IMWI Race Report
Ironman Wisconsin 2013
My 3rd Ironman Wisconsin is in the books! Here are the numbers after the dust settled…
SWIM: 1:11 T1: 5:45 BIKE: 5:30 T2: 1:54 RUN: 3:24 FINISH: 10:14
OVERALL: 56th AGE GROUP (35-39): 9th
Background: There’s a primary goal that is inherent when racing this distance…FINISH. But my wife, Cam, and I made a goal of putting a little more on the line in hopes of qualifying for Kona. So my race started back in October 2012 when I signed on with Endurance Nation (EN) for some actual training guidance. Prior to this season, I had never used a training plan nor had I been coached on training, racing strategy, nutrition, etc… I literally would “wing it” and trust that I had enough determination to not quit.
This is where everything literally started to change and I was faced with my first challenge to my ego. I was advised by my coaches (specifically, Coach Rich) to not race the CIM Marathon back in December in part to not further my Achilles injury, as well as to trust in the EN philosophy of not losing focus of my “A” race by training for a marathon in the off season. I was shattered but understood that I was paying for advice and it would be all for naught if I were to ignore my coaches. Plus, the advice is sound; what you put into a marathon will take away from gains elsewhere. Side note: Running was my first love and I only took to cycling and swimming back in 2006 to fulfill my curiosity in this sport. I also kept to a small 2013 race schedule consisting of a single 10 mile race (Elgin Fox Trot), and 2 Olympic distance triathlons (Bigfoot and Lake Zurich). These races were great boosts to my confidence since it was hard for me to measure my progress with this new style of training. The only measure was an occasional self-test at 5k distance which I was happy with but it wasn’t proven in a race setting. While I’ve had better Fox Trot races, I still managed to finish 8th overall and ensuring me that I wasn’t “losing” my distance speed. Bigfoot was my first triathlon in well over a year so I counted on making mistakes and getting schooled a bit during my attempt to get back in the game. Despite numerous yet small “lessons learned”, I finished 11th overall. It was another sign that I was on the right track but I was also going to have to sharpen my focus quite a bit. Lake Zurich was the following month and my goal was to worry less about the racers in front of me and more on my own situation. Well, that changed everything. For the first time, I placed 1st overall age grouper. Despite coming out of the water in 50th, I dropped the fastest bike and third fastest run.
So now all that’s left is to start my Ironman training block and add endurance to my current level of fitness. This included countless trips to Verona for bike course familiarization, Bigfoot Beach for open water swimming, bike loops around Lake Geneva to mimic Madison terrain, and my familiar home-course Bull Valley run and bike training. Everything about the final months was feeling familiar. I had up days…I had down days. I had days where I wasn’t sure why I even bothered with this ridiculous sport. All part of the journey and all part of the learning process. Then, on the week of my birthday, I received a package from K-Swiss…Jennifer Macfarland (Director of Public Relations and Events for K-Swiss), a good friend of my Aunt Karen, had sent me new race kits, cycling and running gear, and a couple of pairs of shoes. Not only was I stunned and emotionally affected by this gesture, I’m still incredibly moved by the generosity to this day. It’s a good feeling to get support from places you least expect. I remember telling Cam that it was now “on”…no more feeling sorry for myself on crappy training days. No more thoughts of “what if”. Each day was now going to be about what I have on that given day.
Race week arrived and we loaded the car on Wednesday night so we could depart for Mad-Town Thursday morning.
Thursday: Check-in to the hotel, athlete check-in, ride my bike for 30 min w/Chris Bradshaw, my mom arrives into Madison, and dinner with Cam, Chris, and Bill Nangle. During my bike ride, I noticed some small but concerning issues with my bike. Figured I’d see how it rode the following day and try not to worry about it today.
Friday: 30 min. swim in Lake Monona, breakfast, ride with Chris for about 30 min, 4-Keys talk w/Endurance Nation, run for about 30 min, course talk, then athlete dinner in the evening. As it turned out, my bike was in need of attention. During the ride w/Chris, I had lost all shifting between rings. I rushed over to the race mechanic tent and they made an adjustment to my derailleur that was outside of their comfort level but allowed me to shift from ring-to-ring with a quickness I had yet to experience on my bike. It came with a great deal of caution, however. The adjustment put me at risk of easily throwing my chain when going from small to big. I decided that it was worth the risk and it was better than the alternative.
Saturday: Bike and transition bags get dropped off around 11am. Returned to the room and went “wheels up” for the rest of the day. For the first time, I actually had trouble relaxing and falling asleep.
Sunday: Woke up at 3am and felt good. Ate 2 rice cakes w/peanut butter, banana, and coconut water. Filled bottles (Base Amino, UCAN, Advocare Spark, Base salt), took my morning supplements, and included digestive enzymes. After about 3 cups of coffee and a hot shower, Cam and I were out the door and off to the start. By 5am, I was at body-marking and it was already very windy. Not awesome. Chris and I hooked up at the transition, stopped by our bags and added some nutrition, then met up with the families. My mom brought Pip & G to the start (a very pleasant surprise) so I was able to see everyone off. Chris and I then headed down the “super-secret stairwell”, suited up, caught a Team EN photo, then headed to the water.
Swim: The wind was strong and straight out of the east and the water was noticeably choppy yet very warm. Once in the water, I swam out to the ski jump and positioned myself on the south side of it in an open area where I had plenty of room to myself on the front line. About 10 seconds before the cannon sounded, I started my Garmin 910 in “auto multisport”. Once the cannon boomed, I took off quick but was clobbered within 30 seconds. I was actually surprised at the number of athletes that were pulling and punching. A few is normal. And the occasional tug or accidental “hook” by arms is expected but this was ridiculous. At no point did I let it get to me, I just found it more than usual. At the first turn buoy, it was clogged (which was to be expected) and I discovered just how tough the chop was going to be. Once I made the 2nd turn buoy and started the long section straight east, I found out just how nasty this water really was. Not only was the chop destroying everyone’s line of sight and causing tracking issues, the swell was lifting us and dropping us every couple of minutes. Nothing nasty, just a true annoyance for a crappy swimmer like me. Plus, tracking was non-existent for me and evidently everyone else. Every so often I became worried that I wasn’t going to make my projected swim time of 1:10 (going in to the race, I was secretly confident that I was actually going to swim closer to 1:07 with ease if the water was flat). I got back in the “box” and just kept focusing on stroke and tracking. 3rd turn buoy…getting into a happy place now knowing I’m nearing the finish. 4th turn buoy…this one was more of a 45 degree turn that directed us back to the shore…not a terribly long section, but no other portion of the swim felt longer to me. I just wanted out of the water! My wish was granted and the clock said 1:11. I felt mild disappointment but quickly realized that everyone had the same water conditions that I did so I assumed everyone felt the same way.
T1: The wetsuit strippers were awesome and had me off and running the helix in great time. Into T1, grabbed my own bag right by the entrance, and found an open seat with a volunteer quite easily. Change-over was quick and since there was no sun, I blew right past the sunblock volunteers. Then I grabbed my own bike and saddled up. I wanted to be out of T1 in 6 min. so I was happy.
Bike: Shot out of the helix and noticed that my Garmin was whack. I quickly realized that the clobbering I took in the swim resulted in inadvertent button pushes. I reset everything and just put it into bike mode. After getting situated, I spotted my neighbor Brad cheering with his Sub-M teammates! The east wind was pushing me on the stick all the way to Verona and it made that section go by quickly. The first loop went seemingly fast, as well. There were no real surprises; I rode this loop all summer. I did go into the race thinking I’d stay primarily in the small ring once on the loops. That strategy was tossed away once I realized how easy it was to shift back and forth. I also stayed seated on all of the major climbs; something that was definitely not my style but also a smarter way to race. The only time I got out of the saddle was during the occasional small roller just to give my legs a break. I attacked the second loop with the same perceived effort as the first and I definitely felt like I was on top of my hydration/nutrition. While topping Witte (perhaps it was Garfoot…a little fuzzy), I threw my chain while returning to the big ring. Crap! I started to veer towards the shoulder, keeping a little forward-leaning tension on what was still clinging to the teeth, when all of the sudden the ring grabbed the chain and put me back in business! Pure luck…nothing more. But it definitely reminded me of just how touchy it was. I had one full bottle as I approached Verona so I blew right past the final aid station of the loop; the sole aid station on the stick was only about 4+ miles away so I definitely didn’t need to slow up here. This was great advice I learned at the camp as well as the 4-Keys talk…very smart move. After refilling on the stick, I slogged through the final 10 miles and for the first time during the race, I felt absolutely ready to get the hell off the bike. Once I turned off Whalen, I started to get a little careless and nearly wrecked as I made the 90 degree left off Irish. As I hammered over the Beltline overpass and turned onto Rusk (literally in front of my hotel), my mom and girls were right there to cheer me on…a great way to end the bike!
T2: Up the helix and to the dismount line, a volunteer grabbed my bike and I was able to get my bag and find a seat in no time at all. I felt a little disoriented at first, but everything sorted itself out and I had a blistering (for me) T2 time of 1:54.
Run: Started the first mile with my hydration I kept in my transition bag. By the first aid-station, I tossed it. I felt unusually quick and light on my feet…my pace was too fast and I knew it. Somehow I convinced myself to just roll with it since it feels so good. Coach Rich would have undoubtedly punched me in the face if he’d seen me that early. My goal pace was to average 7:30/mile with the first 3 at 8min/mile. I was running 6:30’s in the beginning and that was nothing short of stupid. I stayed in my box and executed a great race right up to this point and it’s truly my ONLY regret. The next time I write my IM race report, I plan on having remedied this errant method of racing. But as I tackled my first loop, I ran steady, felt great, and never walked an aid station. I spotted my teammate, Jeremy Behler, on State St and estimated that he was about a mile ahead of me. I was so stoked for him…this dude is a straight-up competitor and I was truly pulling for him to have a great day. But the competitor in me kept saying, “You got him…press forward and you’ll catch him sooner or later…” Plus, if I caught him, I knew he’d keep me in it. I met Jeremy at the August camp and ran 13 with him on the final day. In that hour and a half run, I learned that this guy had all the makings for a KQ race. In fact, I told my wife and training partners that I had met one of the guys in my AG that was going to challenge me! Approaching the turn-around, I spot Team Galli and it was an unbelievable sight…I ran towards my friend Randy so that I could hand off my sunglasses (definitely not needed on a day without sun). Not only was the mass of yellow shirts just an awesome sight, I was surprised by the friends that I never expected to see (Tony G, Arend, Lexy, Dom, Jamie, and his kids…25 people in all!). By the time I was approaching mile 16, I realized that my early mistakes were about to catch up to me and I needed to minimize the effects while I was still capable of doing so. I hit the aid station just below Observatory Hill and walked through it for the first time of the day. My legs freaked out. My left leg locked up and I hobbled through it on my heels. I started to move again and restored my gait just in time to hit Observatory Hill. Then I walked again. As I finished the downhill and winded my way towards State St., I found Jeremy again turning off State and heading back. Homeboy was looking steady and focused. I felt the opposite of what he looked like. This time he had gained at least a good ½ mile on top of what he already had on me. This was a bummer…I was starting to wonder where my day was going and starting to let my mind wander. I was leaving the box. I started up State St and began to tell myself that it’s time to find some reserves and get some composure restored. I spotted RnP and straightened up a bit. After I turned around and headed back down State, Coach Rich jumped out onto the course, looked me in the eye, “gave me permission to race”, then slapped me on the ass. It worked. It was THE thing I needed at a time I needed it most. I sucked it up, found my rhythm, and got back into the f’n box. As I headed to what used to be the Ford Motivational Mile (the last turnaround before heading to the finish), I spotted an exuberant Chris for the 2nd time on the run…dude was pumped! That, in turn, put a smile on my face. The final 4-5 miles was straight bizniz. No aid stations…don’t need ‘em. No stopping...don’t need my legs tomorrow. HTFU. Finish like a competitor. Remember why I’m here. I hit the corner of the square just off State and my running sensei, Ed, was there screaming at me. I had a bitchin’ pace for the last few miles but I think Ed ignited the afterburners. I know there were people there for me but the last stretch was a fog. I heard Mike Reilly. I noticed the clock…it said 10:24:something…I’m definitely losing it as it was later than I thought. FINISHED! Got through the chute, snapped a photo, Kaepernicked like a boss in Packer country, then found my family and friends waiting on the other side. My friends, Dave and Ben, informed me that my real time was 10:14 and the clock was still on “pro-time”…probably around 9th or 10th in my AG. My heart rate jumped higher than any other point in the day, I think.
Post-race: A lot of effort was used to keep my emotions at bay. The friends and family I had surrounding me were moving me to a state that made me speechless…had I any electrolytes and fluid left in me, I’m certain I would have broken down further. In all past IMWI races, the 35-39 AG took 8-10 Kona slots…could I be in?! I was so certain that I left it all on the course and I had so much satisfaction in that regard. At this point, I wasn’t over-analytical and picking apart my strategic mistakes on the run just yet. I was happy with my time and I was happy with my place. Randy helped me grab my gear and we headed over to Merchant to meet up with friends for some post-race grub. But not before I add a shirt, sweatshirt and compression socks to try and stay warm…I was shivering out of control. Had a couple of IPA’s, some amazingly good food with wonderful people, spotted Jim James and his band eating at another table, and kept my attention on where Chris was on the course. With about a mile to go, according to his tracker, Ed and I bolted over to the finish. I remember feeling so amazingly proud of Chris (his first IM) and it was awesome to see his reaction as he finished that race…truly epic and I’m grateful I was able to see it. As nearly everyone split, Ed, Loli, Cam, and I waited on the square for Bill. As he came out of the darkness, we spotted him and went bananas. Bill was sober and locked-in to the finish…I’m sure he knew we were there but I wouldn’t be surprised if he has no recollection of us…I’ve been there!
Wow…what an incredible day. In the end, I didn’t get my Kona slot. A PR of 20 min would have to suffice. Baby steps. Consider the fire sufficiently fueled….
See you in 2015. KOB.
Quick notes:
1. Team EN taught me how to race. Period. I always knew how to be “fit enough” for race day. I just didn’t know how to drive the vehicle.
2. I still have a lot to learn. While I threw down a 20 min PR and finished a few minutes shy of Kona, I know I can improve so much on this course. My strategy was completely foreign to me prior to this season. It takes a lot of trust in doing things different than 90% of the field.
3. My greatest strength is also my greatest weakness. If I want to get to Kona, I have to change the way I run the marathon. I’ve qualified for NY & Boston, run a sub-3 marathon, a 1:21 on my first half-marathon, and plenty of fast 10 milers, 10k’s, and 5k’s. But I’ve always “raced from the front” and RARELY negative split a race. When I started the run, I let my old method of racing take over and that cost me minutes not seconds. I allowed myself to get out of the box for the first time that day. It stings knowing that the one thing I do halfway decent is the one thing that perhaps cost me a true shot at going to Kona next year. Everyone had the same conditions. But execution during a crucial point in the race is where I failed.
4. This was my 3rd Ironman Wisconsin and I’ve stayed both in and out of the downtown area. This year, I returned to my 2009 hotel (Clarion Suites by the Alliant Center) and it helped a ton. I learned in 2011 that I cannot stay amidst the madness. I spent the least amount of time possible downtown and it really kept my mind in the right place.
5. Like each of the other 2 IM’s, I’ll be taking the next year off from this distance. This is what I know works for me…it allows me to put my focus back on my family and friends, build up SAU’s, and repair my physical and mental state of mind. Plus, I love to volunteer at IMWI to pay back what I received during my race. Good karma, yo!
6. I am a product of my surroundings. This year, I trained a lot with my good friends, Chris and Bill. While we are all at different levels, it really paid off, kept me feeling really positive, and allowed me enjoy the ride much more than previous years. When I had dark days during my training (or like when my bike gave me fits during race week), my wife turned it around…best teammate I’ve ever had. And communicating your goals with friends, family, and teammates helps…the best advice often comes from where you least expect.
7. Build your season around your “A” race. Seems like a no-brainer but the loftier the goal, the more important this becomes. Don’t just do a race for the sake of doing a race…do it because it will enhance your training. It was a tough pill to swallow, but Coach Rich was right in advising me against an off-season marathon. I turned down a free Steelhead entry and opted for the EN IMWI camp. I ride the Verona loop often every year but I knew there was strategy to learn specific to this course. A flat course in Benton Harbor wasn’t going to give me the same advantage.
8. Steady as she goes. Not just a cool song, it’s really the only way for AG’ers to race this distance. I had a very steady day right up to the point of slipping on my racing flats. The runner emerged and put a stranglehold on the triathlete I hoped to be. Through experience, I was able to mitigate the damage, but I had already taken time away from myself. Jeremy Behler was steady from start to finish and it showed in a big way. For a second-time Ironman, he raced like a champion. He’ll be going to Kona sooner than later and if I hope to get to the Big Island, I’m going to have to follow his lead. I’ll be posting his splits on the wall of my pain cave as a reminder of what happens when you stay in the box and execute. I suggest anyone in the market for a PR or Pacific Island vacation do the same.
PEACE!
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