I had a good experience at Wisconsin this year, my travel into Madison was uneventful, I arrived at the airport Thursday night and then got to the hotel via the shuttle with enough time to check-in to the hotel and retrieve my bike from Tri-bike transport. By this time I already had Ironman fever after talking with two other athletes on the shuttle, one who was doing IMWI because he DNF’d at Ironman COEUR D’ALENE a few weeks earlier, quite an adventure for him, I loved hearing his story.

She (Alexis, my bike) arrived safely via Tribike Transport but I had forgotten to bring my pedals over to the tent so the dude at the tent lent me his pedal wrench overnight with the understanding he would break my kneecaps if I didn’t return it by 8am on Friday, I graciously complied and went on my way. (He didn’t really threaten me, but he kind of did).

My Bike (Alexis)

After a return to the hotel with my bike (all decked out with her lipstick on), I had to find food. I didn’t eat anything really of value since I left Tampa earlier in the day. Being a vegan, its always a challenge to find anything without meat and cheese, especially in cow country but I managed to find a place called Francisco’s Catina (franciscoscantinawi.com), It was a Mexican themed place and I had some bean and rice thing and a spotted cow beer and went on my way. I stopped at the Walgreens for snacks (Fritos) and water and then proceeded to head to the hotel to unpack and start getting things pre-staged for Friday.

I got up Friday pretty early, mainly due to the time difference but managed to lay there for awhile because it was too cold to do anything outside. I had a swim and a bike ride scheduled for the day, but with it being 48 degrees and me being a Florida-boy now, it was quite chilly. I had some breakfast and decided to head over to the swim start for around 8am to get a swim in. There were lots of folks there already, some done swimming and some just starting. I had a good conversation with a guy from Chicago who was doing IM for the first time who asked for advice since this is number 7 for me, my advice is always to pace yourself on the bike. A bad bike day through pushing negative bike splits kills the rest of the race, no lie.

Anyway, I got geared up and headed out into the 67 degree water of Lake Monona, the water really was cold when I first got in and my face was frozen once I started swimming. I headed out for about 20 minutes or so of swimming just to stretch out and feel the course. The lake was really choppy on the way back to the swim start, but a different choppy than when I swam in the bay or in the gulf because it had no pattern, I couldn’t breath between waves because they weren’t really waves … but I figured it out.

I swung over to the athlete check-in at 9am after my swim to get that over with, that is always a fun experience. I got through that unscathed and had more good conversation with other athletes from all over. That is the best part of the races, the nice people you get to meet from all over the world.

After returning to the hotel room, I geared up for a bike ride, was planning on about 50-60 minutes “easy”. I plotted a course out on the trails around Madison, apparently it is a big “bike” town since its a college town. I had a good ride although I didn’t calculate the true distance because I ended up being out a little further than I expected, not being sure how to get back. Its scary when you’re standing on a trail, in the middle of nowhere, with your iPhone searching Google Maps to find your path home. Bad on me. But I made it back to the city eventually after riding aero on my spiffy bike through college town, I guarantee that college kids just don’t get it yet.

The rest of Friday was uneventful, headed to the Welcome banquet and heard some great stories of overcoming adversity in life. I also spoke to some guys from London, who were here to race and recommended doing Ironman Austria (yeah) .. as well as some guys from the DC area, one who recently did Kona (and said the course is really hard). Mike Reilly is really a good entertainer, he knows how to keep the crowd captivating but eventually it got boring for me, so I headed out.

Transition Area

Saturday was pretty much the same as Friday, cold in the morning, and too early to do much but I did head out on a short run just after sunrise around the city just to get the legs stretched. Once I wrapped that up, I decided to swim .. it took longer to walk down, get geared up, and return back than it took me to actually swim, but it was good to get in the water again to simulate what race morning would look like. The water was less choppy on Saturday, which was good, it gave me more confidence for a good day on Sunday. Once I wrapped up the swim, I headed out for a real short bike ride down the trail just to do one last bike check, stretch the legs and check how the temperature might feel. I seemed hung up on how cold the bike ride would be on Sunday, I needed to get over it. I really overdressed for the Saturday ride, I looked and felt like a fool in my sweatshirt, but it was quite a site i’m sure.

After checking my bike and bags in for the race on Saturday at the Monona center, I took the afternoon easy, actually took a nap for an hour or so and then got up, and then ensured I had all my bags packed and things ready to go. I reviewed my race strategy again to make sure I had it down, I felt pretty confident. Headed off to a 5pm mass at a church about 2 blocks away and then to catch something to eat over at Noodles & Company. I got back to the room by 7:15pm, did one final check on things, ate and then got ready to go to bed.

I feel asleep pretty quick and although I had the alarm set for 4:15am, I woke up slightly earlier than that. I pounded down 2 cups of really bad hotel room coffee, had some cereal (cinnamon toast crunch), took a shower, got dressed and just sat and meditated a bit. At 5am, I noticed through the window that the crowd was starting to make its way around the capital circle over to the race start but I waited until 5:15am to leave, no use in leaving any earlier.

I dropped off my special needs bags and then checked on my bike. I was able to borrow a pump to check my pressure, I actually lost more pressure in 2 days than I thought I would have in both tires, thankfully I checked. I filled up my water, placed my pre-made bottles and headed inside to stay warm. It was 46 degrees outside but it was awesome that we could hang out in the Monona center until we had to go outside.

At 6:30, transition closed, and everybody started to head to the swim start. I popped 2 salt stick capsules with some water, handed off my morning bag, dumped my water and there I was. This was the first year of wave starts at IMWI, it was a new experience but it didn’t seem to stop the problem of people piling on one another during the start. I was in wave 4 and we got to the starting line fast, much faster than any other race and next thing you knew, we were in the water and on our way. My strategy was to go pretty hard, push the pace where I could, but to “not be alone”. Great strategy. I found that by drafting everywhere I could during the swim, it took much less effort, but I couldn’t do it everywhere. The water was 66 degrees but surprisingly did not bother me as much as I thought it would. Most of the swim was uneventful except almost losing my chip after the final turn. I had to stop and adjust it on a kayak but I kept it on there. I finished up around 1:20 on the swim, I felt I had a solid effort. The drafting certainly helped.

Heading out of the water, through the wetsuit strippers and then up the “helix” to T1 was a good way to jog and to get the heart rate down in prep for the bike. The T1 was inside the Monona center, which was unique, it was the most “not-gross” change tent I’d ever been in. A nice gentlemen helped me with my stuff, I was not sure what to wear on the bike but decided on the bike jersey over the tank-topped tri-suit, just to be safe. I left the arm warmers and gloves behind also as well as the sweatshirt (I can’t be THAT Florida, can I?)

The nice gentlemen took my bag from me at T1 and I headed out to get my bike, got sunblocked (which didn’t work in the end) and away I went. T1 was uneventful, but more importantly I felt strong heading out on the bike. It was very crowded as we headed down the “helix” and out on the course, we were on a bike trail for the first mile or 2 and it was tough to not run into someone, felt like Tour de France. I took half a bonk breaker at this point for some fuel to make up for the swim effort. Eventually it got off the bike trail and on to roads and felt much better to have some space. The plan was to try to pace at 160 watts for at least the first 40 miles, keep any hill climbing under 200 watts and keep pedaling downhill with some tension. After 40 miles, go by feel, don’t hold back.

Madison Capital

I pretty much kept to the plan although the bike course was constant up and down and up and down. I was never really able to get into a pace at 160 watts as hard as I tried but I feel I did a good job balancing it to be as close as I could despite the conditions. The roads were a little rough in spots, lots of potholes and rough areas, I really had to be careful not to wreck although I did have a “rockstar” moment when I almost wrecked hard coming around a turn. There was one of those “cars this way, bikes that way” signs where we shared the street with cars but the volunteers gave me bad information (one said one thing, the other said something else) … that along with the speed I was going and the adrenaline, I ended up not being able to make a decision which way to go and held down the brake hard, skidded a bit, hit and knocked the sign over but did not go down on my butt. Got a good chuckle with the other riders as I cycled away but saved it, that could have been ugly.

The two loops at IMWI are different, the first had the infamous “Barlow hill”, which was impossible, I mean, totally impossible and yes… I walked it. It was not worth killing my legs up that hill and when I realized that I was walking up as fast as others who were riding it and grinding hard, I lost no time at all and hopefully saved my legs. The hills leading into this hill and after it, were hard (~18% grade). The second loop didn’t have this hill, but had other hills (around 13% grade). The good thing was that you could get a lot of speed on a downhill after the hills but I think I maxed at 39MPH, which is good for me. I value life too much to go faster than that. The normal “speed boys” who go down at around 50-60MPH in aero are insane, I never know what to think, I get frightened for them, but its not my issue, I just shake it off.

The weather was unique for the bike because it was warm, with a cool breeze and when you were sweaty, you would get cold. My nose was running the entire time, I stopped at mile 60 to take some nose drops to get me through, I felt myself stuffing up. I did stop a few other times just to stretch out on the last 30 miles, I need to find a way to stay loose on the bike.

My fueling on the bike was right to plan, but I started to feel some uncomfortableness in my left stomach region. I took a salt stick capsule before the bike and I took another salt stick capsule at around mile 40, at mile 80-ish and then right before I finished the bike. I used water on the bike for the first hour and a half, then Infinit for 1:30-2:30, then back to water for 2:30-4, then Infinit for 4-5:30 and then just water from there. I did mix in some additional water here and there from the aid stations because the Infinit started to taste like crap. I used half a bonk breaker every hour or so on the bike.

I stopped at bike special needs briefly to just grab the extras I put in there, which I ended up not using anyway, but it was good to stop to get off the bike for a minute. I love the volunteers, he was so helpful even after I spilled Infinit powder on his hand (i told him it tasted like apple cinnamon but he didn’t seem impressed).

Overall I felt like I had enough energy on the bike, but my mouth was very dry. I didn’t know if I needed more fluids or if it was from the cold air and conditions. After training in the Florida heat, I couldn’t imagine I was dehydrated. I did stop at mile 40 to pee, I could not get it to come out on the bike while I was riding (sorry, I tried, its really not easy).

The last 12 miles of the bike were brutal for two reasons, my stomach was a little off (cramps on left side) and second because I don’t remember the ride from the city center being so hard coming out but the hills on the way back in were just crazy (or maybe I was just fatigued). My legs were tight, and sore, and I needed to get my butt off that bike. Thankfully I made it back to T2 unscathed, but tired. The ride up the “helix” to T2 was brutal but then a nice lady took my bike from me and off to the change tent I went.

T2 was actually very uneventful as well, except it felt good to sit without being on a bike. I easily changed my outfit and was sure to grab a long sleeved shirt for the second half of the run because I knew I’d be cold. I splashed some water on my face, got a drink, went pee (again) and headed out for the run. I did NOT sense dehydration at this point from the color of my pee (yeah, gross, but hey, this is serious stuff).

The plan was to stay in the 10:30 range for the first 10 miles of the run, and be sure to walk through every aid station. I had popped a salt stick tablet at the end of the bike and took down a half of gel when I started the run. I stuck to the pace plan through the first 5 miles or so, then broke it down to running a half mile with a 1 minute walk…. I made it until around mile 10 when I started doing 4 minutes with a minute walk, then 3 minutes with a minute walk until I was walking more minutes with a minute run every now and again.

I stopped at special needs to change my socks, grab my final gels and get my headlight because it was going to be dark before I finished. The volunteer told me to sit down, which I started to until I realized that was probably NOT a good idea. I sat long enough to change my socks and then went back out on my way.

At this point, my legs were killing me and I felt dehydrated even though I was drinking lots of fluid, kept my salt sticks going and followed my plan. Again, not sure if it was just the weather playing a game with me.

The stomach distress that started late on the bike started to creep in a little more at this point, the gels were not going down, I was able to get down only 1 full gel over the entire first 10 miles. After I was primarily walking with spurts of running (around mile 12), I was not able to take anything down, so I resorted to trying out some gatorade just to get some calories and to stay hydrated. I also tried some grapes along the way and they worked through the next couple sets of aid stations, until I ate a few and spit them out, it just wasn’t happening. By mile 19, I was done with any real fueling, I would take some water and swish it in my mouth and spit it out, and maybe just take a bit of gatorade hoping it would stay down. My stomach was a mess. I was tired, my feet were tired, my legs were beat but I was going to get done, this is where I needed to be tough.

At this point, it was dark outside and cool, I talked with a lot of great people along the way which I find to be emotionally helpful when you are at a point of struggle. My mind was telling me that it had enough, but I know it’s mind over matter, I kept focused on the target and with doing a second loop, I knew what was in store for me on the last few miles of the run course.

It wasn’t long until I made my way back into the center of the city, primarily walking with a little jog here and there, I was totally depleted and beat-up but the smile appeared on my face as I knew the finish was near. I spoke with some more folks who were in the same spot as me and prepared to greet Mike Reilly as I crossed the finish line. I put my arms in the air as best as I could and celebrated the success of completing Ironman #7. The finish line catcher greeted me with the “are you alright?” and I said yes, just not sure I can stop moving… lol. She took good care of me, got me to a chair and some fluids and then I handed her off to help other people.

So here is what I learned about myself and training this year. It is so not about the supplements, the fancy gear, the compression outfits and all the hoopla around training that got me to the finish, it is about just doing the time and making the effort. I cut out all the everything I added in 2016 and had a better race, on a harder course, than I ever did before. No supplements, no fanciness. I just did the workouts, hit my targets and most importantly, I recovered. I never truly understood the value of recovery and stepping back when I needed it until this year. I always did it because I was told I needed to, but now I get it.

Thanks to Coach Jason for getting me this far, there are only better things ahead as we start to plan for 2018. I will be back for more!