ROLLER COASTER 70.3

THE FIRST REAL RACE OF THE YEAR AND THE FIRST EVER IRONMAN WISCONSIN 70.3 IN MADISON. THIS RACE IS KNOWN AS THE MILKMAN TRIATHLON TO MOST PEOPLE. THAT BEING SAID, IF YOU ARE READING THIS YOU HAVE PRIBABLY READ PREVIOUS POST AND KNOW I'VE BEEN FIGHTING ILLNESS AND HAD ABOUT 4 WEEKS TO TRAIN. WENT INTO THIS WITH ZERO EXPECTATIONS AND MORE OF A TEST OF MY BODY AND ALSO TO GET A FEEL FOR THE REAL RACE COME SEPTEMBER.

​THE SWIM, MY WEAKEST SEGMENT OF THIS 3 IN 1 SPORT. THE SWIM STARTED IN SELF SEEDED WAVES WITH A LOT OF PEOPLE JUMPING INTO EARLY WAVES BECAUSE FOR SOME REASON THEY THOUGHT THEY WOULD GET MORE TIME TO COMPLETE THE SWIM. THEY ONLY STATED YOUR TIME STARTS WHEN YOU HIT THE WATER ABOUT 77 TIMES SO GOOD EARS FELLOW TRIATHLETES! I GUESS I MADE THE MISTAKE OF JUMPING INTO THE CORRECT SWIM WAVE AND FOUND MYSELF PASSING MOST OF THE OTHER PEOPLE IN THE WATER THUS GIVING ME A FALSE SENSE OF SPEED. I THOUGHT I WAS CRUSHING IT ONLY TO SEE MY PACE OF 1:47/100YD ON MY GARMIN AS I LEFT THE WATER. LESSON LEARNED FOR THE 140.6 RACE IN SEPTEMBER!

TIME FOR T1 AND STEALTH. T1 WAS SLOW AND I GUESS I WAS MORE WORRIED ABOUT APPLYING SUNSCREEN THAN I WAS BEING SPEEDY. I JUMPED ONTO STEALTH AND TOOK OFF ON SOME WICKED CURVY BIKE TRAIL FOR THE FIRST MILE OR TWO. ONCE WE GOT ON SOME REAL ROADS IT WAS ALL DAIRY LAND AND HILLS. DID I MENTION THE HILL PART? HILLS ARE USUALLY FOLLOWED BY DOWNHILL SECTIONS WHERE YOU CAN REST AND GET SOME FREE SPEED, NOT HERE, NOT IN MADISON. THESE ANNOYING HILLS CAME WITH DOWNHILL SECTIONS WITH TURNS QUICKLY AFTER THUS MAKING YOU GO SLOW OR YOU COULD BUT YOUR LIFE IN YOUR BRAKE PADS HANDS. MY GARMIN TELLS ME THERE WAS 2,566 FEET OF ELEVATION GAIN AND I BELIEVE IT 100% AND LEARNED THAT MY LONG RIDES ON THE CENTRAL LAKES TRAIL AND TRAINER WILL NOT CUT IT FOR THE FULL. THIS LACK OF HILL TRAINING AND OVERALL TOUGH BIKE SEGMENT LEFT ME WITH A 17.5 MPH BIKE.

​THE RUN, WHERE ALL THIS CRAZINESS STARTED. I'M NOT THE FASTEST RUNNER BUT I FEEL RUNNING IS MY STRONGEST SEGMENT CURRENTLY. I ALWAYS FEEL TO HAVE MY LEGS LEFT AFTER THE SWIM AND BIKE AND THIS DAY IN MADISON WAS NO DIFFERENT. I SET A GOAL OF 9:00 MILES BECAUSE LIKE AN IDIOT, HAD GRANDMAS MARATHON PLANNED A FEW DAYS AFTER THIS 70.3. I FOUND MYSELF FEELING THE IMPACT OF THE HEAT AND WIND AND ONLY MANAGED TO RUN 9:51 MILES BUT IT WAS A STEADY PACE WITH MINIMAL WALKING ONLY AT THE AID STATIONS. EVEN WITH THIS SLOW PACE, I WAS STILL PASSING A LOT OF FELLOW RACERS WHICH IS A CONFIDENCE BOOSTER AT BEST. BY VIEWING MY RESULTS AND RANKINGS, THE RUN WAS BY FAR BY BEST LEG OF THE RACE.

​ALL THIS AND I CAN HONESTLY SAY I WOULD DO THIS RACE AGAIN BUT PROBABLY WILL FIND ANOTHER CLOSE BY IRONMAN JUST TO GET A DIFFERENT MEDAL. WITH THE FOCUS BEING A TRAINING EVENT VERSUS A RACE, I'M PRETTY SATISFIED WITH THE RESULTS. YES I CAN DO BETTER BUT THE MAIN GOAL IS STILL IMWI140.6! NOW I'M OFF TO SEE WHAT THIS BODY HAS LEFT IN THE TANK AT GRANDMAS, LATER!

SWIM: 37:46
BIKE: 3:11:50
RUN: 2:09:08

IMWI70.3: 6:11:21 

#IRONMAN #IRONMAN70.3 #WATTIEINK #WATTIEINKHITSQUAD #TRIATHLETE #SWIMBIKERUN