Ironman Wisconsin 2011

This weekend I am attempting Ironman Wisconsin. The course is more difficult than last year's Ironman Louisville.  Challenges for me are:

• wetsuit swim - I don't get along with wetsuits very well. I have a long reach and glide.  Wetsuit makes this difficult.
• two loop swim - this means no escaping the crowds.  Leaders will invariably be swimming over and through. It also means no help from a current.
• very hilly bike course
• very hilly run course
• cold - this is a personal challenge as I prefer warmer temperatures.  IMKY last year suited me well.  This event will be 20 degrees F cooler on average 
• long distance travel - I've driven to every other event with all the creature comforts that entails.  This time I shipped my bike and gear (Thanks Edde Burgess at Inside Out Sports!) and am flying up and back.

This will be my third endeavor at an iron distance triathlon. In 2008 Peng Mok and I completed Beach2Battleship hosted by local company Setup Events. Thanks to Todd Spain for advice in my first endeavor.  I struggled to start, let alone finish, after stopping training two months prior to the event. I slogged it out to finish in 16:01:28 as one of the last competitors to cross the finish line before 12am cut off. I learned that I started training too early and lost focus.  A longer training plan is better only if you can stick with it.  I had a pretty miserable first endeavor but unlike most in that position, i would not be a one-and-done.  I did take 2009 off for recovery and family time.


In 2010 I attempted Ironman Louisville vowing to avoid the proverbial "death march" in the marathon. Special thanks to Scott Heider for inspiration and insight along those lines. Thanks also to Brian Barndt for Total Immersion swim lessons.  If you're looking for swim instruction in the RTP area give him a call. Brian is a heart transplant recipient and amazing swimmer. Brian is also a great coach and inspiration. Things came together well in Louisville for a 13:48 finish.  Details here.

My wife Rebecca caught the IM bug in 2010 and signed up for IMKY 2011.  I was race support for her so I had to find another event.  I squeezed into IMWI.  The timing is critical for me as training becomes difficult as the weather cools and days become shorter. The timing also means Rebecca and I can train together through the year.  The IMWI venue brings new challenges as noted above.

Rebecca succeeded in her first attempt at Ironman.  She set the bar high for me to follow.

Why Ironman?  There are plenty of YouTube videos about the occult nature of Ironman. Ironman is what you make of it - for better or worse.  The values I found in Iroman are:

• Focus - Know what is important and focus on it.  Anything else is a potential waste of resources.  Carefully budget resources toward exploration. Keep focus on core activities.
• Gradual Adaptation - keep doing the core activity, learning from it, and evolving it.  The core changes (time, temperature, terrain, tools) but the participant also changes (mentality, physiology).
• Capitalize on easy times - In biking it's hammer the flats and downhills so you can coast the uphills.  In life it's make use of less critical but still important situations to learn and gain momentum.
• Recovery - we can't go all out all the time. It simply does not work. In exercise the saying is "you get stronger on off days".  In life make the big push but then take time to recover. Learn from the push and identify a few opportunities to do it better next time.  Recharge your batteries before taking on the next project. When the previous leg is done put it in a bag and close it off.  Move on.
• Planning - In Ironman if you crush (ride fast!) the bike then you pay for it in the marathon.  The marathon is always after the bike. It is no surprise.  If you intentionally choose to push the bike and suffer on the marathon that is a choice. Otherwise save some on the bike to apply to the run.  Beyond that moving the goal posts is untenable.

These are a few of my learnings. There are many more both thought out and still in progress. Other observers and participants will invariably draw different conclusions.

If you find yourself bored or tired of news coverage on Sunday, Sept. 11, then follow along on my journey.  Rebecca will be updating my Facebook page.  Otherwise track me at http://ironmanlive.com, Ironman Wisconsin, Last Name:Sisk or Athlete Number:1448.