I made a last minute decision to head to Ironman Wisconsin at the prompting of Doug Beeman. Doug is a MHM athlete who had signed up for Wisconsin but opted to run a 50 mile trail run in July and then swim across the Long Island Sound with myself and some other MHM athletes. In mid August after having only completed to indoor training rides he bagged the race. After reading the reports of Kate and Renee struggling to reach the mid night time cut off in Kentucky he re engaged. I’m officially in the dog house with Doug’s wife as she feels “I don’t need to be influencing him”. Doug and I flew into O’hare, made quick visits to see both of our parents who reside in the Chicago area.

Friday morning I ran into Brad and Krista at the practice swim. The weather was a bit ominous but both of them were in good spirits. Later I met with both of them along with Brett and Lara at the Great Dane for lunch. For those of you have met Bret Jaros, you know he is Mr. Positive. Brett tore his tendons in his ankle and missed 7 weeks of running in July. In addition to this his work schedule has him on the road for 10 days and home for 10 days. At lunch Brett informed everyone that he was going to enjoy the day, take what his body gives him at the moment, pace himself and make the most of his experience. He truly has a way of keeping things in perspective.

With 5 MHM athletes racing, another 6 or 7 from the local tri community and other athletes who I had competed against from the Chicagoland area in attendance I was constantly running into people I knew in the expo area.

On race day I saw Brad, Krista and Brett pre swim. Each of them were quietly focused and calm. It is always great to be with Ironman athletes just before the start of a race. The quiet focus and determination. I now that each of them is questioning what the day will bring them. Will all the training and hard work pay off?

I’ve never seen an ironman with better weather on race day. It was a day meant to PR.

I headed out to mile 40/80 on the bike course. This was the same spot I was in last year and the people in the neighborhood remembered me. I go to the top of a climb so the riders aren’t going by too fast. It is such a brief encounter with everyone but it is great to get a gauge on every ones progress.

I then went out to State Street and took up my position outside the State Street Bar and Grill. I get to pop inside every now and then to check on the score of the Bears game so I like this spot. There is an out and back here so I can see the runners twice in a short period of time. Everyone came by looking great on the first loop. On the second loop, Steve came by first and was looking smooth as he always does on the run. He would go on to run the entire marathon and set a Personal Record for the Ironman. Brad came by next and I could tell he was in pain but he was still running. When he came by the last time, he looked at me and said “I’m hurting”. Being the sympathetic coach that I am I responded “I never promised it wouldn’t hurt..now stay focused.. You have a 10k left and you will shatter what you thought you would do time wise. Eat, drink, keep moving and don’t let your mind wander..go”. Later he would call me to tell me that those words of advice were of great assistance. Brett came by next and I could tell he was hurting big time. He was still moving along and I encouraged him to hang tough. Brett is a tough guy and I never worried he wouldn’t finish. Krista came by next and as usual flashed me a big smile. I called coach Kathy to report her progress and I could feel the anticipation on the other end of the phone. Next up was Mr. Beeman. He ran by looking as fresh as he always does. I rang up his wife and they chatted briefly on the way out of town. He declined his long sleeve shirt I was holding and asked me to make sure his parents knew where to be so they could run in together

In the end everyone finished and as I coach the bottom line is if your athletes cross the finish line. Personal Records are gravy but one and only thought for my first time athletes is to get them over the line. After Krista finished I received a text from Kathy that said “she’s in..she broke 13 hours..I’m crying”. In the finish area I met Brad and Krista’s families and ran into some athletes I coach in Masters swim from the area. It was great to be a part of every ones celebration. Post race Doug and I enjoyed a dinner and beer then headed back to the finish line where we met up with Steve and the rest of the Highlands Ranch clan in the stands. We drank beer, danced and to watched the final finisher come in at 11:58.

Final Results

Steve Uccello: 11:39.24 (4 minute PR)

Brad Burgtorf 11:48.52 (1st Ironman)

Brett Jaros 12:07.33 (1st Ironman)

Krista Bianchi-Rossi 12:59.21 (1st Ironman)

Doug Beeman 13:45.13 (Ironman #3)