I guess I will start with signing up last year. After being a spectator at Ironman Wisconsin for 3 years I decided it was time to give it a go myself. I stayed till midnight before heading out on the 5hr drive back home, hit a large bird and smashed my windshield about 30minutes outside of madison and arrived home in time to get 40 minutes of sleep before having to get ready for work. Not the best conditions to make a decision on something as big as doing an Ironman but it seemed like a good decision at the time. I then spent the next couple weeks freaking out about what I had done.
So the training began and although with work, girlfriend, etc. I was able to stay close to my training plan. Then in July my job was cut, I was offered another job about 3.5 hours away which I took. This really threw a wrench in to my training as I no longer had any training partners, had to find places to swim and bike routes, plus the whole packing and moving made training very difficult for a while. Got back with the training plan and arrived at Moo with a goal to finish. A year ago I thought that a sum 14hr race was very doable for me but with everything I threw that goal away and decided to give it a go.
Did all the pre-race stuff on friday and saturday, parents got in town saturday afternoon and went to eat dinner with them. Had to pick up a few things at shopko and then back to Verona where I was staying. Finished laying everything out that I needed to take with me in the morning. Got to bed by 10:30pm and slept amazingly well.
Woke up at 4:30, took a shower, got everything loaded and headed to the race. Threw a few things in my transistion bags and finally got out of the terrace at 6:30. Got my wetsuit on and headed down to the swim start. I didnt get in the water till about 6:55 so things were getting a little tight on time.
Cannon goes off and away we go. I tried to stay relaxed and draft as much as possible. Found myself swimming off to the right on the first length of the swim but got straightened out and swam just inside the buoy line the rest of the swim. Finished in 1:30 which is pretty close to what I had predicted.
Took my time in transition, stopped at the port-o-potty and headed out on the bike. Took it easy till I got to Verona where I started to pick up the pace a bit. At Mt. Horeb the heat was starting to get to me, my back was killing me and I was finding it almost impossible to stay in the aero bars for any length of time. As I was stretching, one of the volunteers poured a cold bottle of water over me which was very refreshing. When I got going again I felt great, had energy and generally felt like I could do this. I pushed it pretty good to Cross Plains where I again stopped to stretch, grabbed some water and gatorade and was on my way. This is where the race got difficult. I was beginning to have twinges in my legs warning me of impending cramping. By the time I hit the first big hill outside of Cross Plains I was getting some major cramping in my quads and had to walk the hill. I was able to ride the rest of the way in to Verona where I stopped and picked up my special needs. Figured out I would have maintain the same speed on the second lap as I had on the first in order to make the cutoff. I knew that was going to be difficult with the increasing temps, wind, and the cramping that I was battling. Dumped my camel back and decided to go it on my aero bottle and single bottle cage on the frame. I think the camel back was a mistake on the first lap as it kept alot of heat from escaping from my back.
Off on the second loop and one of the lonliest rides in to Mt Horeb. I saw very few people and only a few spectators. Mt Horeb aid station looked like a war zone. Ambulance was there and bikes were scattered everywhere. I saw at leas 15 people in the medical tent and seriously debated about calling it a day there. I figured i would have to increase my speed over the previous lap by 1mph in order to finish before the cutoff. Starting to realize that this race wasnt to be. Got my water/shower and headed on to Cross Plains. Had a great stretch here again with only one point where I had to get off to stretch and walk out the cramps. When I arrived in Cross Plains I stopped and got off to stretch and immediately had a race official come to talk to me. He wanted to make sure that I was still conscious enough to continue I think. Got some water, gatorade, and some cold towels. By this point I knew I wasnt going to make it but felt like I would go until they pulled me off the course.
Walking up the first major hill outside of Cross plains I figured I would need to average 17.2mph to make it. Walked all the major hills between cross plains and verona and had trouble pushing 15mph out on the flats. Nearing Verona I rode with another guy who was struggling as I was, with the encouragement of the insideout sports tech support we began to work together as we rode to Verona. So our 2-man paceline was going, and we were able to pick up the pace a bit to 16-17mph but the wind was really killer by this point. All along the course there were people laying in the ditches. I wasnt feeling too horrible, I was just unable to generate any power. Any time I tried to push it my legs would begin to cramp up again.
The volunteers were great, the spectators were also great. Even at the end of the bike they were out there after being there all day long in that heat. Some of the bigger hills had only one or two people remaining to cheer us on at the end of the day but what an encouragment that was.
As we approached the aid station in Verona they had already boxed up the remaining gatorade, and had no water. There was a sag vehicle there as well as an ambulance. With 30minutes left before the bike cut off my riding partner and I exchanged a hand slap, and decided this was the end of our 2005 ironman wisconsin race. We rode in to Madison in the van with 2 other riders.
Riding in the van was interesting listening to the radio. By 5:30 aid station 4 on the run had already run out of ice and all the ice had already been distributed (they had ordered 6x more ice than ever before). Mt horeb had 15 people still needing to get loaded in.
The driver took us all directly to the medical tent. I weighed 2.5lbs less than on friday yet I hadnt had to pee since 8:30am. I generally felt ok with some mild cramping at this point. Got checked out and then after a couple cups of chicken broth I decided to go on my way.
It was dissapointing not making it to the finish line. I feel like if I could have made the bike cut off I would have finished the run before the 17hr cut off.
Over the past year I have dropped alot of weight, 2 years ago I was pushing 290lbs and stepped on the scale at the race with a weight of 223.4lbs. I also learned one major thing about training for an Ironman. All year I was focusing on what I didnt get done with my training rather than what I had done. I would always be stressed out over missing a workout or not getting in as good of a workout as I had hoped. It wasnt until the taper that I realized this. It is just another race, albeit a long one. It is doable, and I will do an Ironman, someday. Couldnt afford to sign up for next years IM Wisconsin as this one literally broke me financially.
Not sure what is next, I am really not sure where to go from here. I have so many mixed feelings right now. From failure, to realizing it was tough and many others didnt make it either, to wanting to go at it again, to not wanting to do it again. I dont know what races, if any I am going to be doing next year, have really no plans at all with regards to triathlon which is really troubling. If i had finished i could sit here and be content and worry about racing later on, but not having finished I feel like I need to get out there and prove to myself I can do this.