Back last fall when the registration for WIBA opened, my arm was twisted to join a teammate for this training weekend. Honestly, it didn't to take much twisting. Who cares that I was not racing IMWI, it is great training on an amazing course with inspiring athletes! I was In!Between October and July, many things changed. The week we were supposed to leave, my teammate fell ill. As difficult as it was to not share this training opportunity, I still attended solo.
I arrived in Madison Wednesday evening set myself up for a huge training weekend. Thursday morning I met up with the OutKast Triathlon Team at Rocket Bikes Studio in Verona to get the party started! As we kicked off the ride, I caught up with some of the group I rode with last year plus met many more in the group. Thursday I saw 2 loops of the IMWI bike course. The first loop was with the big group. The second was solo.
Friday was an early start as we met in the hotel parking lot for a planned 105+ mile ride. We rode the course from the hotel out "The Stick" to " The Loop." We proceeded to do 2 loops on the course as the race day course, then took the stick back to the hotel. This day served as a race rehearsal for many on the team. On the way back into Madison, there is an infamous hill know as "the white picket fence" hill. Any normal day, this would be no big deal, but after 100 miles of hills, it has a tendency to bite. That is exactly what happened to me this Day! As I approached the hill, my vision started to narrow, I started to feel dizzy, and my legs started to fade! I backed off of the group, took in some GU Energy Gels, and continued to soft pedal myself forward. It took about 2 miles to get myself back to where I needed to be. I had been following my on bike plan, but had not accounted for a couple stops we made along the route. By the last couple miles, I was 100% back and cranking away on the bike.
Saturday I awoke with very stiff shoulders. I had shrugged off an invite to swim from the night before. I was already awake and my shoulders needed to loosen up. The peer pressure kicked in and I joined Josh and Kelsae at Fireman's Park for an "easy" 2.75 mile swim supported by SBR Coaching. My shoulders felt AWESOME afterward! Then I looked at my Garmin...how did I pull off 1:28/100 when it was such a relaxed swim!?!? From there, it was back to hitting the loop with the bikes. Two more loops conquered on Saturday. On party with last year, I couldn't escape the ride without breaking a spoke! Fortunately, I had a spare wheel with this year!
Sunday kicked off with a quick run around the IMWI run course. It was "only" a half marathon. About halfway through, I took in HEED mistaking it for water.....oops! About a mile later on the UW campus, I felt like a frat boy after a bad night. I was in the trees forcing a bad decision from my stomach. After the next aid station with a few glasses of water and some GU Energy, I was back on my Way! When we got back to the hotel, it was a quick cleanup, pack the car, and farewells to friends both old and new. Why is this such a great weekend? Because when you surround yourself with people on the same mission as you, you are pushed, challenged, inspired, and walk away stronger for it!A special thanks to Jessica an Peter from Rocket Bikes Studio, the OutKast Triathlon Team, Tammy and Mark from SBR Coaching, and my friends at GU Energy!
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