Ironman 70.3 Wisconsin

What a crazy weekend.

The journey for this Ironman started back in December. My training plan was 12 weeks, 4 workouts a week (which I sometimes added more for swimming).

I didn’t know what to expect with this being my first half ironman race. Could I push hard on the swim and bike and have anything left on the run? Should I pace myself? I read a lot online of how bad the bike course was. I couldn’t decide until last minute to go with my nice aero wheels.

I perfected my nutrition plan over the last few months, testing out different nutrition and coming up with an exact plan. Did that go as planned? Nope! More on that later…

Swim- Looking out on the swim course and seeing the distance didn’t scare me at all which is very unusual for me. Typically I dread the swim, but I was prepared and ready for it. I really like the format they had, 3 people at a time every 5 seconds. We were crammed inside a small area, all 2,000+ people waiting to jump in. As soon as I hit the water I felt great. There is no way in my 4 or 5 years that I have been doing triathlons that I would have said that before. My first triathlon it took me 28 minutes to go 750m. I was hyperventilating so much that I couldn’t put my head down into the water and pretty much doggy paddled the whole way. This race felt like any training day. I jumped in the water and focused on my breathing and technique. In the first few hundred meters I made sure to take my time to focus. As I continued on I focused on each buoy as they came. If I was able to, I tried to draft a few swimmers, but that is a tough thing to do when each swimmer is going at a different pace. My goal was to finish the swim in under 40 minutes. Half way through my swim I saw that I was around 18 minutes. I really didn’t think going the rest of the way I could hit 40, since I figured my first half would be a bit faster. I continued on, making sure to focus on using as much as my arms as possible and keeping my legs loose. Coming out of the water my watch said 38:34, I was pretty happy with that!

T1 was all about not going overboard. I got help getting my wetsuit off, did a light jog into transition and got to my bike.

Bike- I had a nutrition plan all set for my bike. 2 gels, one the first 15 miles and then the second one around 40. 1 full Gatorade endurance and water the first 2 hours, and then grabbing a Gatorade endurance at the last water station. I also had BASE salts, maybe one or two licks through the ride and a granola bar just in case I felt like I needed it. Hopped on the bike, made it about 100ft, went over a bump and snap went my front water bottle holder with my Gatorade…got off the bike and thought quickly, can I somehow carry my Gatorade? I decided no, and took off on the bike. So right then I thought my nutrition was out the window…but thanks to the water stations, it worked out for me. I ended up grabbing Gatorade at the first and third station and really didn’t have any issues. The bike course itself had some rough spots. I also realized it is essentially impossible to follow the 6 bike lengths rule with so many people riding. When I could I used the rule, but it was tough to follow for the entire time. No flats the entire ride which was great. I felt so good 35 miles in that I was all pumped up and telling myself this can’t be an Ironman, I am flying through here…(I needed to remind myself I still had a half marathon run coming). The last ten miles of the ride felt a little rough but honestly, with how many hills there are, I felt great. Where I live, if I purposely hit all the hills I can, I usually get about 800 ft of elevation in a ride. For Ironman Wisconsin 70.3 it said I did 2,387 ft of elevation. I average 19.07mph which I was super surprised with. I expected to do the ride around 17 miles an hour.

T2- I made sure not to push hard in transition again. I sat down, put socks on. I added two more gels, cramp pills, advil, and BASE to keep me going.

Run- In the first few miles of the run I knew it was going to be tough. In the first few hills my leg started cramping. I had to slow down but I knew stopping would be a bad idea, so I pushed through the pain. I had a couple other runners come by and cheer me on to push through the cramp. I took my first gel and cramp medicine and kept going. My goal was to average 9 minute miles, but I knew about 4 or 5 miles in that wasn’t going to happen. I continued to slow down and had to run/walk quite a bit. The aid stations every mile were a great help. I usually would grab water, Gatorade, or RedBull to keep me going. A few miles before the finish I realized if I pushed it, I could make it under 6 hours.

The finish line was amazing. It felt like a blur, but there were so many people lined up and cheering. It was an awesome feeling to be a part of it. I looked at my watch and saw that I had made it at 5:59:46… unfortunately my time online says I did it in 6:00:26.

I was really happy with my results. I really didn’t know what to expect. The only thing I wish I could have done better was the run, but maybe I pushed just a bit too hard on the ride. If I did it again though, I would push just as hard on the ride….

So does this mean I want to do another half ironman or a full ironman? If I had the time I would definitely look at doing a full. But I would not  want to take the time away from my family just to do that. I think doing half’s are just the right size.

Ready for my next race!