IM Wisconsin

A little late on the reporting end. Sorry 'bout that.
I'm pretty uncomfortable with Jeff's overall assessment but I do have to admit - I had a good day; although the last half of the marathon hurt. Especially between miles 17 and 23. At one point both hamstrings were so cramped up I hobbled like those old guys you see at the end of a race who can barely move and it hurts even to watch them. I stopped and stretched a bit and then got back at it. The cramping was always lingering just in the background but no more needs to stop. Had a 29 year old woman pass me with about 25 yards to go to the finish, and I passed her back but at the wrong time – there was a false finish and then the real finish. She had enough oomph to regain the lead between us for the finish that counted; ah well – a mere youngster with more juice left than me.

Ok, let's back up. I specifically chose IM WI because I turned 45 at the end of August and figured that if I wanted to go to Hawaii again, my chances would be much higher if I raced after August 22 this year than before that date. One of my training partners, Tamsen Schurman, turned 50 in August so we both had the same mindset in signing up for this race. Also, I have a cousin living in Chicago so it was a nice way to tie a family visit with a race. I arrived in Chicago Thursday night, did all the registration stuff Friday, then Dan and the boys came in Friday night. Doing the family thing, and renting a small SUV meant we did not get up to Madison till mid-day Saturday and still had to put the bike together because assembled bike, loose bike box, luggage, and kids would not all fit in the back of the car. No big deal, though, right? We assembled the bike in a parking lot near the transition area, and I took it for a quick test spin before dropping it off with my gear bags. Whoops – my front derailleur cable snapped. It's 12:20, I need to have everything dropped off by 3:00, and my cable is shot on my internally-routed frame. I quickly buzz over the InSide Out bike mechanics tent and wait in line, with a very sinking feeling in my stomach. The guy works on it for quite some time, and in fact at one point we had three people working on it, trying to get the cable properly routed through. It's finally ready, I take it for a test spin, but something still doesn't feel right and I have to go back. The new cable was already showing signs of wear! The guy (Les, my hero) looks at it again, mumbles about the crappy frame design and then has an “ah ha” moment and makes everything right with another new cable and a couple of tie-wraps. [Turns out he did such a good job that the bike shifts better now than it ever has and I spent a good part of the race just marveling at the responsiveness of the front shifter. Very very cool]. Oh, and look, I have 20 minutes to spare for gear drop-off Got everything dropped off on time but still spent the rest of the day essentially sick to my stomach. So much for thinking I handle unexpected circumstances calmly and cooly. I had so little time to do my last minute pre-race thinking things through that I slept even more poorly than usual before the race, having different things come to mind that I had meant to take care of Saturday afternoon but had not. Anyway, enough whining. Taz joined Dan, the boys and me for dinner Saturday night and was my ride to the race early Sunday morning so that all Rees boys could sleep in a bit.

Race day was great weather. Glassy water and reasonable temperatures. The bike course was a two loop course and by the time I started lap 2, the wind had picked up, but still nothing like the awful weather Dan had at IM Lake Placed (started raining at 7:30 AM, and ended sometime after 9:00 PM with more than 3” of rain having fallen). Taz and I ran into Cathy Tibbetts, the only other non-LA New Mexican I knew who was racing – I had met her at the Women's Masters breakfast at Kona last year - from Farmington. We all hung back before getting into the water at the last minute for the deep water start. The mass start was the usual confusion but not too bad as there is a permanent waterski jump that breaks up the starting line and therefore allows for a little bit of moving room in its wake. I still felt pretty packed in till more than ½ mile into it. At one point, some guy forcefully and deliberately uses my shoulder to pull himself forward, which ticked my off. The rest of the contact was a pain, but nothing as offensive (my bruised jaw from somebody's kick finally healed last week!). I got out of the water faster than I had expected – my crappy Kona swim was something like 1:17, so I was pleased with the 1:08 I saw as I ran out onto the beach. The transition zone is a bit odd with helix parking garage entrance / exit ramps having to be negotiated. Great volunteers helping get your stuff for you though, but it still seems to take forever to negotiate all of the distance from shoreline to change-room to bike to finally back down a ramp and on your way.

The bike course has way too many turns for my liking, and quite a few hills. Which I don't mind, except when they combine the hills with the turns. Which they did. You bike through beautiful farm country in some parts, but beware, dairy farms can be fairly pungent. I passed a few women early on, including Taz, but after that there were just a few that I continued to trade positions with throughout the ride. Of course there were also the usual speedsters who cruised past me like I was moving backward. As usual, the first half of the ride I was pleased with my speed but it fell off towards the end. I never saw anyone in my age group right after the beginning of the bike, so I just kept assuming there was a clump of them way up ahead that I just could never catch. (this is what always happens to me).

I was psyched to get off the bike and start the run. One of the stronger women on the bike started out with me. We both glanced at each other's legs and were both happy to realized we were indifferent age groups. So we ran together for the next five miles and enjoyed each other's speed and company. Bummer, though, she fell back and I was on my own. The course runs through the University of Wisconsin's football stadium as well as through its campus and by the state capitol – great for spectators. I saw Dan and the boys and enjoyed my favorite part of the race – hand-slaps from the kids. Finally got an update from Dan (after having to ask for it), and was shocked to hear I was first out off the bike! So, just like Florida a few years ago, I kept repeating to myself, it's mine to lose, just keep going. Felt really good during the first half of the run, but like I said, the second half was tough, and the last ¼ was quite hard. No more updates from Dan although I was able to see the guys quite a few times throughout the course. John even got the entire Fire Department to yell for me when I went by at one point. Finished 10:44:41 after I started. Boy, I sure felt bad at the end – that was the hardest I think I've ever worked in a race. Good enough for first in my age group, though, 52 minutes ahead of second in my age group; set a new course record but only by 5 minutes – Taz did a great job of not only winning her age group but setting the W50-54 record by more than 10 minutes! I think the speedy 45-49 year olds must all be waiting to participate in Kona next month along with Dan. What's the bottom line after all of this wordiness? We're going to Kona again next year and the boys are starting to think that Hawaii in October is a great Rees family tradition.