Swim (:53): Most comfortable IM swim; got on some feet and cruised. Can you imagine a swim any more glassy? Plus, it’s fun to have such a nice view of the downtown capital area.
Bike (5:16): Led the amateur overall for about 20-30 minutes somewhere early in the Verona loop. Loved the three spectator hills that we got to do twice. Generally felt strong, ate and drank well. Guess I was wrong (see run).
Run (DNF): Comfortable for the first 3-4 miles. Ate the most nasty, warm chocolate gel at the aid station under the bridge. Started to fall apart at mile 8, was walking by mile 10 and throwing up by mile 18, where I dropped out.
Synopsis: Went too hard in the bike. DUH. (See other thread about slow run times at IMMoo). I just spent too much time above my thresholds. Stupid, right? Why do we do this? But, even the most experienced people make these mistakes. Did you noticed that almost 50% of the pro men either dropped out or were reduced to that run/walk shuffle? Now, at least a few of them were injury/mechanical, etc., but most of them were probably caused by the same mistakes we AGers make.
Other observations: IMMoo should be a really fun race. Love the crowds. And it continues to amaze me how well organized these IM races are.
Special thanks: Rich Heilman, it was nice to meet you during our lame 90 minute run/walk shuffle together. Lets not screw up again, ok?
My one/only IM so far, I was actually a bit disappointed in a comparatively slow bike split, but one of the few nuggets of gold culled from the many hours wasted here on ST was all the testimonials/admonitions like yours not to overcook the bike, so that was the mantra I kept reminding myself the whole way. I think a lot of it just boils down to experience; even though I hadn’t done an IM before, I’ve done enough other races and endurance efforts to have developed that discipline to not get caught up in the moment. I still faded on the run and my time wasn’t very fast, but as running is my weakest leg of the 3 by far anyway, just being able to run the whole way and not fading even worse it definitely counts as a success for me as far as the bike pacing went.
Big congrats to racing at Wisco.
I, also, was expecting a faster bike split this year than what I ended up with. At my prep HIM I averaged 22mph followed by a solid run, at altitude. Race weight was 200 lbs in Wisco and I think that was my major limiter, all that ups and downs prevented my from accessing any top end. I ended up averaging 20mph and 187W followed by a run that faded hard in the middle but I was able to bring back somewhat to make it in 11:50. A disappointing overall time, but ended up being exactly the same OA placing as a 10:59 at Arizona the previous year (19%).
Right after the first turn onto Whalen on the first hill I was astonished that every person I could see get out of the saddle, hammer up the hill and then coast down the back side. I rode a standard crank set and 12-25 and I was still able to apply power on almost every downhill. I use a power meter, but I don’t find it terribly useful in a real time sense, more or less as a post ride analysis thing.
In addition to the climbing, I think the course was deceptively technical as there were a huge amount of opportunities to scrub speed. Lots of turns, rail road tracks, roads, off camber downhill turns, and right hand turns into steep a$$ climbs all take a toll that doesn’t register as woekm but does slow you down over 112. Not preaching to you, I don’t know how you rode, just more or less musing to myself. My first IM was AZ last year and its like two entirely different races, the courses are so different. Also, I got all freaked out because there were far more people walking the first lap at Wisco than at Az. I thought I was in like last place. Lots of pro’s and obviously elite athletes walking.
What totally freaks me out is how strong the guys that are averaging 24mph and not impacting their run speed. That’s HUGE fitness. My speed that won’t impair my run is probably 18 mph or something, but its impossible for me to ride that slow. I’d rather sit on the couch all day!
On the bright side…you’ve got the first two thirds of the race figured out! 
My buddy told me that if 90% of his adventures didn’t end in absolute failure then he wasn’t trying hard enough. I’m not sure I’d go that far, but some days you race to finish, other days you race to win. There’s no shame in going all out and blowing up – it happens to everyone. Lesson learned. Recover, reload, get 'em next time.
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On the bright side…you’ve got the first two thirds of the race figured out!
Of course, that’s not true. Maybe I have the swim figured out. The silly thing is that many of us go into an Ironman with a very good sense of what we are capable of, and then during the race itself, we fool ourselves into thinking there is more there. I rode at least a few hours with a HR 5 beats higher than I was targetting. Why? That was a race-day decision totally at odds with what I should have been doing. Stupid move. Oh well…