Ironman Wisconsin: A great first Ironman with a side of mechanicals

My feelings post Ironman Wisconsin are a little conflicted. I am simultaneously excited over a well-executed first Ironman, where I was right around all my goals and a little devastated because I had some mechanical issues on the bike, so my time doesn’t really show that. This was my first Ironman and I was a little terrified. I was most terrified of the swim start and the marathon at the end. Both of these went way better than anticipated… and I had a sneak attack with some crazy bad luck no the bike. I guess that’s Ironman… you NEVER know what the day is going to throw at you. I got that lesson loud and clear. But, I kept myself together and I think the more important thing to take away is that an Ironman is a long day… and you should never give up, because you never know what’s going to happen. And, really a week later the happiness and excitement is more there than disappointment. I did my best with what I got on race day!

Swim start - SO MANY HANDFISH

For the RACE… the SWIM wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be. Maybe because I got myself SO worked up about it, it just didn’t seem as bad as I had imagined.  I didn’t get kicked in the face, no one swam over me… it was just a lot of people... It was a pretty crowded at the beginning… and really the whole way out… but by the turn around it had evened out. It was mostly uneventful and I just tried to hang with my little group of people and surged once to get away from the full palm on my foot person that was swimming behind me for a bit. I was pretty ready to be done with the swim and the run up the HELIX at the memorial union was amazing. People are lined like 3 deep on that thing and it’s impossible not to smile the whole way up!

Typical farm background. I <3 WI

And then it was onto the BIKE… which is where my day did not go quite as planned. I followed my plan the best I could and while I was moving I was pretty much on target. Easy out to Verona and then picking it up to goal watts for the loops. I made it about halfway between Mt. Horeb and Cross Plains when I flatted. I’ve never had a flat in a race before and have only changed my race wheels once…. So the process took a little longer than I would like to admit. It took FOREVER to get the tire off and I remember telling myself “calm down, you know how to change a tire” at least twice. When it happened I also thought – “Okay, this is fine… just race your race, you’re thing is paused so you’ll still know how you did… “. Because my thing was paused I also had NO IDEA who long that took. Long enough for me to be starting up again with a pretty steady stream of people. Awesome. I spent the rest of that loop praying I had changed that okay… and made it back to the same road on the second loop, hit a hill… and dropped my chain. I can’t remember the last time I dropped my chain. And, I timed this one SO bad that it got stuck between the crank and frame. WTF… you can do that?! My buddies at trek helped a sista out… un-stuck my chain, pumped up my tires (heyo paranoia from my flat fix) and gave me a little push up the hill (I thought arguing with them that I could do that myself would be silly at that point..). And then, one giant downhill and 10 minutes later… I got my second flat.  After yelling “YOU’RE EFFING KIDDING ME” I resolved that I was going to effing make it back downtown if it’s the last thing I do. My friends at Trek were right up the road so they helped pump the tires up and gave me another tube (heaven forbid the bad luck continued). But, alas… I MADE IT :) Moving time mostly on target… actual time a little slower than planned.

This picture is hideous... but we should take a moment to appreciate the ladies ass who is probably in countless race photos. Epic photo bomb. 

I managed a smile! LOVED state street :)

AND THEN IT WAS MARATHON TIME. I had convinced myself that I was still executing my plan the best I could and that the race could be the sum of its parts. I don’t think that really makes sense… but it got me through my race. I still pushed for my goal pace and held on the best I could. Lap one was right on track… lap two was quite a bit more painful. I walked a little more of the aid stations the second lap and slowed down a bit, but was keeping the damage mostly under control. The run course was AMAZING. There were so many people all over the course. State Street was the best… but there were people everywhere. THANKS SOOOO MUCH TO EVERYONE that was out there. It was so great seeing friend and family during the run. So, even though I slowed down and walked more of the aid stations on the 2^nd lap, the run was mostly on track and I finished just over my goal in 3:36, which was the 3^rd faster amateur run split and somehow I managed to get myself up to 3^rd place in the AG (from 13^th)… only 8 minutes out of 1^st. Considering how much time I was standing still on the bike…  I’m super happy with how it went.

MADE IT!

So, all in all, it was a great race with some bad luck on the bike. Shit happens... but all is well that ends well :) In my head I have a little asterisk next to my time... because I put up a better effort than my time displays. But, who knows how it would have played out if I hadn’t had all that down time on the bike. Would my run have been slower? Would I have hit my bike goal? I don’t know. But, when I was moving I hit my goal and the run and swim were both right where I wanted them too. I made it work the best I could and still kind of count those goals as being met. And, honestly, I can’t wait to try another one of these and see if it can come together both for me physically and without some of that mechanical trouble. Though, I thought about it… and If that happens again… I would deal with it again. It REALLY sucked. But, keeping my cool and focusing on the process kept me going. It was a fun challenge and a great feeling to finish!

SOOO HAPPY TO BE DONE. Thanks Friends :)

HUGE thanks to my coach Scott Iott for helping me prepare for the race and come up with a plan I was able to execute on race day and Vision Quest Coaching for the always fantastic cheering section. AND, for the friends and family that came out to cheer and support everyone racing! Time for a nice off season :)