Ironman Wisconsin

The time has come. I have had many firsts in my life. Most of which led to more difficult firsts. Unless I decide to run an ultra marathon (highly unlikely with my bum knee) this will probably be the last first when it comes to testing my limits of endurance sports. Because of the hilly and difficult bike route Wisconsin Ironman is regarded as one of the toughest triathlons around. This is in addition to a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike and 26.2 making this a very difficult first to tackle.

I have absolutely no idea how this is going to turn out. I have been plagued with injuries all year as well as more than likely having an iron deficiency since June. I have tapered the past few weeks and feel much more rested and like my legs are ready to explode. However when I go on light runs to keep them up to speed the legs feel like they have forgotten what to do.

My goal for this is simple.... finish. After that the goal is to get a Kona slot. By my calculations if I come in at 9:50 or better I should get a slot. If I come in at that time and don't get a slot I will feel like I did all I could. Although I do have a few other fun goals. I want to be the fastest combat vet. Unfortunately this is nearly impossible to track but I'm betting this is an achievable goal. I would also like to be the fastest person from Minnesota. If it weren't for Todd Landgraff I would say this would be very possible. Unfortunately my knew found friend and arch nemesis will be there and has a wicked fast run split that will be tough to fend off. Regardless I hope we get to enjoy a trip to Kona together. That would be awesome!

In order to go for a 9:50 I have set some goals for pace. First I need to swim around a 1:05 and feel fresh. A month ago I was very worried about this but with another lesson from Duane Dobko I seem to have found my old stroke and feel very comfortable in the water again. I know I have thought this a few times this year but I know feel it more than ever. I seem to be skimming the water rather than fighting through it. Next I need to do around 22 mph on the bike. This is more than possible as I have been doing roughly 20.5 on my long training rides on my heavier bike with about 6 1/2 pounds of water to go a long with it. The question is can I keep that pace and still keep enough in my legs to run a marathon afterwards. Not only run it but run it in roughly an 8 min pace. I think this is very possible but I have no idea if it will happen.

The wild card is my nutrition. I should have done more research a few months ago as I found out I need to consume roughly 300 calories an hour. In order to do that I need to fire down three Gus' an hour. In training I have been doing 2 at most. I don't know if my gut will be able to handle the increase or not. If it does I will be in good shape.

I'm looking forward to the trip with my wife. Kelly has been extremely busy this summer with her rotations and has only been able to come to a couple of races. Also making the trip will be my new sister and brother in law and step father in law and as always my mom. It will be great to have all that support and I'm sure I will need it on the run.

This has been a tough road. Injuries, exercise induced asthma, time away from friends and family, insane long training days and weeks along with all the fatigue that goes with it. When I added up the numbers I was amazed. Since I started keeping records on Jan 15th I have run 790 miles in 99.15 hours, biked 2,928.1 miles in 136.75 hours and swam 332,150 yards in 129 hours. For a grand total of 364.9 hours trained. This equates to 15.2 days of straight training. Hopefully all this will add up to me becoming an Ironman on Sunday.