I continued to push my limits further from a sprint distance triathlon, to an Olympic, to my first Half Ironman. I continued to go further in running races knowing that if I would ever want to do a full Ironman, I didn't want that to be the first time I run a full marathon. In 2007, I completed my first full marathon at the Fox Cities Marathon in my home town. I finished the race in over 4 hours, but was happy to have finished. After completing my first marathon, I added a new goal to my life goals, qualify for the Boston Marathon. Even with a non triathlon goal, I stuck to doing at least a couple multisport events each year to continue to grow as a multisport athlete. In 2010 I had my best year of racing to date. I ran a time that was fast enough to qualify for the Boston Marathon at the Green Bay Marathon and so did my father. At that time, I knew I would get to run the Boston Marathon with my dad in 2011. About a month after, I ran one of my best Half Ironman races at the High Cliff Triathlon. Later in September of 2010, I ran my fastest marathon with a time of 3:03, which is still my PR. After that year, I felt like I was ready to take on a full Ironman, but it didn't quite work financially along with the fact that Sarah and I just had Maya in 2009. So it was going to have to wait...I thought maybe 2011 was going to be the year to register, but we just went out to Boston in April and had our second child, Delaney in June. But, in 2012, I was able to convince Sarah to allow me to register for the 2013 Ironman. It took a lot of "conversations," but she reluctantly gave in. On Monday, September 10th, the day after the 2012 Ironman, I drove down with both of my girls at 5am and officially registered for the 2013 Ironman.
Training Plan
I have always designed each and everyone one of my annual training plans. I am no a certified USA Triathlon Coach, I do not have my Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist Certification, nor do I hold a USA Track and Field Coaching Certificate. I did have a Strength and Conditioning Personal Training Certification (which I let lapse after changing careers) and do have a degree in Exercise and Sports Science and an emphasis in Strength and Conditioning from UW-La Crosse, which is as much, if not more education than any of those certifications would offer. On a side note however, I would still love to get the USA Triathlon Coach Certification and possibly pursue a side job in coaching. Anyways, I have always made my training plans, based on my education, personal research, and years of racing experience. With that in mind, I have never developed a training plan for some as daunting and challenging as a full Ironman. Developing a training plan for a simple 26.2 mile marathon takes careful calculating and planning. So, it clearly becomes that much more difficult when you add in the 2.4 mile swim and a 112 mile bike on top of a full marathon. I did countless hours of research on Ironman training plans, and to be honest, there really wasn't too much out there, nothing in comparison to what you can find for half and full marathons. I became obvious to me why so many, if not majority of athletes either pay $200+ for a "one size fits all" training plan, or hire a personal coach for the entire season.
After reading several dozen articles about training and racing Iron distance races and looking at 2 (yup, that's all I could find without paying) generic Ironman Training plans, I began constructing my Ironman Training plan. I began with assigning a pre-calculated training volume for each training cycle and built it from there. I used excel, as I do for all my annual plans, for the ability to auto-populate and calculate equations to construct an annual plan. I knew that my strength was running and had weaknesses in both swimming and biking, but was weakest in swimming. My training plan reflected these weaknesses with added training volume in areas I was weak. I then added races to the plan, with my key races being the Green Bay Marathon in May, the High Cliff Half Ironman in June, and then Ironman Wisconsin in September. I also sprinkled in a few other shorter distance running races and triathlons just to stay fresh and to continue to work on race intensities. I would say by the middle/end of November I finished my training plan, which was scheduled to start on December 11th, 2012.
Looking back, I liked my training plan, to simulate the stress of running long after long bike rides, I would schedule a back-to-back brick works over my weekends with a bike focused brick (long bike/short run) followed by a run focused brick (shorter bike/long run) on the next day. I usually found that I was pretty sore going into my run focused brick workouts, which was probably a good thing. My workouts during the work week were shorter in volume and for the most part the training volume remained pretty consistent. Majority of the training volume increases came during my long weekend workouts. During the peak phase of my training I began implementing 1-3 two-a-day workouts, with a workout in the morning after work and a second workout in the afternoon after waking up. I definitely had my hard weeks where I struggled, but I also had easy weeks, probably more than the hard weeks, looking back. I did not have any specific speed sessions for either the bike or running and would have race paced workouts for the swim only. My swim and bike workouts were based solely on feel. I would usually go harder on shorter workouts and hold back on longer workouts.
In past training plans, I would not implement any sort of testing what so ever, but I wanted something to look back on to make sure what I was doing was actually working. I planned a swim test based on a 400m time trial swim followed by a 200m time trial swim. This swim test protocol was based on standards set forth by the coaches at the Swim Smooth Institute in Australia. I bought their book and bought into their philosophy of swimming. Personally, it worked for me and would recommend reading the book. My bike test was a 40k time trial. I only did one bike test throughout the training plan. I scheduled a few tests throughout the year, but they were hard to fit in with finding days were I felt good enough to give 100% during the test and where the weather cooperated. My run test was a 10k run. I only did 2 tests for pretty much the same reasons for not doing more bike tests. It just seemed that on days I was scheduled for a bike or run test, I would be very sore and felt as though I wouldn't be able to give an acceptable effort. So, instead of doing a test, I would do the workout at a higher than usual intensity.
As the race day approached, I began getting more and more concerned about my taper phases. I planned my taper as I traditional would for a marathon. I typically do a taper phase of 2-3 weeks with a 25% reduction in training volume down to a 60-75% reduction in the week before the race. I was getting concerned that maybe I was doing to much before the race and would not be rested enough. There is a saying about tapers that says "You're better off starting a race 10% under trained instead of 1% over trained." I consulted some of my teammates from TheTriShop.com Triathlon Team for some guidance. They suggested that if I do anything, I cut back my volume during the final week leading up to race day, so that was exactly what I did. I originally had slightly over 8 hours of training in the final 9 days before the race, which I cut down to just over 6.
Day/Night Before the Race
On Saturday, I was hoping to sleep in with hopes of getting enough sleep knowing I would not get sufficient sleep on Saturday night. That was not the case. I ended up waking myself up around 6am with impending excitement knowing that the race was just around the corner. Plus, Saturday was bike check-in day. I at least laid in bed for a half hour to an hour and just relaxed, figuring that had to count for something. After waking up, I made my favorite breakfast or steel cut oats with banana and almond butter. I packed up all my gear from my brother-in-law's house and double checked all my transition bags and special needs bags. Everything was as needed in all my bags and I had all my belongings packed up and I was ready to head to the Monona Terrace for the final check-ins before race day. I met my parents at the terrace around noon and first dropped off my bike at my assigned bike rack. The bike rack area is a huge area on the entire top deck of the Monona Terrace parking ramp. Just seeing all the bikes racked up is an impressive sight to see, not even taking in consideration what the area looks like on race day with all the added commotion. I racked my bike, pumped up my tires to near full inflation, lubed the chain, set my proper gearing, and placed a bag over the seat to prevent the morning condensation from leaving my bike seat wet in the morning. After dropping off my bike for the night, it was off to drop off my swim to bike gear bag and my bike to run gear bag in the assigned locations. I again double checked the bags (for at least the 10th time) and put them in numerical order based on my bib number. After dropping off all necessary items, I walked around the terrace with my parents for a little while since we had some time to kill before our 3pm check in time at our hotel. We could only see the same things so many times before getting bored, so we that I would just go to the hotel and sit on a comfy chair in the lobby to relax while they did a little sight seeing around Madison. I lucked out and they had a clean room in advance and I was able to check into my room early, around 2pm. A short while later my parents arrived at the hotel and they also had a room ready before the scheduled 3pm check-in time.
After getting into my room, I laid out everything for Sunday morning to all I needed to do was wake up and grab what was sitting out. I then just sat in the bed and watched baseball trying not to get overworked with the impending race. I was mildly concerned because of a splitting headache that developed after getting into my room. I had no Excedrine on hand, which is my go to OTC headache medicine. I decided to just relax and hope it went away over night. I ate my usual night before dinner of pasta with peppers and walnuts, but could only stomach about half of it because of feeling nauseous from the headache and nerves. I ate as much as could and then called it enough. After dinner I filled the tub with warm water and my homeopathic aromatherapy bath salts and settled in for a relaxing bath. My bath salts are supposed to assist with alleviating muscle pain and soreness. After sitting in the tub for 15-20 minutes, I climbed in bed, set about 3 or 4 different alarms for between 3:55 and 4:00, and put on some mediation music and tried to relax and fall asleep.
Getting to the Start Line
I woke up on my own about 10 minutes before my alarms went off. I slept pretty well actually, I was a little surprised. I still had a headache, however. I brewed a cup of coffee with the in-room Kureg to drink while I got dressed and ready for the day. I had some extra time to hang out in the room after I was dressed and made a second cup of coffee hoping the caffeine would rid me of my headache. I had scheduled a shuttle ride to the Terrace with my hotel at 4:55am and wanted to get to the lobby by 4:45am to be sure not to miss the bus. On my way down, I stopped by my parents room to drop off my luggage and such and give them a hug and so they could wish me luck. After the hugs and such, I was boarding the shuttle to get to the Monona Terrace. We were dropped off in front of a sister location for Best Western which was located on Capital Square, just a couple blocks away from the Terrace. This was actually a good spot to be dropped off since I still had to drop off my special needs bags at an off sight location away from the Terrace. After dropping off my two special needs bags, I made my way to transition areas to add the final nutritional items to my swim to bike and bike to run bags. My final stop was at my bike to add water to my on-bike hydration system and add my liquid and solid fuels to my bike for the first half of the bike leg. After making my final additions to my transition areas, I made my final trip to the bathroom and then started making my way to the swim start which is about a mile East of the Terrace. The crowds where starting to fill in all around. It was about an hour until the start of the race and there were more people near the swim start then I have ever seen at any endurance event, including the finish line of the Boston Marathon. At 6:15 I started to put on my wetsuit and at 6:40 I got into the water. I stuck exactly to my plan of swimming out to the ski jump. I stayed on the shore side of the ramp and held on to avoid treading water for 20 minutes straight before the longest day of my life ever. While waiting in the water for the race to start I just sat and stared at the crowds in awe. The Terrace was lined with people which appeared to be 5 or more people deep. The infamous helixes of the Terrace were just as packed. The shoreline was lined with people as well. It was absolutely breathtaking seeing the crowds. I got a little emotional waiting in the water thinking of how far I have come over the past 7 years and of all the sacrifices I have made during those years, not to mention the sacrificed I made the past year to get exactly where I was. I was minutes away from the starting my dream race, Ironman Wisconsin. It still brings a tear to my eye just thinking of the sight of the Terrace and the crowds from the start line of Ironman Wisconsin.
2.4 Mile Swim - 1:13:06
Before even starting the race I reminded myself of a question that was suggested by a renown Ironman coach on a podcast I listen to. He suggested that before making any decision during the race, you should ask yourself, "How will this decision effect the last 10k of the run?" After reminding myself of that final thought, the canon went off, signaling the start of the 2013 Ironman Wisconsin, I began swimming west along the shoreline. I did my best to settle into a comfortable pace. The start was not as congested as I had planned. I was anxious about the start, since it was my first ever deep water mass start. A lot of that had to do with the fact that started about 50-100 yards off of the inside line of the swim course. Since I was not starting directly inline with the buoys I wanted to take a good angle to the last buoy as opposed to swimming directly to the swim line and then staying on the inside line. I eventually settled in to a steady pace as the mass of swimmers began to spread out. I was actually very relaxed and in a peaceful state during the first half of the swim. I was comfortable and mentally in a good state. It was nice starting the race with a long swim, as it gave me the opportunity to "zone out" and simply think about my stroke. The fact that you're face down in the water means that you can not see any other swimmers, you can't see or hear the crowds of people...it's just you and the water...that's it. Like I said, it's peaceful and relaxing, which is exactly what I needed at the start of one of the most hectic and inspirational race starts I have ever been a part of. There is no one specifically looking at you, watching you, critiquing you, you can swim at your own pace with no worries - and that's exactly what I did...until I made it to the second turn buoy to start heading east. This was the longest leg of the swim course and furthest from the shore. The weather was not quite I was expecting for the day. The forecast was mostly sunny with highs in the mid to upper 70's, with strong winds out of the easy. The only thing that was accurate about the forecast was the winds. The breeze produced some unfavorable swim conditions, especially on the final leg. I struggled with my sighting, which made it difficult to swim a straight line. I wasn't the only one who had that issue, because pretty much every swimmer was struggling to swim a straight line. I had more contact during the second half of the swim then I did at the start. I was swallowing a ton of water nearly every breath I would take because of the waves. The combination of the constant contact along with the constant thrashing of the wave made me become rather irritated - NOT the feeling you need during the first hour of an 11+ hour day. I continued to just push on and get back into the state of mind I was at during the first half. Eventually we made the final turn and were heading back West (with the wind) towards the swim exit. When I walked up the boat ramp to get out of the water the clock read 1:12, which I was extremely happy with considering the water conditions. I nearly feel over as I took my first steps on land since 6:40.
Swim to Bike Transition - 0:09:20
After coming out of the water, the wetsuit strippers were right there ready to rip the suit off. I struggled getting my arms out of the suit and the volunteers were there willing and ready to help. I still had my swim cap and goggles in my hand when they pulled the suit off my upper body and my swim cap and goggles ended up in my arm sleeve. I feel to the ground as quick as I could to allow them to pull the suit off my lower body. After getting the suit off I had to run up 4 levels of the helix to get to the transition area. Honestly it was rather taxing. I took my time, trying not to over exert myself running up a steep helix style ramp. The crowds at the swim exit again, where like I have never seen before, they were loud, very loud, and still 5 or more people deep. The crowds where lined just as deep all the way along the route to the helix, the entire way up the helix, and all the way into the Terrace. After getting in the Terrace I made my way into a large ball room to grab my swim to bike transition bag and then into the men's changing room. I grabbed a seat in a foldable chair and was "assigned" a volunteer to assist me with preparing for the bike portion and putting away all my swim gear. The volunteer made a world of a difference and made the transition that much faster. After exiting the changing room it was back outside to the bike racks, I had to run down the aisle of thousands of bikes. As I would run past volunteers they would yell out my bib number to notify the volunteer that was responsible for my bike rack to grab my bike and have it ready for me for when I ran by. After a volunteer handed me my bike, I ran to the bike mount line, which was the exact spot my bike chain decided to fall off....great. I had to take 30-60 seconds to quick throw the chain back on the big ring and finally, I was off for the 112 mile bike ride.
112 Mile Bike - 5:50:15
The bike starts by going down the 4 levels of the helix that I had to run up after coming out of the water. After coming down to ground level you start heading out along Lake Monona on a recreational trail. The ride went by faster than any of my training rides, even my short rides. The ride out to Verona was hillier then I anticipated as the first 10 miles of the bike course were the only part of the 112 miles I have never been on prior to race day. The weather remained to be ideal, with temperatures in the upper 60's to lower 70's by the time I was out on the bike, with overcast skies. The wind remained steady out of the East which was at our backs as we headed West towards the city of Verona. Before I realized it, I was already 16 miles into the 112 trek in Verona and on the loop portion of the bike. The crowd support became more scattered as you could imagine for a 16 mile ride to Verona before beginning a 40 mile double loop. The bike course is just as challenging as advertised. The stick out to Verona is hilly and the loop is even more hillier. As I continued to ride on the loop, I stuck to my plan on riding easy on the first loop and just getting to mile 80 or 90 before I even think about pushing hard. The bike portion continued to fly by. The course had mile markers every 10 miles and I felt as though I was passing them every 10 minutes. Before I realized it I has half way through the first loop at mile 36. At this point I felt great, my legs felt fresh and ready to tackle the day. I turned my Garmin watch to display only my heart rate and no time or distance. I didn't want to deviate from my original race plan because of what my watch showed. My goal was to keep my heart rate below 155 during the entire portion of the bike. At least until mile 90, anyway. In my opinion the loop has 3 major hills. Yes, the loop (and the entire course for that matter) consists of constant hills. But there are 3 major climbs which are extremely taxing. These hills are located on Old Sauk Pass at about miles 40 and 80, Timber Lane at about miles 45 and 85, and then Midtown Road at about miles 50 and 90. The climb on Old Sauk Pass is a long and gradual climb. The Timber Lane climb is a short and steep climb. In my opinion the Midtown Road climb is the most difficult of the three major climbs on the Ironman Wisconsin course. The climb start immediately after making a left hand turn, so there is no hope for building any momentum at the start of the climb. It starts as a gradual climb but then the gradient increases as you continue to climb. The coolest part of the entire 112 mile bike course was the crowd support on all three climbs. It felt as though I was wearing the yellow jersey in the Tour de France climbing in the Alps. There were people dressed up as devils, super heroes, smurfs, and just odd outfits. I saw way too many grown men wearing hot pink speedos. But, no matter if they were wearing odd outfits or normal clothing, the one thing they had in common was their determination to make you forget you were struggling to climb the hill. During all of my training rides, I dreaded the hills, each and every one of them. But, during the race, I looked forward to getting to the hills just to be apart of the atmosphere the crowds created. As great as the climbs were, by far the best part of the entire bike loop was the family festival in Verona near the end of the loop, just before starting the second loop. This was the spot where families where shuttled to from the Terrace, so it was the first time I got to see my family since leaving the Terrace, nearly 3 hours ago. The first time passing them, I was so motivated that I was probably riding too hard, I was going nearly 24mph when I passed them. They were extremely loud and was exactly what I needed as I approached the halfway point of the bike course. As I passed through the crowds in Verona, I heard the announcer announce my name, "Here is Matt Kohl, who is a Police Officer!" It was pretty sweet. I continued to push on and settled back into my pace that was more suited toward my race goals.
At about mile 57, I reached the bike special needs location. At a minimum I needed to stop and exchange my liquid fuel bottle and get my second stash of Bonk Breaker Bars to make it through the final 55 miles of the bike course. At this point in the race, my legs still felt fresh and my stomach was cooperating. I was sticking to my race fueling plan EXACTLY as I had intended. I was listening to my body and eating when my body needed food and drinking water when my body needed the hydration. I had eaten less then I had intended at this point in the race, but I wasn't concerned, because I felt that if I had eaten what I was scheduled to eat, I would have had stomach issues and been in rough shape. As I approached the special needs station I yelled out my number and stopped to get what was needed. Another great volunteer grabbed my bag and helped me with all my gear. She replaced my water bottles for me and even applied a new layer of chamois cream to my crotch....ok that really didn't happen....but she did get the chamois cream out of my bag so I could apply a second layer before heading out on the second loop.
After starting my second loop I continued to monitor my heart rate closely trying to keep it under control. I continued to eat based on what my body was telling me. All I wanted to do was get to the three climbs because they were the best part of the ride. After passing the Old Sauk Pass climb and the Timber Lane climb, I made it to the Midtown Road climb. I was surprise as hell when I saw my dad and uncle Dale waiting for me at the start of the climb. In addition to the support from the numerous fans at this climb I had my dad and uncle running along side me as I completed the climb. It is one of my favorite memories of the entire day. Once I reached the top of the climb I set my sights on the next point of interest...my family in Verona. I knew as soon as I made it passed them a second time I had just about 20 miles left on the bike course and that alone was motivating. I passed through again and it was just as inspiring as I had hoped. They again announced my name as I approached but this time gave my home town and state. It was pretty neat. After passing through Verona it was back on "the stick" portion of the bike course back to Madison. This section of the course would prove to be the most physically and mentally demanding portion of the bike course. This was the part of the course where I first questioned my intensity. I could start to really feel my quads and hamstrings tighten up. I really had no clue what my legs where going to do during the marathon. Not only were my legs begging to come off the bike at this point of the course, my mind was wanting to do something different then pedal a bike. At the end of the bike leg, I finished with an average speed of 19.19 mph which was slightly faster than I projected.
Bike to Run Transition - 3:55
After biking for just under 6 hours, my legs felt like jell-o and it took me a while to really get used to walking let alone running again. After biking up to the top level of the helix, I dismounted my bike and handed it off to yet another great volunteer. After ditching my mode of transportation for the past 112 miles, I ran into the Terrace to the bike to run transition bag room, grabbed the bag with #1128 plastered all over it and was back into the men's changing room. I took a seat on the closet seat possible and again had a volunteer (see a pattern?) who helped me take off my bike shoes, took out my run nutrition, opened my can of V8, and even put on my running shoes. My bike to run transition was pretty short and simple and was pretty happy with my transition time. After finishing up in the changing room it was outdoors to the streets of Madison for the final and most difficult leg of any Ironman triathlon, the marathon run.
26.2 Mile Run - 4:20:33
I had a similar goal for the run as I did for the bike, keep my heart rate at a aerobic level and do my best to maintain it. I also had one primary goal for the marathon and that was simply to never stop moving forward. The first few miles of the run were tough. First, I had to get used to running, which isn's easy to do after biking one of the most difficult Ironman coursed in North America. My plan going into the race was to go slow and steady for at least the first 4 miles and possibly the first 6 if I needed that many miles to get into a groove. I first looked at my heart rate after the first mile and saw I was way too high. I was near 167 or so and I wanted to be in the 150-160 range. 167 was way to high for mile 1 of 26. I slowed down even more and my heart rate continued to hover over 160. I slowed more and more and continued to stick to my fueling plan of just water at every aid station and a sip from my gel flask every 2 miles. During the first two mile of the run I averaged a pace of 9:17/mile. My heart rate slowly came back down to a manageable zone.
I continued to monitor my heart rate closely now that I had it where I wanted it. I stuck to my nutritional plan the best I could. Af about mile 3, I saw a tray of grapes sitting out and they looked wonderfully delicious, so I grabbed a few - it just felt right. My uncle Dale (2009 Ironman WI Finisher) told me you just need to listen to your body, it will tell you what it needs. At first, I didn't buy it, I have always just stuck to my plans and never really deviated, other than NOT taking something. I would never take something new or in addition to what I was supposed to be taking. But, I have also never been exercising for 8 hours straight. My body wanted grapes and I was not going to deprive it of the grapes. They seemed to have helped, as did the heavy amounts of water I was drinking. My next 4-6 miles I averaged sub 8 minute miles, which is ridiculous. I did not want to be running that fast. Part of me thinks the main reason those miles were my fastest was this was my first chances at seeing my wife, kids, and family. I first saw them on State St at about mile 6. It gave me a huge lift, just what I wanted. After seeing my family it was back to the back half of the loop. At about mile 10 I really began to loose steam. I started out walking through every aid station as was my plan, but by this point I was just trying to walk more than I was running. On my way back to the half way turn-around point, I saw my family a second time and again, that gave me a huge boost in confidence. But that boost only seemed to last so long. Before I knew it I was back to walking.
The run course was amazing and difficult. It was hilly (imagine that - more hills!) but at the same time the community support was mind blowing. On several of the main streets, the sidewalks would be PACKED with people, it reminded me of the busy sections of the Boston Marathon, but it was way more frequent. There was one hell of a hill to run up on Observatory Hill. I walked up this hill and each of the significant hills for that matter. I chose to walk up the hills to conserve energy. I knew I would be walking more of this marathon then I had intended to, but I did not want to walk the entire second half.
The genius who designed the run course thought it would be brilliant to have the half way turn-around point about 100 yards away from the finish line. It's Ironman's way of saying, "screw you, buddy, you still have 13.1 miles to go if you want to be and Ironman." It was bitter sweet, actually. Part of me was motivated by it, thinking, "Hey, you already did a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, and now have run 13.1 miles, I KNOW you can find a way to go just 13.1 more miles, so you can cross that sacred finish line." While the other part of me thought it was demoralizing, thinking, "Are you F_____G kidding me?! Can they rub in the fact I still have 13.1 more miles to go, why bring me so close to the finish line?!?" Regardless of what I thought, I still did have another 13.1 miles to go. After hitting the turn-around, I stopped to pick up my run special needs bag. Here is were I made the best decision of the entire day - I put on a fresh clean pair of socks. At this point in the race, I was still wearing the socks I had worn after getting out of the water nearly 9 hours ago, so my socks were soaked. They were so wet, that I could hear my foot sloshing with every foot strike, so clean socks felt like heaven to my feet.
I continued to push on for the last half of the marathon. These 13.1 miles were the most difficult miles I have ever covered. My body wanted nothing more than to just stop, even for a little while, but I wouldn't let it. I continued to run until I could no longer run and walk until I felt like I could run again. At around mile 16ish, I entered Camp Randall Stadium for the second time and made my lap around the field. Only this time, I soaked in the experience and walked around the stadium to hopefully regain some of my mojo to run more frequently on the final 10 miles. It didn't really work too well, because before I knew it, I was right back to walking just as often as I was before. I saw my family for the final time before crossing the finish line at the State St turn-around at mile 19ish. My dad ran with me again, and offered words of encouragement, but words could only do so much at that point. After mile marker 20 I began drinking Coke, which was my intended time to make the change from gel to Coke for fuel. It seemed to make a difference, as though to give me a little boost of energy. At about mile 21 or 22 I began eating pretzels, which also seemed to make a difference. What my uncle told me about you body telling you exactly what it will need and when it will need it, ended up being exactly true. After I started taking Coke and pretzels at every aid station, I was able to hold my running longer and no walk nearly as much. Granted part of it could have been the fact that I knew I was so close to finishing. But regardless, after seeing the sign for mile marker 24, I decided that I will not stop running until I cross the finish line. I stuck to my rule and push hard to the finish, I even made a couple passes over the next mile and half. As I came around the corner from the Capital Building, I could see the sacred blue Ironman Finish Arch. There were people lined up everywhere. I don't honestly recall how loud it was coming down that finisher's chute, because it felt silent to me. I stared in awe at the finishers arch as I approached, because at that exact point in time I knew, without a doubt, I was going to finish my dream race, and become an Ironman. I saw my family about 25 yards away from the finish line up the chute right on the barricades. I was as happy as I have ever been coming down that chute. I may not have heard any of the crowd noise as I approached the finish line, but I know with out a doubt, I heard the infamous line, loud and clear, "Matt Kohl, You. Are. An. Ironman!!!" Gosh, just typing that line and reliving that moment brings tears of joy to my eyes. I did it, I finished the 140.6 mile journey. I did not give up, I did not quit, I stayed the course, I persevered, and pushed on. I finished in 11:37:09.
Post Race
Immediately after crossing the finish line I had two volunteers grab ahold of me and helped me along. I got my finisher's medal, finisher's t-shirt, and finally a finisher's hat. The volunteers continued to monitor me and ask me if I needed anything. I got my picture taken with my medal and then immediately wanted to be by my wife. I wanted to see her and give her a hug and kiss just to show my appreciation for everything I put her through. The volunteer staff even let Sarah, Maya, and Delaney into the athlete area for a family finisher photo, which I can not wait to see. After going out by my family, I was rushed with hugs and kisses from just about everyone in my support group. It was an amazing feeling, finishing an Ironman, but being able to share it with the one's who have been there through it all from the very beginning was the best part of it all. Words can not express how grateful I am to have shared that moment with my family, my in-laws, my kids, nephews, uncle and my co-worker, Bob. We hung around the finish line for a while taking pictures and such and I even had a celebratory beer. My dad brought a cooler along the entire day with a large Sierra Nevada Pale Ale in it just for the finish line. It was the best tasting beer ever!
Other Notes
I would be foolish not to thank each and every single one of the volunteers who sacrificed their time to make that race what it is. I have volunteered twice for this race but never on the actual race course. The support and motivation you receive from the volunteers of Ironman Wisconsin is unlike anything I have ever experienced in any race before. They were willing to do just about anything you'd ask them to and would do it while cheering you on with a big ass smile on their face. Their energy was contagious. So thank you to the volunteers, without you, there would be far less finishers to that race!
I also need to thank TheTriShop.com for all their support throughout this past year. Without your support, knowledge and expertise, my year would not have been a fraction of what it was. You and your employees always made sure I was taken care of and I know it was not just because I was a part of The Tri Shop's Triathlon Team, but because you know how to treat your customers. You are a top notch company to work with and would love any future opportunities to work together again in the future. If not, I know I will continue to shop from your site and will continue to spread the word about The Tri Shop.
Lessons for Future Events
The biggest lesson I learned from finishing the Ironman. without a doubt, is that anything is possible with a little determination and drive. It may not be easy, it may not always be fun, but in the end it will be worth it. I have become a new person over this past year. One who appreciates his family for all they have been willing to do for me and my dream. One who will never give up, no matter how difficult things may get. One who knows that the human body is an amazing thing and can do so much more than most people allow it to. It seems that every lesson I pulled out from this race and the journey to finishing this race can be directly applied to life in general and I would say that, more than anything, is my biggest take away.
As far as triathlon specific lessons that I took away from this race, I took away a ton of knowledge as well. For those of you who read my blog regularly, you'd know that I did not reach my goal or projected time. Yes, my number one goal was to simply finish the race, which I did accomplish, but I also had a preset time of 10:45 in mind based on previous shorter races and my training. Before I say anything at all, or continue to discuss why I did not finish in 10:45, let me simply say, I am not at all discouraged or disappointed with my 11:37 time at all! But, there is obvious room for improvement.
First, I now know how the race as a whole is run, just the logistics of racing an Ironman takes some getting used to, no doubt. As for my race execution, I wonder if I would have taken it easier on the bike, that it may translate into a faster run. I wonder if I would have biked the course 15 minutes slower, that I may have been able to run the marathon 50-60 minutes faster for a net gain of 30-40 minutes faster. I also think I should have taken the first 6 miles of the marathon easier, that I would have preserved some energy and been able to ultimately run a faster marathon split. Lastly for race execution, I think I may be able to withstand more pain, now knowing exactly what the last 6 miles of an Ironman feel like. I would be lying if I said I didn't hold back throughout sections of the race just to guarantee that I would be able to finish. I am not AT ALL saying that I had gas left in the tank after I finished. But I am saying that it becomes easier to deal with pain after knowing what a pain feels like, especially when you are talking about dealing with pain over 10-12 hours straight.
Looking back at my training plan, I would incorporate more running in my plan. I would probably leave my biking volume near the same level and probably sacrifice some of my swimming volume to increase more run volume. I felt weak on the run, granted so did just about everyone else out there, but I think I should have had a faster run split knowing my strength in running the marathon distance.
What's Next
First let me say, that, yes, I do want to do another Ironman. BUT, I am not saying that I will do another Ironman. I truly enjoyed everything about this past year, when it came to training, nutrition, and racing. I hated being away from my wife and kids so much. I am a dad to two beautiful girls and this past summer, I did not go camping with them when they went on 3 separate camping trips, I did not go to the State Fair with them, I did not get to teach my oldest daughter how to ride a bike, I didn't get to take them to the local swim lake, and I could go on, but it's honestly kind of hard to admit all the things I missed this summer. I also put a lot of added stress on my wife Sarah, She did do all that stuff....without me, with out the help of a husband, without the help of a dad.
I loved the race itself, I loved every inch of every foot of every mile of the 140.6 miles I traveled that day. It went by in the blink of an eye. I remember more from some 5k's that I run, that are over in under 20 minutes. I hardly remember the day. It kind of reminds me of my wedding day. I was so excited for that day to come, and suddenly it's the next day and you sit there asking yourself, what happened? That is exactly how I feel now. I worked my ass off training my body to be able to endure 140.6 miles and then race week came, the meetings and check-ins came and went. Then Sunday came and I was suddenly sitting in the middle of Lake Monona waiting for a cannon to explode so I could start the race and all of a sudden I am standing with my family and friends with a mylar blanket wrapped around me and a finisher's medal around my neck. It is now Wednesday, 3 days after the race and I am still wearing my blue Ironman athlete bracelet and I will not cut it off since it is the last thing that says, it's not over. I feel as though the moment I cut it off, it's over.
As for my future training and racing plans, my training plan is completely blank, hell, I don't even have one for next month let alone next year. I do not know when I will start training again, my guess is late September, early October. I may run in the Freaky 5k at the end of October, but then again, I may not. Sarah and I have talked about what is an decent amount of training that will allow a successful marriage between my family life and my training. We agreed that I will not race any race over a half marathon or an Olympic distance triathlon. We also agreed that any training plan I develop will be completely flexible to our family and our trips. With that understanding, I would like to do a couple sprint or Olympic distance races and try to qualify for USA Triathlon Age Group Nationals which are located in Milwaukee, WI next year. I qualified the last two years for Nationals, so I should be able to do the same in 2014. If I do race Nationals, there is a chance to qualify for Worlds and even possibly represent Team USA. Granted that is a far stretched goal, but remember......
You can do ANYTHING with a little determination and drive!!!
Be fast, be strong, and carry on!
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