IM MOO Race Report

I am still in a bit of shock about my race at IM Wisconsin. Having never done 2 IM's so close together, I didn't know what to expect. I thought that I would be OK in the swim and bike, and then struggle through the run. Honestly, I wasn't even sure I would start the run. The thought of struggling through another IM run and still finish out of the money was not appealing.
Courtney and I flew to Chicago early on Thursday and made our way to her parents house. I put the bike together, got the gear organized and we headed out for a great Asian dinner. Friday morning we started the 2 hour drive to Madison. The weather was good and the trip uneventful. We went straight to the Monona Terrace, which is where the registration, transition area and expo were. I got registered, grabbed a quick bite and went to the Pro Meeting. At the meeting I met up with Paul Fritzche, who I used to train with a bit when we both lived in Boulder. He is now in State College, PA. and I only see him at some races. He looked fit and was ready to race. The big news at the meeting was that wetsuits would not be allowed for the Pro's. The water was over 72 degrees, so by USAT rules wetsuits were out. I was REALLY glad that I grabbed my BlueSeventy PointZero3 before I left.
After taking care of business we drove to the house. Scott, Steve, Sue and Kim were all staying there as well so I knew it would be a fun crew. The house was about 20 minutes away and right on Lake Kegonsa. Right away I notice some "motivational" materials posted on the fridge, and lots of post race goodies. Five of us piled into the rented SUV and made our way around the bike course. I raced here in 2002, so I remembered some sections but was glad to see the course again. It's mostly rolling with some BIG rollers and 2 good climbs thrown in for good measure. It's the slowest IM bike course I have been on for sure. After that we had a great dinner with some wine and dessert. Only 1 glass of red for me and no dessert!
Saturday was uneventful. I got in the water for 15 minutes, and felt good. After the swim I chatted with Ben from BlueSeventy and he hooked me and Court up with some visors and shirts. I went back to the house, had a nice big breakfast, got the gear bags ready, then went for a short bike/run brick. It was only the 3rd time I had run in the 2 weeks after IM Lou.
We drove back to the Terrace to check the bike and bags in. I bumped into Ben again and he asked me if I knew anyone that was still scrambling for a suit. I told him that Paul was in need of one still. Sure I am racing against him, but he's been a great friend and I know what a difference that suit can make. Not just physically, but mentally as well. Bike and bag check in went quickly and I was back at the house with my feet up in no time. I was feeling excited to race. My body had really come around in the 2 weeks since IM Louisville and while I didn't feel fast, I felt strong. It's odd to go into an IM with it not being an A priority race. I had no pressure and wasn't super nervous about what the day would bring. Dinner was some rice, chicken and mashed potatos, yum! My phone rang and it was Paul thanking me for letting Ben know that he needed a suit. Apparently Ben saw Paul at the terrace and handed him a suit to use on race day. I was glad I could help Paul out and told him if he won he had to thank me during his speech.
On to race day! I woke up around 4 and had my usual breakfast of hot cereal, organic toaster pastries, coffee and sipped on some FRS Energy Drink. I packed up the last minute stuff and started the drive. We parked about 2 blocks from transition and made our way to body marking and the bikes. I got to my Kuota, pumped up the tires and went to put the bottles in the cages. But, for the first time in 10 IM's, I had forgotten them in the fridge! Oddly, I wasn't really bothered by this. Quickly I went into damage control and set out to find a solution. Two weeks ago I had ordered a new drink from the makers of Carbo Pro. It's basically a concentrate of 1200 calories in 16 oz! I had tried some the day before as it is a great way to carb load leading to the race. I had never used this stuff before, but right now it was all I had. I had left a bottle in the car that was about a 50/50 mix. So now I had 1 bottle that had around 400 calories. I figured it was the best I could do. I let that snafu go and started to make my way to the swim start. After a short jog and some muscle activation movements got the PointZero3 suit on and hit the water. I felt very fluid and quick from the first stroke. That gave me a lot of confidence that this was going to be a good day for me.
The pros lined up and soon the cannon fired. I had a clean and clear start, like I had my own lane. The pack was moving along and quickly selections were being made. I was in the front pack, but falling off quickly. One athlete went by me and I thought, "these are the feet I need to follow". I tried my best, but didn't have that extra gear. Another swimmer went by and again I tried to stick with him. It didn't happen and soon I was on my own. This was not good. Thankfully I saw another swimmer to my right so I slowed up for a few strokes and tucked in. I stayed there for as long as I could, but then my draft stopped so I would have to do the work. This put me back into the situation I didn't want, but I had no choice. Thankfully this athlete quickly realized that I was not moving quickly and resumed pulling. Starting the 2nd lap I did a backstroke turn at the bouy and saw another 8-10 athletes right behind us. Soon I was swallowed by the pack and thankfully was able to sit in for the remainder of the swim. I wasn't wearing a watch so I had no idea of my time (turns out it was 59:30). There were some other guys around me that I knew like Curt Cheseney and Blake Becker. I took this as a good sign and ran up the helix to T1.
I grabbed my helmet and ran for my Kalibur. I started of conservatively and let Blake go by me with no effort to stay with him. To my surprise Dave Harju went by me around mile 5. From there some more guys went by me, but I stuck to my plan of going easy and getting my nutrition down. My CarboPro mix was tasting good and staying down. About mile 20 a German athlete went by me and I ended up sitting about 15-25 meters back of him for the next hour or so. In Louisville I was racing on my own, so it was a relief to have other athletes around. Plus I could see 2-3 athletes ahead of me on certain sections. I was in good spirits and felt surprisingly strong. I was hoping to bide my time, then go harder on the 2nd loop. Unfortunately when we hit the first big climb I fell back a bit. I realized that I was not going to be able to hold my pace for the second loop, but my nutrition was still spot on. I was taking in gels and the mix for about 400 calories per hour. I had also placed some small Snickers in my special needs bag. A big thanks to my Mother in law for packing the Snickers for me. I usually love them for post race, but I thought I should try something new. Going through special needs I grabbed my 2 new bottles, a gel and my Snickers. That little bar was the tastiest thing I have ever eaten. Unfortunately it didn't go down too well, but it did stay down. My 2 bottles consisted of 1 containing 400 calories from PowerBar Endurance and Carbo Pro powder. The 2nd bottle was something I have used in training, but never a race. I call it the Red Bomb. It is equal parts Fruit Punch Gatorade and Mountain Dew Code Red. Typically, Gatorade doesn't go well for me, but when it's diluted, I can handle it. Plus I like the taste and just a little bit of carbonation.
I had gone through the 1st 56 miles on pace for a 5:05 bike. That was motivating, but I knew I would slow down. Plus, the wind was whipping up and coming from all directions. On the second lap I passed a lot of age groupers, but it was mostly uneventful. I was going back and forth on whether or not to start the run. My legs felt good, but I was worried about doing too much damage. Plus I knew I was well behind the leaders. I had told Court that if I wasn't in the top ten off the bike, I wouldn't start the run. I never dreamed that I would actually feel decent and want to run. Quickly I decided that I would at least start the run. The course takes you into Camp Randall, the Wisconsin Badgers football field, and it's a really neat feature. For some reason I really wanted to run on Camp Randall.
I took my time in T2, got ready and took off. I started easy to find my rhythm. To my surprise I felt strong and my stride was quick and short. Not having a watch on I didn't know my pace, which was a good thing. I just went as hard as I thought I should. I saw Courtney on a motorcycle and just shrugged my shoulders to say " I don't know what's going on!".Soon I was entering Camp Randall. Running on the field is great because the artificial grass is so soft. I grew up in Iowa City, home of the University of Iowa, and I went to college there. As a matter of pride I sang the Iowa FIght Song out loud. It was a little something to keep me having fun. From there you make your to Observatory hill down to State St. which is always lined with people out having lunch and enjoying the day. On that section I saw the lead guys, and Paul was in 4th! I shouted some encouragement to him. There is a lot of energy in the air on State St. and it's easy to feel good on this seciton. After this section it's pretty flat and I was really feeling fluid. My nutrtion was going great. I had eaten another Snickers in T2 and had another at mile 10. In between I was drinking Coke, water and putting down some gels. My plan was to push when I could, then slow a bit to get my nutrtion down. Occassionally I would walk an aid station, slam 3 cokes, some water and set off hard. I was very focused mentally. I have done more than one IM run where I kind of space out mentally. After 7-8 hours of exertion, it can be hard to keep your mind on the job at hand. I was taking inventory of what nutrition I had on me, what I felt like, what I had just taken in, etc. Without the watch I didn't know how fast or slow I was going, but I realized that without the watch the run feels like it goes by quicker. When I would pass a mile marker, I didn't think about how many miles I had left, or how long I had been running already, I just kept focused. Running through Camp Randall the 2nd time, I again sang the Iowa Fight Song, only this time there were others around to hear me. I didn't care since it kept me motivated. I was still having fun. I saw the lead guy go by again, and the next guy was Paul! I was psyched to see him having such a good day and I knew he was going to finish strong. I was really enjoying my run. No one was passing me and I wasn't feeling bad at all. I felt the same as I did in Kona in 2005 when I ran a 3:04. Granted I wasn't running that fast, but the feeling was the same.
When I hit mile 18 I pushed as hard as I could. It hurt, but at the same time it was rewarding to feel that strong that late in the marathon. I have always wanted to feel that good at the end, and I even ran hard up the Observatory Hill. I wanted to keep pushing super hard and turn myself inside out, but I thought better of it. I was still a ways from the finish, and did I really need to damage myself to go 3 minutes faster? After 3 miles of tough running I slowed to get in some nutrition for the last push home. The last miles seemed to go on a bit longer, but I was looking forward to hitting that finish line.
I soaked up the last 1/4 mile and enjoyed the last steps to the line. I never dreamed that I would have a strong run, 10 minutes faster than IM Lou.
Post race festivities were a blast. Court and I found Paul and we ended up eating roast beef, potatos, Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream, coffee and pastries in the V.I.P. area by the finish line. It was nice to be sitting down with real food and something warm to drink. Poor Paul couldn't go 10 ft. without someone congratulating him and wanting to chat with him. I guess that's a good problem to have though as it means you finished well. Paul had to go and hand out medals to some of the later finishers, so Court and I met up with the rest of the crew. Everyone had a good day of racing and was ready to have some fun. I have never seen the last finisher at an IM. The closest was at Kona 2 years ago when Court and I stayed until 10:30. This time we were in the stands cheering people on. I was really glad we stayed as we got to see 78 year old Frank Farrar cross the line in 16:58. It was truely inspiring to watch this guy cross the line. He even gave a short interview right after and was a funny guy.
I am extremely happy with how the race went. My goals were to solve some issues that plagued me in Roth and Louisville, and I think I did that. My nutrition went well, I was focused for the entire run and I had a fun time racing. I love Madison and will definitely race IM MOO again.
I feel OK right now and am already looking for another race or 2 to finish off the tri season. I will be racing a good number of 'Cross races as well. I raced BMX when I was young so I enjoy the technical riding. I will start looking back and analyzing the season and what I need to do to reach that next level.
Thanks for the support!