As I mentioned earlier to register for an Ironman can be a daunting task alone. There are lots of things to consider when choosing a race. Here's how I decided on Ironman Wisconsin.
All Ironman races break down the same way a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, and 26.2 mile run all within the 17 hour time limit. No Ironman is easy but some courses will work better for you than others. There are currently only 24 Ironman races worldwide every year including 8 in the United States. Registration for an Ironman typically opens a year ahead of time and the more popular races sell out quickly.
All Ironman races break down the same way a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, and 26.2 mile run all within the 17 hour time limit. No Ironman is easy but some courses will work better for you than others. There are currently only 24 Ironman races worldwide every year including 8 in the United States. Registration for an Ironman typically opens a year ahead of time and the more popular races sell out quickly.
I made up my mind late August that I wanted to do an Ironman. I slowly started researching my options. I knew I wanted a race in late summer/early fall since I'm typically in my best physical shape that time of year. I also knew I wanted to do one in 2011 because I felt that if I didn’t do one soon I probably never would. It boiled down to any Ironman race from July-November in 2011. Ironman England, Germany, Canada, and Whales were, logistically, too far away. That left me with Ironman Kentucky, Wisconsin, New York, and Florida. New York was already sold out. The Kentucky course seemed too brutal with the heat/humidity. Florida seemed nice but I thought the flatness of the bike course and the scenery in general would bore me. Thus, I was left with Wisconsin. The Wisconsin bike and run profile resemble more of an EKG strip than a flat line, which isn't ideal but if nothing else will keep my Ironman attempt honest. There's also the fact that cheese is my favorite food, and since Wisconsin is the cheese state, I figured the two of us were meant to be. So, I set my heart on Ironman Wisconsin.
As September approached I anxiously waited for on-line registration to open. The day Ironman Wisconsin was supposed to open up the site became too overloaded and crashed. I spent the better part of the afternoon on the phone and on-line frantically trying to figure out what had happened. It took the race committee two days before being able to get the website up and running again. When it finally became open for registration, Ironman Wisconsin sold out within an hour. I was so happy to have secured one of those spots that I didn't even care about the $600 I had just dropped for the race fee.
No, that wasn't a typo... I really did pay $600 to participate in a race that many people view as nothing short of ridiculous. Oh well, it's just money, right? Anyways, as I said earlier the impact of finishing this race will define me for the rest of my life and I guess you can't really put a price on that.