The Road to the Ironman – The Pewaukee, WI Triathlon

Well the 2nd race of the season is in the books. Once again in the journey of triathlons I walked away with lessons learned, a smile on my face and some good stories. But first the results:

Finished 308 out of 679 males and 60th out of 111 in my age group.

1/4 miles swim – 8:16 (a bit slower than it should have been)

Transition #1 – 3:42 (slow, very slow I will explain later)

15 mile Bike – 50:26 or 18.5 (not badish, keep in mind I am training for Ironman speed, not sprint speed)

Transition #2 – 1:26 (now we are talking)

3.1 mile Run – 26:48 or 8:38 miles (faster than I thought, still in the running world not exactly fast)

Overall – 1:30:42

OK there they are my totals and I was 2 minutes faster than last year. I remember last year’s race I was coming off a bad cold, so being faster is being faster in my book.

Story #1:

For my brother-in-law Dan this was his first triathlon and finished 1:35, so I beat him this year but it is only  a matter of time. So congrats to Dan on #1 and leading a healthier and fitter life.

My swim:

I am usually a stronger swimmer than most in my group and try to place myself in the front of the wave. I wasn’t so lucky this time, I was near the middle. In retrospect I was OK with this because I will be in the middle of 2,600 swimmers come Madison and needed the practice. I never found a rhythm and my heart rate was up there but again good practice. Open water swimming is sure different than pool swimming.

T1 (Transition #1) Swim to Bike

Question how many times should it take a grown man to put on a shirt? Once? Twice? Three times? How about four! Yep that is right it took me four times before I actually put my shirt on correctly. I tell you there are times when I am a 40-watt light bulb and this was one of those moments. Seriously the first time I put the shirt on inside out. The second time upside down, I know yes I said upside down. The third time arm and head through one hole. Finally the fourth time I got it on right. You know your finish time for the whole race comes down to these stupid mistakes and I usually end up making one. Remind me to tell you the time I almost started the run without my shoes (some other time maybe).

My bike:

I was excited about the bike because it has hills! A few like the hills in Madison! So this was going to be a good test. The first third goes through a subdivision and it was fast. The second third comes the hills. I was pleased with the effort and this race has two hills similar found in Madison. The third third is pretty easy and allows you to get ready for the run. I actually passed people on the hills!?!?

T2 Bike to Run

Uneventful and quick (at least for me.) This doesn’t happen to often.

My run:

If you ever ran right after riding a bike you know it is a unique feeling. It takes a little time to find your running legs so it is more like a shuffle. The first mile and 1/2 is up hill and the best part was I did not stop running! Usually hills mean there is walking in my future. It wasn’t fast and it wasn’t pretty but I did it. So if the first mile and a 1/2 is up, guess what the last mile and a 1/2 is? Yep downhill. I am not sure which is harder running up hill or running down hill. For a flatlander both are a new experience. Overall I was very pleased with the run.

Kim, Dan and family were all waiting for me at the end. Before you think to much I was faster than Dan but his starting wave was #3, I was in wave #21.

Next week is a biggie, it is the 70.3 Racine (1/2 Ironman). Believe or not to be successful I will have to go slower. By holding back I hope to make it through the race without crashing and burning! As far as the running total below I don’t expect it to go up this week. I am resting most of this week for the Half Ironman. If I had to guess there will be a short run or two, maybe a short bike, but mostly swimming and weights.

The journey continues…

Totals:

Running Miles: 599.82

Number of Hours: 89:46

New shoes: 93 miles (for my record keeping)

Biking Miles: 1,367.70

Number of Hours: 84:00

Swimming Miles: 61.25 miles or 107,800 yards

Number of Hours: 24:38

Swimming laps (25 yard pool): 4,158 lengths or 2,079 laps

Weightlifting hours: 25:35

Stairs in Cancun: 1:05

1 pathetic game of volleyball: 1 hour

TOTAL HOURS – 234 hours and 18 minutes