Thank you!

I want to thank everyone! I had the best support crew in the whole race! I heard you all (or so I think) and even made a mental note of everyone out there! I had some time on my hands during the run!

So here's a shout out to the Super Fans:

Swim: Jess, Gary and Linda Smulka, Kelson & Jen, Schnecks, Wolfgram and Sherri, The Brozeks, Rybarik and many others probably, it was hard to tell, I was swimming!

Bike: Jess, Gary and Linda Smulka, Kelson & Jen, Stephen & Emily, Rachel Grimm, Danny, Greg Blake, Chris Hornung, Wolfgram and Sherri, Steve Reeds, Frehner, O’Donnell, Lee, Vale, Wayne, The Mundys

Run: Jess, Gary and Linda Smulka, Kelson & Jen, Stephen & Emily, Katie K, Zarun & Lidka, Frehner, O’Donnell, Wolfgrams, Greg Blake, Shelley, Marne, Melissa C, Hez & Tad, Ryan & Jill Shiroma, Steve Reeds, Danny, Zahorik, Wayne-o, Jerry, Jess & Kieran, Vale, Plymale, Chuckles

I couldn't have done it without all of you guys. Every go Mark or go Larson brought a smile to my face and extra motivation to go even harder! If I missed you, please let me know, I tried hard to get you all but there were times on the course I was totally zoned...

Also I was happy to have the support of alot of people who couldn't make it in person. Whether it be asking about training, congratulating me, following along on-line or via cell phone or baking me some congratulatory cookies it was all appreciated more than you know!

I also have tons of people to thank:

Jess- You've been my everything through this whole experience. From the morning where I decided if I wanted to do this all the way through the Taco Bell drive thru. Awesome! I love you!!! And to think the Ironman is only the second most important thing I get to do at the Terrace this year!

Gary, Linda, Mom and Dad, Family- You gave me top notch support the whole time! I even used some of Linda's Ironman tips! Thanks so much for everything!

Jerry- Top notch coaching and above average mechanic work. I guarantee very few people trained the way I did. We were able to balance a bike racing season and a successful Ironman both. Amazing.

Riding Pals (Gun Show, Baraboo, Team Schwinn, Chainsmokers)- This season was the most fun I've ever had riding bikes! I climbed mountains, rode with a world champ, eluded tornadoes, had my first ever road crash and hit 55mph. Awesome!

Tri advisory committee (Alvarez, Harms, Brozek, Nagle, Green)- You made me look somewhat like a triathlete. I forgive you! Thanks for the advice, I only half looked like a rookie!

Bruno- You rocked! The fact we both were doing the Ironman I believe pushed us both to go that extra mile to accomplish everything we could.

There are many more I can and should thank but man am I tired! The Ironman was a once in a lifetime experience! I invite anyone and everyone to pick a very large goal, work hard and accomplish it. There aren't words to describe the feeling of doing the Ironman for a first time. I am very fortunate that Madison has an Ironman so I could do it in front of lots of friends and co-workers. Mark Larson- Ironman. It's something no one can ever take from me. I don't know if I can ever top that feeling athletically and I don't know if I even want to. Thank you to everyone who is still reading. I can't believe it is over. Now what? Fortunately for me I've got alot left to do, starting Saturday with a trip to Florida and also finishing off all those wedding plans I made Jess wait until after the Ironman to do! Next year I will be focused on bike racing. I've got other big goals to accomplish in my lifetime but those are for another day, another year and another blog...

Ironman in Photos...

Here's me at 5:15 in the morning, in the parking lot, packing up some bags. Everything is "Wunderbar" although I never did get to eat it yesterday.















At 6:15 we get down to the swim start. Um yeah, it is as dark as it looks, in 45 minutes it will be light enough for us all to swim!













Jess tells me to get suited up! :) No lie, 5 minutes after this photo was taken some girl walked by with a box of Dunkin Donuts. I almost asked for one...
















And we're off! The swim start. I am that guy in the white cap probably pretty close to that Ford sign.















One of these dudes is me. Again look for the white cap and black goggles! :) Actually it's pretty easy to tell which one is me.

An Ironman overview in photos...part II

I made it through the first transition and am about to start the bike. One of my last dry moments!

Here is a shot going up the Midtown climb. Steady tempo and way too busy but I got around everyone! So many fans!!!

Here's me starting the run! I was pretty pumped about my bike ride and to have dry clothes on even if only for a couple minutes. I was also happy that all I had left was one marathon! :)

6 miles in which means 20.2 to go! :)

I bought my finish line photo, I'll have to scan it. For now I got my mom and dad on the cell!

One of the rewards for a long, hard day! :) I ate the other reward before it could be photographed.

Ironman Race Report!

So as most of you probably already know, I finished! Here is how:

Sunday am: We wake up at about 4:20am. I was mostly ready to go in the morning so I wasn't too worried. I had a couple pancakes, a yogurt and some tea but my stomach wasn't all that great. We got on the road right at 5am and headed down to the Terrace. I slammed a Vault Soda on the way, it's treated me right all season, why would it stop now? We get to Jess' super-top-secret parking lot and we sit there and organize. We finally make our way up to the Terrace. I put away my special needs bags (two bags, one which we have access to half-way through the bike, one half way through the run) and headed to check on my bike. I then get body marked so now I have 390 written all over my body in magic marker. Oh crap, I forgot my timing chip, I think it is in the car. Jess goes back down to look as I put the bottles on my bike and get that ready. I am ready! We head down to the swim at about quarter after 6. It's still dark! I go to the bathroom and then get readied up. It's 6:30 and Jess leaves to go find a place to watch and I am left to myself.

Swim: I enter the water at 20 to and get me a sweet spot next to the inner buoy, right by the pros (who get to leave at 6:50.) I tread water until the start and talk to Alvarez who happens to be up there as well. At this point, nervousness turns to excitement...it's on! We start swimming. Nothing can prepare you for swimming with roughly 2500 others. I get kicked, hit and kick and hit with each swim stroke for at least the first quarter of the swim. Finally on the back stretch I find occasional openings to swim as all the fast guys have moved on. Of course at each buoy (4 per lap) it would bunch up again. One guy clocks me in the head, the only words I hear the entire event are "I'm sorry man" and we both go on. I've never swam in a group like this before and I assume very few have much experience. People would go all sorts of directions. Many train for several hours with coaches in a pool to perfect their form, only problem is they are taught to look down and they just swim what they think is straight until they run into someone. Me, I devised my own technique where every other stroke I'd look up right after my inhale and it worked awesome, I never really ran into anyone unless they came from some random 45 degree angle. Anyways I never really did settle in and it was very tough. All that to come out of the water in 1156th in 1:20:33.

Transition 1: I leave the water and Madison is famous for this transition. They have peelers that pull off wetsuits, you sit down, put your legs up and two people grab each leg and just pull the suit off. So I run up the parking ramp helix half-naked and barefooted. But there were hundreds of fans so it was awesome. Into the transition room. I try to dry off with a towel and then I put on my bibs, under armor, jersey and helmet. I have a guy re-pin my race number as three of the four popped off when I put my jersey on. Then I run out of the terrace with socks and shoes in hands and had to run a good 250-300 meters to my bike (near the front.) I cross the timing mat to start the bike. All that in 10:12.

Bike: The first minute was spent getting my socks and shoes on. I ride down the helix (passing probably 10 people with my roadie skills) an get to John Nolen. The rain starts. It's going to be one of those days. I hammered, hard! My heart rate was high with adrenaline so I just went with it, passing people pretty much non-stop all the way to Whalen Road. With a tailwind at the beginning I felt like a rock star and was averaging 22mph to Mt Horeb. I still felt pretty awesome but my body was rejecting solid food and didn't care much for the Gatorade. I lived off of water and Gu the whole bike. I saw Jess and family three times in one lap and tons of other faces I knew, it was awesome!!! I get to the tailwind section of lap two and decided this was my time so I kept hammering. I entered Mt Horeb a second time and was still averaging 20mph (despite stopping twice on the roadside to pee.) I was starting to hurt. My neck hurt from looking up in my aerobar position (I suppose most people train in aerobars.) The section to Cross Plains was tough but doable but once I hit Cross Plains I started to count miles and my speed started to go down. Of course it was nice to have lots of support on the three toughest hills on the back side. I finally went by Lee's house to make the turn down Whalen. Guh! 20mph winds, harder rain, no shelter and I wasn't keen about the aerobars. My sub 6 hour bike disappeared. But I found someone going the pace I did and just paced myself all the way in. I cross the mat and my bike split was 6:04:09. Awesome! Average speed was 18.5. My ride time (taking out the putting on of shoes and the three pee stops was 6:01:15 with an average heart rate of 161bpm. I was stoked! After the race it was pointed out that I passed over 750 people during the bike. That means I passed like 7 people each mile! I was now sitting in 394th place overall!!!

Transition 2: This one was easier, but I forgot to pack a towel so I was still wet. I threw on all my run stuff over my wet body, put my socks and shoes on, ate two bites of a Cousins sub, hit the porta potty on my way and was off. Total time: 8:40.

Run: I decided right away I would run the 1st lap of 2 and see how I felt. I saw a ton of familar faces early and running down State Street with everyone cheering is one of the reasons I signed up in the first place. At about mile 1.5 the run got old. Seriously. But the feed zones rocked! I could now eat solid food so I would eat cookies now along with Gu and also bananas! Gatorade flavor was Orange on the run course which helped. The run got progressively colder though. At mile 5.5 we had to climb the Observatory double hills. Guh! But then we descended to the other side of State Street which is my favorite part of the course. Tons of fans, lots whom I knew! It was awesome! I am not going to lie, I got passed a ton on the run! I decided instead of going out to hard I was going to run my own pace as I am not a gifted nor well-trained runner. After exiting State St you have a long section where you run from Memorial Union to the opposite side of the UW hospital. I decided at this point I would run the whole thing, no matter how sore I was. My motivation? Some hardcore fans that watched all day (Smulkas, Kelson and Jen, Stephen & Emily.) How could I with a good conscience walk when they were sitting around waiting for me. I couldn't give anything less than my best. Second, this is the friggin' Ironman, it's supposed to be hard and hurt. Third, I was ahead of a couple people I know and I wanted it to stay that way. Fourth, around every corner was someone else I knew or didn't who gave encouragement. This is my town, lets rock it! Trust me when you role solo all day you have lots to think about. I headed back towards the lap marker and the closer I got the more people I knew. It was so awesome to have this much support! It was getting colder though so that sucked. I went to my special needs back, took a t-shirt to dry my face (which then stayed dry for like 20 seconds) and grabbed some Advil. After all was said and done my half-marathon split was 2:18. I figured my miles were alot slower (I don't carry a watch and the course was void of banks.) I go out again and I am freezing. People were starting to wear trash bags and this solar tin foil stuff to get warm. I noticed alot of people that passed me earlier were fading, I wasn't. I finally started to pass people! Ego boost! We got to run through Camp Randall and that was just sweet! Breese Terrace, two of my old apartments. Down University (there's Zarun's old apartment.) Down by the hospital, right on a bike path by the dorms, it still wasn't dark. Up Observatory. Guh! I was one of the 15% who ran those hills. This time down State was even better! People I knew everywhere! High 5's! I also was getting to the point where I was hungry. It's hard to run by Taco Bell, Fudd, Qdoba and Charlies and not stop! Actually I was focused so no biggy! The super fans were there in full force. Gary made a huge red flag with Go Mark on it in white lettering. It was the coolest thing! A cop with a radio informed me that the Bears were ahead 26-0. I know the Packers were going to be bad...but that defied all logic. Then back to the lonely bike path. The bike path lights were on but it still wasn't dark. Towards the hospital I saw some signs. One was for me (Way To Go Mark, 390, To Infinity and Beyond.) I also saw one that read Jon Alvarez, Iron Man or Iron Maiden. One said something about Brad. One said Rock Chalk Jayhawk to Tim. Funny! Finally I hit the 5 mile to go mark. I can run 5 miles in my sleep so I kept envisioning where I'd be on my 5 mile training course. Everyone I knew was at the finish so it was a bit lonely. But at 2 to go my smile got bigger (I smiled the whole day, after the swim.) I didn't hurt anymore! I ate some cookies and a couple pretzels. I saw a whole bunch of people that were going out for their second lap, but not me! I hit state street and started throwing down high 5's. I was taking it all in, I don't care if it cost me a couple minutes or positions, it didn't matter. Everywhere I looked there were people calling my name. Co-workers, friends, cyclists, etc. I make the turn to the finish. The people directed me to take another lap, I must've looked slow. I hit the final stretch. All I can hear is cheering (and Kelson) and I see Jess and Hez, Jerry, Gary and Linda! I finish! It was awesome! I get my medal and lose my timing chip! I get my t-shirt! I've done it! They gave me a foil blanket but I wasn't cold. I wasn't tired! I was stoked! Finally they take my finisher photo and I had a Coke! I get out to greet everyone! My mom calls on the cell, they saw me finish live on the Internet! My run: 4:51:21 which was 11:08 mile pace.

Overall Stats:
Place: 741
Time: 12:34:53 Age Group Finish:
87/201 M25-29
Swim: 1156th 1:20:33
Bike: 394th 6:04:09
Run: 1150th 4:51:21

Post Race: After saying some thank yous and goodbyes the soreness started to creep in. I couldn't bend or move very much or very quickly. We went to the Terrace to pick up by transition bags. I had a sweat suit in one so I put it on. Nice! We went to check out my bike and Garett gave me some help! Finally we walked back to the car and got in. Time to go home. No trip to home is ever complete without rolling a Taco Bell drive thru. I had two items (chicken quesadilla and a cheesy gordita crunch) and had them down in like 3 minutes. We got home and saw the pups! :) I showered up, did a short post and then watched the Colts win! :) A great day! I stayed up until midnight and went to bed, getting maybe two hours of sleep. I am sure I'll crash at some point today! Today I am sore as hell. Shins, calves, quads and shoulders mostly. Oh well! Banquet time in a few hours! I can't wait!

Thanks for reading! I'll post one more today to give thanks! :) But that'll have to wait until later!

Looks like I made it!!!

I finished the 2006 Ironman!!! 1:45 faster and I'd be going to Kona! :)

I am super stoked!!! My time:
SWIM BIKE RUN OVERALL POSITION
1:20:33 6:04:08 4:51:21 12:34:53 741

RACE LEG DISTANCE PACE POSITION
TOTAL SWIM 2.4 mi. (1:20:33) 2:07/100m 1158
TOTAL BIKE 112 mi. (6:04:08) 18.45 mph 487
FIRST RUN SEGMENT 13.1 mi. (2:18:24) 10:33/mile
RUN FINISH 13.1 mi. (2:32:57) 11:40/mile
TOTAL RUN 26.2 mi. (4:51:21) 11:07/mile 741

TRANSITION TIME
T1: SWIM-TO-BIKE 10:11
T2: BIKE-TO-RUN 8:40

Bruno finished, Alvarez DNF's, Brad finished and Tim OD is going to finish.

4:16am

It's 4:16am. It's a suprising 55F out so that's nice! :) Time to finish getting ready, eat some breakfast and it is go time! :)

Thanks for checking in! See you real soon!!!

We ready...

My next trip to the Monona Terrace will be to compete in the 5th annual Ford Ironman Wisconsin! Got up early this morning, updated the blog and got everything ready. 4 hours later Jess and I were ready to head down for the final Ironman prep. I dropped off my bike, dropped off my two transition bags and am ready to go. Ended up seeing Mr & Mrs Alvarez down there as well! After all the prep work we all wet down the Ironman village and checked things out, made some signs and ate some more fig newtons! We weren't there that long and headed back home.

My bike: lonely in the transition area at 10:30am

Here is the swim to bike transtition. Yep, 2600 bags in one small room!


We ended up having Subway for lunch and then came home and watch 2 more Episodes of Enoturage. I then threw in a movie and took it easy until now. Now I've got two football games on and the Badger game on the computer! Good times! :)

Tonight is a little never-ending Pasta Bowl action. In case that isn't enough excitement I'll be balancing Nascar and the Texas/OSU game as well! I will also do my last bit of prep work for the Ironman so I am ready for tomorrow. And we also need to get Jess ready as well!

I'll try to post in the AM but in case I don't, I'll see you out on the course!

Race weather:
7am: 54F, ENE 7mph, 20% chance rain
10am: 58F, E 9mph, 20% rain
1pm: 59F, E 14mph, 30% rain
4pm: 60F, ENE 14mph, 30% rain
7pm: 59F, ENE 12mph, 30% rain
10pm: 56F, ENE 11mph, 20% rain
Midnight: 56F, ENE 8mph, 30% rain

Friday Update!

I was a bit more chill on Friday then I was on Thursday. Jerry told me that the most important rest day is two days before an event. I did a reasonable amount of walking and standing in line but other than that it was all rest! After a full day of work I headed down to the Terrace, Day 2, and checked out the Ironman Shop. It was already super-picked over so I didn't buy anything. I'll hopefully wait until they start selling finisher merchandise! After browsing for a bit I got in line for the banquet dinner. I ran into a co-worker's brother, Tim O'Donnell and want to add him to the list of people to cheer for:
Mark Larson #390 Pacific Cycle, Team Schwinn, Chainsmokers MTB
Jon Alvarez #302 Team Schwinn
Brad Green #576 Chainsmokers MTB
Bruno Maier #667 Pacific Cycle
Tim O'Donnell #83 Pacific Cycle ties

Anyways, we loaded up on some pasta and watched a couple hours of Ironman talk, guest speakers, rules, etc. It was pretty cool although a little drawn out. Anyways it was nice to talk to other Ironmen who asked me lot of questions because I am a native. People keep saying how brutal the course is and I keep thinking back to the Horribly Hilly Hundreds Ride, which was only like 14 miles longer but had double the elevation gain. I guess when you roll in Madison you get used to some elevation change. Anyways the banquet finally ended and I was out of there, got home and watched some Nascar and the Brewers (both dissapointing but I am getting used to that fact!) :) Got to bed around 10, slept well (except I was overly hydrated) but could only sleep until 6. I'll be napping alot today! Oh why can't the Badger game be on cable?

This morning will be all about readying my gear. I have to have all my transition and special needs set to go and I have to part with my bike for like 22 hours. :( Tomorrow at this time I'll be readying the wetsuit and getting ready for the biggest challenge of my life!

So for those planning to watch the bike or the run or those who can't make it out, you can follow me on Ironman Live! On the right side of the screen it will say Ironman Wisconsin and you can open the live update window (recommended as it has witty commentary) and then also open the Track an Athlete and enter my race # (390) or whomever else you want to track to see how they/I are doing. It'll help you time when to be where. http://www.ironmanlive.com

I'll check in this afternoon/evening to let you know how I feel!!! Thanks for reading, having your support is the #1 thing!!!

It Has Begun!

The whole Ironman Experience kicked off today, and quite the experience it was. After working a quick couple of hours I ventured down to the Monona Terrace. I got there and I saw my friend Jon Alvarez who already got done with the practice swim. After talking with him for a bit I got ready, checked my stuff in and swam. I did a whole lap (half of an Ironman) and felt good and took it easy. I then realized that we start mid-water so I'll probably have to tread water for like 15 minutes before even starting the swim on Sunday! The magnitude started to hit me. Over 2000 people (roughly the amount of people in say Cumberland or Belleville) will be spread across a hundred yards, all swimming to get to the same spot at the same time! Awesome!

After getting some schwag from Gatorade and dropping off my wet stuff into the car it was time to get in line for registration. So I proceeded to walk for like 20 minutes straight looking for a line to no avail. Finally I stumble across a line that had formed in a place I walked by twice before and I ended up about 20th. I ran into Renee and also Zarun. It was good to talk to them and both said they'd be cheering. So mid registration (you have to go to like 5 different stations) I got distracted by this body composition place. They offered a free body composition analysis. Last two times I did this I was borderline between healthy and overweight. So I needed to try again; I've never been more fit.

Stats:
Weight: 196.6lbs (in clothes)
Body Fat %: 11.1% (means I am healthy)
% Total Body Water: 60.6% (means I am hydrated)
Muscle Mass: 166.2lbs (means I have more muscle mass than Jerry has mass)
Physique Rating: 6 (means High Muscle and Avg. Body Fat %- Athlete)
Bone Mass: 8.6lb (Means I am big boned)
BMR: 2322 calories (This is how many calories I can metabolize on a day of rest.)
Metabolic Age: 12 (Means I have the metabolism of a 12yo.)
Visceral Fat Rating: 3 (means I don't have that much fat surrounding my vital organs.)

I like the numbers...all of them. I was an 18.5% at 217lbs in the offseason.

Anyways, about 100 people passed me when I did this so I was deeper in the final line. After waiting for 10 minutes I was able to get my packet with all the info, race numbers, transition bags and all of that! I was officially registered. After that I was going to go home. But Alvarez was meeting fellow Schwinn Team member Rybarik (Ironman 2007?) for some coffee so I ended up tagging along. As soon as coffee was done, Zarun called and asked if I wanted to do lunch. We ended up hitting some Quiznos and it was a good time! I then walked through the Ironman tent city! Two Blocks of nothing but free samples and Ironman related stuff. I ate some samples, scored tons of fig newtons and just took it all in. It was awesome! I can't believe how big a deal this is.

I finally bit the bullet and went back to work. Of course I had a mess of e-mails needing my attention that kept me busy most of the afternoon. A little bike ride later and my Ironman training is now complete! I celebrated with some pizza and a coke and soon I'll be watching my boy Charlie Batch take down the Dolphins!

Today at work, quite a few people asked me what my split times are. So here is what I came up with:

Swim start: 7am
Out of the water: 8:15-8:30
On the bike 8:25-8:45
Enter the bike loop in Verona: 9:10-9:30
Back through Verona: 11:25-12:00
Last pass through Verona: 1:40-3:00
Back to the Terrace: 2:25-3:45
Start Run: 2:30pm-4:15pm
Run Finish: 6:35pm-11:59:59pm

If you are planning on watching at a certain point, e-mail me what point and I will give you my best estimate. Otherwise use the rough guidelines above.

Wednesday Wrap-up

So it is Wednesday night and my training is about to be 100% completed. Tomorrow will be a nice swim and short bike ride and then all is done. I'll miss some of work to register and to swim but I am ok with that! :) The bike is ready:


I can't believe it but tomorrow it all begins. The whole Ironman circus...Five straight days of going to the Monona Terrace. Thursday to swim and register, Friday for the banquet, Saturday for bike check in, Sunday for the event itself and Monday for the finishers banquet. A week from now it will all be a memory. My muscles will be healing, I'll be back in the flow at work and life will focus on that next event; that next challenge!

Tuesday: Swam 3/4 mile in the pool, easy pace. Ran 3.5 miles outside, easy pace again. New tunes on the MP3 player were nice.

Wednesday: Rode 15 miles. Rode them too fast but wanted to make sure the Tri-Spoke worked (hasn't been ridden since 1994.) Felt pretty good!

Hey Mark, why did you decide to do the Ironman? Two reasons, first I’ve always wanted to do it and felt I should while I am still young and riding. Second my 2005 bike racing season was less than stellar so I reevaluated my goals. Instead of trying to win events (because I wasn’t anyways) I thought I should try to accomplish something that is me against a course. Of course after training all winter I was in great shape and started to ride really well (and even winning a race) so I am ecstatic to race some more next year!

I'll try to check back in tomorrow night once I am registered and have experienced the atmosphere of Ironman!

Biography and Stats

Mark Larson
Age: 29
Born: 1/7/77 Indianapolis, IN
Resides: Fitchburg, WI
Status: Engaged to be married (12/30/06 to Jess!)
Employed by: Pacific Cycle
2006 Accomplishments:
1st: 25-29 Sport WORS Big Ring Classic, Wausau, WI
6th: 25-29 Sport WORS Subaru Cup, Devil's Head, WI
2nd Overall: Belleville Bike Race, Belleville, WI
26th Overall: Horribly Hilly Hundreds 200K Bike Ride, Blue Mound, WI

Ironman Goals:
My #1 goal is to become an Ironman Finisher. Everything else is a distant second. My #2 goal is to make it to Taco Bell before they close. My #3 goal is to run half of the marathon (consecutively) without really walking. My #4 goal is to look good and to have people cheer for me!

Equipment (subject to change):
Swim: Quintana Roo Wetsuit, TYR goggles
Bike: Scott CR1 Road Bike w/Vision Aero Bars, Dura-Ace/Ultegra/SRAM R9 components, American Classic Wheels (possibly Specialized Tri Spoke in front), FSA post, Fizik saddle, Truvativ stem and bars, Kenda tires, Garmin Edge 305 GPS. Team Schwinn racing kit with Shimano shoes and Giro Atmos helmet
Run: New Balance 1060 shoes, Pearl Izumi running kit, Sock Guy running socks

What's next? Immediately next is a trip to Florida. Then some mountain bike and cyclocross racing. I plan to do some 10k races this fall to see what kind of time I can lay down. Then December will be the best event of all, our wedding! Following that up will be a cruise and then it will be back to racing season with a focus on road racing.

Stats:
Since signing up for Ironman Madison on 9-12-05 I have:
Swam: 16.93 miles (7.05 Ironmans)
Rode: 3809 miles, including road, mountain and cross (34 Ironmans)
Ran: 579.1 miles (22.1 Ironmans)



Special Thanks: There are a ton of people I want to thank...but that will have to wait until after the Ironman, so I can thank them for helping with my accomplishment!!!

Ironman 2006 Information

Here are the guides to the Ironman:
Spectator's Guide
Athlete's Guide
Traffic Guide

Here is the official website: Ironman Wisconsin

Good places to watch:
Swim: In my opinion there is no good place to watch an individual competitor swim. That being said the swim is fun to watch, at least the start, the finish and the transition. The Terrace will give a nice overview of the whole swim but will be crowded so arriving early will help you get a spot. Otherwise if you are the antsy type just roam around, going from the top of the terrace to the transition area to the bike path, etc.

Bike: Watching the bike can be difficult. Personally I like watching on Old Sauk Pass and/or the end of Mid Town. Both are long climbs where people like me will be near death. If you are on bike or driving by car you can go back and forth between Midtown and the Mt Horeb area. If you have children there is a festival in Verona where your children can jump on inflatbles and you can have a brat. The only problem is that cyclists will travel at 25mph+ and there will be hundreds of others cheering here so any individual you are cheering for might not hear/see you.

Run: The best place to watch the run is on State St. I like to sit outside with a burrito or cheesesteak and fries and torment the runners who have sustained on nothing but Gu and Gatorade the entire day. This is the best chance to interact with the athlete(s) you are cheering with. A 3 block walk to the east will allow you to see the runners yet again and if you walk around the capital square you can see the finish. If you have a bike you can also ride near the athletes for a few minutes at a time to give encouragement.

Here are some of the athletes you should be rooting for:
Mark Larson #390 Pacific Cycle, Team Schwinn, Chainsmokers MTB
Jon Alvarez #302 Team Schwinn
Brad Green #576 Chainsmokers MTB
Bruno Maier #667 Pacific Cycle