Race Coverage

"I'm 35 and Somehow Getting Faster"...

Sunday, 14 September 2025 00:10

By Paige Schulz

IRONMAN 70.3 Wisconsin - recap for the overall win

Swim - 35:10

-Nothing to see over here with my swim pace. 70th woman out of the water.
-I saw my tri friend Andy from Iowa at the start. (He and I ran Des Moines 70.3 together when I was pregnant in 2023.) He asked me what my plan for the day was, and I just said “win it.” My willpower was growing.

Bike - 2:27:58

-Moved up to 3rd place overall. (Came out of T2 in 2nd place.)
-Fastest bike split of the day. Coach told me to average 198 watts, and that’s exactly what I did. I averaged 200 watts last year, but was just over 2 minutes faster this year. So the @ventumracing Tempus and @envecomposites Disc have their advantages!
-Very cold for the first 90 min. My hardest effort of the day might have been was putting on arm warmers and gloves in T1.
-This bike course is technical, slow, but also 3 miles short: tons of turns, rough roads, and bike paths. I always think this kind of course helps me because I’m less of a powerhouse and likely more slippery.

Run - 1:23:44

-I can freaking run. I haven’t really comprehended what my current run fitness is. But my coach @agjagielo @outpacecoaching is absolutely to blame. He saw the...

opportunity and pushed my paces throughout August. I’m 35 and somehow still getting faster.
-I got so many updates from spectators on how far ahead Nicole (the leader off the bike) was. When you are behind on the run, you go into this mental space with demons of: Can I keep pushing this pace? Am I even going to catch her? Do I even care? Do I want to win?. I’ve been here before *many* times. And I got through the demons easily this race. It helped that I was gaining quickly. My runner’s math had me catching her at mile 10. She started the swim ahead of me, so physically I didn’t catch her until 10.5 miles. It is a little surreal to take the lead in a race. I still had a few miles before the finish to just focus on my run and try not to let my calves cramp. By 12.5 I had accepted I was going to win

-I didn’t have the fast women’s run split! I was beat by well over a minute – girl was hauling! But I think top 10 for all run splits including the guys.

Woah!

ED. Paige's winning time was 4:34:48. Her margin of victory was 5:43.