IRONMAN WISCONSIN

I just finished my second Ironman Triathlon - a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, then a 26.2 mile marathon run. The race was in Madison Wisconsin, and this course has a reputation for having a difficult bike course.

For the past year I have been warned about the hills of Wisconsin by everyone who did the race or even heard about the race. The odd thing is that if you look at the course elevation, it doesn't seem that tough; there are only 3 "big" hills during each of the two loops, and those climbs are under 500 feet. Still, I knew that a map doesn't tell the whole story so I did a lot of hill training leading up to the race.

Ironman Wisconsin may not have long steep climbs, but it does have rolling hills. Relentless rolling hills. You are always climbing or falling and it's very difficult to get into any sort of rhythm. That being said, the rolling hills are gorgeous. Everything looked like a postcard of America's Heartland. We rode by farmhouses and huge wheat fields and passed by our fair share of the famous Wisconsin cows.

Of course, to get to the beautiful scenery you have to leave downtown Madison first. And that's a bit tricky. After picking up your bike in the transition area, you ride down a 4-story tightly-spiraling parking garage ramp. Keep in mind that we were all still a bit woozy after swimming 2.4 miles, so spinning around on the bike didn't help.

We had to ride along a narrow jogging path for a while, which means we had to stay single file and navigate some hairpin turns. We also had to cross through some poorly-paved parking lots. But once we got out on to the main road things started looking much prettier.

Several coaches had advised/warned me to take it easy on the first loop, and then hit it harder the second time around. I was a little worried if I was taking it too easy or not easy enough, but I felt very comfortable for the first 56 miles. I didn't hammer the hills, just took my time, and on the rare flat sections I tried to hold back. But those constant rolling hills were quietly taking their toll on me. By mile 70 or so I could feel myself tiring, and this was when I was really supposed to be going at it full force. I quickly abandoned the plan to do a negative split: this was a triathlon after all, and I didn't want to ruin my marathon by spending all my energy on the bike.

I also had some problems with cramping. At the time of the race I thought we had great weather, but afterwards people were complaining about the heat so maybe I was sweating more than I realized. Fortunately I packed salt tablets with me so I was able to compensate a little a bit. In hindsight I should have been popping the tablets BEFORE the cramping started. Lesson learned.

Ironman is a difficult sport for spectators because the main action is centered around the finish line, but the athletes spend most of their time miles away along the course. Wisconsin is kind of nice because they have shuttle busses that drop people 40 miles away, out in the middle of the bike course. So when we hit the steeper sections of the ride, the road was lined with people holding signs and cheering and dancing and making tons of noise in support. It really does help your mental game to have the crowds egging you on, and those are the sections we needed it most.

I finished the bike ride about 20 minutes faster than I did in Ironman Coeur d'Alene last year, and Wisconsin is considered a more difficult course. And my overall finish time we 15 minutes faster so I had a pretty good race. (I did bonk a bit during the marathon and had to walk a lot more than I wanted to, but my strong swim and bike compensated for it.) Immediately after the race I vowed that this would be the last one, but now that my legs have recovered I'm starting to feel the pull again. For now however, I am just going to take it easy for a while and enjoy being off of my diet.