Ironman Chattanooga

Ironman Chattanooga - wow!  What a race, what a weekend!  Before I get into the details of the weekend, let me get the meat out of the way.  This is my 2nd Ironman - IM Wisconsin last year was my 1st.  I set PRs (Personal Records) for every leg of the race and improved my overall time by 3 hours, 3 minutes, and 24 seconds!  I am damn happy with the results!  The stats were:

Swim: 1:21:31 (PR from 1:50:55) **River swim with a current vs lake swim, so not apples to apples

Bike: 6:28:02 (PR from 7:37:12) **Bike was 116 miles vs. the normal 112 miles, so not apples to apples

Run: 5:16:32 (PR from 6:36:55)

Overall: 13:24:21 (PR from 16:27:45)

This was the inaugural Ironman in Chattanooga, so it was very exciting to participate.  A few things that made this race different were the fact that we were going to start the race at approximately 730am instead of 7am and the bike portion was 116 miles instead of 112.  The later swim start was because we had to wait for the sunrise and the longer bike was due to some permitting issues with certain counties in Georgia.  Because of the added bike length, the finish time was extended 15 minutes to 12:15am.

Before I get into the race itself, I want to talk about how this year has been so different than last year.  If you read my IM Wisconsin report, you know that I was under-trained and under-prepared last year and went into that race just wanting to survive to the finish.  And that’s about all I did.  Yes, I finished, but it was ugly and honestly, not as satisfying as you might imagine.  

This year, I put in the time – I put in the training.  I got a coach (Carl Noftsger) and joined his online team on Facebook, the Outkast Training Crew.  I had an incredible training partner, Kourey, and a patient, loving and accommodating wife.  At times it was hard, I wanted to quit, and I was “over” all of it by mid-August.  But I held on, showed up, and had a fantastic experience!

PRE-RACE

The weekend started out when Crystal and I started our drive to Chattanooga Thursday morning.  We had some things to do beforehand, but once that was done, we picked up Kourey and started our journey.  We arrived in Chattanooga mid-afternoon, checked into our hotel, dropped off our stuff, and walked to the registration tent to get registered.  We stayed and looked around at all of the vendors, got free samples of some items, tried out some gear and boots that we could never afford and then headed back to the room to unpack and get settled.

For dinner that evening we met up with Carl, his wife and an Outkast teammate, John at a local place called The Terminal.  We sat outside, had a great meal, and a fantastic time!  I’ve been training with Carl as my Coach since the end of last year and it was our 1^st chance at meeting face to face so it was very nice!  Carl and John did the race as well and both crushed it!

On Friday, Crystal and I got up and went to the YMCA to practice some RPM which is a type of indoor spin class.  She is taking an RPM Certification Class the weekend after my race, so we needed to get in a practice.  Plus it was good for me to get some type of “spinning” in for the day.  

When that was over, we went back to our hotel, cleaned up, and then headed to the Endurance Nation Four Keys Talk.  If you have read any of my prior posts, you know how I feel about EN, so I won’t get into that here.  Just know that the talk was once again outstanding and I got a lot out of it. 

When the talk was over, Kourey and I met up with Mike, a buddy from Nashville and we rode our bikes on parts of the run course just to stay active, but not “too” active.  We rode for maybe 30 minutes – nothing too long.  After that, we cleaned up, ran some errands, and had dinner at a Mexican place near the mall.

On Saturday, Crystal volunteered at the Ironkids race while I slept in.  She then had a volunteer meeting and I took my bicycle and gear bags to check in.  Lunch at Firehouse Subs (as always) was the last solid meal of the day and then back to the room to hang out.

Dinner consisted of all liquid as has been the custom for the last few races.  Naked Juice, sports drink, pomegranate juice, and chocolate milk.  Oh and 1 beer at a local tavern called the World of Beer.  Will definitely have to go back there when I can drink more than 1 beer!  Then back to the room again to put the feet up.  Was in bed by 930 or so.

RACE MORNING

I awoke at 5am and promptly drank another Naked Juice as my breakfast.  Got all my gear, my nutrition bottles, my morning clothes bag, and met Kourey to walk to transition.  When we got there, I put my bike bottles on my bike, my run bottles inside my Fuel Belt, and made sure my bike tires were pumped up.  We then loaded up on the bus to ride to the swim start.  While in line, I had 1 Gu and sipped on some water.

SWIM

Chattanooga is a point to point river swim meaning we swam with a current.  Based on the finishing times of most people I looked at, folks tended to average 20-30 minutes faster on this swim than other IM’s that were in lakes.  For slower swimmers like me that was a good thing.  We also did not start our swim in a mass start like we did at Wisconsin.  Instead, we lined up and jumped off a floating “dock” one at a time.  Well – more like lots at a time.  The point being, that we all started the race at different times.

The water temperature was 77 degrees making it “technically” non-wetsuit legal.  We had the option of wearing a wetsuit, but doing so would disqualify us from any awards and would also mean starting at the back of the line.  I did not want to start at the back, so I opted to not wear my wetsuit.  Now, thinking back, I wish I had worn it as it would have helped me cut at least a few minutes off my time.  Oh well – live and learn.

When I jumped in, I immediately lost my breath due to the shock of the water and remembered that I had not taken my asthma inhaler.  It took maybe 5 – 10 minutes to settle down and get comfortable in the water.  My experience at Augusta dealing with a similar issue helped me get through this period since I knew what to do and how to handle the situation.  Once settled, the swim was very uneventful and I just went along until I got to the end.  Oh, I did have to stop 2 times to pee in the water.  I am not able to swim and pee at the same time, so I had to pause for a bit and let it flow.

Because of my slow time, there were not many people around when I got to the ladder to climb out of the river.  I climbed up, ran/walked along to the wetsuit peelers, saw Crystal volunteering and gave her a high five then ran up the hill to transition.

T1

I grabbed my bike gear bag and ran into the changing tent.  There were no volunteers around, so I just helped myself.  I had worn my tri-top in the swim, so that was already on.  I changed out of my tri shorts and into real bike shorts, got my sox and shoes on, helmet, glasses, etc. and took a puff of my inhaler and ran to get my bike.

BIKE

As I stated before, this was a 116 mile bike rather than 112.  Given that, I am pretty pleased that I still cut 1 hour and 9 minutes off my Wisconsin time.  Going in, I had ridden the course twice.  Once in May at a training camp and then again 2 weeks ago with Kourey.  Chattanooga, like Wisconsin, is set up like a lollipop.  Meaning it starts out like a “stick” and then has a loop that you do two times as the “lollipop”, then you ride the stick back home.  

For nutrition, I kept the same formula I have used in previous races.  I chose to use my speefill bottle up front which had 1 hour of Infinit in it to start the race.  I also carried a 3 hour bottle of Infinit on my seat tube.  That gave me 4 hours of nutrition on the bike at the start.  I also put another 3 hour bottle of Infinit in my special needs bag which I would get at the halfway point of the ride – total nutrition of 7 hours.  So because I was carrying my nutrition, I only had to get water at the aid stations.  That made it simple for me.  As I approached aid stations, I would fill my speefill with another hour of Infinit, then hit special needs for water to top off the speedfill.  One thing I didn’t like, however, was that the aid stations seemed to be too close together.  I got to them every 35 – 40 minutes or so, which threw off the timing of refilling with my Infinit.  It wasn’t a big deal, just somewhat annoying.

I also did not use my GPS watch to track my ride.  Over the years, the battery life of my watch has dropped significantly and I knew it would not last for an entire Ironman.  So I chose to save the battery for the run where I could keep track of my pace.  I rode based on RPE instead of heart rate and kept track of my pace based on the mile markers and the clock.  It proved to work fine, but I would have like to have had the file from my ride – I love seeing my data!!  

The start of the bike had us going around downtown as we were just getting away from everything and onto more rural roads.  This was pretty uneventful and I was able to settle in nicely and was comfortable.  I eventually got to the start of the loops and at which point I felt the bike portion really started.  

This bike course has been described by different people as everything from “easy” to “hard” and “hilly” to “flat”.  Yes, same course, but different perspectives.  My thoughts are that while there are really no significant or steep hills, it is definitely not flat.  It is filled with rolling hills with very few flat sections.  Which means that I was constantly shifting my gears to maintain consistent power throughout with no spikes.  It would be easy to get lazy with the shifting and start powering up these rollers, but doing so would result in using too much power and zapping your legs.  But because I train on roads that are similar, I am used to shifting constantly, so this was no big deal for me.

I have had issues with my left foot for a while now, and in the last few weeks, it has gotten worse.  What happens is that after riding for an hour or so, I start to get pain in the ball of my foot and my middle toe goes numb.  Going into this race, I knew that I was going to have problems, so I made sure I took plenty of ibuprofen prior to the start of the bike, and again at the halfway point.  I also had to take my foot off my pedal 4 or 5 times during the ride and shake my leg to get blood flowing again.  Each time this resulted in a searing pain that lasted a minute or two before giving me some relief.

The special needs station was at the end of the 1^st loop and I was glad to stop for a minute.  I changed out my nutrition bottle, put more bag balm on my taint and was off again for loop 2.

There were reports of oil and tacks being put on the course by some local hooligans that caused a lot of flats for some racers.  The local police had been alerted of the oil before the race and were able to direct us around it, but the tacks were another issue entirely.  It is really a shame that people would do such a thing.  Fortunately for me, I did not get caught with a tack and did not get a flat.  But others did, which sucks.

Loop 2 continued to be uneventful for me and as I completed it, I got back on the “stick” and headed back towards transition.  When all was said and done, I had passed 550 people on the bike but had ridden at a pace and effort that would allow me to have a good run.  And that’s really where the race begins – is on the run.  My average speed was 17.94 mph, and if you look at my splits, I kept a consistent pace the entire ride.  I am very pleased with that.

T2

I got back to transition, handed my bike to a volunteer, and almost fell down.  The problems I had with my foot on the bike ride made walking difficult.  I limped to grab my run bag and made it to the changing tent where I took off my tri top and bike shorts in favor of a running tee and running shorts.  I also changed to dry sox, put on my running shoes, fuel belt, race number belt, and visor.  

RUN

The run course consisted of two loops of 13.1 miles each.  The 1^st 8 miles were along the Riverfront Park which I run on all the time anyway when I travel to Chattanooga and then 5 miles on the north side of the river where there are some long grueling hills to contend with.  Meaning the last 5 miles of the entire race would be on those hills!!

For nutrition on the run, I carried two 7oz bottles of Infinit on a Fuel Belt – each consisting of 1.5 hours of nutrition.  This would give me 3 hours of nutrition and get me to special needs where I had another 3 hours of Infinit in a bottle waiting for me.

After doing my clothes changing and taking more ibuprofen, I was able to walk mostly normal with manageable pain and left the changing tent.  I made a pit stop at a porta-potty and started my run.  Before I got out of transition however, I saw Crystal again, gave her a hug and went on my way.

The run starts off with an almost immediate hill that would be easy to run too hard up.  I chose to actually walk the hill just to make sure I didn’t do something stupid and once at the top began my jog.  I am not a fast runner and in reality, I am just a jogger at this point.  My goal was to run around an 11:30 minute mile for the first 6 miles, then try to just hang on for the rest of the run.  

The first 8 miles I hit an average pace of around 11:10, a little faster than I wanted.  But that included me walking up that 1^st hill and walking the aid stations which was my plan.  The aid stations were placed at approximately every mile, so the goal was to run from aid station to aid station and walk the station itself.  

These first 8 miles also were part of the flat section of the course (except for that first hill) and I found it easy to get settled in.  But after doing that part, we went across the river to the hilly section of the course for 5 miles.  For those 5 miles, I continued to run between aid stations, but the hills were pretty significant and slowed my pace down to around 12:10 per mile.  

After crossing the river back to the south side, I stopped at special needs, swapped nutrition bottles and picked up my extra pair of dry sox.  I didn’t need them at that point, but wanted to carry them just in case I would need them later.  At Wisconsin last year, I would have LOVED to have been able to change sox later in the race because I got a huge blister the last half of the run due to wet sox.

After resuming my run, my pace kept falling from the low 12’s per mile to the low 13’s per mile.  This is because my run pace did slow down, and also because I walked a little bit between aid stations for certain stretches.  At around mile 16, I officially entered the “suck” zone!  I had heard that an IM race doesn’t really start until around mile 18.  That’s when things can start to fall apart and get real hard, very sucky, and turn you inside out.  This hit me at around mile 16.

When it hit – and it was a slow progression – I found myself walking some portions between aid stations without even realizing.  I would cuss myself and force myself to pick up my run again.  I did not want to walk.  As darkness fell, I was still on the flat section and heading back towards town and it was awfully lonely.  There were a lot of walkers, very few runners, and no fans except for the aid stations.  To me, this was the hardest stretch and the point at which I found myself wanting to walk the most.
 

I have heard people use terms like “turn myself inside out” and “embrace the pain or suck” and thought I knew what that meant.  I have, after all, done a handful of half Ironmans plus a full at Wisconsin.  But in each of those, I either walked a lot or never got to the point at which I really suffered.  It wasn’t until this stretch that I really began to understand.  During the dark portions along Amnicola highway, I literally turned my guts inside out to keep going.  Yes, I could have slowed to a walk and hung on for a finish.  I was close enough to do that.  But this race was not about “just finishing” for me.  It was about crushing my performance at Wisconsin.  It was about seeing how far I could push myself – how much I could endure.

I found my answer – I can endure a hell of a lot.  I kept telling myself “this is what I signed up for” – which was one of the things that was said at the Endurance Nation talk the day before.  My left foot hurt like hell, I had a cramp in my right side that began almost immediately when I started my run, I had by now formed a blister on my right foot but was afraid to stop and change sox because I feared I would be unable to stand back up if I did, so I endured.  My legs hurt, I was dizzy, and I was mentally drained.  And that was really the hardest part – everything was screaming STOP!  But I would not do it.  Yes, I had moments of weakness where I slowed and walked, but after I got back to town, I had found my rock, my one thing, and had made up my mind that I would finish strong.  What was my rock?  My one thing?  Family – my wife, Crystal and my boys.  Thinking of how much they had put up with during my year of training, how much they sacrificed.  And how I wanted to show them how to “suck it up” when times get tough, how to deal with pain and endure to the end.  Life lessons, really all summed up in a single race.  Yeah, this is mushy stuff, but it is also true.  I also learned that although I can endure a lot, I still have a lot to learn and I know I can push myself harder and farther and endure more.  Whether in life or my next race.

Alright – enough of that.  

After my struggles and getting back to town, I headed across the river to the hilly part of the race.  The first portion of the hilly side averaged around 13:26 per mile and, yes, I purposely walked up a portion of one of the hills and half of another.  I wanted to ensure that I was running at the end.  And those were the last two times I walked.  The last 3.3 miles I ran up the long hill of Barton Ave., down the other side, and then to the finish at a pace of 11:51 per mile – the fastest split since mile 8.  I was pleased that I was able to run that much at the end and actually increase my speed during the very last split.

Overall, I feel very good about my run.  This was a VERY hard marathon with the hills being placed where they were.  And while I did walk more that I wanted, I averaged a 12:04 pace for the entire run and passed 219 people.  I am very pleased that I passed people instead of being passed.  Normally it's the other way around, so that makes me happy!  And most of all, I am happy that when I found the suck, I did embrace it, deal with it, and push through it.  

THE FINISH

There is nothing else that can compare to an Ironman finish chute and finish line!  What an amazing experience – it literally is what all of our training is geared towards.  Coming back down the hill that we had started up at the begging of the run, it was dark and there were not many people.  But then the road curves to the left and I saw the massive crowd of people cheering, waving flags, etc.  It was amazing.  I came up to the chute, picked up my pace some more and gave people high fives as I ran by.  Just soaking in the moment!  I approached the finish line, heard Mike Riley (the voice of Ironman) announce that I was an Ironman, raised my arms, and came across the line.  

Crystal was volunteering as a Finish Line Catcher, so I was looking for her as I crossed.  But the lights were bright and I really couldn’t see.  I saw a volunteer in front of me with glasses, but quickly realized she was not Crystal.  The volunteer put my medal on, walked me to have my timing chip removed, and then I saw Crystal walking towards me.  I dropped my volunteer and gave Crystal a big hug embracing the moment.  She walked me to get my hat and t-shirt, got me some chocolate milk, and sat me down on some cases of Sprite cans.  I sat, we talked, I composed myself, and then headed back to the hotel.  She had already gotten my bike and gear bags and had taken them to our room, so all I had to do was get to the room.  I walked back, ordered room service, showered, and collapsed.  

And that my friends is my race report for Ironman Chattanooga.  This will be my last full Ironman for a while.  I have some new things coming up that will take up much of my time, so I will be cutting back to half IM’s and Olympics as I will not be able to put in the time it takes to properly train for a full IM for a while.

Until next time…

Toughman Alabama

Wow!  Been a while since my last post from IM Wisconsin.  But while I have not posted much, I have been training hard and have actually lost a good bit of weight.  And did my 1st race of the season this past weekend - Toughman Alabama!  A half "iron" distance (70.3 miles) race in nearby Pell City.  Total time was 6:51, way off my PR from 2 years ago at Augusta.  Details from each leg below. 

Going into this race, I had not trained specifically for it nor did I do any kind of taper as would normally be done for a race this long.  I am in the middle of training for IM Chattanooga and this race was more or less a long training day.  Given that, I did not expect my times to be that great and I was a bit nervous going in.

The Friday before the race I worked a normal day but left a couple of hours early so I could drive to Pell City to pick up my race packet.  I also dropped off my bike in transitions so I would not have to mess with it Saturday morning.  Kourey let me borrow his Zipp 808's which was quite nice.  After dropping off the bike, I headed back home to relax with the fam.

For dinner, I went with the "all liquid" diet again like I have done in the past.  It consisted of 1 Naked Juice, 1 bottle of sports drink, 1/2 bottle of chocolate milk, and 1/2 bottle of POM juice.  The next morning my breakfast was a bowl of apple sauce with protein powder mixed in.  I did forget the banana but in the end, it didn't matter.

I woke up at 4am and had the breakfast mentioned above, got my gear and headed up to Pell City.  I got there a little after 5am and proceeded to get my nutrition bottles set up.  I had 1hr Infinit in a Speedfill up front and a 2hr bottle on my downtube.  I did not carry anything else on the bike - used the bottle drops to get my water.  I carried a Fuel Belt for the run that had two 1.5hr bottles of Infinit.

SWIM

The swim was a wave start and I was in a group that started out at 640am.  It was a straight out swim where we turned back at a sharp angle towards the transition area.  1.2 miles and I was pathetically slow at 1 hour 4 mins.  While it was very uneventful, it was the worst, slowest swim I have ever done.  I have not trained that hard for my swim this year, but honestly, I never really have.  I suppose I could have pushed a bit harder, but at the end, I felt pretty good physically.  I ran up to transitions and got ready for my bike.

T1

Nothing really special.  I wore my tri-shorts all day, so I didn't have to change anything.  I put on my heart rate monitor, shirt, helmet, glasses, shoes, and headed to the bike mount.  Nothing else to really report.

BIKE

I had not been on the bike course, so I was unsure of what to expect.  My legs were not feeling that great, so I didn't really push too hard the entire way.  I wanted so bad to be able to run the entire run course, I just didn't want to push it.  In hindsight, I probably could have gone harder b/c I felt pretty decent on the run.

Having Kourey's Zipps was awesome!   I've never ridden with wheels like that and it was fun!  The course, for me, was quite challenging. Lots of hills, some very steep.  While I have lost a ton of weight, I am still a "big guy", so hills are more challenging for me than the skinny folks.  But nonetheless, I thought it was a fun course and the volunteers were great!  My nutrition plan worked perfectly and I had no issues.

I dropped my chain 3 times on the bike and also stopped for a few mins to help someone who was changing a flat tube.  Not sure the total time I lost doing all this, but I would guess less than 10 mins.  My total time was 3:09, way off my PR from Augusta in 2012 of 2:51.  But considering the hills and extra stops, I am somewhat pleased.  I do feel I left some on the table by not going as hard as I could have.  Live and learn, I suppose.

T2

Again, nothing special - I just dropped off the bike, got my Fuel Belt and running shoes, and changed sunglasses.  Then headed out for the run.

RUN

The run, like the bike, was full of hills.  There were a few stretches of flat - but those were in the direct sunlight, so they were HOT!  At least many of the hills had stretches of shade.  I finished in (for me) a respectable 2:31 just a few mins off my PR.  And with tons more hills and heat than in that race.  I started the run going as slow as I could knowing I would need my legs at the end if I didn't want to walk.  That, combined with going easy on the bike helped me in running the whole way - well - except for at the aid stations where I did walk and a few of the hills.  I purposely chose to walk some of the steeper hills because I didn't think I should crush up them only to cause myself to walk the flats later. 

Again, not a lot to repot.  The aid stations were great, volunteers awesome, course challenging but fun.  My nutrition worked well so I think I have my plan for Chatty.

END

As I came down the finisher's shoot, the end was more of a relief than exciting.  I was just ready to be done - my heart was not really into this race.  I am glad I did it because it confirmed my nutrition plan is good and I did learn a couple of things.  I also gained some confidence on my run, but am a bit worried about the bike. 

After the race, I got my hat and medal and went to sit for a bit under some tents that had cold water spraying all over.  It felt good.  I then went to get my bike from transition, collected my gear, dumped them in the car, changed clothes and went to eat something.  I had post race pizza and a Coke.  I saw a few folks and said "HI", then headed home.

Overall, I am somewhat pleased with the race.  But there are a lot of opportunities to get faster/do better for Chattanooga.  I have 6 weeks left before that - but only 4 "real" training weeks because of the 2 week taper.  So I have to double down and hit it HARD if I want to improve any.

And, that, my friends is my race report.  Have a groovy day!!

Ironman Wisconsin

Wow!  It has certainly been a while since my last post!  Lots of work travel, life, a couple of bike crashes, blah blah blah.  Anyway - on to more important things...

I started this blog in 2011 with hopes of going from "couch" to becoming an "Ironman".  This race - IM Wisconsin -  is the culmination of that effort!  When I started this blog, I wasn't really starting from the couch - I had done a couple of sprint distance tri's and a couple of half marathons.  But the thought of doing an actual full Ironman was daunting and seemed to be out of reach.  One can only dream, right??  And sometimes, dreams do come true!

I signed up for IM Wisconsin the day registration opened last year with high hopes and expectations.  I was in the middle of training for what was to become a great Augusta 70.3 race and was feeling very good.  After Augusta, I took some time off, then started training pretty hard in the outseason.  Then in January, things started to change - I had to give up my membership to Endurance Nation, work travel went up, and my desire to train went down, and I gained some weight.

I won't bore you with all the details, but let's just say that this year was less than optimal as far as nutrition and training were concerned.  I never really lost the weight I had gained and my training was way off.  Granted, I did train hard for this race and put in a lot of time.  But not nearly the time I had hoped or expected - and certainly not enough to have raced a competitive race.  Going in, my goal was to just finish within the time limit.  When I signed up, my "BHAG" goal was sub-12 hours.

THE DRIVE UP:

Going into the weekend, I had become super excited and quite nervous!  I was traveling alone, but found a lot of support and encouragement from other competitors I had met on Facebook and even got to meet some of them.  That really helped a lot - and the support from friends and family back home was incredible!!

I started the drive up to Madison on the Thursday before the race.  I left Alabaster at around 7:30am and got to Madison around 9pm.  I got caught in Birmingham rush hour which delayed actually getting out of town.  I then cruised up I-65 and made my first stop in Clarksville, TN, just past Nashville.  I gassed up, got some Chick-fil-a and got back on the road.

Shortly after Clarksville, I hit heavy road construction in Paducah, KY.  I probably lost at least 45 mins stitting in traffic there.  Once past that, I headed into Illinois, which, honestly - sucked!!  The max speed in IL is only 65 and about every 10-20 miles, the speed drops to 55 or 45 because of construction.  This continued for almost the entire way up Illinois.  When I reached Champagne, I stopped again for gas and dinner at Subway - and then got the hell out of IL!!

 The only cool thing about Illinois was there were a ton of huge windmills on the sides of the road.  I've never seen so many and that was pretty neat.


It was dark by the time I got to Wisconsin and I was getting tired of driving - so I just kept plugging away until I got to the hotel. I stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn in Middleton, WI, about 9 miles from downtown where all the festivities were.  Once I got to the hotel, I unloaded my stuff, watched some football, and went to bed.

FRIDAY:

I got up at around 630am Friday morning and went and did a quick easy 25min run on the hotel treadmill.  I then had an omelet and toast for breakfast and headed to Monona Terrace for athlete check in.  Check in opened at 9am and I got there at around 9:10am.  I would have been sooner but I typed the wrong address into my GPS and went to the wrong side of the lake (I am very directionally challenged!).  I then had a hard time finding parking.


Once inside the hotel, finding registration was easy, although took a while.  I wasn't very late, but the lines were somewhat long by then.  It took a little less than an hour to get through the lines.  The volunteers were very friendly and very helpful!

Our "goody bag" consisted of a back pack, license plate frame, a poster, a luggage tag, and a bunch of other miscellaneous junk.  We also got our 5 race bags (morning clothes, bike, run, bike special needs, run special needs).







 






After registration, I headed to the Endurance Nation Four Keys Talk to meet some folks and to hear the coaches give instruction on race execution and other key topics.  There were appx. 300 people there and the information was fantastic!!  After the talk, I collected a few "BOOM!!!" tattos that I wore on race day.



After the talk, I went to Subway for lunch, went back to the expo and took a bunch of pictures while waiting until the 2pm athlete briefing.  Saw some people I knew, shopped a little, and then went to the briefing.  Basically I tried to soak up everything I could while I was there.

 

After that, I went back to the car and returned to my hotel.  I unloaded my bags, took it easy for a bit and made a grocery list.  After chilling for a bit, I headed to REI for arm warmers (for the run because the weather forecast was for chilly weather at night on race day) and then the grocery store for my liquid dinner on Saturday.  I also grabbed some Diet Coke and water, then headed back to the hotel to load the fridge.


After the fridge was loaded, I then headed back downtown to try and meet some of the Facebook people, but could not find a parking spot.  All lots were either full or would not take dollar bills (I had no coins), and the street spots were all full.  After about 20 mins of driving around, I eventually gave up and went back to the hotel where I ordered room service and watched TV.  That might have been the best option anyway because I had been on my feet all day anyway and I could feel it in my legs.  Saturday was to be a very light day of activity.

SATURDAY:

On Saturday, I tried sleeping late, but woke up at 4am and had a hard time getting back to sleep.  Then again at 6am - finally up at 730am.  Got dressed and headed down for breakfast which consisted of a 3 egg omelet, a waffle and syrup.  Oh - and coffee - lots of coffee.  After breakfast, I packed the bike and bike and run bags and took everything to the car for bike check in.  I was on the road by 9:15am and in line for bike check in about 10 mins early.

Bike check in was quick and easy - they even took a picture of my bike before I rolled it into transition.  While waiting in line, I met a couple from Kansas who had raced KS 70.3 in 2012 when I did - that was when the wind was crazy and the lake was choppy!  We swapped stories about that race which helped pass the time while in line.

After racking my bike, I took my bags to their rooms, took more pictures, then went back to the car.  I didn't want to stay too long and get all jazzed up with the energy - I needed to get calm to keep myself from freaking out!

Once at the hotel, I chilled until lunchtime.  At Augusta last year, I found that the Club on a Sub at Firehouse Subs was the perfect "last meal" before the race - after this last meal, I would be on liquid nutrition until after the race.  So I aimed to duplicate that experience.  I found a Firehouse nearby and went to have my large Club on a Sub, baked lays, and Diet Coke.  And then headed back to the hotel for some R&R.

I basically did nothing the rest of the day.  Watched college football, kept up with Facebook, and watched a few episodes of Breaking Bad on Netflix.  Since the Club on a Sub was my last solid food, my afternoon and evening food selections were all liquid.  As I watched Georgia dismantle South Carolina, I sipped on a sports drink.  I then had 1 bottle of Naked Juice protein drink, some chocolate milk, and some pomegranate juice.  I also had 1 beer from the hotel bar, packed my special needs bags and morning clothes bag and was in bed by 9pm.  Again, following the same routine from Augusta last year which worked so well.

RACE MORNING:

I set the alarm for 1am and 330am because I wanted to eat twice during the night.  At 1am, I had another Naked Juice protein drink and prompty went back to sleep.  And I actually had no trouble getting back to sleep!  At 330, I shot up and had 1 cup of applesauce with protein powder mixed in and 1 banana.  Ok - I guess technically the banana is solid, but it worked out well.

My nutrition plan for the race was two separate formulas of Infinit Nutrition.  I packed two 3hr bottles for the bike and four 1.5hr flasks for the run.  Both formulas are custom made from Infinit - the bike has 300 calories/hr, more complex carbohydrates, electrolytes, a little protein and no caffeine.  The run formula has 245 cals/hr, less complex carbs, electrolytes, no protein, and with caffeine. 

The athlete guide said there would be parking a couple of miles away from Monona Terrace at a $6 fee with shuttle buses.  I was not interested in that, so I wanted to make sure I got there in time to get a downtown parking spot.  I left as soon as I got dressed and grabbed the bags and headed to Monona Terrace.  I easily found a good spot in a parking garage, carried my special needs bags to the designated drop site and went to check on my bike.

I got there before transition opened, so I went and made sure I could find my bike and run bags then waited for transition to open.  Once opened, I got in line for body marking, then went to check on the bike.  I also put my nutrition bottles on and made sure I had air in my tires.  Thanks to my bike neighbor for letting me borrow your pump!!  I then went back inside, found a spot to chill and just sat for a while.

At some point, I had a Gu gel with some water while I was waiting.  At around 620am, I collected my morning clothes bag and headed down to the lake.  Once there, I made a pit stop at the porta-potty for my last deposit of the day, donned my wetsuit, and got into the water at around 6:45am.

I swam around a little bit to get warmed up, but mostly just floated while waiting.  I positioned myself near the front to the right of the ski ramp.  The cannon for the pro's went off at 6:50 and then our cannon went off at 7am.  It was on!!








Ok - race details.  All were obviously PR's since this was my first full Ironman.


Overall time:  16:27:45
Swim:  1:50:55
Bike:  7:37:12
Run:  6:36:55

THE SWIM:

When the cannon went off, I calmly started swimming and started counting strokes.  I knew it was going to be a long swim, so no sense in getting all frisky to start with.  Because of the winds (15-20mph from accounts I heard), the lake was fairly choppy which made the swim interesting.  Because of the experience I had at Kansas in 2012 (mentioned earlier), I knew what to expect and didn't freak out.  The main problem I had was that I couldn't see the buoy's very well.  Because I started so far to the right of them, it took me a while to get close to them - and once I did, I actually ran into one of them at one point.  A couple of time, I had to stop swimming so I could find the buoy - I wish they were taller or something.  Anyway, I kept plugging away until I finished.  Pretty uneventful swim.  I am fairly slow, but seem to be able to swim as long as I want without getting tired.  I had expected to finish between 1:40 and 2:00 - so I met my expectations exactly!

At this race, after getting out of the water, you have to run up a parking garage helix - referred to as simply "the helix" at the race.  I may have typed "run", but I actually walked up it after having someone help strip the wetsuit off.  Think of the circular ramps on some parking garages - yeah - that thing!  We went up that to the 4th floor where transition was.





T1:

I got to the swim-bike room, grabbed my bag and went to the changing room.  I took off my tri-shorts that I had worn under my wetsuit, put on bike shorts and my tri top - lubed up my "area", put on my socks/shoes, helmet, gloves, etc. and ran out to get my bike.  The volunteers were incredibily helpful during this entire process - from handing me my bag, helping me change and organize my stuff, putting my wetsuit back in my bike bag for me, to grabbing my bike from the rack.  Awesome!!

After getting my bike, I ran it to the mount line, mounted, and rode down the other helix to start my 112 mile bike ride.  Up to this point, I must confess, I had never ridden more than 86 miles or longer than 5.5 hours.  But I felt confident in being able to complete the ride. 

THE BIKE:

The Madison bike course is considered to be one of the tougher bike courses in the US Ironman circuit.  The course is hilly with a couple of challenging ones, and there are few opportunities to relax and just ride.  There are always things to do - change gears, turn, uphill, downhill, on and on.  That, plus the wind, made for a long day on the bike.  It is also considered a "lollipop" course because it goes out for 16 miles (the stick), has two 40 miles loops (the lollipop), and back 16 miles (the stick again).

I had predicted a bike split of 7:15 - 7:30 which wasn't very far off.  One of the major take aways from my time with EN was to not leave everything out on the bike.  So regardless of the conditions (hills, wind, etc), I tried to maintain a steady pedal stroke.  I don't have a power meter, but I tried keeping my HR and effort low.  I knew if I pushed for 112 miles, I would be dead on the run.

Given all that, I absolutely loved the bike course.  I used the stick part of the course to just settle in and get comfortable - enjoying the sights.  Once I hit the loops, I knew the hills would be coming up.  At around mile 20, I got a flat on my front tube.  No idea what happened - I don't recall hitting anything.  I pulled over, changed the tube in about 10 mins (I am slow, yes), and got back on my way.  I knew there was nothing I could do about that, so I tried not to let it bother me - I still had a lot of miles to cover and didn't want that messing with my head.

I eventually settled in to the ride and loved the presence on the course from the fans and volunteers!  Everyone was cheering and yelling encouraging things!  Loved the signs!  I felt really special - especially going up some of the tougher hills.  It felt like I was riding in the Tour de France with the crowds lining the streets, the costumes, cheering, running beside us!  It was awesome and really helped get up the hills!

Halfway through - right after starting the 2nd loop, I hit special needs and re-lubed my "area", got a new tube for my tires in case I got another flat, swapped nutrition bottles, and went on my way.  It felt good to stop for a little bit and stretch.

The 2nd loop was uneventful and because I was so slow, many of the fans had left - most likely to head back downtown to watch the run.  I felt very appreciative of the ones who did stick around and to the volunteers.

Upon completing the 2nd loop, I hitched a ride on the stick back to downtown.  On the 1st half of this section, I really felt the impact of the wind.  There were some fairly straight stretches on what seemed like flat roads, but the wind really seemed to push back.  I just plugged away until we changed directions and I seemed to find some speed again.  When I saw we were close, I started getting excited as I was very ready to be off that bike!  When we got back to Monona Terrace, we had to bike back up the helix to transition where we gave our bikes to someone to rack for us.

T2:

I ran into the bike-run room, grabbed my run bag and headed into the changing room.  I took off my bike shorts, shoes, sox, helmet, and glasses and a kindly volunteer helped me change.  I put on new shorts, new socks and my running shoes.  I also put on my race number and my Fuel belt which had 2 bottles of nutrition for the run.  Oh - and my running visor.  And I headed out on my way out of transition.  The run was two 13.1 mile loops.

THE RUN:

At this point, I have no recollection of the first couple of miles other than my right side felt like it was cramping.  I have no idea how I got out of transition and onto the road, which direction I went in or anything like that.  I just have a few flashes of images of being downtown for those 1st couple of miles.

I do remember making the decision that I would not be able to run the entire course.  With the lack of training, that was just not in the cards.  Because of that, I decided that if I ran "close" to half of every mile, I would make the time cut off with time to spare should something unexpected come up later.  Because "half of every mile" is hard to track, (my GPS watch battery was not going to last much longer than the bike portion, so I turned it off so I could have my watch for the run), I decided the easiest thing to keep up with would be to run for 5 minutes after every aid station.  There were aid stations at approximately every mile - and running for 5 minutes at approximately every mile would get me to the finish in time.  So that's what I did.  And when I walked, I walked as fast as I could - constantly calculating my pace in my head based on time and the mile markers.

Just as with the bike, the volunteers and fans during the run were absolutely amazing!!  At certain points, especially along State street, we just felt like rock stars!!  Just incredible - and it helped feeding off of their energy!!

One cool thing was that we got to run (or walk) on the University of Wisconsin football field - once for each loop.  That was neat getting to run on that carpeted field.

At the halfway point, near the capital, was the run special needs area.  I stopped and swapped nutrition bottles.  I carried 2 and had 2 more in my special needs bag.  I elected not to wear the arm warmers I had previously purchased because it wasn't that cool to me.  I also didn't change socks, which would come back to haunt me later.

After leaving special needs, I continued my "run 5 mins for each aid station" routine until about mile 16 or 18 - somewhere in there.  At around that time, I had done the calculations and knew that I was safe with finishing in time if I just continued to walk and stop running.  At that point of my day, my "run" wasn't much faster than my fast walk anyway, so I decided to stop running and just power walk the rest of the way.  Unless I slowed to a crawl, or just collapsed, I knew I would finish.  And with no time goals in mind, that was all I was intent on doing anyway.

Now, back to the socks.  One of the other reasons why I chose to stop running was because I was developing a blister on the bottom of my right foot.  I could tell my socks were wet and were rubbing on my foot - step after step, mile after mile - until the blister formed.  The walking didn't help much, but it was better than the running, I think.  By the time I did finish, the blister hurt like hell and was about the size of a silver dollar.  Shoulda' changed those socks to dry ones, I guess!

During the walking portions of the race, I met quite a few people who were in similar shape as me - I don't remember any of their names, but I enjoyed the company and the exchanges of encouragement.  Some areas of the run course are dark and desolate - and it was nice to have some company along those stretches.  As people came and went, the miles just kept piling up and I was getting closer to the finish.  I remember hitting the 23 mile mark and the lady I was walking with and I talked about how all we had left was a 5k - something that would have been considered a quick, easy run session during our training.  Just an easy 5k.  But this was one tough as hell 5k - especially with the blister and the slowing of our pace. 

THE FINISH:

Coming to the last mile, I realized I was indeed going to become an Ironman.  Barring some catastrophic event, it was going to actually happen and I started to get excited!  I wanted to run the chute towards the finish line, so as soon as I got to near the capital, I started my slow jog.  Coming down the chute was one of the most amazing and thrilling things of my life!  Being in the middle with the blue "Ironman" logos on the signs on each side - all of the fans screaming - and Mike Reilly in the middle of the lane near the finish waiting for me.  As I approached I heard the words I had waited over a hear to hear...  "Greg Babb.  You.  Are.  An Ironman!!"  As he and all of the spectators screamed it!!  Wow!!  Simply amazing - something I will never forget!!  Oh - and I then had about 10-20 more feet to run to get to the actual finish. 

I was so dazed at that point, I nearly forgot to raise my hands in celebration as I crossed.  I immediately was "caught" by 2 very kind volunteers who grabbed me, got me my medal, have me some chocolate milk, and walked me to the finisher picture area.

I continued to be out of it at this point and just went with the flow - and by looking at my finisher picture, that is evident. I think I was blinking, but you can still see the exhaustion in my face. 

AFTER THE RACE:

After the picture, I went to the food tent to sit - tried to have some pizza but nearly threw up.  Tried a Diet Coke because I had been craving one for hours, but that too almost made me throw up.  So I settled on water and just sat for a little while and listened to the other finishers behind me come through.  How exciting!!

I eventually got composed and made my way back to the transition area to collect my bags and bike.  I found my morning clothes bag and changed back into the clothes I had been wearing way back since before I put on my wetsuit.  I also texted Crystal to let her know I had finished and then went to get my bike.  I grabbed it, all of my bags, and hauled it back to the car.

By the time I got back to the hotel, I was getting hungry, but because it was near midnight, nothing was open.  So I grabbed some food from the hotel pantry, heated it up in the microwave in the room and had a bit to eat.  After a refreshing shower, I collapsed in the bed and tried to sleep.

And that, my friends, was my Ironman Wisconsin experience!!  I again want to thank my family, friends, the race staff, volunteers, fans and spectators!!  This was truely a life changing experience!!

WHAT'S NEXT?:

My next adventure??  I can, without a shadow of doubt, will NEVER do another race or event this far out of shape.  This event has firmly planted in my mind that I will drop the weight and get in shape.  So after a week of "doing whatever the hell I want", I will begin the process of dropping the weight and getting healthier.  My goals for 2014:

- Mercedes Full Marathon in February - sub 5 hours is my goal.  I will mainly be doing marathon training over the winter with some very select, specialized bike riding just to maintain some bike fitness.  I know this is contrary to the EN philosophy of not doing a marathon, but it is just something I want to do - run a "real" marathon.

- A 70.3 race sometime in the late spring/early summer.  Perhaps Nola, Raleigh, or Kansas again.  I would like to do sub-6 hours again like I did at Augusta.

- Ironman Chattanooga. Yes, I will again go with a BHAG goal of sub 12 hours with more "realistic" goal of sub 13 hours.  After the weight loss and improving my running, plus the swim being in a river will set me up well to do much much better at Chattanooga!

Until next time...