Ironman Wisconsin 2011 Race Report

The race. It was long and so is this post. Get comfortable. 

SWIM (2.4 miles):

Water temp – very comfortable with a full wetsuit

Water quality – minimal waves

Start – treading water 

Equipment – Orca Speedsuit, circa 2005, Barracuda goggles, Garmin 301XT (for the whole race)

Mass start with a big group clumped together right near the line, very densely packed together. I avoided that area and started back where the other non-swimmers were enjoying a little more space between racers. Little bit higher amount of contact than normal, but was able to get myself moving pretty well. The mass start of ~2800 people meant that I didn’t really have to worry too much about sighting, which was sweet. Racers definitely spread out by the second loop, but I swear the most violent contact (got a few kicks and had to push someone off who tried to swim over me) was on the home stretch back to shore! 

I had a pretty good sense of my time here and was expecting 1:30. Was happy to find my actual time was a few minutes quicker. Thank you to all of the other racers I drafted of off and who kept me on the course!

Rank – 1577 overall (2797), 74 (145) in my AG

Time – 1:23:53

T1 (9:02):

Yes! Saw some of my fans right away – Lindsay, John, Steve, Zach, Cara – and blew them a kiss 🙂

Wetsuit stripper!

Jogged up the helix parking structure – ugh. Long.

I wore my bike kit for the swim (thank you, Heather!), which made the transition otherwise fairly easy. Socks, shoes, gloves, helmet, sunglasses, sunscreen. Got my bike and another volunteer helped me put my Garmin 310XT on my bike mount… switched from T1 mode to Bike mode and I was off…

BIKE (112 miles, 3778 ft climbing – http://connect.garmin.com/activity/114296484)

Course – out, two loops, back. Continuous hills, some sharp turns.

Weather – sunny, warming as the day went on, headwind on the second loop

Road quality – varied

Bike – 2009 frame (built/bought in 2010) Cervelo RS, size XS w/clip-on aerobars 

Started slow, due to all of the turns on the course as we navigated our way our of town and onto the bike path (no passing allowed). Saw a crash around mile 5 – medics already on the scene, rider appeared ok, but obviously hurt and being taken off the course. Once out on the road, I slowly started drinking (not too much at once, trying to avoid any GI issues) – had a bottle of Hammer Perpetuem and a bottle of some sort of electrolyte drink (Gu or Clif, I think). Tried to take it easy out to the beginning of the first loop – just warmed up and got ready for the HILLS! First loop was great. Hills were constant, but very manageable. Roads were crowded and I was definitely in the process of making up time from my back-of-the-pack swim. 

Crowd support through the towns and up the more significant hills was pretty incredible. Streets lined on both sides, folks out in costume, posters, noise makers and even a drill sargent! I saw my fans as I went through on the start of my second loop – Zach, Cara and Steve cheered so loud that a nearby racer had to ask me, “If they’re that excited now, what are they going to do when you finish?” My only possible response – “I am VERY lucky.”

Felt good starting loop two – until the headwind became really apparent. I confirmed with a few other people that I wasn’t just really tired. Yes, headwind. Ugh.

Special needs bags were waiting around mile 58. More sunscreen application, new bottle of Perpetuem and Gu Brew and a bag of salted boiled potatoes. So yeah, what DID I eat out there? On loop one I had a few bottles of water and Gatorade, in addition to my drinks. Couple banana halves at aid stations. Tried to eat my strawberry Pop Tarts (always unfrosted!), but found that it they were more crumbly than usual – and chewing wasn’t really working out so well. The potatoes were wonderful. What didn’t I eat? I didn’t eat a single Clif bar. I think I may have had one gel/Gu, but don’t really remember. Turns out that drinking was the way to go for this event!

So yeah, headwind. Then around mile 70, my butt was pretty sick of riding. Continued anyway, of course.

Mile 95 – I was really sick of riding. Done. Annoyed with the headwind, sad that my mph average wasn’t improving. Definitely wondered (probably aloud) who decided that 112 miles was better than 100 miles. At mile 95, five more miles seemed way better than 17 more miles – which may as well have been 40 more miles, given how I was feeling horrible.

Around mile 99, I finished the second loop and headed back towards town. M2 had warned me that this part was NOT flat, or even downhill, but actually had some up to handle. Still, fueled by anger, eagerness to get off the bike and a reduction of headwind, I rolled into town and actually reported my fastest split of the day. Rode up the helix and gladly handed off my bike.

BIKE SPLIT 1: 54 mi	54 mi (3:06:05)	17.41 mi/h
BIKE SPLIT 2: 94 mi	40 mi (2:30:32)	15.94 mi/h
BIKE SPLIT 3: 112 mi	18 mi (55:54)	19.32 mi/h
TOTAL BIKE	112 mi (6:32:31)	17.12 mi/h

Rank – 1270 overall, 44 AG

T2 (5:55):

Grabbed my watch, ditched my bike and headed in to the Monona Terrace on wobbly legs.

Changed bike shorts for a running SKIRT, thin socks for ones with more padding. Added running shoes, running hat, race number, body glide on a few problem toes and under my arms. Additional sunscreen… and I was out.

RUN (26.2 mi, http://connect.garmin.com/activity/114296496)

Weather: HOT at first, probably in the mid-upper 80s, light/occasional breeze, cooled a little as the sun set

Terrain: some mild hills, one short steep section

Road: Mostly pavement, short section with trails

Route: Two loops with lots of out and backs

I came off the bike expecting to feel bad, but not horrible. When I started “running” and saw my pace hovering around 11:30 min/mile, I knew I was in trouble. My legs felt like absolute crap. My confidence dropped way down. Around mile one I had a quick bathroom break, hoping that would make me feel a little better. Nope. Started walking the aid stations and a little in between, Drank some Gatorade and water, had some banana. My cheering group knew I was in rough shape as I slowly made my way by with a sorry little hello and a forced smile. 

Everyone said to have the Coke (actually, Pepsi), on the run, but that once you start, you have to have some at every aid station (about a mile apart). Lena cautioned me against starting too soon, as she had some GI issues on the run that she attributed to the Coke. I waited until mile five. I needed something to help me get moving… and thought it was worth a shot. 

Somewhere around mile eight, I realized that I could finally go a little farther without walking. From there, I found myself feeling better and better, and by mile 10, I realized that I would probably actually finish! Some of it was probably energy from the caffeine, but also, my legs just felt a little recovered from the bike and then remembered how to run. 

As I started to feel better, I could finally interact with my friends and family that were spread out on the course in three different spots – Amy, then Mom, Sister and Izzy the dog, then Steve, Cara and Zach. They got some very gross hugs, high-fives and lots of love! I was so happy to see them along the course and really felt my attitude shift up each time I saw their familiar faces. Amy made a tshirt that just read “BIRDWELL,” my sister made some tshirts that said “Go Kelly,” and Cara made a poster. Steve, Cara and Zach chalked part of State Street, which I sadly saw *after* the race. Again, I am SO LUCKY to have such amazing cheerleaders.

Back to the running part. I did stop somewhere for more sunscreen and Vaseline and continued to walk/run the aid stations and hills, but was generally running around a 10 min/mile and felt okay. Loop number two was much better. Somewhere around mile 18 a woman asked me about my goal time. Uh, 13 hours? She was aiming for 12:59:59, so we ran together for two miles. It was nice to have company and I got some energy from encouraging her to stay with me. At mile 21 though, it became all business. I was feeling emotional (to the point that my breathing was getting messed up since I was almost crying and had to tuck those feelings deep, deep inside) and also very focused. My fans could tell that I was in some sort of mode and Steve yelled out for me to catch the lady ahead of me, which I did. Looking back at my Garmin data, I felt like I was cruising by at 7:30 min/mi, but really, I was somewhere around 9:30-10 min/mi. Amazing how putting that much distance on your legs skews your perception of speed and effort! 

RUN SPLIT 1: 8.9 mi	8.9 mi (1:41:06)	11:21/mi
RUN SPLIT 2: 13.2 mi	4.3 mi (44:57)	10:27/mi
RUN SPLIT 3: 21.95 mi	8.75 mi (1:32:42)	10:35/mi
RUN SPLIT 4: 26.2 mi	4.25 mi (41:46)	9:49/mi
TOTAL RUN	26.2 mi (4:40:31)	10:42/mi

Rank – 917/2797, 30/145 AG

The finish was incredible. I was officially an Ironman. I was carried off by the volunteers and got my swag, walked around with them until I felt okay enough to go on my own – when I fell out of the finisher’s corral and directly into my boyfriend’s arms and then eventually all of my friends and family. I’m actually crying as I type this, over a month later, because it was such a powerful experience. 

Other result info – total geeky numbers stuff is all here. I was super happy to find that I continued to improve at each split! Obviously some of that is a direct result of my bike and run being so much stronger than my swim, but still, pretty sweet. 

Stairs were challenging that night and the next day, but otherwise, I was walking okay the next day. Took me about 5 weeks to get back to feeling like I was back to 100% capacity – albeit a diminished capacity due to the break (not totally off, but not like training), etc.

Will I do another one? I. Don’t. Know. I do know that I saw cows. Mooo.

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