Ironman Wisconsin - TriathlonFull Ironman

Started very close to the front and close to the bouy. Took the swim extremely easy and my sighting was exceptionally good. On my second lap I even took the time to swim to a kayaker that was wearing a red, white and blue hat to give him a high five. When I got out of the water I felt like I could do another two laps no problem. Before I hit the changing area, I went to the bathroom and pee'd. My color was clear.

Absolutely NOTHING.

This transition went very well. No issues.

The bike was far from the changing area. I put my shoes on too early and it was awkward running so far in them. Next time I will run with my shoes in my hands until I reach the bike and then put them on.

The bike coarse was absolutely a blast to ride on, however the roads were ruff and there were a number of train track crossings. I lost two water bottles due to train tracks and due to the overall road conditions. I drank a ton of water during the bike. On average I must of drank 1.25 bottles of water per hour. The 1.25 bottles includes the two bottles of Sustain energy by hammer. I finished one bottle of sustain per 40 mile loop. In addition, I ate 1/2 of a hammer bar every hour on the hour and 1/4 of a banana by mile 20. Towards the end of the ride, my mouth felt dry so I switched to more of Ironman Perform and tried to increase my consumption of water. About mile 60 I had a good pee and the color was clear with a slight hint of yellow indicating I should increase my water intake, which I did. At approx. mile 90 my calves began to seize so I started to take in the Ironman perform drink and avoided the water which helped tremendously. I was suffering the last 22 miles and coasted as much as I could to try and save what I had left in my legs for the run.

I will remove the two water bottle holders behind my seat and replace it with the one that goes on the handle bars and a system with a hose mounted to the bike. The temperatures on the bike reached 90 degrees. I should have increased my fluid intake to either 1.5 to 2 bottles per hour with more electrolyte replacements earlier on. In addition, even thought I felt like I was going easy on the first loop, I should have stuck with my 16.5 planned pace. My first lap was at 18.3 and it went downhill from there. Instead, I averaged 16.5 overall. I also need to figure out why my feet get numb during the bike.

I was happy to start the run and get off the bike. I just stopped the bike, took off the garmin and walked into transition. I wanted to take my time because my calves were sore and I reallly needed to pee. My left toes were numb so I wanted to allow extra time to massage them to get the circulation back into them. When I sat down and tried to put on my shoes, I could not bend down. I aksed a volunteer to help put my socks and shoes on. When I exited Transition, I started to run but saw the porta johns. I tried to pee, but I could not. Then everything started to fall apart. Becuase of the heat I was expecting to walk the 2nd half of the marathon, but never did I expect to walk the whole marathon.

For the next 4-5 porta johns, I had a tremendous urge to pee, but could not. My stomach started to get upset, so at the next few water stops, I drank cola to settle my stomach. I tried to run on and off, but due to my upset stomach, my urge to pee and my calves seizing, I could not. It was only until mile 9 that I could relieve myself. When I finally peed, to my surprise it was mostly blood. Having no medical background, I only knew that this was bad news. My hopes of running once my stomach settled went down the tubes and I didn’t even think I was going to finish. If I reported my condition to the medical staff, I was certainly going to get pulled from the race.

I started to ask around with other walkers if blood in the urine was bad, because I was hoping someone would tell me that it was nothing to be worried about. No one gave me that confidence. I decided from that point I would walk to the turnaround and go directly to the medical tent. My day would be done. I pissed blood again at mile12, but I had no back pain (so I was not in kidney failure) and I was not dizzy nor did I stop sweating so I was not suffering from severe dehydration. I just didn’t know what the hell was going on and I was honestly very scared. Once I arrived at mile 13 (the turnaround), I gave myself a self-assessment and determined that since I was not in any pain and given the circumstances in a pretty good mood, that I would continue as far as my body would let me. I was going to walk the entire marathon.

For the remained of the race I drank perform, ate chips and chicken broth. The chicken broth was so much better than I thought whenever I got it warm.

When I finished the race, I again peed, but this time had a good friend of mine looked at the color of my urine and confirmed that he saw blood and to his estimate it was now only about 20%. Because the % was getting less each time, I not to visit the medical tent.

I probably should have streached more to try and loosen up my calves. In addition I should have taking more salt earlier on in the bike by either taking edurolytes or Perform.

I started to run the 1st half mile, but passed about 3-4 Porta Johns to try and pee because I really had the urge to pee. I was unsuccessful with urinating. I decided to walk for a bit because my stomach started to feel unsettled. I drank coke at the first two water stops and my stomach began to feel better. I tried to run, but my calves were saying NO WAY after only a couple of steps. Since my coach said to do the first 6 miles stupid slow I decided to walk. Now walking would really make me feel stupid.
At mile six, my calves again would not let me run. I still really needed to pee but decided to wait a little longer so I didn't waste anymore time in the Porta John since I was walking. It was not until mile 9 that I felt like trying to pee again. What a scare. After standing in the John for what felt like 30 seconds, I finally got the relief I was looking for. Unfortunatley when I looked down it was very dark. I took off my sun glasses to take a better look and to my surprise I was pissing about 80% dark red blood. Now that was a first for me. Let’s just say I hit an all time low. I was pretty certain I was going to the medical tent and get sent to the hospital. Did I not drink enough? It was pretty damn hot out, but I drank according to plan. With no medical background, I didn’t know what to think. What I was pretty sure was that I didn’t want to not finish.
I decided to walk to mile 13 which is the turnaround point and then go directly to the medical tent. My day was done. At mile 12, I again had to pee really bad and again had a good flow, but again it was approx. 80% blood. My situation was not getting any better, but it was not getting worse either. At the turnaround point, I did a quick self assessment and decided that since I was not dizzy or in any pain that I would continue to walk (and NOT run) as far as a could.
The next 13 miles, I was constantly evaluating if I made the correct decision and possibly putting my overall health in jeopardy. Every aid station I drank Ironman Perform, chips, cookies and when the chicken broth came out, I would take two cups at each stop. The chicken broth tasted so good.
I was convinced that I was going to walk it into the finish, but when I reached the last quarter mile, I started to jog and ran it into the finish. What a feeling to hear the words that you are an Ironman.


I probably could have run the 2nd half of the coarse, but I was too damn scared that something bad would happen and that I would be unable to finish. Not finishing my first Ironman was not an option.

Walking to the bathroom. I pee'd again and got confirmation from a good friend that in fact there was blood in my urine and he said it looked like 20% of the pee was blood.


I was just too damn scared that I was having a serious medical emergency that I was unable to clearly assess, nor did I want the advice of the medical staff because they would have most definitely pulled me from the race.


Would love to do Madison again. Maybe in 2014.