Ironman Wisconsin: Prelude and Swim

Mr K, Karen, Baha, and I arrived in Madison on Thursday and were immediately smitten with how mild the weather felt compared to the furnace we had left behind in Texas.  The race venue was pretty easy to find and the Athlete Village was already quietly humming with activity days before the race.  Check-in was pretty quiet when we got there, so we moved through it pretty quickly.  It was an honor to check in at the All World Athlete table, which also allowed me a lower bib number and a sweet spot amongst the bike racks in transition.  We were too hungry to shop in the Ironman store, but we did happen to catch Mike Reilly there and I was able to get him to autograph a copy of his book for us.  This was my third Ironman, but it would be the first time for Mike Reilly, the voice of Ironman, to call me across the finish line. Our final housemate, Greg, arrived later that afternoon and we stumbled across some of the finest pizza in Madison that evening.

It was great to meet Mike Reilly, The Voice of Ironman

There are two big lakes in Madison - Monona and Mendota.  The swim was in Lake Monona and the house we were staying in was on Mendota.  There are bike paths and lanes all throughout the town, so it made picking up our bikes from Omar with I Love My Bike Transport easy as we were able to ride to and from the house down to the race area.  I can't recommend Omar enough, our bikes and bags arrived in Madison and then back home without any worry.  We drove the bike course on Friday afternoon, this always sets my mind at ease a little just to get a mental picture of what the roads and scenes would look like. I had heard so many people say how challenging the bike course is and it would be quite daunting but I also knew that it was nothing I couldn't handle.

The view from our house on Lake Mendota

I felt calm in the final days leading up to the race.  I had moments of "oh no, what about...." or "did I remember...." but I tried to maintain a balance preparedness while not spending too much energy worrying. I knew that it would be a long day and there would be highs and lows, but I would be doing something that I love. 

Just Keep Swimming

The alarm sounded ridiculously early on race morning, not that I was sleeping that soundly anyway. I'm fortunate that Mr. K is an excellent breakfast cook and is willing to make a small serving of scrambled eggs and toast for me before we head out to the race. Ironman Wisconsin is unique in that the transition areas are inside a ballroom in a convention center so we were able to hang out inside before heading down to the water.  Temperatures were in the upper 50s, which felt downright chilly to us. The four of us put on our wetsuits, posed for a few pictures, then headed towards our respective starting areas.

All smiles at the practice swim

Baha and I waited for the swim start together, Ironman uses a rolling start now and we seeded ourselves according to our planned pace.  It was hard to tell where the pace groups were as the people holding the signs were moving all over the place.  While we were waiting they mentioned an athlete who would be completing their 200-something Ironman that day.  I can't even begin to imagine what their life must be like and I wondered how long they have been doing this.  Ironman has only been around 41 years, that is a brisk pace!

I think that we noticed that the water looked choppy, but none of us really wanted to acknowledge it or talk about it.  One guy near us did note that we would be swimming the longest portion of the race into the chop.  We were in the lake the day before for a practice swim and the water was so perfect - there was sunshine and it was calm and beautiful.  I'm not sure what happened to that lake, but it was not the lake we would get for our race.  It was pretty cool to see Mike Reilly in the middle of all of the athletes, sending us off with such positive energy.  I love Ironman Day!!

"Put on your goggles" Baha said as I stepped into the water. Minor detail.

As soon as I started swimming, I noticed that it visibility was going to be a challenge.  Right away I could hear voices from the kayaks telling us to swim more towards the right.  The swim was a single large rectangle and I felt way on the outside during the outward bound side of the rectangle.  I could see other swimmers and kayaks to my right and I knew that as long as I could see them I wasn't too far out.  Buoy to buoy is the name of the game in a long swim like this and I got to work.  I felt like there were constantly people around me, but I held my own this time - unlike in the past.  I knew that life was going to get a lot more interesting when we turned the first corner because we would be starting to swim into the worst of the chop.

Racked and ready to go in transition

I was thankful to reach that first corner because that meant the first part of the swim was over.  Now to turn the second corner and swim that longest section that was directly into the chop.  It felt like a tough swim, but I didn't let myself dwell on just how hard it was.  Unlike cycling or running, it is impossible to talk to the person next to you and say "wow, does this seem exceedingly tough?" So I just kept my head down and just kept swimming.  At one point I noticed a sea of green caps (men) around me and very few pink (women) caps - and it reminded me that we need more women in Ironman. Lots of traffic, lots of contact, but I just kept swimming.  Halfway through this long stretch, the buoys turn from yellow (outbound) to orange (inbound) - this was encouraging because I knew it meant I was halfway through that long side of the swim.  It was difficult to see the buoys at times, so I just made sure that I could see swimmers and kayaks to my right when I was breathing.  At one point I convinced myself that the next orange buoy was really red (a turn buoy), but it just wasn't true and I grumbled to myself and just kept swimming.

I am really lucky in that I never experience cramps on the bike or on the run, but both my calves cramped a couple of times during this swim.  I must have been working that kick harder than usual? Finally I saw that red turn buoy in the distance and I swam with sheer determination to get to it.  I had not looked at my watch a single time because I just didn't want to know how far I'd gone - or better yet - how far I had to go.  I think that I really was in denial about how difficult it had been because when I finally did glance at my watch, as I swam to shore, I was disappointed that I was missing my time goal by more than 5 minutes.

I gave it my best kick as I swam towards the exit and as I went to put my feet on the ground, my left calf gave me one final cramp.  Thankfully it passed quickly and I saw 1:37:37 on my watch as I headed towards the wetsuit strippers.

Despite all of that, I still swam a personal best!  It just goes to show you how much I have improved as a swimmer since my last Ironman swim in Maryland two years ago (remember, the swim was cancelled at Chattanooga last year).  According to my watch, I swam 2.9 miles but I'm not sure how accurate that is with all of the other people around me and with the clouds in the sky. It was probably the worst chop that I've ever swum in and I held my own.  I can't think of a better confidence boost, I'm really looking forward to trying the distance again in much better conditions.

Now to focus on climbing the helix and getting through transition and to my bike at the top of the building.