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Ironman Wisconsin 70.3 - Triathlon1/2 Ironman


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Madison, Wisconsin
United States
86F / 30C
Sunny
Total Time = 6h 49m 25s
Overall Rank = 1101/1807
Age Group = 45-49
Age Group Rank = 53/102
Pre-race routine:

Saturday 1:15 took bikes to Olin, got checked in and racked the bikes. I won ear buds and David won sunglasses on the Ho Chunk wheel spin, and David bought an IM half water bottle (cuz we need more of those!). Was extremely windy out. David ran into Joe whose wife Kate was racing. Let air out of the tires when racking as very hot out, and put computer into bento box. Had 1 Gu and salt pack in there as well. Home around 3:30 then Janel arrived around 4:30. Had spaghetti w meat sauce (95% lean) and garlic cheese bread (Janel salmon and rice). Laid on the futon on the back porch as cooling off, ate some popcorn as well. And David made a strawberry smoothie w protein powder. And I had a fiber bar some time in there (maybe after lunch?)-->taco bell taco and burrito. Realized the time at 8:30, so set up gear for tomorrow. Had to shower/shave. Didn't get to bed until after 10. Was hot--81 degrees in bedroom and had a hard time sleeping. Got up to pee at 11:45. Had a kink in left rhomboid area much less severe than last year that was niggling me too. Guessing I slept from 12-3, maybe a little more before saw it was 4:15. Janel slept in the theater room. (Drew gone, Ross stayed at Riley's, Cade home).
Event warmup:

Up at 4:15, put on my '09 tri top and Zoot tri shorts. Ponytail low, sunscreen lotion. Breakfast was Kashi peanut peanutbutter with PB on it, a piece of French toast David made, a Greek yogurt. Good bathroom luck. Used triple paste to bra line and shorts. Loaded up the van, Janel took her car, ate a banana and another bite of PB as I drove, parked at Alliant and rode the shuttle bus (minimal wait, they had several busses lined up and as soon as they filled they went). Dropped off right at body marking which only took a couple of minutes to get through. Went to set up gear: Water into the aerochamber, Fruit punch Gatorade, 1/2 PBJ sandwich into bento box, computer back onto stem and zeroed out. Towel down with running shoes, visor, and number belt up top. Helmet, socks, bike shoes, sunglasses down bottom. Tissues, sunscreen, and lip goo in the middle. David came over w the pump and inflated my tires to 110. Had to pee really bad but figured I'd just wait till warmup. Brought wet suit, goggles, swim cap and Vanilla gu to start for 6:30-6:45 warmup but it didn't happen. Ran into Frank Szat and kids--Kathy doing race. Found David near the first wave (was a rolling start this year seeded by expected swim time) and wished him well. Had the Gu around 6:45 without water. 7:40 was hot from standing in wetsuit so long that I got into the front of the 40-43min line, which was actually pretty good as I ended up passing more people in the water than passed me. Couldn't figure out how they were doing the timing mat until I got to it, so started my watch late. Water very cool (shocking) so kinda eased into it, splashing it on my face before going under. Also peed right away since I had been holding it so long. No issues with weeds or algae, people spread out nicely.
Swim
  • 44m 43s
  • 1900 meters
  • 02m 21s / 100 meters
Comments:

Felt really good, no stress or issues. Swam all the way up to the concrete and had a second of finding my land legs--very off balance and probably 5 people passed me as I stood there (but I had passed some swimming as they were walking in). Got my goggles to my forehead, found my pull and was able to get my arms out. All the peelers were busy so I found a guy who was almost done and scooched my wetsuit below my butt and laid down next to the guy he was helping--he turned right to me and pulled my legs out. Did not pull me up, which I wish he had. Jogged into the bike area and took off my goggles and cap.
What would you do differently?:

Well, again, I only swam once before this race (32 min OWS). I s'pose I could give this discipline SOME time, but I was fine with my 44min. I beat 337 people and am good with that. I think my time would have been faster had we been able to get into the water before the race--it takes me a bit to acclimate to the cold (strong diving reflex) so I had to do that during the race instead of before. Plus I put my wetsuit on at 6:20 thinking I'd be getting in, then stood around holding my pee in the heat until my start at 7:40.
Transition 1
  • 05m 46s
Comments:

Wasn't thrilled with my spot--right on the end so my bike faced away and I had the rack prongs sticking up on the left so couldn't really grab my bike from behind where my gear was. Luckily I'm slow enough that most of the bikes were gone, so all I had to do was scootch under the bar to get my bike out, but it took a few seconds. As soon as I got to my rack, I sat down and dried my feet w edge of towel, sprayed some sunscreen on my back and a bit on my hand for my nose, put on socks/shoes and helmet, then glasses as I stood up. Grabbed bike and jogged toward bike out. Reset the computer at the mount line.
What would you do differently?:

I don't stress over this so there's a lot of room to improve. Maybe stand up sooner to get my land legs back and get out of the water faster. Could definitely get my shoes on faster (or do like Janel and have them attached to the bike). Just move faster overall.
Bike
  • 3h 40m 40s
  • 56 miles
  • 15.23 mile/hr
Comments:

So I actually passed a lot of people, but obviously even more passed me since I dropped back 38 spots, which isn't bad for me--usually it's a few hundred but I think the rolling start helped that. My 30 mile split was 2:02:20 which was 14.71mph, and the last 26 miles was 1:38:20 so I did negative split (not surprising since the end was fairly flat). Took a tiny sip of gatorade and water right when I got on after the swim, then really not much till mile 10 where I had a quarter of the half sandwich, water, and a good swig of root beer (didn't have Coke at home so filled the flask with rootbeer which was prob good cuz no caffeine early on, altho the gu before swim did have it). Then tried to keep sipping water and occ Gatorade. Skipped the first stop at 15 miles. Second stop at 30 grabbed a water and as I tried to come out some guy came in and stopped in front of me. Luckily I clipped out fast enough I did not tip over. Filled my chamber (well, up to the crack) and dumped some on me, then tucked bottle in back rack. Good thing cuz ran out and needed that. Had some salt from a packet at mile 30 as well. Took water at mile 43 as well, mainly to dump over me but ran out again so good I had the extra on the back. Ate bites of sandwich and root beer at 10, 20, 30, and 40 then at 50 had a caramel Gu and the last of the root beer. Gatorade was gone too. Seemed to be about perfect! Crotch was so ready to get off this seat!
What would you do differently?:

Not much other than not running a marathon 3 weeks before this race. I did so much running and not much biking until just last week. Need to do more biking earlier, and clearly lots of hills. All my gym rides were spinning but I think that may have helped me be in fast cadence mode and downshift. Obviously I'd like to be faster, but I think for as difficult as this course was, my 15.23mph was pretty good. Legs felt great! Lotsa people w fried legs walking their bikes up Sun Valley hills and pulling over here and there, so happy to avoid that!
Transition 2
  • 04m 11s
Comments:

Again, I'm not super aggressive in transition. Fair number of bikes still out there so was able to rack my bike then scootch under the rack to my gear (removed helmet then). Used my peri bottle water to rinse off my eyes and face (darn sweat!). Felt good to sit down, reapply sunscreen, and change out shoes. Flipped on my visor, grabbed the race belt, and jogged on out. Took a tiny sip of water leaving the chute.
What would you do differently?:

Ah, just speed it all up, I guess.
Run
  • 2h 14m 5s
  • 13.1 miles
  • 10m 14s  min/mile
Comments:

Mile 1: 9:28:12 (4:44:42)
Mile 2: 9:45:21 (4:54:27)
Mile 3: 9:23:38 (5:03:51)
Mile 4: 10:29:87 (5:14:21)
Mile 5: 10:35:97 (5:24:57)
Mile 6: 10:08:91 (5:35:06)
Mile 7: 9:28:15 (5:44:34)
Mile 8: 9:54:72 (5:54:28)
Mile 9:
Mile 10+: 23:32:05 (6:18:02) Forgot to hit button at 10, was 2 blocks past
Mile 11: 7:57:51 (6:26:00)
Mile 12: 11:13:71 (6:37:14)
Mile 13.1: 12:05:87 (6:49:19)
What would you do differently?:

Not much, other than just go faster. Had the mindset of 1 mile at a time, just get to the next water stop. Was going to count how many people I passed and how many passed me, but no one passed me until the 2nd mile--Robert went by at a good pace and I knew he would hold it. When I caught him at mile 5 walking I could tell he was young and inexperienced, so I told him he had to run--that he's a runner not a walker, and he did. Caught him walking again at mile 6, and told him he needed to run with me to mile 7--just 1 mile. Of course when we passed that I told him we had 1 more mile, and he started catching on. He was only 20 and this was his first half. He had bought a $250 road bike on Craig's list and his mom was mad he had spent so much on a bike. His parents and girlfriend were here with him, and when his mom saw the bikes people had, she apologized to him. I could tell he was strong enough to run but I think seeing everyone else walk gives you permission to do so to. I gave him the man up speech and he kept running with me. A gal passed us around mile 7, and "Ben" caught us before mile 9 (I think that's why I missed it--he was hilarious and so talkative, yelling out to all of the spectators). We let him go at mile 10 cuz his pace was just too fast (not bad for a clydesdale)! Those were the only 2 people (and Robert makes 3) who passed me. When I took salt out at mile 10, I discovered Robert was not aware of the importance of salt/electrolytes on such a hot day. I made him take some and told him about my brother's Ironman DNF on the run from leaving his salt tablets on the bike course. About 15 min later, Robert said his calf was starting to cramp, so I had him take more salt, but then realized the next water station was probably a half mile away. Luckily, I had a supply of ice in my bra, so I pulled some out and gave it to him, told him to let it melt a bit to 'clean it' then swallow the water. He musta thought I was a crazy old lady but he felt better right away--we stopped at the mile 11 water stop at a bike rack so he could stretch it, then at mile 12 he finally pulled away (I'd been telling him to do so for the last 4 miles since I knew he had it in him). He did great and finished strong. It was nice having him as a distraction since I really didn't think about how tired I was until that last mile. Legs were overall 'weak' but no pains which was great. I had passed 407 people, and this was my fastest half ironman run time (2:15 in Racine and 2:16 at high cliff).
Post race
Warm down:

David was at the finish line--he had done so awesome, 5:32:47 and 252 overall. He looked great. Robert found me too and I gave him a big hug--his parents, sister and GF were there and I waved to them. Then David and I went down to the lake and got in to cool down--it felt really good and I actually got all the way in. Realized at this point that I hadn't peed at all during the race (ok, I did right then), but didn't have to go again for a couple of hours so I guess I was overall low on fluids. We went into the food tent, I had half of a ham (half sub) and a turkey (half sub) and an orange. Then some potato chips which tasted amazing! Craig found us and joined us and we talked shop until awards time. We stopped at the finishers booth for a photo, then watched Craig get his award--2nd in his AG and fastest swimmer for a $30 Roka gift card. Then went to transition to get our bikes and walked back to the van.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

The heat of course was a factor, but not a huge one as I am pretty good at tolerating it and keeping cool. Obviously not swimming other than that one time isn't helping my swim, and doing a marathon 3 weeks before this didn't give me much bike training. I think my legs were fully recovered, but there certainly could have been some residual there that impacted me. Nutrition felt like it was right on, no GI issues at all, but the lack of pee makes me think I need more fluids at least.

Event comments:

They did not allow us to get into the water before the swim, which was not helpful at all. I do not tolerate cold water so it's really important I have time to acclimate, esp my face, before the race. I definitely lost time doing that in the actual race. The swim course was otherwise great, and they did a great job cleaning out the weeds. I don't know why they felt compelled to make the Milkman bike course even harder--the extra hills and 90-degree turns were difficult on such a hot day, but I guess the point of Ironman is to try to kill you (ambulances were running nonstop on the run from people who got fried out on the bike). The run course was good, a bit hilly, but the last couple of miles were nice and flat--other than the finish line which was up a big hill--is that really necessary? Overall a great race. If it wasn't so darn expensive I'd definitely do it again next year, but we may have to find something cheaper and a week later (this is too close to the Green Bay Marathon--not sure why IM bumped it up a week).




Last updated: 2017-05-20 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:44:43 | 1900 meters | 02m 21s / 100meters
Age Group: 76/102
Overall: 1470/1807
Performance: Good
Suit: Full Vortex
Course: Triangle east into the sun (but could see next buoy), left (NW), then back. Not too much contact, people seeded themselves pretty well, although 3x had people who stopped and wanted a boat right in front of me (2 had people w them, other called boat and swam fine) so I didn't need to stop. Very comfortable, really no effort, kept thinking maybe I should work harder but didn't want to. Water actually felt nice and refreshing on the way in. As always, didn't want to end the swim cuz it means the start of the bike! Peed 4x while out there.
Start type: Run Plus: Shot
Water temp: 71F / 22C Current: Low
200M Perf. Remainder:
Breathing: Drafting:
Waves: Navigation:
Rounding:
T1
Time: 05:46
Performance: Average
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
Wetsuit stuck? Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike:
Getting up to speed:
Biking
03:40:40 | 56 miles | 15.23 mile/hr
Age Group: 73/102
Overall: 1508/1807
Performance: Average
People were spread out pretty good, I really seemed to be an island a lot with clusters in front and behind me. Obviously had people pass me, but I was actually passing a lot of people too. Started out fairly relaxed but never really pushed it too hard in order to save my legs for the run.
Wind: Some with gusts
Course: Ironman decided to take the already somewhat hilly Milkman course and make it even harder. They added several large hills and made 2 of the nice steep downhills into 90-degree left turns headed right to another big hill (both times). I had done 15 hills in my neighborhood w new seat position on Wed, and that set me up nicely for this as I really only stood up a couple of times (observatory and speedway). The SSW wind also made this course tough, as all the long open stretches were into the wind. Going North was ausually up a hill, so having the wind behind was of no help. Had a major sweat crisis going up Observatory, where the sweat was just pouring into my eyes so I couldn't even open them (I'm a salty sweater). I had to suck up some water from the chamber, spit it onto my fingers, then wipe my eyes. Had to do this repeatedly on the way home. Another crisis was going up Rimrock hill just before Rusk--I actually had my eyes closed as I passed the police officers blocking traffic. Gotta figure out something for the sweat. Felt really good with gearing, legs felt strong, even on steep hills, really no fatigue. Was worried that the new seat position had me using my running legs now...
Road: Rough Dry Cadence:
Turns: Cornering:
Gear changes: Good Hills: Good
Race pace: Comfortable Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 04:11
Overall: Average
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike
Running with bike Average
Racking bike Average
Shoe and helmet removal Average
Running
02:14:05 | 13.1 miles | 10m 14s  min/mile
Age Group: 53/102
Overall: 1101/1807
Performance: Good
Jogged out of the transition chute so was already jogging when I started the run. Everyone was walking. Everyone. I passed 22 people and 1 guy passed me, then he started walking too. Was kinda happy to see the little jut-out under the bridge--was hoping that meant they took away the jut-out at the finish which is indeed what they had done (thank you!). It was very hot out, but my legs felt great. My fears that I had used up my runners on the bike were unfounded as they were fine. Even with the water stop had a good pace. Took water (over the head), ice (down the top), Coke (2 sips), another water (drink), another ice (down the back of shirt and shorts), and suck on cubes. When really hot take ice out of bra and rub on face or arms. Was able to keep my temp down w good exertion. Only walk was the the first water cup at the station to the 'last chance trash' at end of it.
Course: Lots of wavy hills on the first half. Really took advantage of the downhills to cut down time and jogged up all but the 2 steepest hills (at mile 2 and betw 4-5). More water stops this year which helped a lot. Last 2 miles out in the sun which was tough. But my prior bricks helped a lot as this was my route and I knew I had it!
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 5
Physical exertion [1-5] 4
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge Too hard
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Average
Race evaluation [1-5] 4

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2017-06-14 9:44 PM

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