The one consistent piece of advice that I have received from people I’ve talked to that have done Ironman Wisconsin is “Ride the bike course before the race”. Well I’m not one who usually takes advice. I have a bad habit of doing things my way which typically means learning things the hard way. But this advice was something I planned to listen to. I just needed to work out when I’d get down to Madison to execute it.

I had the opportunity this weekend. It worked out that not only would I ride the bike course but swim, bike, and run the Ironman course. US Master’s Swimming has been holding an open water swim in Madison for the past seven years. It is the same course as the Ironman course. So when I found this out I put together a plan to get there.

My plan consisted of doing one loop, 1.2 miles, of the swim (there was also the full 2.4 mile swim available), one complete loop of the bike, 72 miles, and one loop of the run, 13.1 miles. My plan was to swim and bike on Saturday and run on Sunday.

The Swim – 1.2 Miles
The swim course is a big rectangle. You swim it counter-clockwise, which is ideal for me since I favor breathing to the left. It was an in the water start, my first, same as Ironman. If you wanted your time to be an official US Master’s time wetsuits were prohibited but the event allowed wetsuits and 85% of the swimmers wore them. My guess is that about the same number were using this event as a training day for Ironman and could care less about having an official time.

My goal for the swim; stay relaxed and warm up for the bike. I swam an acceptable pace but did not push at all. I focused on keeping my stroke long with good form. I know that the swim three weeks from now will be completely different. There were 350 swimmers for this event. There will be 2500 for Ironman and the bump and grind will be extreme (so I’m told). The water temp was a pleasant 71 degrees.

The Bike – 72 Miles
The Ironman bike course is a lollipop shaped course. You ride the stick 16 miles from T1 then ride a 40 mile loop (twice during the Ironman race) before returning down the stick back to transition.

I could not get over how many people were out riding the course. A lot more than those that did the swim earlier in the morning, that’s for sure.

There are 87 turns on the bike course and I’d guess less than a few miles of flat sections. I only made the wrong turn FOUR times (sure could of used a TomTom). The course is continually rising and falling. I would not describe it as gently rolling, more like moderate rollers. If you like roller coasters you will love this course. There are not many huge hills up or down but there are few significant ascends and descends. You can not put it in cruise control physically or mentally anywhere on this course.

I was not impressed with the quality of the roads. I did not flat but I’d guess that there were several throughout the day. The course is made up of primarily older rural farm roads and there are some pretty bumpy sections. Anyone for a nice butt massage…

I’ve debated a bit about renting a set of ZIPP race wheels for the race. I’ve been hesitant to commit because I’m still not completely comfortable with cross winds when descending. I’ve experienced a few scary moments even with my TTR3 40mm deep wheel set. This weekend’s ride has sealed the deal. No race day wheels for Miles. It was not a real blustery day but had to brake and be cautious on several steeper descends. I’ll stick with my stock TTR3 wheel set this time.

The Run – 13.1 Miles
I bailed on the Ironman run…the run course is not ideal for a Sunday morning run. It is on mostly downtown Madison city streets and I’m sure will be a lot of fun on race day. So instead I ran around Lake Monona. I followed some markings on the pavement “LMR”. I guess it stands for Lake Monona Run. It is a half-marathon course. Most of the markings were visible and I avoided the numerous wrong turns I made on yesterday’s bike. A very enjoyable Sunday morning run in near perfect weather conditions.

It’s hard to believe that there are only three weeks left before race day; one more full week of training followed by a progressive two week taper. Can anyone say butterflies? The butterflies have awakened from their cocoon…the question is can they fly?