What Happened in Wisconsin

I didn't have high expectations coming up here. Last year, I did a big block of training and then my race rehearsal sucked. This year, I did an even bigger block of training right before this and...my race rehearsal sucked! Only it sucked differently...

I didn't ride the normal course. I did the out and back first from Verona, knowing the winds were supposed to pick up, and that went really well. Absolutely gorgeous day! I started out with the arm warmers, but didn't really need them as it was quite humid to start off and the sun was high in the sky already (I started riding at 6:30AM). When I got to the bike path along Lake Monona (the one you swim in for IMWI), I could tell the lake was really high from all the rain, and I wondered if it had gone over the banks. When I got just past Monona Terrace, I could see that the lake had, indeed, spilled the banks a bit.

I turned around at the bike shop along the lake, and was just clipping in when 2 guys began yelling at me, so I stopped. They asked about some open water swim that was supposed to be happening. I laughed devilishly at them and said, "Do I look like I would know about that?" And they both smiled and said, yeah, I look like I work out a little bit. I asked them which group it was and they said EVOtri. I told them I wasn't part of that and was sorry that maybe their swim was cancelled. I wouldn't have gone swimming in there--my guess is that the bacteria levels are pretty high, but who knows?

Not even a minute later, a guy I met some years ago says hi to me. He thought I didn't remember him, but I remembered his name--Brad. We caught up--he's going on Ironman #3 and I sort of sheepishly told him I was going on #11. I get the impression some people hear that and figure I have absolutely no life (in some respects they are right), but then many athletes only know my "Ironman" persona, so of course, they would think that. Anyway, Brad was riding by himself, and wished me a good ride and I told him I was already 18 miles in because I rode from Verona. I ended up seeing him later in Mt. Horeb.

When I rode back to Verona, the winds had picked up, but I was still riding well and feeling great. My objective for the ride was to be as cheesy as possible, because I know from experience how easy it is to put out watts on this course due to all the hills. I wasn't staring at the Ergomo; I was just telling myself that if I could ride easier I should.

All was well when I got back to Verona, and I had gone sufficiently easy for the first leg. Instead of stopping at Fireman's Park for water, I went to the gas station across the street where I had stopped last year, and the nice lady gave me ice cold water! I showed her my gimp hand, which actually was much better (as I type this it's about 98%).

Now I was going to start the 40-mile loop. As soon as I got into it, I decided I didn't want to ride all the crap, and that I would just do an out and back to Mt. Horeb and maybe a little further. There was pretty much a head wind all the way to Mt. Horeb, and while discouraging, I pressed on. I was pretty proud of myself because I was in the aerobars all the time, and I mean all. I did the climb up into Mt. Horeb in the bars, and this helped to keep my watts down. I had plenty of gears, and I was checking my legs, and starting to feel the fatigue.

I stopped at the Kwik Trip in Mt. Horeb where lots of bikers stop to refuel and ran into Brad and a few other people I know. As I headed out in the reverse direction I had just come, I saw a lone roadie ahead of me. I came up on him and we began chatting. He was a really nice guy, and he asked me if it was OK if I drafted on a ride. I told him I can't in the race, but there were no worries in training, because so what if you can ride faster then? We had sort of a tailwind and worked well together. He had driven in from Lake Mills to ride about 30 miles. He made some smart remark about being an old man and so I asked him how old he was--maybe 30? It's hard to tell as long as person is fit, you know, with the helmet and sunglasses and all. He told me he's 40, and I told him I've got him beat and he couldn't believe it when I told him my age. I told him that yeah, I just try and take care of myself and all.

As Don and I continued riding back to Verona (where he left his car), we saw many, many riders heading into Verona--mostly triathletes. Don asked me if a lot of the women he was seeing were competing, and I figured out what he meant, because, well, frankly, there were a lot of very large women riding. I shared my sentiment on that which is that one should drop weight before doing Ironman because it won't beat up your body as much and besides, biking is all about power to weight ratio. Just the other day, Jamie was telling me (during one of our non-stop jabber sessions) that he wants to know what my CdA is and that we should measure it. Basically, CdA is a measure of how aerodynamic/efficient your position is. The smaller and lower you are on your bars, the better the number you have, and the faster you can go with less watts. I must be pretty good, because I can ride pretty well considering I'm a tiny little Yard Gnome!

I ended up losing Don about 3 miles from Verona as I powered through some rollers. I hope he enjoyed his ride! I went past Fireman's Park and now it was time to decide how I wanted to finish out my ride. I started to backtrack a little bit when I saw 2 guys circling an intersection. I joked that that was a helluva way to get in 100 miles! I turned around and they were still there, and then they asked if I was part of the WIBA group. I told them that I have zero affiliations, but that I knew they were up here riding.

I had just started to notice my stomach not feeling so good. I was using my new Infinit mix, Money Shot, for the first time. When I took the very first sip of it, I could taste the caffeine. How do I know that's what I was tasting? Way back when in college I used to take Vivarin every now and then, and tastes are hard to forget. But the effect felt great, until I about now, and then I realized my stomach and nervous system were not too good with the amount of caffeine. I didn't exactly have the jitters--my stomach was just off, and that combined with the fact that no matter how you cut it, I was operating on a boatload of fatigue, combined to make me feel like complete and total shit. I wanted to cut my ride way short, to the tune of maybe 70 miles. But I knew this was a training ride, and so I could go without nutrition for 30-60 minutes and be fine. I had plenty of water, and I had brought gels with me and a small Payday. So I ate a gel and the PayDay and continued on.

I decided to go back to Mt. Horeb and back and that would be enough for today--giving me about 95 miles. The winds had picked up even more, and I had purposely decided to ride right into them while I felt like shit. I started feeling really sorry for myself and wanting to chuck it right then and there. But I knew this was part of the game, and that laying off the caffeine for awhile would probably fix me right up.

Well, I made it back to Mt. Horeb, and ran into some of the WIBA folks at the Kwik Trip. Some chic made a smart remark about my fake tattoos, and I just didn't have the energy to explain them or myself or anything.

I had hoped the way back to Verona would be as tasty as the first time, but the winds were swirling, as they often do in that area, and I had slowed down a bit. But I made my way back, continuing to stay in the aerobars pretty much the entire time, and when I was just about back to my hotel, it began raining. I had seen some thunderclouds building, and patted myself on the back (virtually) for starting so early.

I felt pretty overheated and thought I'd bag my run, but stupid me I asked if there was a treadmill and they said yes, so I hopped on, but only put in 30 minutes because I felt pretty awful. Note: when I say "awful," I was not suffering--this is all self-imposed, after all, and it could end whenever I said stop, and hey, I wasn't dying or anything! I watched The Weather Channel while on the crappy treadmill, and watched all the warnings and such and also the wind and rain out the window.

I like staying at the Super 8 because there's a McDonald's right next door! I do not eat at McDonald's except for special occasions, like oh, I have been training 20+ hours a week or after an Ironman. I needed food and quick, so after a shower, I walked on over and got 2 cheeseburgers and small fries, and it was good.

I laid around and thought about what had happened, and was glad that I had tried the ultra caffeine now rather than waiting for the race, but when I analyzed everything, I realized it wasn't just that, it was that I was so incredibly worked from all the training I've been doing and I should give myself a break. When I downloaded the power data, I was spot on for how I should have been riding, so I'm just going to chalk it up to being tired.

About 5:00PM I motivated to head to Heiney's in Black Earth for dinner. What a pretty drive! I just love this area, which is why I have no trouble driving 2.5 hours to get here to ride for a day, and I hadn't been to Heiney's in 2 years. I ordered my favorite, Steak Wisconsin (steak with bleu cheese on top), had a couple of Lake Louie Cream Ales, and got some Wundumous Wings (the world's best chicken wings) to go. I couldn't finish my meal there, but I took the leftovers and ate them about an hour later AND the wings!

My car is just about packed, and I'm going to get a breakfast bomb at McDonald's and head home. Weather is gorgeous, and I know once I get home, I'm going to unpack and get back into bed! I need the rest, as I've got one more big week. A day off of everything should do me a world of good!