next sunday, i’ll be running Ironman Wisconsin in Madison. the race starts with a 2.4 mile swim, followed by a 112 mile bike. then, i’ll run a marathon (26.2 miles). above is a picture of the gear i’ll be using for the day (minus the bike, obviously). while i’ll likely be bringing extras in the event something breaks or gets misplaced, you can see there’s not a whole lot that goes into racing for upwards of 13 hours straight.
swim
– TYR Hurricane Category 5 wetsuit
– TYR Competitor Tri Singlet (i’ll wear this under the wetsuit and it’ll say on the whole race)
– De Soto Carrera Tri Shorts (these too will be worn under the wetsuit and used all day)
– TYR goggles
– bright green swimcap (i’ll have to wear the IM issued cap, but i wear two with my goggle strap between to prevent my goggles from being kicked / knocked off by another swimmer)
– Sigma PC-9 heart rate monitor (i’ll wear this all day and use this to determine pace times)
– H20 Audio earphones (i cut off the earbuds to the headphones to use as earplugs, keeping the water out of my ears. audio devices such as ipods are not allowed throughout the entire race.)
T1
transitions take place inside the monona terrace conference center, and i’m hoping for less than 5 minutes per transition. unlike my half iron race in Chisago last month, all race gear is kept in bags inside the changing rooms instead of by the bike outside. since i’ll be wearing the same top and bottom all day, i’ll just have to grab my socks, shoes, helmet, shades, and food and be off. no sense complicating the day by worrying about changing clothes, etc.
bike
– Felt B16 bike with Boyd 58 carbon clinchers, Sigma Rox 8.0, and Adamo Race saddle. on the bike, i’ll carry two spare inner tubes, tire levers, a few allen wrenches, and two CO2 cartridges to fill a flat.
– Lazer Tardiz helmet
– Pearl Izumi Ti Beam shoes
– Smith Pivlock shades
– Wigwam socks
– tri top/bottom from swim
T2
transition two is in the same room as T1, and this one should be quick. i’ll leave my bike shoes clipped to my bike at the end of the ride, so all i’ll have to do is ditch my helmet, grab my headband and pretzels, slip on my shoes, and be off – to run a marathon.
run
– Nike Vomero 6 shoes with Yankz! laces. elastic laces = speed and comfort.
– Buff headband
– tri top / bottom / shades / socks from bike
food
breakfast will be toast with peanut butter, a few ensure, and yogurt. i may drink another ensure 30 min before the swim start.
on the bike, i’ll eat peanut butter crackers, fig newtons, and Honey Stinger Waffles. i’ll wash it all down with water and Gu Brew electrolyte drink. about half way through the bike, i’ll have the option to stop and get things out of a special needs bag i’ll have packed prior to the race. in it, i’ll have a snickers (this might be a nice change from the other food after riding for upwards of 6 hours), a fresh bottle of GU Brew, an Ensure, a spare inner tube, and some tools.
on the run, i’ll only drink water, and snack on pretzel sticks i’ll stash in my back pocket. i’ll eat enough on the bike to be ok with pretzels only through the run. i will have a special needs bag available on the run as well, and i may grab an Ensure as those seem to sit well, have 250 calories, and provide a good amount of nutrition without much hassle.
that should be it. not too complicated. race starts at 7:00 am with a mass start swim which i hear is pretty cool to witness. swimming in it, on the other hand, might be a bit sketchy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzCYBFR3BMU&feature=related (see what i mean?)
i’m feeling good, a bit nervous, but trust i’ve put in the training time to get me through. how much time you ask?
in the past 4 months, i’ve:
– run, pedaled, and swam around 2,500 miles, which is roughly the distance from LA to NY.
– swam about 135,520 yards. that’s 2,710 laps at the pool. (1 lap = down and back)
– rode over 2,000 miles. considering i cruise around 17-19 mph, that’s a lot of hours for thinking.
– ate over $400 worth of groceries per month. (i’m eating well over 4,000 calories daily just to maintain my 143 pounds.)
– trained for 245 hours, which is equal to 30, eight hour work days worth.
– completed 254 workouts, burning the calorie equivalent of 938 donuts. yikes!
wish me luck.
SEPTASTIC! 