the two highlights of the race (my first oly) for me were getting out of the water and seeing 14 minutes on my watch (yes, I swam the correct distance and no, it wasn’t 1500m or even close), and getting stopped with several others on the bike course due to a train going by. I laughed, but the others didn’t appreciate the humor. the worst part was the run, but at least I only had to do one lap.
I think we all set PRs in the swim (mine was 7:25 for a “half mile”). They can shorten the swim any time as far as I’m concerned.
Hey, I was there with you waiting for the train. It sure didn’t seem like anyone was getting too worked up. What did surprise me though was that no one was keeping track of how long they actually waited. I couldn’t as I didn’t have a watch on, but I was curious cause mentally I wanted to adjust my time.
How did it impact your overall standing, if at all.
Oh well, what can you do trains are bigger then our bikes!
well, I didn’t have to unclip, I just slowed down because it had almost passed by the time I got there. I wasn’t in the running for a medal, so it didn’t bother me.
Ah, you were one of the lucky ones. I was actaully thinking, that I wish I had that kind of timing. Did you enjoy the run? Always a nice challenge - glad I didn’t have to do it twice like the 1/2.
I got out of the water for the 1/2 iron swim in 22 minutes–6 minutes faster than my Chicago olympic swim 2 weeks ago. I think for the 1/2 you need to adjust the times up by 75%.
God those hills were brutal.
LOL…they never do let us down north of the Cheddar Curtain now do they…LOL…“yeah, just eye ball the bouys”…
Why don’t they just pay some kid on the high school swim team 50 bucks to swim his appx time for half the distance and then just stick the buoy where he stops. I mean, jeez, 75% off? How can you be 75% off?
I think the Race Director eyeballs the buoys. Maybe he wants to give people a bit of a break becuase the run course is an absolute brute. The short swim is just a part of the experience of the race. Along with the “open” race course, long line at Gordy’s to pick up race bag, no transition area security that matches bib numbers to bikes, etc. etc… This race can be a bit chaotic, but I must admit I really enjoyed it.
Does your wife wear studded leather and carry a whip to bed…just curious…
Sorry, no leather or whips. I guess I like pain. I could not believe some of those hills on the run. It was really tough.
I have done quite a few races and this one was definitely memorable.
I could not believe some of those hills on the run.
Heh Heh. I had a chance to talk to another guy on the course. I remarked that I was glad they labelled “Frank’s Killer Hill” b/c I would not have known which of the four IT actually was. Then we spent a few minutes coming up with colorful names for the hills that were not the “Killer Hill”.
He also thought it was quite funny that I chose this course (1/2IM) as my first race. I got that quite a bit … especially standing in line for an hour at the reigistration & pick-up line.
I don’t know what you guys are talking about … that last buoy was 0.7 miles away from the beach. =)
I honestly worried when you picked this as your first half IM…knowing what the history is there in Lake Geneva, I hoped it would go OK for you. Sounds like you handled the day pretty well. The weather for the most part was OK and that helped.
The thing about this race (regardless of which distance you do)is that it really does have a great venue and is challenging…the rolling hills, that run course, etc. If Frank could just really do things two or three notches higher, (swim course measurement, streamlined packet pick-up, course management, etc) it would really be a destination race. In some ways he has improved it quite a bit from a few years back…and people do turn out. It’s just that race management has come so far in other places. Props to him and his team for the improvements…keep at it.
I felt pretty good out there and had a decent day… 17 out of 491 in the sprint and 2nd in the Age Group. I could have used a properly marked swim to play to my strengh…but hey, I imagine our day went pretty well compared to the folks down along the Gulf Coast.
Congrats on your race.
I honestly worried when you picked this as your first half IM…
Thanks for the concern. I talked with quite a few folks before the race, and I got a mixture of concern and respect for choosing this race as my first race. Certainly I could have went the shorter distances, but the appeal is not there for me.
Honestly, I was somewhat naive and picked my race based on location and date, rather than course. I live in North Central Illinois, and well … in the Midwest you’re not gonna find any/many courses that aren’t hilly and humid (LG was about as hilly as I can imagine).
knowing what the history is there in Lake Geneva, I hoped it would go OK for you. Sounds like you handled the day pretty well.
The horrible performance in the swim bothers me. Not so much b/c it was bad, but because I panicked rather than staying clam and dealing with it. The cramps all through the run don’t really bother me b/c I did what I could. I felt great mentally and fitness-wsie coming off the bike, my legs just didn’t work.
My wife tells me I am doing the race again next year … she loved where we stayed in Williams Bay. I don’t have any hills here the Killer Hill (or it’s three brothers), but I could guesstimate that a good number of my prep workouts involve running the bleachers at the football field or running the stairs in the school building.
The weather for the most part was OK and that helped.
We had a stretch in July where the heat index was over 100 degrees (high humidity) every day for 10 days … I purposely trained outside from 11:00 to 2:00 to get a taste of what horrendous weather would be like. I thought the weather at LGET was wonderful.
I’m really anxious to get training and headed toward redemption.
TT – you should consider the Racine 1/2 IM. Excellent organization, very well run, good course/venue, close to your location, the run course is flat as a pancake. I thought everything about the race was first class. The race is at the end of July and the heat was blistering this past year, temps were around 100 that day for the run.
I tell ya what … all thoughts of doing an IM-distance (Redman) race are gone for me, as I am happy with the challenge that 1/2IM presents. I could very well do Little Smokies (end of May), Racine (end of July), and LG (early September). I have foregone the allure of a new (more expensive bike) in favor of doing more races and giving more money to charity/church.
In July is perfect because me and (most of) my family are on summer vacation from teaching, so we can stay a few days and enjoy the wonderous outdoors that is Wisconsin. My family just loved being at the race/venue.
My only complaint was all the green and yellow (Packers) in stores. I almost puked everytime I went into a department and/or grocery store.
“God those hills were brutal.”
I actually like the 5k run at Lake Geneva, knowing that the 2nd half is mostly downhill. I don’t know why, but I do better on the hilly 5k run at Lake Geneva (19:40 and 19:44 last two years) than on the flat 5k run at Accenture Chicago (20:30 and 21:28 last two years). Maybe Accenture Chicago is long, Lake Geneva is short, or my ancestors lived in the Irish mountains.
"I felt pretty good out there and had a decent day… 17 out of 491 in the sprint and 2nd in the Age Group.
"
I was right behind you at 18th ( well, if a minute constitutes “right behind”).
I posted on Friday that the 1/2 IM bike course was mostly flat–that’s how I remembered it from the last time at least.
I was a little surprised to find it wasn’t and that it was much more technical than I remembered.
Anyway…how hard can it be to get the swim in the ballpark? Same thing happened at the Aurora Baycare 1/2 IM in Appleton. I don’t get it.
The bike was long by a mile and change too. I know it’s anal, but there’s nothing wrong with telling the athletes that it’s going to be a 1200m swim, 57.2 mile bike and 13.7 mile run. And then give us our pace based on those times. Everyone’s doing the same race.
Even adjusting the swim, I did a new PR–so I can’t complain too much.
Congrats to all finishers.
Are those measurements what they “actually” were or are you just throwing them out there?
Not that it’s crucial or anything, but it would be interesting know.