Ironman Wisconsin 2013 Race Report
Summary: I had a great first Ironman race experience at Ironman Wisconsin 2013. My race execution was far from perfect, but it was enough to make the day as enjoyable as an IM day can be. Special thanks to wife, Kristin, and daughters Emily (4.75yo) and Allie (~2 months) for putting up with the training, especially the last 6-7 weeks after Allie was born. Thanks also to my parents for hosting us race weekend and helping out so much. And of course thank you to R&P and the entire EN team – I would have been lost without all of the training plans, execution strategies and nutrition guidance.
Pre-Race: My family and I stayed at my parents’ house in Fitchburg, about 15-20 minutes from Monona Terrace. We arrived Thursday afternoon for lunch and afterwards Kristin, Allie & I went to MT for check-in and expo shopping. Glad I went Thursday as there was no line for check-in and the expo wasn’t crowded either. Headed back to Fitchburg to pick up Emily and relax a little before the team dinner. It was great meeting some of you at the dinner and again at the team swim and 4 keys talk on Friday. Also went to the Athlete Dinner with a bunch of teammates – I thought the food wasn’t very good but enjoyed the program. Saturday morning I took the family out for brunch (pancakes!) and then my Dad helped me take my bike and bags to transition. Back to Fitchburg to get my nutrition ready then some R&R. Dinner around 530pm consisted of small helping of pasta, plain red sauce, a little bread & salad. Plus a little tie-dyed cake that Emily had made with my Mom. More R&R and football and in bed around 930pm.
Race Morning: Up at 2am for breakfast #1. A big concern heading into the race was GI issues, especially after swimming. So I tried the all-liquid breakfast before my last RR and the MOWS and it seemed to work. Pre-race breakfast was 2 scoops of First Endurance Ultragen drink and 4 ounces of FE EFS Liquid Shot. Back to bed for a bit, then up at 4am. Fed Allie, then had a package of Shot Bloks and started sipping Gatorade. Took care of business, got dressed and headed out for MT with my parents. Almost forgot my timing chip, but luckily remembered before leaving the garage. Got dropped off near the finish line, dropped my SN bags, then parked in Gov. East garage and entered transition through Run Out. Loaded my bike with Perform, powerbars and gel, then pumped the tires (no pops!). Dropped some Coke and gel flasks in my Bike and Run bags, took care of business again, then met my folks outside MT for a goodbye hug. Headed down for the team picture and chilled a little. Started making my way to the Swim start around 635 and should’ve given my Morning Clothes bag to J.T. Thompson who was collecting for the team, but instead had to walk upstream towards the helix to drop my bag. A little stressful.
Race background/training: Weighed in at 178 at registration (~6’-0” tall). A little heavier than preferred. FTP of 275, VDOT of 45. First IM, first year with EN, 2nd season racing triathlon (2 HIM’s, 2 Oly’s, 2 sprints). Training went very well until the middle/end of July with no injuries; then my 2nd daughter was born and training took a backseat. Still managed to get in a long run and ride pretty much every week, as well as a final race rehearsal and the MOWS plus a ride on the course. My time goals below are more just estimates for pacing purposes. My main goal was to execute as best I could and finish standing up.
Swim: 1:24:xx (goal was less than 1:30)
I wanted to get in the water early, but my bag drop off put me right in the thick of the line to get in. Still got in shortly after the pro start and made my way to the ski ramp. Treaded water and tried to take in the scene – the crowds all over the Terrace are awesome to see. Soon the cannon went off and there I was, starting my Ironman swim. Surreal. Definitely some contact, but not as much as I had expected. Got into a nice rhythm and tried to maintain it as best I could. Definitely felt the chop on the way back East, but tried to just stay in my swim box and not let it bother me. And it really didn’t – I just kept on swimming. The long segment on the back end definitely seemed long, but the skewed segment back to the Swim Out after the last turn seemed to take the longest. All-in-all, very happy with my swim – right on target pace.
T1: 11:41 (goal was 10:00-15:00)
Out of the water feeling pretty good. I think my increased kick at the end of the swim plus the earplugs I wore really helped with the usual dizziness I experience after that long of a swim. Jog-walking up the helix was really neat with all the spectators cheering – made the uphill jog-walk seem easy. I think I scraped the end of my right big toe coming out of the water – noticed it when I got to my seat in the changing room, but decided it wasn’t going to make or break my race, so I kept going. EN jersey on, bike shorts on, socks on, helmet, gloves and out the door. Got my bike and tried to start my Garmin locator thingy (so the family knew where I was) and ended up stumbling/falling over and spilling some of my aerodrink. Finally made it to the mount line, had a volunteer hold my bike so I could put on my shoes and down the helix to start the bike.
Bike: 6:30:xx, IF=0.68, NP=187W, VI=1.10 (goal was 6:45 at IF=0.67 ~185W)
I love the bike course and even though the high VI doesn’t reflect it, I was very happy with my bike and the marathon afterwards. I smiled almost the whole ride, and especially on the three big hills (thanks Coaches and EN family & friends for the mojo on Old Sauk!) and super big smiles coming into Verona where my family was waiting near the crest of the hill on Cross Country. I tried like crazy to spin easy up the hills and power down the hills as best I could, but I realize I got outside my box and let other riders affect my plan, mostly slowing me down and causing me to ride under my target watts. I think seeing a fellow EN rider get a penalty for crossing the centerline on the way out on the stick kinda had me nervous about passing unless I was confident I could make the pass quickly. Anyway, my one main thought during the bike was to save my legs for the run, so I was ok with being under my power target and glad I wasn’t over it. Nutrition was great and as planned – about 1.5 bottles of perform per hour (dropped a bottle handoff at the Verona AS), 2 saltstick and a powergel on the hour, and half a powerbar at 1:30, 3:30 & 5:30. No stomach issues and felt pretty good the whole ride. I’m really glad that I dialed back on the calories and solid food after my last RR after I had some GI issues on the run and took a harder look at my nutrition numbers.
T2: 7:11 (goal again was 10:00-15:00)
I must admit to being a little nervous about riding UP the helix after 112 miles, but it was a breeze. I was very glad to be off the bike but not totally disgusted with it or wanting to throw it in the lake. I jogged/walked into MT, grabbed my run bag and headed to the changing room. Took a seat, took off my jersey, shoes and socks. Then into the bag for my hat, run shorts, fresh socks and shoes. My base layer for the entire race was my EN tri singlet and DeSoto pocket-less tri shorts. For the bike I had put on my jersey and DeSoto 400 mile shorts. I was planning to run in my singlet with a pair of run shorts over the tri shorts. All had been practiced in training and worked well. What hadn’t been practiced was forgetting to take off the bike shorts. More on that later. Started jogging out of MT and realized I must have banged my entire right foot pretty good – big toe was smarting but also the top of my foot. But I just ignored it and figured it would work itself out, and it did.
Run: 4:38:xx (goal/estimate was 4:20)
My plan for the run was to run 10:00 miles for the whole race and try not to slow down after Mile 18. This is about 45 seconds slower than my LRP, so I thought it would be a nice, conservative pace for my first IM marathon. The run started well – my watch took a quarter mile to find the satellites, but I was just trying to go as slow as I could and take in the scene around the capitol. It was great seeing the coaches and J.T. Thompson right at the beginning of State Street and lots more EN mojo throughout the course. Instead of counting 30 steps, I have always trained by walking 30 seconds at each aid station – less thinking. This went well for most of the first loop, then the 30 seconds got a little longer at each AS it seemed. I walked Observatory Hill on both loops and then a few more “hills” on the second loop – I wanted to try and save my legs as much as possible so I could keep running (jogging) on the flats and downhills. Nutrition went surprisingly well – on the first loop it was perform every AS, plus a saltstick every 20 minutes and a powergel every 40 minutes. I even survived the Orange Mango flavor! On the second loop I pretty much switched to coke, plus saltstick and was still managing to suck down powergels. So again, very happy with nutrition. It was great seeing my family many times on both ends of State Street. Even though I left my locator device in my bike jersey, my run splits were consistent enough that they were able to predict when I would run past. Things got a little dark between miles 18-20, especially on the out-and-back portion of the bike path, but I had a special card I had made with some 4 keys execution reminders on one side and a picture of my wife and girls on the other – definitely helped me keep going. Towards the end I had definitely slowed down, but I was still feeling ok and anticipating the last run up State Street, around the capitol and of course the finish chute. I tried to soak up the moment and crowds and the entire finish line experience as best I could. I was looking for my family (they were right by the finish line – didn’t see them) and doing the high-five thing with the crowd – surreal but great. I tried to slow down at the finish line so I could get a good picture without being right on the guy in front of me’s tail, but I didn’t quite manage it. I heard Mike Reilly say something about “…Illinois” as I came through, but unfortunately that was all – again, a pretty surreal experience crossing the finish line. All things considered, I’m very happy with my first IM marathon – yeah I slowed down, but I finished standing up!
Final Time and Post-Race: 12:51:50
I couldn’t believe I finished sub-13. I had no idea I’d done that until after getting my finisher’s stuff and sitting down for a few bottles of chocolate milk. Got a finisher photo and then met up with my family. Thanked R&P near the food tent, but skipped the food which did not sound good at all. Got my bike and bags out of MT and headed for Fitchburg, with a stop at Culver’s for a finisher milkshake. I wanted to come back to the finish line to cheer others across and see the final finishers, but didn’t think that would go over well with the family, so I checked a few results online and headed to bed.
As I’ve been mentioning, I think the one word for my first IM experience is surreal. I couldn’t quite believe all the things leading up to race day and the actual race itself were actually happening. It’s still hard to comprehend that I finished. But writing this report has definitely helped. Despite a great first IM experience, another full distance race is going to be on hold for a few years – raising a young family and IM training is a difficult undertaking. I’m looking forward to going back to the HIM distance, trying to get faster and execute better than my previous HIM’s.
Comments
Great execution and great report Dave.
I have been doing IMs for 10yrs and continue to be in awe of people like yourself who juggle raising kids (especially new borns) with work and the training demands.
Way to go Dave, thanks for the great report. I believe my first IM will be Wisconsin as it sounds like the crowd, support, and the course are awesome. Congrats also on the little one!
You are an IronMan!
Tony