Ironman Louisville : Official Thread

I was wondering when someone would get it going. I registered this past Saturday. With the IM world championships happening live, I thought it was a perfect day to register for an Ironman. This will be my second, finishing IM WI 2009 a month ago. I'm looking forward to tips from those who have raced the Lou course. 

Tim 

This will be my first IM! Very excited about racing in Louisville, I heard nothing but good things about the course, so all I have to do now is train my a$$ off to get the sub 11 hour finish I am shooting for

Edited by Daimyer 2009-10-12 2:13 PM

My first and I'm registered! 

I'm in.  x3 on the first.

I'm in! First IM!

Wow, great to see so many first timers here.  This will be my first as well.  I've wanted this for what seems like a VERY long time, so time to make the dream a reality!    Let's do it!

Registration was my early Xmas gift! 4th IM. 2 Great Floridian's  and 1 IMFL...wife had done Louisville twice, so it will be cool do it instead of being the sherpa.  Loads to do before then.

Well I guess I will try to start a discussion, I mean we are elss than 1 year away!! What training plans are everyone planning on incorporating for the race? Im still up in the air on which one I want to go with: total plan time, focus, intensity, etc...

Does anyone have experience with the Be Ironfit programs? I am trying to decide if I should go with one of those or one here on BT....

Amymengle uses Ironfit plans.  I know she did a little tweaking to get some more training time in for KY last year. Shoot her a pm or inspire.  I'm sure she'll be happy to share her experiences with the plan.

I'm still looking at several plans.  Found one on Trifuel.com that is interesting, but still haven't decided which I'll use. Ironfit looks a little lighter on hours than I'm comfortable with.

Thats what I was noticing as well. For a 140 mile race, the Ironfit plans dont seem to be heavy on volume or time, more like just 30 weeks of steady building...

I used Fink's Ironfit Competitive plan for IM WI 2009. I chose his plan because a time-crunched plan fits my lifestyle. I did end up training more hours than the plan called for as it turned out, but I just extended the gradual build he had going. I had a great experience with the plan and my own tweaking, as others have done. For IM Lou, at least for now, I plan to stick with the nuts and bolts of Ironfit, but adding more base volume and overall volume as scheduling permits. 

OK - I did this race in 2009 and it was fantastic.  So much so I talked my wife into doing it with me next year.  A few tips that will help me for next year.
Transition opens at 5:00 Sunday morning.  It is a mile (about) walk to the swim start.  The swim start is first come first serve.  So I'l be there at 4:45 ready to check my bike and walk to the swim.  I will also drop my special needs bags off Saturday evening.  The line was not that bad on Sunday, but in order to get to the start faster it will help.  The swim:  current is not as strong as advertised so don't count on that for a lot of help.  Second, we will be swimming under two very large bridges.  Sighting is EASY if you stay just on the right side of the first span of the bridges.  You will never have to look for bouys if you do that.  Make sure you make the practice swim on Friday and Saturday and you'll see what I mean.  The bike.  It is a fair bike. The first and last 11 miles are as flat as a pancake.  The 2nd 11 miles the roads are pretty rough so watch out that you do not flat.  There are some rolling hills but nothing too hard.  Some great decents as well.  You'll do a two loop course through a city of Lagrange.  I swear that entire city shut down to come cheer us crazy folks on.  You'll feel like a ROCKSTAR (twice).  Bike special needs bags are at mile 65 (so plan accordingly).  The run - FLAT, FLAT and FLAT once you come off of the bridge.  Aid stations are a every mile and I swear Louisville shut down and the entire city lined 80% of the run course.  Definately a great motivator.  I had some GI problems that caused me not to get my sub 12:00, but next year that is the goal.  I look forward to many more comments and a great 2010. 

Thanks for the tips irondg! And good luck with your sub 12 training this year.

Glad to see someone kicked off the discussion for Ironman Louisville.  This will be my first full IM.  With a full time job and two little kids that keep me very, I was looking for a plan that would fit into the schedule and found one by Gale Bernhard (13 weeks to 13 hr Ironman).  My goal time is around 12 hours (just using the rule of your avg 70.3 time X 2 and add an hour) and the plan is for people who already have a good base going into training and who are looking for a +/- 12hr finish.  With some slight adjustments, this plan will work well I think.   A couple friends who are both 10 hr IM finishers took a look at the plan and gave it the thumbs up.  Several testimonials on the web as well. 

Looking forward to being back in Louisville next year.  It's my hometown, but I haven't lived there in 10 years and I'm currently overseas.  Racing with the friend and family support will be huge!  Good luck picking a plan.     

Has anyone done the bike course at IMKY and the course at the Augusta 70.3? I'm curious how they compare.

Though I did not race Augusta, I have done races in the area. I would have to say that based on what everyone has been saying, the rolling hills are comparable. Train on that and you should be good to go.

I plan on doing a lot of rides in N. GA for training (3 and 6 Gaps). Figured that the best way to prepare for an event is to train in the worst possible conditions you can find

Volunteering......again (third time).  HIM this year (well next year 2010 technically) in Augusta, and hopefully Louisville in 2011.  I will be there to cheer all of you on. 

Edited by M-shell 2009-10-21 11:39 AM

I'm in!  Will be my first IM - haven't picked a plan yet, going to focus on Jorge's winter cycling plan then decide from there.  I am also intrigued by Gale B's plans, so I might end up using one of those.

I signed up yesterday for my first IM- I am looking forward to the journey. I completed a 1/2 Iron this past July (rev3tri.com) in Lake Quassy. Hell of a bike course. As far as training guides- I used the opentri.com for the 1/2IM. I've been looking at the one this site offers. Being a newbie makes it hard to choose. thomas

Anyone know when this race typically sells out? I am thinking of doing it, but don't want to commit to IM#2 until I do IM#1, which is in two weeks!

I'm thinking it was December.  It should still be open after B2B.  It would be AWESOME if you did it!