Madtown!

Last weekend I was in Madtown aka Madison, Wisconsin for the Wisconsin Brick Adventure! Or WIBA for short. On the website it looks like W13A - where the 1 and the 3 (for 2013) make a B. Very clever! 

Anyway, I headed up there with Carol and Pam. Team Rabbit was in full force!! We split the drive up and went about a third of the way the first night then finished the second day. As usual, we had a lot of fun on the drive and already started taking notes about silly stuff to 'rap' about after the weekend was all over. Made it into Madison in daylight so we could check into the hotel and get the car unloaded then head out for dinner and supplies. The first day of the brick weekend would start at 7AM! 

Saturday morning at breakfast we ran into most of the gals who had come from our area: Linda, Becky, Michele, Lori, and Megan! Shortly thereafter we regrouped at the start of the practice swim. The water in Lake Monona was a pretty comfortable temperature and while I tested out Pam's speedsuit I could have gone in just my swim suit! Many of the swimmers did while a fair number wore their wetsuits. I am hoping to wear just a speedsuit on race day actually. The water was a little choppy - not sure if that was due to the boat pulling all the water skiers, or just because. Regardless - I swam about a half mile out per the instructions given to the turn around and back. Carol and I swam practicall together and she noted that where we turned around was .58 miles! Swimming back I used the water ski ramp to sight off of which was nice! Once out of the water we headed back to the hotel to change and grab all of our bike gear! We were headed to Verona to bike 2 loops of the bike course plus some of the 'stick'. 

Once we got to Verona we saw that there were a lot more folks preparing to bike than there had been to swim! It was a nice sized group and we caught up with our peeps again. After a short talk about the course and a couple things to be aware of it was time to roll out. We waited till the end of the group to go and we were off! Most of us stopped at the first rest stop not long after the Mt. Horeb climb. But Pam was ahead of Carol and I and kept on going! The short break felt good and it was time to hit the road again. Some beautiful scenery, fun rollers, and three more climbs awaited us! After the end of the first loop we headed back to the car to restock. Carol and I caught  back up with Pam there. Then it was off for loop two! 

The second loop was uneventful and it was nice to know what was coming since we had already seen it earlier that day. The sun was a bit warmer and I was appreciative of any breeze or shady spots! Hit the same rest stop again for a bathroom break and a Payday candy bar and Pringles! I used my salt tabs but likely should have used more because I started to get a headache on the second half of the loop. I was probably dehydrated. Stagecoach Road -- which is a little bumpy -- hurt my head! It was nice to get the final three hills out of the way and then kind or cruise to our start location. 

I almost wished I had just continued on but we did not have the right cue sheet to continue! Once we unclipped at the car we all had a different ailment! I still had my headache, Pam's legs were cramping, and Carol's stomach was a little upset. I took some Ibuprofen and we waited 15 minutes to see what we wanted to do. We basically decided we were done and changed shoes and went on a 3 minute run! We headed back to the hotel, brought our stuff into the room, and headed to the hotel pool to cool off and soak! It was just what I needed. The cool water almost immediately made my head feel better! After relaxing there for a bit we all cleaned up and went to dinner - Ian's Pizza, my favorite pizza place in Madison! I had a slice of BBQ chicken and pineapple with a 'build your own salad'. My salad was amazing! 

I slept great that night! 

The next morning we had a run on tap! After another meet and greet with our local peeps at breakfast it was back to Monona Terrace to meet up with the group for the run. I don't normally run with a cue sheet so that was funny. I had it in a zip lock baggie though so it stayed dry! It was nice - they started us out by pace and we headed out near the back. At 9AM it was already warm and sunny in Madison! 

The run course starts by taking you around the capitol - and there had been an art festival in Madison since Friday but had not yet opened for the day. Not yet.... Three years ago when I went to Madison for the training weekend with Carol and Pam I ran on my own and got totally lost! This time that did not happen! We ran a total of 12 of the 13.1 miles and it was fantastic! The guy in charge - Rob from EVO TRI - was out on a bike with a trailer and he was carting around bottles of water. Perfect! We saw him twice and sadly I only got water the first time! Now, all the times I had looked at the course map I did not realize how close the turn around was to the first part of the course. Honestly, I did not even realize they were on the same street. *cue the crickets* Well, I know that now! It will be a really fun run (or walk as needed!) on race day! 

On our way back we decided to stop at 7-11 to get some more water. And I actually bought a Slurpee! I only filled a small cup about half way and finished about half of that. Oh, thank Heaven! It was just what I needed! We headed out on our way. As we headed back into the capitol square the art festival was in full swing! We were dodging people left and right! Now, Team Rabbit was wearing their ears...and these people would look at us and I can only imagine what they were thinking! Why are these runners wearing bunny ears? In fact, one group of people earlier had asked us, "Did you girls lose a bet?" So funny! If they are out on race day maybe they'll remember us! Ha! 

Once we got back to Monona Terrace we each did 4 burpees! Then we saw that Rob was out at the run meeting place and we headed out to thank him! Which reminds me... I need to send him the Team Rabbit WIBA Rap! Next we headed to our favorite Irish Pub for brunch. I had THE most amazing sandwich: turkey, swiss, and sliced apples on a croissant! Finally, it was time to head back to the hotel one last time to clean up, load up, and head out! Carol and I dropped Pam off at the airport because she needed to work the next day. Carol and I drove about a third of the way for the night then finished the next day. All in all we made great time and were home in time for dinner on Monday night! 

The WIBA weekend was a succes! And now --> only 7 weeks and 3 days till RACE DAY!! 

Happy and Healthy Training!

Next Up: Nags Head 5K