One week of Decompression

Today marks the one week anniversary since I became an Ironman.  Interesting this morning was the first day I felt the desire to do some type of exercise since the race.  Colleen went to Chicago with some of her girlfriends and I had the place to myself Friday through Sunday so I had plenty of time to myself. 

I am pretty sure I covered all the important guy-stuff this weekend while she was gone including, but not limited to:

1) Watching the entire Brewer Game on TV from the couch
2) Also watching the entire Badger game on TV from the couch.
3) Golfed 18 holes with my golf buddies and then had several post-round beers afterward at noon on Saturday.
4) Wings and more beer at Buffalo Wild Wings
5) A Kopps Burger and Custard for dinner Saturday evening.
6) Washed my bike, removed the race tires and replaced them with my old training.

And last but not least, this morning I actually got on the Mad One and did a nice hour-long bike ride outside.  This was my first ride since exactly a week and ironically my ride today began almost exactly when my 112 mile ride began last week.  A coincidence....perhaps?  The cooler fall air was nice and I had some time to reflect on how lucky I am to have the time, resources and health to engage in the triathlon lifestyle.  I don't mean to sound sappy, but I recognize most people will never get to experience the journey and thrill of becomming an Ironman.  I am very grateful that I was able to have that experience and the more I think about it, the more I realize what an undertaking it was and it is so clear that is was one of the greatest weekends of my life.

As I sit and enjoy my cup of joe while navigating around the Intrawebs, I thought it might be a good time to post some more pictures of my awesome weekend.  Enjoy....

  

2012 Ironman Wisconsin Race Report

I published my full race report today in BT and it can be found HERE.  This is a long read, so be prepared, but by all means please enjoy.

I AM AN IRONMAN!!

I did it peeps!  I finished Ironman Wisconsin and am quite excited about my accomplishment.  As a first timer, I feel like I completed the race in very respectable manner with a time of 13 hours, 21 minutes and some change.

There is sooooooooo much I want to say about this weekend & the race, but I really need to gather my thoughts before writing everything up.  I will definitely post more details, pictures and a race rerport as the week goes on.  It's been a wild and crazy journey, but the last 3 days have really been a whirlwind of fun and I am just starting to come down from the high that has lasted well over 24 hours. 

So be patient with me and continue to watch this blog for further details about everything....

Athlete Dinner, Bike & Bag Check-In

Ironman Wisconsin is just one day away! Had a great time last night at the Athlete dinner with Colleen, Brad & Tom. Today I set up my bike in transition and turned in my T1 & T2 bags. It's all starting to feel VERY real now and I can't wait!!

Athlete Check-In Day!!

Checking into Madison today!

Race Day Apparel

Meant to post this sooner, but on late notice here is the gear that I will go to battle with on Sunday.  There is a tribute to "9/11...Never Forget" on the back as well.  Cheer me on if you see me because I will need all the support I can get....bib #2154!!

Thursday at Work

Yes, it is less than 3 says until Ironman. Yes, the Ironman Village is open and athletes have begun to check-in. Yes, Ironman is taking over the city of Madison.

Yes, I am currently at work, but my mind is not because it is already in Madison! Today will be a very tough day to be focused at work!

Ironman Wisconsin Tracking Information

Several people have asked how they can track me on race day.  There are several options to do this and I will do my best to outline them with the assumption if you are reading my blog you probably know how to navigate the Internet.  Here's the key information.....

1) Athlete Tracker Live. This is the best and most accurate way to track me during the race. This is a special service I subscribed to which will allow my friends and family, who who are in Madison and spectacting the event, to know exactly where I am on the course. I will be carrying a small GPS/Cellphone sensor which will provide real-time coverage to where I am on the course throughout the day. This page can be easily accessed throught a smart phone or a PC. The page will provide a list of races going on that day and once you find Ironman Wisconsin, my name will appear in the list of athletes. Go ahead & click on my name....don't be afraid. When click on my name, you should then see everything you need to see in my 140.6 mile day. Your screen should display a map and look something like this.........

Athlete Tracker Live

2) Ironman Live (Ironman) - This is the main Ironman page which will contain links to live coverage of the race.  These pages will allow you to watch live video of the swim, bike and run course (including the finish line chute).  Trying to find an specific individual might be hard, but it is fun nonetheless to watch the various cameras throughout the day.

The links are circled in the giant yellow oval.  Look for Ironman Wisconsin.  Things will look something like this......

Links to live footage and athlete tracking

IronmanLive - Video footage of the finisher chute

In addition to the live coverage, there are also links (in the first screenshot) which will provide tracking metrics for a specific athlete.  In the first screenshot the link for doing this is called "Track an Athlete".  There is no fancy video here, but it will allow you to see the last timing mat on the course that the athlete has crossed.  Each time a timing mat is crossed, the page will be updated to reflect that change.  Here is an example for somehow who has completed Ironman Louisville and you can see see there are various times for the different sections of the race.  There is only one time for the swim (finish time), but there are 4 times for the bike (23, 40, 75 & 112 miles) and 7 times for the run (3.4, 8.2, 13.1, 15.3, 20.1, 25, 26.2 miles).  This page also lists the two transition times as well.  So at any given time during the day, you can see the furthest part on the course that I have reached.  You will have to click refresh on your browser to update the page in order to get updated times, but other than that, it's pretty easy.  This is what the "Track an Athlete" screen will look like......



Counting the Days....

Weekend was a breeze....36 miles on the bike, followed by a 20 minute run on saturday and then a 4200 yard swim (2.sumthin miles) on Sunday.  Felt good and strong.  Also had a 60 minute massage on Sunday after the swim.  Lots of good stretching and loosening up of the lower body.  Very theraputic.

Which brings us to today.  On the schedule for today was a 30 minute run.  Seriously?  At least it had 6 reps of 90 seconds at 10K pace, but that was it for today.  Felt wierd having an entire day off from work (Labor Day) and only having to run 30 minutes.  Kind of surreal actually, but I suppose it some ways it was also kind of nice.  Got to do my run with Colleen which was nice and then I immediately went off to cut the grass.  However, I snapped this picture of Colleen right after the run and I don't think she felt as good and as refreshed as I did......

So the countdown timer says less than 5 days and I feel good and ready.  Even though I've been preparing checklists, reminders, gear bag lists, etc I am still a bit worried about forgetting something important.  I've been accumulating race gear in our dining room and our bedroom for a week now.  Here is part of the collection and this will surely grow as the final countdown approaches.  Overall, I feel like I have a pretty good handle on things and am happy that I didn't wait until the last minute to start organizing my gear lists.  I feel like I have minimized the stress as much as possible to this point, but stay tuned to see if and when things change!