was likely a tad short) was very conducive to PR's. ALWAYS a blast to see all the donks on course. Fun!

BUT.

During much of the race I was thinking about how I was having a good race, but just not as excited about it as I have been in past years. I've lost some of the passion for the sport. I'm looking forward to much more time on the bike, and even more, less time running. So the race was more work than usual. With that said, the finish chute is just as fun as always. It's the 13 miles between T2 and the start of the chute that is work. Still looking forward to Ironman in less than two months. But not as excited as the first time around.


Nutrition:

1/2 peanut butter sandwich on the way out of T1
2.5 bottles of perp, 1/2 bottle water, somewhere around 6-7 Endurolytes on the bike
3-4 gels, 3-4 bites of banana, 7-8 Endurolytes on the run, with sips of heed and/or H20 at every aid station