Training and Pre-Race

Ironman Wisconsin 2005
2.4 mile swim / 112 mile bike / 26.2 mile run
John Lorelle

I am a native Floridian and I have been competing in triathlons for over ten years. I Love the competition and the challenge. Ironman Wisconsin 2005 was my third Ironman and umpteenth triathalon. I have done Ironman Florida in Panama City twice and was marginally pleased with the results. I don't get too hung up on my times. I only obsess 99% of the day about my results. Standard stuff.

I have a tentative agreement with my wife that I am allowed to do an Ironman every two years. I try to sneak in a marathon every year because running is my first love. So far so good. However, I suspect that our agreement is not on real solid ground right now. Comments like "You have ruined my life" and "Triathlons can burn in hell" lead me to believe that perhaps she really isn't tuned into this whole Ironman thing.

Sigh.

My two training buddies, Les and Estuardo, and I made a commitment last year to do Wisconsin. I can't remember why we chose this particular race. I think we just wanted to get out of town. The timing was right and in theory, the weather would be perfect. Estuardo is a monster on the bike and Les is a great runner with some really nice marathon results. None of our triathlon times are world-beaters but we know that we only have a limited window in which to train. We are all in our early 40s with lots of kids and high-intensity jobs. We accept the fact we will only do so well and we try to train smart.

Training for this Ironman was weird for us because we really had no idea of the conditions in Wisconsin. Frankly, we didn't even know where Wisconin was. Les thought it was across the Atlantic. I know for a fact that its in North America. What we did know was that the course wasn't flat. I knew that it was very hilly (for a flatlander.) But we weren't sure about the average temperature, the grade of hills, the number of hills and so on. Life in Florida is not conducive to those type of conditions. Fortunately, we don't live too far from the Dade City area which is in the center of the state and has some fairly nasty hills. We would drive up every Saturday and ride as many hills as possible. We would also try to get up there on Sunday evening for a long run but that was tougher. Even better, this year the heat and humidity were absolutely miserable. We regularly trained in 90 to 100+ degree weather. Our brains would be boiling in their skulls by the time we finished our rides. One day I bonked so bad I almost passed out on the bike. That was a good combination of heat, poor nutrition and stupidity.

We all tentatively set our goal times at sub 14 hours. I had done better at Florida but we knew this course was going to be tougher. We followed a rough draft of a 13 week training with a two week taper. We focused a lot on the hills and made sure we put in the mileage on the bike and the run. We mostly ignored the swimming because we all suck. We were confident the cooler weather of Wisconsin would be to our advantage. I checked the weather in Madison several times a week and it was consistently 75 degrees - very nice.

The three of us flew into Chicago Friday morning and drove straight to Madison. Its about a three hour trip. I was pleasantly surprised, Wisconsin is a beautiful state - wherever it is. Our hotel was about 5 miles from the Capital building which is next to the race. We drove downtown and registered quickly and got checked-in. The weigh-in was very entertaining. Les weighs about 30 lbs. which is the approximate weight of my dog. Estuardo came in at 180 lbs. I was a lean 166 lbs. Estuardo was devastated. It crushed him that I was taller yet weighed less. Typical whiny fat Latino.

Most of Friday was cool but it sparked the beginning of an absolute Obsess Fest. Put three retentive guys together for a long weekend before an Ironman race and just watch the stress guage bubble. We obsessed about anything and everything - weather, hills, special needs bags, Estuardo's weight, nutrition, wetsuits and of course, the weather and the hills. I guess its important to add that Wisconsin decided to jack up the temperature that weekend and have it peak at 92 degrees on race day. I'll also mention that the wind had picked up and was predicted to be at 15 mph with gusts up to 23. I hate wind. Wind can kiss my ass. There, I feel better.

Did I mention that Estuardo weighs more than me?

Friday night Les said that we were going to watch inspirational videos to get us motivated for the race. He bought a video called American Flyers which is supposed to be highly regarded as a "moving and inspirational" cycling movie. I would have to honestly say it was probably the worst movie ever made on the planet. Thank God I didn't see this movie before I decided to get involved in endurance sports. I would have assumed that all triathletes and cyclists enjoy pulling each others pants down while on their bikes or gazing longingly at each other over dinner while wearing cowboy hats.

Shudder.

That movie really really sucked. Luckily I brought a Lance Armstrong video to make us feel whole again. Crashed soon after and had nightmares about Kevin Costner and cowboy hats.

Woke up Saturday and did a quick swim to get acclimated to the water. The water was perfect and was hovering around 75 degrees. Wetsuits come off at 78 degrees so we were good. My body doesn't react well to cold temperatures and I have trouble breathing in sub 70 degree water. I think we took our bikes out for a test ride but I can't remember. Perhaps we did it the day before. Estuardo got all ballsy on us and proposed a bet on the outcome of the race. Last place had to drive back while first place got to ride in the back seat. We had to get up early the day after the race and make the long trip back to Chicago. We knew that we would be sore, tired and miserable. Now everything was different. This was big. There was no way in hell I could let that happen.

Called my wife a few times to see if she was excited yet. She acted like she wasn't but I knew better - How could you not be excited about Ironman? I hated not having her and the kids up to watch but the distance, school and the timing were bad. It makes a big difference seeing your family when you come down the home stretch.

We also did all the other stuff we were supposed to except attend the mandatory meeting. I don't know why I insist on skipping those. Every time I miss out on some vital piece of information. I guess our priority that day was to stress and obsess every waking minute. We tweaked our bikes, bought stuff for our bikes, talked about our bikes and even talked to our bikes. However, we got everything done that was supposed to be done. We were going to wrap up with a drive-through of the bike course but we were cooked from fretting all afternoon and we decided to just get back to the hotel and relax. That was a good call because seeing those hills would have made it worse. I had reached a point where my brain could not take any more Ironman. I was so ready to get going with this race. I didn't want to talk any more about gu, tires, water temperature, Lance or anything else race-related.

Went back to the hotel and plugged into my iPod. Later we had dinner at Pizza Hut and carbed up on spaghetti. Crashed early which was tremondous. I was so worried about getting enough sleep. Not a problem on this day - I was out by 9:00 p.m.