Ironman Wisconsin-Culmination of an 8 Year Journey

2014 Ironman Wisconsin Race Report

The season Leading into Wisconsin

The quick summary is I got injured in February (too much/too hard training without enough buildup) and the injury took about 6 weeks to recover from.  Although I was healthy before the heart of the racing season the fitness setback from the 6 weeks of injury resulted in less than desired race results for the entire first half of the race season.  The pinnacle of this was finishing 9^th at the Racine 70.3 in July, a full 10 minutes off the winner.  Following that race I made the decision to cancel all of my planned races the rest of the summer in favor of doing a major training block and putting all of my cards into Ironman Wisconsin.

Wisconsin training block

*I’m including this because the 5 week stretch spanning July 20-August 23 is the reason I won Ironman Wisconsin.  What I did on September 7 only happened as a result of what I did these 5 weeks.

In 35 days I logged the following training totals

Swim: 26 sessions, 118,000 yards (23.6k avg/wk)

Bike: 32 sessions, 1934 miles (387 mile avg/wk)

Run: 32 sessions 323 miles (64.5 mile avg/wk)

Hours: 187:34 (37:30 avg/wk)

*19 days with 6+ hours training

Swim:  52:16  3^rd fastest split

I knew going into the race from the start list that I would not be able swim front pack at this race.  I started well and made it comfortably into the second pack.  After about 10 minutes or so the pace slowed substantially and after the first turn I made my way up front and into the lead of the group.  Ordinarily I’d never do this and would choose instead to swim easy and give up some time in favor of conserving in the draft, but I knew that Brandon Marsh, one of my main competitors would several minutes ahead of me out of the swim and I wanted to keep the pace from lagging and giving up more time than we already were.  I ended up pulling close to 10 guys and one female for close to the remaining 3000 meters of the swim.  I was hoping to limit Brandon to 3 minutes out of the swim, but I heard 4.5 minutes as I mounted the bike.

Bike:  4:42:57 23.8mph 3^rd fastest split

My plan on the bike this year was to ride proactively, not reactively, and to not ride scared.  Last year I rode much more conservative as I had never raced an Ironman course this hilly.  I finished 6 minutes out of the win after surrendering 14 minutes on the bike and couldn’t help but wonder what if I had ridden harder.  This year I was just going to go for it and trust in all the 400 mile training weeks.  Our large pack out of the swim started together and I kept up front.  A few guys came by to take leads but I felt the pace was slowing each time so like the swim I took it upon myself to ride first in line in order to keep the pace high and limit the German uber-cyclist, Bachor’s lead.  After just 30 minutes I had dropped everyone except for two other riders and after 60 miles it was down to just myself and Pedro Gomes in 3^rd-4^th place.  I tried to break away but he was just too strong and by the time we reached 100 miles I was feeling the effects of the effort and my power dropped substantially the final 20k.  Thankfully the major hills were finished by that point.  We rolled into T2 right behind Brandon Marsh, catching him in the very last mile, 2^nd-4^th place within 20 seconds but 11 minutes down on the lead.  I rode 6 minutes faster than last year although conditions this year were a few minutes faster than last year.

Run:  2:50:14  Fastest split, course record

I had the fastest T2 and was first of our group onto the run course.  The first 2-3 minutes were very slow and difficult and I jogged slowly to allow my legs to come around which they quickly did.  I was very surprised to see a first mile split of 6:04 and despite holding 6:05 minute pace the next 3 miles Pedro had dropped me and I had dropped Brandon.  I was through 10 miles holding 3^rd place in 1:02:xx which I knew was too fast but it felt easy and despite sunny skies there was no hint of heat.  Through 13.1 in 1:23:11, my fastest opening 13.1 by 2 minutes.  At the turnaround I noticed Pedro was no longer putting time into me and just a minute ahead.  I thought second place was possible but we were still 8 minutes off the lead having only brought back 3 minutes in the opening half. 

Around mile 16 Pedro was fading quickly, I was still feeling great and I decided to push the pace so he would have no thoughts of staying with me as I went by.  As I was catching him a spectator on the side of the road told me 2:30 down and my thought was ‘what are you talking about, he’s 50 yards in front of me’.  I made the pass on Pedro and soon after heard another report, “2 minutes down he’s walking”.  Suddenly it clicked and an incredible rush of emotion as although winning had been my goal since the moment I crossed the line second a year ago, this was the first time I thought it possible on the day.  I started thinking about winning the race and had to coax myself to snap out of it as I started getting goose bumps and emotional.  This was the opportunity I had thought about thousands of times in training the past 8 years.  The pass into the lead at mile 19 was anti-climatic as Bachor was walking through the aid station.  I passed my family and the massive crowd on State Street around that time and the excitement in the cheers was extremely energizing.  I saw I was 3:30 up on Marsh the guy I was most worried around and decided I was going to really push the next 2 miles to the final turnaround so that I could put the race away and relax the final miles.  Through 20 miles in 2:07:xx. 

I hit the final turnaround suddenly my euphoria was gone as I saw Marsh had brought my lead down to 3 minutes despite me having made a very hard push the previous 2 miles.   Immediately the gravity of being on the verge of winning coupled with the exhaustion of the hard move I had made the previous 5 miles took hold and it was all almost debilitating.  I started thinking about Marsh coming from behind and the fact that I still have 5 miles to go.  I started to feel slightly dizzy and had a few minutes of pure helpless desperation.  I’ve never experienced such a feeling in my life and for a few minutes I didn’t know if I’d even finish.  I felt like I might lose it at any minute and collapse and I slowed to probably 9 minute pace because I was worried that if I collapsed between aid stations people might not find me (for some reason the fact that I had a 3 person escort and there were other racers on the course had completely escaped my mind).  I wanted to make it to the next aid station where I could lay down and be tended to.  As it turns out the few minutes of slow trot really saved me and I came back around, took in a lot of extra calories, and was able to regroup physically and mentally.  I’m still in the lead, I can do this.  I started taking a gel every mile though my pace was never the same following the bad patch. 

2 miles to go, started checking behind me.  1 mile to go up State Street and I wish I could have enjoyed the massive roar of the crowd but was still in a bad enough place physically I knew it was still possible to be passed.  As I made the final few turns around the state capitol one of my escort cyclists slows and says to me, “I’m not allowed to talk to you but you have one minute to set the course record” (turns out I probably had closer to 3 minutes but I didn’t know the CR nor do I keep a race time on my watch).  That caused me to haul it down the finish chute and even 50 yards from the line I was still checking back for Marsh.  Finally the last 20 yards the excitement and flood of emotion came pouring out, I won this race, what a journey.  Brandon Marsh finished just a minute later and then Mike Reilly pulled me back out for the interview.  We stood for a few seconds waiting for the camera and the music to come down.  It was the first time everything stopped and in that moment I suddenly felt extremely ill and utterly exhausted.  I gave the entire interview with my eyes squinted shut just trying to stay upright and alert, I don’t recall the questions or my answers.  I set the course record by 90 seconds and a marathon course record by 7 seconds.  My 13.1 splits of 1:23:11/1:27:03 is the most even paced I’ve ever run and the first time I’ve run the last 13.1 under 1:30.  Going into the race I thought sub-2:55 would be good and sub-2:53 great (last year I ran 2:57).  I never knew I had 2:50 in me.

Total:  8:31:20, course record.  Career overall win #46, Professional win #3, Ironman win #1

I’ve been asked a lot about what this win means to me and so far have given mostly superficial answers (hard work pays off, always believe, etc.)  While those answers are true, I’m not quite sure if I can properly put my feelings and emotions into words just yet.  I think a lot about 8.5 years ago when I was a DePauw University senior getting ready to graduate and while everyone was applying for jobs, grad school, etc. I knew in the back of my mind I really wanted to pursue triathlon.  At the time I didn’t know anything about what it meant to be a professional triathlete, the limited financial opportunities, or what it took physically, I just knew that I really enjoyed fitness, racing, and pushing myself to see what I could be.  While I’ll never know what my life would be today had I pursued a traditional post-school path, I can say with certainty that if I could travel back in time knowing what I know now, I’d make the exact same decision again.  And it didn’t take winning an Ironman, or any race, to justify that decision, it was justified long ago by the people I’ve met, places I’ve been, experiences and relationships I’ve had through the career path I’ve chosen.

I’m well aware that the life I’m living right now is not real or sustainable.  I won’t be doing what I’m doing now in 12 years.  Any time a career is dependent upon the physical performance of the body you’re always one major injury or accident away from the end.  I’m well aware that this journey could be over tomorrow for me.  But I know that no matter how much, or how little I accomplish, how long or how short my body allows me to continue racing, this has been worth it for me.

Endurance Hour Podcast with Daniel Bretscher

I joined Dave Erickson and Roger Thompson this week for the Endurance Hour Podcast.  For a full 40 minutes we chatted about my road to becoming a professional triathlete, coaching, new sponsors in 2014, making a living as a pro triathlete, and my 2013 Kansas 70.3 dual with Craig Alexander.  Going to be a great year, enjoy!

http://www.endurancehour.com/2014/02/endurance-hour-podcast-103-daniel-bretscher/

2013 Season Finished!

My 2013 race season has concluded, I made the decision this past week to withdrawal from Ironman Arizona.  After having a really great season, the past 6 weeks have been a real struggle.  I've been sick on three separate occasions in the past month which is highly unusual for me.  In addition training has really been challenging since Ironman Wisconsin, my body has not been responding or recovering like it was all season.  I gave it until the very last week to come around but after thinking about it for some time I really think it is in my best interest to call it a year and not force my body to put out another Ironman.  If it was any other race distance I'd go and try to "fudge" my way through, but I have too much respect for the Ironman distance and the damage it can do to the body than to go in with a body that is giving me signs that it is time to shut it down for the year.  This has been my most demanding race season to date with six Half Ironmans (five of which I finished under 4 hours) plus a full Ironman on a difficult course.  It's been an incredible ride and it's not with sadness that my season is finished, it's with happiness because I'm confident I got everything out of myself this year.


My 2013 race season will go down in history as 'Year of the Second Place Finish'

New Orleans 70.3  12th

Memphis in May  2nd

Pigman Sprint  2nd

Kansas 70.3  2nd

Decatur Lakeside  1st

Muncie 70.3  4th (2nd American)

Racine 70.3  8th (2nd American)

Steelhead 70.3  2nd

Pigman Olympic  1st

Ironman Wisconsin  2nd

Galveston 5150  2nd

Austin 70.3  8th

Austin 70.3-Racing Sick

Austin 70.3

Swim: 25:41  14th fastest
Bike: 2:13:09  25.0mph  264 avg watts  13th fastest
Run: 1:15:44  7th fastest
Overall: 3:58:12  8th place

Woke up feeling almost 100% though I suspect I was pretty drained from being sick all day Saturday.  The swim felt awful and I thought was one of my worst, but overall it ended up being pretty average, far better than I suspected.  Got on the bike and immediately had nothing, was working hard and couldn't hit 70.3 watts whereas normally I have to hold myself back at the start of the bike.  Got passed, and dropped, but one person after another.  Been a long time since that's happened, been a long time since I felt this weak on the bike.  Things got a little better after an hour and I lucked out that a group formed and I was able to ride in the back the entire second half and save watts while going fast.  Started the run in 14th and expected to feel awful but after about 5 minutes I started catching people.  Only thing that had me motivated on this run was that I knew there were HyVee points and every person I passed meant more points.  Pretty soon I was giving everything I had to get every last point.  Madeup 6 positions on the run to finish 8th in what is no doubt my most rewarding bad race of the year.  Funny how a little perspective makes all the difference in the world.  Was pumped for my run split but then found out course was 12.83 miles, about 90s short.  Finished off the day with another 40min run to make it a long run.  Really proud of myself for this, had serious thoughts about dropping out at the start of the bike but stuck it out and ended up with a decent result all things considered.  5th time under 4 hours this year which is a new record for a single year.  3 more weeks, not going strong but motivated to finish this season.

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Galveston 5150-Spur of the Moment Addition

Galveston 5150 TX

Swim: Cancelled (high winds)
Bike: 54:37  Fastest split  26.8mph  316w
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/380481814
Run: 34:52  7th fastest split
Overall: 1:30:14  Second place

Added this race to the schedule only a week ago, had a great recovery from Wisconsin and could feel a real boost in fitness on the bike.  Plus I've just had the desire and hunger to race more this year when normally in September I'm counting down the days to the last race.  Didn't really know what to expect coming off of Wisconsin, but I knew I was in the best shape of my life, just didn't know if it would show.  Ultimately I figured that if I raced awful I wasn't any worse off than if I didn't race at all.
Weather was awful from the time I arrived, and it kept me inside all day Saturday with storms and strong winds all day.  There was a chance for storms Sunday and I was worried the entire race would be cancelled.  At the pro meeting I learned the swim was already cancelled since the wind was only going to pick up for Sunday.  For the race we did a TT start, always a little nerve racking since you never know what place you're in and have to go max effort all the way to the line.  I was really strong on the bike, once I got through the initial first few miles and onto the highway I picked up the tailwind and rode the final 8.3 miles to the turnaround in 15 minutes, 33mph.  The strong headwind wasn't an issue at all on the return trip, it was very steady and not gusting at all so controling the bike wasn't hard at all like I feared.  Posted the fastest split on the day and could sense from my placing amongst others that I must be near the lead.  Ran the 10k with the urgency of racing for the win.  The run legs weren't really all there, but for racing an Ironman 14 days ago, and 24 miles of running in the past two weeks I really can't complain, the run legs were still decent.  Only checked my watch at 2 miles and saw 10:57.  People said the run course was close to a quarter mile long so I'm pretty please with the split.  Pushed all out to the end, complete with sprint finish, never want to be the person to lose by 1-2 seconds in a TT start format.  Thought I was second, but had to wait to hear it officially.  Very happy I did this race, picked up another good result and a good start on points towards 2014 HyVee qualification if I want to pursue that next year.  Wish there were more races this time of year, feeling the best I've ever felt this late in the season.

Ironman Wisconsin-Finest Race Execution to Date

Ironman Wisconsin
Swim: 53:00  6th fastest split
Bike: 4:49:15  23.2mph  249 watts  4th fastest
Run: 2:57:26  2nd fastest
Overall: 8:46:00  2nd place


Race morning I was amped like I've never seen before.  Just preping my bike my heart rate was hovering around 120.  I ended up having probably my best triathlon swim ever and made the lead group even in choppy conditions.  I'm still not exactly sure how I pulled that off since 10 minutes into the race I saw myself swimming next to guys who I eventually beat out of the water by 3-5 minutes.  I knew as soon as we made the first turn we would be heading straight into the chop for 20+ minutes and I had to be on someone's feet for that section.  I kept moving up, must have made it just onto the tail end of the lead group when we made the turn, and then the groups must have split as we headed into the chop and I was fortunate enough to get pulled along at the end of the lead group.  I actually got dropped about three times but was able to swim my way back up to the group each time.  A little over halfway the surges stopped and the pace was really easy the entire rest of the swim.
Onto the bike I had a power plan that I was pretty confident in.  I knew the final 20k would be into a strong headwind and be critical.  As such I really went out easy and let most of the front pack go, riding in sixth position.  I gradually increased the power through the first lap, but never rode hard, and made sure to never spike my power up the numerous climbs.  Through 56 miles I had moved into third but given up 10 full minutes to the front two.  I tried my best to increase my power the second loop but the course was so crowded with lapped racers that it was very difficult, I had to come to a near complete stop at one aid station.  Finally I made it through the second loop unscathed and the final 20k back into Madison is where my conservative pace at the start really paid off.  I recorded my highest 1 minute, 5 minute and 10 minute power output all in the final 20k of the ride.  Maik put 10 minutes on me in the first 56, and added just 4 more in the last 56.  Second place put 10 minutes on me in the first 56, and I cut his lead down to just 3 minutes by T2.


Onto the marathon I immediately felt the benefits of a well executed bike.  My running legs were there almost immediately and I was putting the brakes on the first 10k and still seeing 6:20 splits.  I went through a rough patch from 7-13 miles but was still running 6:45 pace and slowly pulling second place back.  I hit the first 13.1 in 1:26:26 and shortly after made the pass for second place.  I felt great again for miles 14-20 and at one point was cutting a minute per mile from the leader.  With 10k to go I was 7 minutes down and thought I had a chance.  Then the usual discomfort of the final 10k set in and my pace slipped to 7 minute miles.  I ended up a little over 5 minutes off the win.  My marathon splits of 1:26:26/1:31:00 was the most balanced marathon I've ever run and I ended up missing my marathon pr by 6 seconds!




                                                 Overall a great race for me, no doubt my best executed 140.6 ever.  Between making the front swim pack, and pacing the bike and run really well I can see only minor flaws with my race.  If I could do it over again I would push a little harder on the bike, but I never anticipated someone breaking the bike course record by 3 minutes and having a 10+ minute lead on second into T2.  I plan to finish my season at Ironman Arizona in November.

Pigman Olympic-Final Ironman Tuneup

Pigman Olympic Tri

Swim: 19:49  Fastest split
Bike: 57:47  25.8mph  294w  Fastest split
Run:  37:54  4th fastest
Overall:  1:58:20  Career win #43

Last tuneup race before Wisconsin.  Didn't have any expectations for this, just wanted a hard workout and long run.  Was a little nervous for how I'd feel coming off the training week last week and finishing my workouts yesterday at 6pm.  Swim went great, strong the entire way, I'm far better in calm water than choppy.  Got on the bike and was pleasantly surprised by the numbers I was seeing.  They weren't record breaking but I was stronger than I expected.  Big lead off the bike and then the run legs were never there.  Felt fine, but my 5:45 effort wasn't even getting me under 6min pace.  I knew I had an additional 2 hour run after I crossed the line and with a big lead I may not have been as motivated to push as usual.  Crossed the line, turned around and headed straight back out for 2 more hours of Wisconsin prep.  It was hard but this was a great way to do it, aid stations every mile and lots of others suffering to keep me from stopping early.  Last long run done, accomplished all the objectives today, good day.  Hopefully I can put together another big week.

Steelhead 70.3-First Title Defense

Steelhead 70.3

Swim: 28:33  9th fastest
Bike: 2:08:53  26.0 mph  265w  2nd fastest
Power:  http://connect.garmin.com/activity/354712853
Run: 1:16:21  3rd fastest
Overall: 3:57:28  2nd place

Race got off to a rough start.  Did a dolphin dive straight into a sand bar, face full of sand and googles went down in my mouth.  Stood up, got goggles back on but they were full of sand so had to get those clear.  Finally got going and thankfully was able to swim up onto the back of the main pack.  Pretty uneventful swim from there, exited with the same guys I have been all year, 9th place but only a few seconds back of 4th.
Big group out of the swim so I punched the pace hard and went to the front as soon as I got on the bike to try to get rid of some of the stragglers before things settled down.  Could tell right away the legs were not there but hoped they might come around after a bit.  Able to drop a couple guys in the first 5k and when things settled down it was a group of 6 chasing one leader.  After backing off the pace the legs still weren't there and I sort of knew they probably wouldn't ever come around.  Knew I had to ride very smart and be very selective with how I dished out my efforts.  Made sure I wasn't spending any more time at the front than the other guys and sat in the group most of the way.  Wanted to ideally get rid of a few more guys so I waited until the last aid station and then hit the pace hard as I knew others would be busy grabbing bottles.  Struggled to push even 300w, looked back after a few minutes and everyone was still there.  At that point I knew I just had to sit in the pack and wait for the run.  The group ended up just 4 by T2, one guy got a penalty and another a flat.  Recorded the lowest wattage I've seen all year, even lower than what I rode back in April.  The group hit T2 over 5 minutes back of the lone leader, pretty much a race for second at that point.
Thanks to riding smart when the legs weren't there on the bike, I was able to salvage my run legs.  Moved into second in the first mile, held the first few mile splits around 5:40 and slowly grew my second place gap and pulled back the leader.  His advantage was too much though but I pulled his lead back to 90 seconds by the finish with my best run of the year.
Mixed feelings on this race overall.  I was definitely off, so am pretty satisfied to walk away with second when normally this kind of day might barely place top-10.  At the same time I believe an average bike ride would have won the race so I'm sort of kicking myself a little that I didn't rest more since pro wins are so rare and hard to come by.
Time to train for Ironman Wisconsin now, I want to remember this race in 5 weeks, that I potentially gave up a win in order to jump start my Wisconsin training block early.
Random note #1:  Got stung by a bee on the bike, first time ever in a race
Random note #2: My time was nearly identical to last year, just 12 seconds off

Racine 70.3-Second Time in 8 Days

Racine 70.3

Swim: 26:59  15th fastest
Bike: 2:09:15  5th fastest  26.2mph  279 average watts
File:  http://connect.garmin.com/activity/346818644
Run: 1:17:24  5th fastest
Overall: 3:57:21  8th place

First 70.3 double ever.  After racing overly aggressive last week and with this being the second race in the double I knew I wanted to race much more steady and conservative.  But with a deeper field and flat bike course I knew the swim would be critical.  The lake was pretty rough and it really separated the swimmers from the pretenders and unfortunately for me I was further behind than normal out of the swim and with nobody to ride with.  Stayed positive and knew that people would come back to me.  Promised myself after last week that I wasn't going to pull people around the bike course all day, they were going to have to work if they wanted to ride with me.  But as I caught riders one at a time nobody was actually strong enough to stay with so I ended up in a solo effort the first 35 miles.  At 35 miles I caught the same guy who I caught last week at mile 40.  This time though I wasn't giving him a free ride back.  We took turns pulling but I was the stronger rider and I really had to back off to let him come by.  I'm sure we were slower overall than if I had just lead the whole way but I thought it'd be worth it to see how I could run after this way.  287w the first 30 miles which dropped to 271 the second half working with someone else.  Finished the ride feeling so much better than last week, 13w less for the ride felt like a world of difference.
However, for how fresh I felt finishing the ride I wasn't seeing run splits as fast as I expected, perhaps from last week?  Felt great though, started out much more conservative than last week and it showed as I felt my strongest the entire race miles 7-10 of the run.  Ran hard the entire way just waiting for the usual blowups to occur but with cool weather nobody fell apart.  Felt like I raced pretty well so am disappointed with the finish place, my swim really hurt me today.  Can't say I ever felt any lingering effects from last week which surprised me, pretty pleased to run what I did the second race of the double.
Only good news about my disappointing finishes the last two weeks is that it made my decision whether to race 70.3 World Champs or IM Wisconsin an easy one.  IM Wisc it is, 7 weeks to prepare.

Muncie 70.3-Back Home Again

Muncie 70.3

Swim: 25:17  8th fastest
Bike: 2:06:01  26.6mph  292w  2nd fastest
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/342274157
Run: 1:19:24  6th fastest
Overall: 3:54:01  4th place

The swim pace was really casual which was a surprise to me given that there were several guys who normally drop me.  The water was barely wetsuit legal so I think people were afraid to push the pace for fear of over heating.  I swam pretty comfortably in the lead pack the whole way, easiest swim I've had this year, just the fourth time I've ever swam lead pack in a pro race.

Pretty big group out of the water, I had a really good T1.  Pressed the pace pretty hard right away on the bike, my biggest fear with a flat course like this is that I'd get stuck towing a big group the whole way.  Thanks to a quick T1 and pushing 313w the first 5 minutes of the bike I was able to ride clear of the main group and ride my own race in 4th place until mile 40.  At mile 40 I caught second and third place, sat behind them for about a minute and then made a big move up a small incline in an attempt to get away.  Rode the next minute at 347w, they stayed with me.  Rode the next 10 minutes at 309w, they stayed with me.  On a calm day flat course there is such a strong draft, even at 10 meters separation.  Finally after my 10 minute effort I decided I would 'play the game' and let off the pace to let the other two come around and tow me into T2.  Neither guy would pass me.  I thought maybe they were both fried so I hit them with another big effort, but again couldn't get away.  So I backed off, neither guy would come by.  This pattern continued all the way to T2, I hoped my efforts on the bike would cripple both these guys for the run, it didn't.  Probably hurt me a lot more than them.  Bike split is a new PR, finally beat my 2008 Clearwater split

Started the run in second, got passed in the first mile but stayed within about 20 seconds all the way to the turnaround.  37:30 for the first half, the most aggressive I've ever taken out a 70.3 run.  Unfortunately fourth place was only about 10 seconds back at the turnaround and I gradually began to slow the second half.  Slipped to fourth at about mile 8, still on pace to run 1:15.  Fought through mile 9 but then knew that a comeback probably wouldn't happen.  Also knew that I had a 10 minute lead on 5th place and I'm racing another one of these in 8 days.  Conceded the race in favor of jogging in and saving what I could for quicker recovery.

Disappointed with the result, but reality is I raced very well.  Swim couldn't have been better, bike was 8w better than I did in Kansas.  Had the course had hills like Kansas I imagine I would have had no trouble dropping the two athletes I towed.  I think this is just a case of a course last month that played perfectly to my strength (Kansas) and a course this day that did not.  Yet I probably raced better in the second, the course just didn't allow me to utilize my strength.  Looking forward to my first 70.3 double in 8 days.

Decatur Tri-Midwest Gem

Decatur Lakeside Tri  1200m/19 miles/4.5 miles

Swim: 15:38  3rd fastest
Bike: 41:42  27.6mph  317 watts  Fastest split
First half: 324w 27.0mph 115ft elevation gain  cross/tail wind
Second half: 309w 28.2mph 115ft elevation loss  cross/head wind
Power file: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/339555955
Run: 24:53  3rd fastest
Overall: 1:23:33  Career win #42

Swim was pretty average, by myself entire way, out of the water in third, minute down.  Got to work on the bike, had good legs.  Wanted to push 320w for the ride.  Was at 324w at the turnaround but couldn't quite sustain it the second half.  Took the lead just before halfway and pulled away pretty quickly.  Lead moto was staying way too close and I was catching a bit of a draft and getting some of the cross wind blocked.  Doubt it made any difference in the race outcome.  Fastest bike split by nearly 2 minutes and onto the run course with a 2 minute lead and the only real runner threat 5 minutes down.  Legs took first 5 minutes to recover then were good.  Ran an honest pace but without being pressed never went to that last gear.  Good win, racing well right now, especially on the bike, never had legs like this before.  27.6mph my fastest average speed ever.  Perfect tuneup for Muncie, excited to see what I can do there.  Thinking my 3:52 PR from 2008 should be going down.

Kansas 70.3-Dueling Crowie

Swim: 6th fastest split
The times on the results are screwed up, I don't know it.  This was a good, not great, swim for me.  I didn't swim awful like I have most races so far this year, and I hung on the back of the lead group until the turnaround which was good.  It wasn't great because I got dropped at the turnaround.  Still I came out just a minute down on the lead 5 guys, I'll take that.  With a challenging bike course ahead I knew I was in good position.

Bike:  2:09:54  25.6mph  Fastest split!
Got on the bike and my HR was over 170 following the swim.  I knew I had to chill and let that come down to something sustainable and was forced to ride easier than planned first 10min.  Finally after 10min or so the HR got down and with that I found my legs and was off.  Solo TT for 40min when I made up the minute from the swim and caught the group.  As I caught them I realized Crowie was already off the front.  It took a pretty good effort the first 40min and I wasn't confident I had the fitness to sustain that so I hung in the back of the group for the next 38 minutes or so and conserved.  Crowie was putting time into all of us but I wasn't even thinking about racing him, just waiting to make a move on the group in a bid for second place.  Finally around 35 miles I made the move up the biggest hill on the course and had no trouble separating, then it was off after Crowie 3 minutes up the road.  All out solo time trial those last 20 miles and in that span I rode over 3 minutes into the chase pack and brought Crowie's lead from 3 minutes down to 45 seconds by the time we hit T2.  I knew I was riding hard enough those last 20 miles I was hurting my run, but I thought it was worth it to get as big a gap as possible on 3rd place starting the run.  If you can beat them mentally you don't have to beat them physically.  Grabbed fastest bike split on the day by 14 seconds over Crowie.

Run: 1:16:38  4th fastest split
Hit the run just 45s down on Crowie and truth be told I didn't think I had any shot, I ran entirely trying to fend off 3rd not even taking splits to Crowie.  First 10k of the run my lead on third only grew and finally midway through the run I knew there was nobody running me down from behind and I turned my sights ahead where surprisingly Crowie's lead was only about a minute.  Tried to dig deep, but just didn't have it.  Still a very good run for me and truth be told I think Crowie probably had plenty more fight in him than he showed.

Overall: 3:52:54  2nd place.
Great result for me, had over 6 minutes on third place and just 1.5 back from the win.  Got WAY more attention from this result than from winning Steelhead last year, guess that's what happens when a 5x world champ is in the race.  Really excited for this season, will not allow myself to be satisfied.  A great race does not make a great season.  Onto the next.

Pigman Sprint aka Iowa World Championships

Pigman Sprint Triathlon   500/25k/5k

Swim: 6:26  8th fastest split
Bike: 37:01  25.8mph  313 average watts  2nd fastest split
Power file: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/322085522
Run: 16:45 4th fastest split
Overall: 1:02:51  2nd

The swim wasn't good, but it was much better than my first two races this year and showed promise.  But with it being just a 6 minute swim I'm not going to pass too much judgement, anyone with any type of fitness can fake a 6 minute swim.  Came out right in the middle of the action, first 6 guys all out of T1 within about 15 seconds.  Pace was all out start of the bike and good thing I got going cause top 3 guys separated from next 3 within the first 5 minutes, then the whole bike it was myself, David Thompson, and Dan Hedgecock together.  I'm pretty confident I was the strongest on the bike, I lead a lot of the way but am not strong enough to overcome the 3 bike length draft zone of an age group race in order to drop the other two.  In hindsight maybe I should have sat in the back more, conserved, and then launched a big attack.  Leading into the headwind wasn't the smartest, I just allowed the other two to rest.  Dan ran a 14:09 5k on the track in college so I knew it was a tall task trying to win starting the run with him.  Managed to split just 20 seconds slower than him on the run, was able to drop DKT at 2 miles to bring home second.  I wanted to win, but this race was definitely a step forward and my best performance of the year.  Excited to see what happens next weekend, I think the fitness is there for a good race.  The competitive side of me can't help but wonder if I had raced different could I have gotten away on the bike and been able to win today, a little disappointed I admit.  My Iowa win streak is over, since 2007 I've raced 10 triathlons in Iowa, I won the first 9, today I didn't.  Just have to start a new streak.

Memphis in May-Second Again

Memphis in May

Swim: 21:13  5th fastest split
Bike: 55:28  26.5mph, 299 watts  2nd fastest split
Power file: https://connect.garmin.com/activity/315845105
Run: 35:57 2nd fastest split
Overall: 1:54:08  Second place

Swim was awful for the second race in a row and continues to be a mystery to me.  The way I'm training and feeling heading into a race seems to have zero correlation to how I will actually swim.  I can have a pretty good sense for how a bike and run will go beforehand, the swim I have no idea.  It's very possible that I threw away a professional win with the way I swam today.
I struggled on the bike and never felt good or like I had strong legs.  Just battled the entire way.  Stiff headwind on the way out, first 14 miles @ 23.9mph and 308 watts.  Last 10 miles @ 31.2mph and 283 watts.  Good news is that despite feeling bad and not producing the power I was expecting I still rode pretty fast and passed a lot of people.  I came into this race off my biggest bike training week of the year and a 9 hour drive the day before.  Not a huge surprise or mystery that my legs were not sharp.
The run was the bright spot.  With the 10:30am start we hit the run at noon under the strong southern sun, with humidity and the heat index in the upper 80s.  Despite coming from Iowa the heat never bothered me.  It slowed things no doubt, but not as much for me as for most others.
Overall I was disappointed with my swim, pleased with my run, and most happy that despite not feeling 'on' in this race I stayed mentally engaged in the race the entire way which is something I haven't always done in the past.  I credit staying mentally in the race through the rough times with getting me the second place finish.  Also the very weak pro field in the race didn't hurt my cause either.  In a normal pro field I wouldn't have placed with this performance after the way I swam and biked.  Good race choice for early in the season to get a good result and some confidence moving forward.  My fourth time to race MIM and my fourth second place at MIM.  Looking forward to Kansas 70.3 in 3 weeks which will be my first focus race of the year.

New Orleans 70.3-Early Start

New Orleans 70.3

Swim: 26:16  14th fastest split
Swim was one of those deals where you feel good and think you're swimming well during the race, but then looking at the results after you realize it wasn't as good as you thought.  A little surprised how much time I lost here.

Bike: 2:14:05  14th fastest split
Power file: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/311306000
Dead flat entire way with a decent headwind first half/tailwind second half.  Started the bike with a group of 4 and pushed harder than I wanted the first half because I knew I didn't want to get separated with the headwind.  Hit the turnaround and felt my strongest all day from 30-45 miles, was able to drop 2 of the guys with the tailwind.  First time racing with a powermeter, ended up not really paying attention to it and just collected the data after.

Run: 1:17:55  13th fastest split
Pretty ideal run conditions, ran almost the entire way by myself.  Happy I didn't feel too terrible off the bike since I really haven't done any bricks this year.  Overall a better run than I thought coming in, had great speed last half mile to makeup two positions at the very end.

Overall: 4:01:16  12th place
Overall I feel my race was a pretty accurate reflection of my current fitness, I just haven't done the volume of work to be competitive yet.  Swim was a little worse than I guessed, bike about what I thought, run a little better than I guessed.  I knew going in to the race there was a very slim chance of being competitive, but thanks to Ron it was logistically a pretty simple and fun trip.  And ultimately a bad result is no worse than not racing at all.  Plus now I have data from my power meter to utilize going forward.  This is the earliest I've ever done my first big race of the year and did so coming off the longest winter I've ever had to train through.
Here are bike stats off my Garmin
Time: 2:13:xx
25.2mph
Normalized power: 281w
Average power: 277w
Average heart rate: 159
Average cadence: 88
Normalized power first half (headwind): 285
Normalized power second half (tailwind): 277

2012 Year End Training Volumes

Below are my training totals for the 2012 calendar year

Swim:  1,050,000 yards

Bike:  9780 miles

Run:  2171 miles


See you on the circuit in 2013!

Ironman Florida-Disappointing End to a Great Season

I finished off my 2012 race season this past weekend with my 5th Ironman, Ironman Florida in Panama City Beach.  Although this race itself was a little disappointing, I am very proud of my season as a whole.  Here is how my day went.

Swim: 54:01  12th fastest split
Thankfully the swim was pretty uneventful for me.  Despite there being no wind whatsoever the surf was pretty substantial.  Once navigating through the breakers the water wasn't calm as I expected, there were still large swells the entire duration.  I ended up swimming a little easier than I planned on account of the surf which I think was the right move since it limited the amount of ocean water I choked on and I knew that drafting would be pretty much negated by the rough sea.  I excited the water in pretty good position, 12th place and right in the middle of the action.

Bike: 4:20:49  25.8mph  11th fastest split
I went into this race mentally prepared for anything on the bike.  I hoped for a spread out bike, yet I was also very aware of what 41 pro men on a flat course could mean.  I ended up getting a mix of everything.  Things were pretty spread out initially and my legs were very strong right from the start.  I steadily worked my way through the field the first two hours.  I would ride hard until I caught the first person in sight, relax for a bit, decide the pace was too easy, work hard to drop the rider, and then bridge up to the next rider in sight.  After a very fast first 55 miles I made it into a large pack when we came to the out and back.  I was pumped when I saw that our group was in second place overall but that excitement was short lived when we made the turnaround as I saw we were about to be caught by another even larger group from behind.  I rode at the front in second place overall from about 60-65 miles and then steadily slipped back through the pack, making note that many of the riders I had worked to drop had gotten picked up from the group behind and were now in the same pack.  I counted 17 guys in our group.  Thankfully we also had four officials with us pretty much the entire way back to T2 so guys were not tempted to push the boundaries of the draft zone.  People tend to think that riding in such a group is easy work but when everyone is spaced legally it is anything but.  The pace and effort were extremely inconsistent and punchy, as guys made moves at the front it'd be 2-3 minutes of near all out effort followed by a few minutes of easy riding.  I'm sure this makes for a great workout, but when your goal is to run a marathon as fast as possible after it's not such a good thing.  After surging like that for two hours under a strong sun and temperatures rising into the 80s I was really feeling fried towards the end of the bike as were many others.  I stayed with the pack until 5k to go when I knew I was in no shape the start the marathon and sat up to try to get my body temperature down, relieve myself, hose myself down with water, and recover some semblance of running legs.

Run: 3:14:00  14th fastest split
Starting the run I was a complete mess.  I saw 5:20 on the clock as I crossed the marathon start timing mat and knew that I was a 2:59 marathon away from breaking 8:20, my ultimate time goal for the day.  The only problem is for the first few miles of the run I was cooked from the bike, I was just out for an easy recovery jog, couldn't even maintain 3 hour pace for the first few miles.  I wasn't alone though, I could tell the guys around me were wilted as well and I was gaining positions running 7 minute pace.  Through a steady diet of coke and ice the first 10k I was actually able to bring my body temperature down, started to find my stride and got moving the second 10k.  I picked up Tom Gerlach for several miles and we both agreed that a strong last 13.1 would bring home the money on this day.  I got faster the second 10k, felt much better, hit 13.1 in 1:30 in 8th place and just over 2 minutes out of 6th.  Then, out of nowhere, not even a quarter mile into the second lap, I strained my right calf pretty substantially.  I didn't step funny or anything and thought it was a cramp initially.  I couldn't push off at all with my right foot and hoped it would work itself out but after a few miles of borrowing salt tablets from fellow age groupers I knew it either wasn't a cramp or wasn't going to alleviate itself.  At this point if this had been any race other than my last of the season I would have bagged it and walked the last 10 miles.  But with it being the last race of the season I wasn't quite as apprehensive about continuing on a bad calf since I didn't feel I was making the strain any worse.  It was a hard pill to swallow that I wouldn't be racing for money or chasing a massive PR in the low 8:20s, but I had to quickly change my mental approach and realize that I still had something to race for, I could still PR and break 8:30 so that was what I set out for.  I limped as fast as I could, but not being able to push off of my right foot I was limited to a max speed around 8:20 pace.  I hit 10k to go, did the math, and realized breaking 8:30 for the race wasn't going to happen.  But there was still my PR, 8:35.  I was running exactly the pace that would put me at my PR.  Quick decision, keep chasing or just bag it and walk home, I decide to keep chasing.  Every mile mark I'm doing the math and am staying exactly on pace.  Then with 5k to go I have the vision of putting myself through all this discomfort and missing my PR by a few seconds and decide no way.  I push the pace really hard down below 8min pace the last 5k and in the end it's about a 90 second overall PR which comes off of my slowest marathon ever.

 

Overall:  8:34:00  12th place
Initially I was pretty disappointed with how things went for me but having had a few days I feel better about it and there's a lot of positive to take away.  A PR is a PR and you can't ever shrug at such a result.  12th place is far from what I envisioned for the day, but we did have 41 male pros on the start line, the largest pro field I've ever raced for a full 140.6.  Even putting the calf issue aside I don't think this would have been a stellar result as it was shaping up.  Riding a hard solo effort the first 2 hours on the bike followed by responding to all of the surges and changes in pace of the pack the last two hours left me in no shape to run a strong marathon.  Thinking back over my history of 140.6 racing this was the first time I've ever not done a solo effort the entire way on the bike and it makes for a much different challenge than the constant steady state effort I'm accustomed to.  In hindsight I don't feel my disappointing performance was an indication of any lacking fitness or poor race execution on my part, I feel it is an indication of Ironman Florida simply being a race that doesn't suite me well or play to my strengths.  I thrive off of long, steady state efforts.  Thinking back over my history of pack racing in 70.3s I don't think I've ever had a good race result in that type of racing.  I need at least some hills and a more spread out race than I'm going to find at Ironman Florida.  As always it's a learning experience and I'll take this experience forward into future races.

Although Ironman Florida didn't go how I wanted I'm still very happy that I did this race and there's a lot that will benefit me going forward into 2013 and beyond.  For one, I'm in Ironman shape in November, I've never been this fit so late into the year.  Last year I was currently five weeks into my offseason at this point.  To me that's five fewer weeks to get out of shape heading into 2013.  Another big takeaway is that I learned a lot about myself, and how my body recovers in the 8 weeks between Rev 3 Cedar Point and Ironman Florida.  What I learned is that I don't recover particularly fast compared to others.  It took me a full month before I felt 100% and could resume full training following Cedar Point.  That left just two quality weeks where I was able to push the limits in training and make significant gains in fitness.  Looking back I think I was probably only able to replicate my fitness from Cedar Point into Florida, I wasn't able to further it by any appreciable margin.  In the future I think I'm going to try to schedule multiple Ironmans with a minimum of 10 weeks separation, more ideally 12 or more weeks.

2012 was a great year for me overall that I am very proud of.  There were many highlights and at the top of the list is my dominating win at the Steelhead 70.3.  Winning a 70.3 is a major goal for pros in this sport and something that I am aware most will not get to experience.  I know that whatever I do or don't accomplish the rest of my racing career winning the 2012 Steelhead 70.3 is something I'll be able to look back on and really appreciate long after my racing days have finished.  I'm very excited for what journey this path with take me on in 2013.  There are big changes coming as I'll be getting married and moving to Iowa in the next two months.  Catch you on the flip side, here's to a great 2013!

Rev 3 Cedar Point-Knocking on the Door

This past weekend was my third consecutive year racing the Rev 3 Cedar Point full iron distance triathlon and my fourth go at the Ironman distance.  Coming off the win at the Steelhead 70.3 I had high hopes of being in the hunt for another win.  I am very happy to come away with a runner-up finish, new PR, first sub-3 marathon, and overall my best Ironman execution and performance to date.

Swim: 59:51  12th fastest split
All of my swims in 2012 have either been really good in the front pack, or terrible.  Unfortunately this was a terrible swim for me, by far my worst Ironman swim of my four races at the distance.  Race morning we had a water temp of 73 degrees and air temps in the 50s.  For the pros we were about a degree over the wetsuit cutoff, no wetsuits.  I've had a history of struggles in colder swims and the frustrating thing about this one is that 73 degree water isn't that cold.  I started fine but 10 minutes in I started getting cold chills throughout my body and pretty soon I couldn't even hold the feet of guys who I ordinarily beat out of the water.   One of the things I'm most proud of with this race is how I was able to hold my composure during the swim.  It didn't take long before I knew the swim was going to be really bad, and I recognized I would exit the water several minutes down on guys I anticipated starting the bike with.  But it really never bothered me that I was having such a bad swim.  I never tried to force a harder pace than I planned, I never really entertained any thought of starting the bike harder than I planned to make up the lost time.  I basically just decided that I would execute the bike and run exactly as I had planned going into the race, and I accepted the fact that my finish time would be a couple minutes slower as a result of the swim.  In the end I was around 3 minutes slower than I would anticipate based on where others I have raced exited the water.  3 minutes in itself is not a huge deal, the thing that hurts more is that the stronger cyclists in the race were all out of reach and I ended up riding 111 out of 112 miles of the bike solo.

Bike: 4:35:22  24.4mph  3rd fastest split
I started the bike in 12th position, a full 7 minutes back of the lead, I knew I was in for a long lonely ride.  I basically just spent the entire ride executing my plan for the day.  I went in to the bike with the notion that 75 miles was halfway.  I knew that the entire final 35 miles would be a headwind and that it would be critical to be strong through those miles.  I steadily rode my way up through the field and was up to 6th place by 75 miles.  The headwind was tough as expected but this was the best I've ever paced 112 miles and I stayed strong and in control the entire way.  If there is one benefit to being alone the entire bike it is that I was never tempted to push someone else's pace, and never had to put in surges of any kind.  With less than a mile to go I caught Viktor Zyemstev which was a nice confidence boost since I knew there was no better person to start the marathon with.  This was also the most fresh and most ready to run a marathon I've ever felt at the end of the bike, I hit T2 looking forward and excited for the opportunity to finally push a sub-3 marathon.

Run: 2:57:20  3rd fastest split
I'd never raced Viktor head to head before but am very aware of his ability to run 2:45 Ironman marathons like clockwork.  We made some small talk the first mile, he told me the wind on the bike crushed him, and I told him I wouldn't be a threat to him at the end of the run, but I was going to try to use him to carry me up into the top-3 before he dropped me.  I let him set the pace and we hit each of the first 3 miles in almost exactly 6:10s and it felt comfortable.  The only issue I had running with him was we had to spread out going through aid stations so we could both grab what we needed.  It was the gap after the 3rd aid station that I never closed but still kept him reasonably close for a while.  5 miles in I moved into 4th and at 10 miles I moved into 3rd splitting the first 10 miles in 64 minutes.  Through 13.1 in 1:25 and it was the best I've ever felt through halfway.  At that point I told myself I would destroy 3 hours and really thought I had sub-2:55 in me.  16 miles in the fun stopped and I finally started having to work.  18 miles in a surge of adrenaline as I got word that Eric was cracking in the lead after racing gutsy leading the race for 7.5 hours.  Through 20 miles in 2:12 and shortly after I pass Eric to move in 2nd.  22 miles in I was 3 minutes down on Viktor in the lead, and had a 4 minute cushion on third.  This was where Ironman became Ironman and it got really, really hard.  Soreness flooded my quads, calves, and hamstrings.  I started feeling twinges of shooting pain and felt like I was one misstep away from a full body cramp.  I probably cut my stride length in half and there was no thought of trying to race for the win, it was just grit your teeth and finish.  Finally I was able to make it without any last mile drama.

Daniel Bretscher 2nd place - Cedar Point 2012 from REVOLUTION3 Triathlon on Vimeo.

Overall: 8:35:32  2nd Place, first American
This race was a huge breakthrough for me and validates the results from the training sessions I've been seeing this summer.  The bike split was a PR, the marathon was a PR, and overall a 13 minute PR.  Second place is my highest finish ever at the 140.6 distance, my previous three races were 9th, 5th, and 5th.  In addition I ended up less than 4 minutes out of the win whereas in my three previous races I'd never been within 20 minutes of the win.  And Viktor is no slouch either, this was his 11th Ironman win.  With all of that said I can definitely see some major flaws in my game, the biggest lesson being do not ever surrender a race to a competitor without making them earn it.  Mentally I gave the race away to Viktor in the very first mile of the run based on what he had accomplished in the past, not making him earn it on the day.  In reality he didn't have the run I think everyone expected him to, he was vulnerable on the day.  Looking back I don't believe I could have matched his pace, but in the future I will not mentally surrender to a competitor until they prove they have what it takes on the day.  I also still feel I'm under performing in my marathons.  I was happy to finally break 3 in the marathon, but I'm not very impressed with my splits 1:25/1:32.  I feel I should be capable of 4-5 minutes faster the last 13 miles.  Whether it's a nutrition issue, bike pacing issue, lack of experience issue or just needing to learn to suffer more issue, I'm not sure.  But when there's world class pros running 2:40s in harsh conditions, my 2:57 in near perfect conditions isn't in the same ballgame.  As always it's a work in progress and so long as I continue to chip away I'll eventually get where I want to be.
I'm taking this week mostly entirely off for recovery and a mental break.  I'll get back into training next week and will play the remainder of my race schedule this year by ear.  Most likely my next race will be on September 30, either the Pocono or Augusta 70.3.  I have no clue what the fields for those races look like, but I hope to compete for my third consecutive podium!  Finally thanks to the Rev 3 event organization and staff, there's a reason 3 out of my 4 Ironmans have been with Rev 3.  Hope to be at some more series races this season.

Race nutrition:
Bike: 13 powergels, 66oz Perform.  Total: 2000 cal, 434 cal/hr
Run: cup of coke, cup of water every mile, 7 powergels throughout.


2012 REV3 Cedar Point - PRO Race Recap from REVOLUTION3 Triathlon on Vimeo.