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The below is long, I figure if I am going to only write once a decade, I am going to make it worth it.
I can’t start talking about my Ironman experience without first saying thank you to the friends and family that were unconditionally supportive in the process leading up to race day and the day of. Completing the race let alone getting to the race would not have been possible without their support.
My Ironman Wisconsin 2010 experience started on September 14th, 2009 with this little blip on the super information super highway.
Between 09.14.09 and 09.12.10, I consumed more GU gels, swam more miles, burned more calories, and woke up having a hard time moving than I could have ever imagined or wished for. The list of lessons learned from the race experience, and the thoughts running through my mind on some of those long training days, are enough to fill a book and can only best be shared in the depths of a long drawn out conversation over cocktails. To save you some time, below is a bit of my experience and perspective on the race.
Preceding Two Weeks: I had the extremes of anxiety and excitement knowing the race was finally nearing. My taper had been going well — or, I should say, at least as expected — feeling the fatigue of dialing down the training for several weeks. I spent my time pretty much devoted to avoiding getting hurt (see pre-Kilimanjaro concussion) and trying to not accidentally hurt myself (weekly occurrence).
Race Eve/Race Morning: My goal for pre-race morning was not to be rushed to get to the race site/ready, but also to not have a lot of time to sit around and stress. On top of internal stresses, I knew race morning in the transition/swim area would be full of a good number of people experiencing the same pre-race jitters, and I didn’t have any interest in having their stress rub off.
I woke up race morning around 4:30. I had a horrible night of sleep, probably slept two and a half hours at best. I gathered a few items and then took my time eating a protein bar, banana, and Gatorade. I knew it was the last food I would be eating for a while without being in motion. The stress and anxiety I felt in the preceding weeks leading up to the race was gone, or I was at least managing it in a different way.
I felt relatively calm knowing I just had to execute the plan I had set for myself for the day. I had a short list of items to do at the race site, pre-start: fill tires with air, drop water bottles, get body marked, etc. All my other gear was already checked in at the race with the exception of my halfway point ‘special needs’ bags that are available during the ride and run. After a quick uneventful, quiet drive and parting with family and friends, I started in on my list of to-dos. The timing of things worked well in that I had just a few minutes to spare to talk to racing friends and wish them well. As the race time neared, I made my way down the helix towards the swim start. Walking down the helix with the other race competitors was a unique experience. The walls of the helix were lined with lines of supporters, cheering and wishing the competitors well. We were like prize fighters with our gear on, mostly stoic, focusing on the day ahead. As I walked down, I saw a number of tears on racers and people in the crowd. The exit of the helix narrowed to a fenced area down to where racers were starting to jump in the water. The MC overhead was balancing a combination of motivating the racers with comments and instructing them to move out into the water so that others could make their way in as well. The MC was overhead at one point asking, ‘ARE YOU GOING TO BE AN IRONMAN TODAY?!’ Race crowd in unison, responding, ‘YES!!!’ I made the rest of the short walk down, slowly waded into the water, and made a quick dive to get fully immersed. The water was already full of people and in the process of diving down I more or less landed on someone. Running into bodies in the water was pretty much how the rest of the swim was going to go. In the craziness of the morning, the logistics, the walk down the helix, the speakers blaring overhead, I felt amazingly calm. Race time was FINALLY here.
Swim: The swim is a straightforward 2 times around a 1.2-mile rectangular loop. At the sound of the cannon, the action in the water is less than straightforward. The experience as 2500 racers attempt to start their swim is unlike anything I have ever experienced. I would compare it to a rugby scrum in 10-20 feet of water, bodies swimming over bodies, swimming over other bodies. My goal for the race start was to swim wide, swimming to the first rectangle turn, which was about .5-.6 miles out. This allowed me the time to get comfortable with the physical contact with practically every stroke, and allowed me time to find my mental and physical rhythm.
I am not inherently comfortable with open water swims. For me, it was more important to be in the right mental place around the first corner than to worry about whether I was adding extra time to my swim. I rarely if ever wear a wetsuit when training. I figure if I can do the distance with a decent time in training sans wetsuit, I will only be better off with a wetsuit for races. I had been in the lake the day before and found it to be cooler than expected. In addition to my wetsuit, for this particular race, I had picked up a pair of arm warmers from my friend Danielle, just the day prior after my chilly swim. Besides the scrum-esque aspect of most of the swim, I found my rhythm and made my way around the loops. The swim was the easiest aspect for me and my confidence grew as the swim went on. When my hands and feet touched ground near shore, I knew the only way I was not going to finish was if I had a bike crash and/or the medics had to haul me off the course.
Transition: From the water, I ran up the transition into Monona Terrace where volunteers assisted me finding my gear and helping me change. I ran out to the parking ramp and down the helix for the start of the bike.
Bike: Next up, 112 mile bike. The bike course consists of a short ride out of Madison and two 42-mile loops before the same short section back to town. The course is unrelenting. There is not one hill or aspect that knocks you out. The course as laid as out just slowly wears you down, up, down, up down.
My plan for the bike was to maintain a moderate pace until mile 40, intending take the time to refuel after the swim and then start to pick up the pace if I was feeling alright. A complication in my overall ride and this plan was that a mile into the bike, my odometer stopped working and did not work again with the exception of sporadic moments. This I did not expect or plan for. I had done my training all year pacing between 20-22 MPH for most rides. I had completed a half-iron in July with a bike average of 20.7. For the Ironman, I was planning on trying to maintain an 18-19 MPH bike. Without having any sense of my pace besides asking people every so often, I just tried to listen to my body and stuck to my nutrition plan. I hydrated and fueled on GU gels (strawberry banana), bananas, and Cliff builder bars.
Everyone who competes in IM Wisconsin will say this and I will as well — the crowds in Wisconsin are AMAZING. One of the most memorable parts of my race, and certainly for the bike for me, were the crowds in Verona and Mt. Herob. It is said there are generally 5,000-10,000 people in Verona and more spread around the hilly portion of the course. If you have ever watched the Tour De France with fans running along with the bikers as they slowly climb the mountains, this was exactly my experience. In my case, Russ, Sonia, Team Pellicano, and a number of other MSP folks were on several of the hills, running alongside, patting me on the back and saying, ‘You will be a winner, if you keep on smiling like that!’ So it is cheesy to say or hear now, but as you are working your way through the day, comments like that DO make a difference.
As I completed the second loop and started to make the relatively easy last fifteen miles back to town, I started to look towards the marathon, working numbers through my head. If I had X amount of time for the run, I would have XY time overall…again, and again.
I completed the bike unscathed, with the exception of a scorching burn that at the time of this writing I am still peeling from. Who knows whether the failing odometer helped or hurt me, I did have a slower bike time than expected. The important thing was I felt good and had positioned myself to be within range of my goal. Going into the day that is all I had hoped for.
Transition II: T2 went much quicker than the first. I found my transition items for the run and made my way out to the course. Before leaving the transition area, I let one of the volunteers cover me with sunscreen with the hope of not having my burn get any worse.
Run: I came off the bike into the run feeling very strong and confident. I ran a 10:15 average for the first 6-7 miles. I did not carry any of the nutrition with me that I had trained with, since I figured there were plenty of drink/nutrition options each mile of the run. This was my first mistake on nutrition and was not my last. Everything that I read and everything that I knew said to eat the same items that I used during training. The idea is, you know how your body responds. You know how much to consume, etc. Miles 8-10 in the run, I thought I would take a break from GU gels and nutrition pretty much in general as the sugary GU gels and sports drink the race course were offering were starting to get to me. I thought I would let my stomach rest and then start to re-fuel. I was not ever able to catch up on my nutrition again. Somewhere between miles 10-13, I came crashing down in a way that I have never experienced. I went from wondering whether I could finish under 12:30 to worrying about whether I would finish, period. I spent miles 14-18 trying to catch up on nutrition, probably walking more than running. Around mile 18, I started to feel better, and ran from 18 until about 22. I did not have any problem holding down food, I just was all around not feeling well. There was one point, where I actually took pills from another racer who suggested it would calm my stomach. This was probably the only time I have ever, and will ever, take pills from a random guy on the street when saying ‘yeah they will make you feel better’.
Miles 22-24, I came crashing down in every sense of the word. The mistakes I made earlier in the run on nutrition seemed to be compounding. I went from wondering whether I was going to pass out; to worrying that I was going to puke. I was hoping for puking as this seemed to be the lesser of two evils as I would just puke and get on with the rest of the race. Neither happened. Somewhere towards the end of mile 23, in the dark by Camp Randall, slowly walking down a ramp towards the street, I had a good talk with myself. This wasn’t one of those shouting at myself for all to hear, but slowly walking through all of the steps of the past year and how I was able to arrive at this point. Totally cliché, as probably much of this is, but I couldn’t imagine any other alternative than for me to start running again and finish. The road to start this process over again was MUCH, MUCH longer than pulling things together and just running those last couple miles.
I walked down the ramp on the back side of Camp Randall and started into a slow jog and then picked up the pace. I climbed the rest of the way up State Street, past the Capitol, and into the finish. I was without a doubt a bit delirious, but functioning. As I neared the line, I could hear the announcer say, ‘David Urbaniak, You are an Ironman.’
As soon as I crossed the line, there were volunteers grabbing my arms, wishing me congratulations, and asking me how I was doing. I don’t remember many specifics, but think I said, ‘just happy and relieved, happy and relieved.’
Things that worked:
· Mental prep – chill race day
· Nutrition plan up through the bike
· Swimming training plan
Things less so:
· My eating and hydrating was all over the place, I did not stick to my nutrition plan
· Do more bike hill training
· Do not get overconfident on nutrition. The day will catch up with you.
Lessons Learned:
· Use sunscreen
· Hope for the best, plan for the worst
· Even if you are feeling good, eat & drink
· Swimming, running, biking your way through summer whether age 8, 31, or 65 is a nice way to live.
· HAVE FUN. It is your choice to be there.
The Deets:
· 9000-11,000 calories burned during race
· Swim: 1:22:35
· Bike: 6:46:33
· Run: 5:11:05
· Overall: 13:34:07
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