Ironman Wisconsin Race Report
As many of you know completing Ironman Wisconsin has been a dream of mine since I first witnessed it in person in 2004. The distances for an Ironman Triathlon are 2.4 mile swim, immediately followed by 112 mile bike, immediately followed by a marathon run (26.2miles). I signed up for Ironman Wisconsin 2008 in Sept 2007, and I began training under Coach Rick (www.teamkattouf.com) in March 2008. I read two inspiring books during my training, “Forever Fit”, and “Becoming an Ironman”, these two books provided excellent inspiration. They are both available on Amazon, and I highly recommend them.

Rides/Races I did:

May
Quadrapedal (Dodgeville, WI) w/Tricia
Galena, IL Tri with Chicago Tri Club

June
Trek 100 (Pewaukee, WI) w/ Tricia
HHH 200k (Mt. Horeb, WI) w/ Tricia
MS two day ride (100, 82mi) DeKalb, IL – w/ Nicole, Tony, Paula, and Matt

July
Endurance Nation Madison Ride
Racine Half IM –5:12

August
Dairyland Dare w/ Matt & Tricia
Accenture Oly –2:29 (after 4 hr brick day before)

Sept
Ceasar’s Head Climb Greenville SC w/Team Kattouf
IMOO

I also competed in countless 5ks, two 10ks, and at least two half marys during spring/summer 2008.

9/7/08 – Race Day
The swim was not really that big of a deal. I am not a swimmer. Got kicked in the eye (hard) by someone doing breaststroke kick. Why do people do this? I guess to sight.
The swim was over quickly. I was thinking “Wow, this taper stuff really works”. I was wondering when the race was going to start getting hard.

Coach Rick and I had a plan for the bike and run portion of the race. We knew I had to stay in high Heart Rate Zone 2 maximum for close to the entire bike (I am famous for blowing up on the bike). The plan was the same for the run.

On the bike I just stayed under 135 heart rate and cruised through. Never struggling and never close to red-lining. Cross Plains Pirates (Chicago Tri-Club volunteers) were definitely the highlight. Lots of energy from the Pirates. Also those two college girls doing the “R-O-W-D-I-E, Let’s get…” cheer at the top of the hill were pretty good. I had three food bottles (cytomax 1 scoop, carbopro x4) before special needs. I also had three water bottles (in aero bottle) in the first 56 miles. At special needs I picked up three more food bottles. I was done with my food bottles by around mile 105. This what I wanted going off to the run. Just one short year ago I had ridden this bike course and I thought it was very difficult and couldn’t imagine running a marathon afterwards. On this race day I was just cruising through doing my thing. I felt like I was playing a video game. It was fun!!

The run. I wanted to even split the run and I came close, but this is very difficult. I stayed around the low 120 heart rate and just kept moving. Didn’t walk a single step (Thanks for the pep talk Erin). I am probably proudest of this than anything else on the day. I was very aware of the delta between a slow run and a run that involved any type of walking. I never struggled here either. Although the last mile seemed a little longer than the others. Overall, I was in less pain during and after this event than I was for last years Chicago marathon. Coach Rick really had me in shape and tapered perfectly. Thanks Coach!

HR Data for Bike and Run
126 Average HR
162 Peak HR
88 Min HR
8,835 Total Calories


My goal was sub 13, and I did 12.57.54. I did hear Mike Reilly say “John Lockwood, You are an Ironman”, and I know my sisters were watching online so that was awesome.

Thanks to new South Carolina friends Jim and Thomas Agostini for helping me and my bike get back to the hotel.

Congratulations and thanks to Ironman Tricia Berg and to my brother Matt for being great training partners. I would never have made it to the start without you guys. It has been an incredible four years. Can’t wait to celebrate with you next year Matt!



Thanks to Chicago Tri Club racers, friends and volunteers. Thanks to Sid Glick, Bryan Mason, Hayes Sanborn, Erin Kersten, and Quinn Niego for answering all my dumb questions over the past twelve months. Thanks to Dr. Berg, Nicole, and Shari for the great cheering!!

Many thanks to Rick Kattouf and Gail Kattouf of www.teamkattouf.com, JP Moran of JPFit Chicago, and Sharone, Keith, Louis, Lara and Maurice of Well-Fit.

Thanks to ironmantalk.com, and Endurance Nation for great weekly podcasts.