Ironman Wisconsin 2009 Race Report

To start this race report I would like to first thank all of my Wisconsin Multisport teammates for the amazing encouragement and support throughout the race and most of all, my awesome wife Natalie and beautiful baby girl, Ella supporting me during the most recent season!



This season was very interesting in the way I trained and raced. I knew that I had a couple of years of base under my belt and I wanted to incorporate some speed into my workouts to hopefully have a breakthrough year. I didn't have a lot of time to train because I was traveling a lot for work, and of course, had an infant at home to care for. I made the most of my training and didn't train more than 10 hours a week.


The entire season, I was always torn between spending time with the family and training. I tried to get in as many workouts that I could in the early morning hours, but I noticed that I couldn't go more than a few days without sleeping in. I would get too tired and just wanted to hangout with my family.....it really brought a ying-yang type of season. There were times within the last three weeks of training before Ironman that I wanted to pull the plug on the race altogether. Even the night before when I saw my daughter so tired and crying I wanted to stop and not race. Probably not the mindset going into a major race, but this is the tugging on the heartstrings that occured all season long....


The morning:


I woke up to a crying baby at 3:45 in the morning, but felt like I got plenty of sleep as I went to bed around 9 and slept solid throughout the night. I was able to sleep about 45 more minutes and then decided to get up and start the day. Natalie stayed awake and Ella was able to fall asleep. I got up and ate my usual cliff bar, bagel with peanut butter, 2 banannas, and off I went to go to transition to pump my tires up. I did get to the line of bikes and tried to pump up my tires and I couldn't get air into the back tire. I was using Cam's 808/powertap and I wasn't as familiar with his valve extender, but I thought..how hard could it be to get this tire pumped up. I went over to the mechanic and he took care of it. Apparently the valve closed and it was a bit of a challenge to get it open. Panic levels reduced!!! I dropped off my special needs bike bag with a tube and CO2 cartrtige in it and off I went to the hotel. I got to the hotel and Natalie was up and we had a conference in the bathroom so that we wouldn't wake up the baby. She wished me good luck and we shed a couple of tears and I exited towards the water. Still not in race mode as I was thinking about how Ella was going to handle the day.


The Swim:


I found Mark and Tom by the fence and it was good to see them so that I could take my mind off of the swim and the chaos for a bit. A bit of a chat and a wish of good luck and I was off to the water. However, I did hook up with Steve and we both wondered our we through the crowds of people. We were talking a bit about strategy when Cam popped out over the final spectating area and wished us good luck. It was great to see some teammates before the start. Steve and I wished each other well and we were on our way to separate areas. I knew that we would see each other throughout the race as we are pretty much dead even on swimming and have similar bike splits.



The cannon went off and ouch! The first 600 meters were really rough and I couldn't get any clean water. I started about 100 yards off of the first buoy and was hoping to avoid the chaos. Finally on the back side of the first loop I head some clean water and found some feet. I put it into cruise control mode and tried to enjoy the second loop. About an 1/8 of the way into the second loop, there was a guy in a boat that was giving time in the water and I heard 34 minutes. I thought, perfect, I am right where I need to be. I stayed smooth and was thinking that I would hit around a 1:03 split. Fine with me!


Swim: 1:03xx


Transition: 5:55 - Nothing special here as I was patient and calm...saw Steve so I knew that all was good. It was good to see Terry, Rick, and Brian handing out the bikes. It gave me a nice lift heading out onto the bike course.


The bike:



This was the first Ironman that I used a powermeter and it won't be my last. Cam was so gracious in letting me use it and it was an amazing tool to have on a 112 mile bike ride. I started out and I heard something going on with my front wheel. Apparently, a piece of duct tape was on my front tire and making a nice noise that was driving me crazy. I stopped by the Coliseum and jumped off my bike and ripped off the piece of duct tape. Off I went without a panic. Steve and I were pretty close to each other for the first 56 miles, but I knew that he was stopping to get his special needs, so that was the last I saw of him until the run. The entire ride was comfortable except for the last 10 miles as I was getting a bit fatigued. I caught up with Scott Bowe and we seesawed back and forth for awhile, but I didn't want to get into a "race" mode, so I backed off a bit. Then we were both approaching a hill and I was looking at my powermeter and started to surge. I noticed that Scott was backing off and I was caught off guard and apparently ended up in his draft zone. Next up, a marshall showing me a red card which meant a four minute penalty. I still don't believe I got into this zone, but what are you going to do. I got to transition and I felt fresh, but I was nervous because I lost my electrolyte tablets around mile 100 of the bike and I didn't pack additional ones in my T2 bag....not good. Anyways, once I dismounted from my bike, I served my 4 minute penalty. They put you under this tent and I felt like a bear in a cage. The 4 minutes seemed like an eternity as I am watching bikers come in that I passed earlier! I finally left the tent and went int to grab my running shoes.


Bike Split: 5:10:22
Avg. power: 228

Nutrition: 20 oz. every hour, 1 salt tablet every 30 minutes, 1-2 gels every 15 miles. I started out on the bike with only one bottle of 500 calories worth of maltodextrin, etc.



T2- I wanted to be as fast as possible and ended up with a minute and 11 seconds for transition...but you have to tack on 4 minutes for the penalty.


The Run:


I got out on the run course and I was still bothered by the penalty. I saw my brother right out of the chute and he could tell that something was wrong. I let it get to me way too much. I had a specific plan for swim and the bike, but nothing special for the run. I never went over 7 min/miles at all in my training, so I thought I would be comfortable holding 7 min/miles....big mistake. The first 6 or so miles I was at 7:12 min/miles when in hindsight I should have stuck with 7:45's or 8's for the first 6 miles. I believe I was trying to make up time from that penalty when in realty I needed to be patient. I got through the first 13 miles at 7:52, but I felt like the wheels were coming off from a nutrition standpoint! I got to about mile 15 and I started feeling dizzy and seeing black spots. I was forced to walk and by doing so, I was a drunken sailor walking towards the bike path. I saw Tom Janicki out of the corner of my eye and I started talking with him in a slurred tone and apparently was very low on electrolytes. I then saw Rick and then Doc Bradley started asking me some questions, which I apparently got right. It was weird because the sickness hit me very quickly and I felt awful. At the time I was 5th in my AG with about a 6 minute lead on the next guy. I tried to keep moving and did, but needed some amazing encouragement from my Multipsort teammates. They were all saviors in helping to bring me back to life. I was able to start running again and felt a little better, but made sure to use every sponge, pretzel, potatoe chip at the aid stations. I made the turn on state street and made my way back on the bike trail. What happened next was something that I never experienced in my life. Both legs cramped in my quads and hamstrings at the same time and I buckled to the ground. I was on my back like a turtle and every movement would cause a cramp in my leg. A volunteer helped straighten out my leg and I stretched for about 5 minutes until I could run again. This was the last of the cramping and I was determined not to stop the rest of the way. I crossed the line at 10:06 and was happy for sticking with it and finishing.



Run time: 3:41 - legs felt decent the mind, not so much!



In hindsight, I made some costly errors, but I always feel that no matter what dark cloud lies ahead, there is always a silver lining.



Things I learned:

1. Have electrolytes within reach at all points throughout the race...pretty much a no-brainer, but a detail the hurt me. I should know by now that I excrete tons of salt!

2. I haven't earned the right to run 7 min/miles in Ironman yet....slow and steady works better

3. Enjoy the day no matter what circumstances present themselves...this I did.



I had an absolute blast racing on Sunday and I appreciate all of the support I have gotten. Although it was a struggle, I learned so much from this race than any other. I am not sure what the next year will bring. I certainly do want another shot at an Ironman, but I don't know when that will be. For now, I am going to enjoy the off season and spend some time with the family!



-Thanks for reading