Ironman Louisville - TriathlonFull Ironman

We started near the front, and were in at 7:04. The problem with starting at the front is that's where most of the REALLY bad swimmers are. I had some trouble getting around some breast strokers in the first 1000M, until I realized that breast strokers can see where they are going and cut a straight line to the turns. I tend to swim really straight myself, so I was basically swiming the breast stroker line. I moved to the right side of the channel and found happiness. Sure there was a bit of bumping here or there, but nobody frog kicked me and there wasn't giant pile ups as folks tried to get around slow swimmers.

My plan was to take the bouy at the turn wide, so I could avoid the pile up and get to the middle of the river. I nailed that and found myself with plenty of water to swim in for most of the swim.

I'm not a very good swimmer, and on top of that my effort in training this part of the Ironman is pretty pathetic. Therefore, I had told myself that I needed to swim slow and easy, and not try to make up for my lack of training on race day. The water was pretty warm, 85, and I knew that pushing it in the water would just start the dehydration an hour earlier.

I exited the water feeling pretty good. Saw Tom and Kraig. Smiled a bit.

Details for someone doing this race: Don't get there early for the swim. It is of no advantage. Swim on the right while in the channel and the river.

Join a Masters program? lol.

I had my bibs and tri shirt under my swim skin, so that was done. I added my desoto arm coolers which were a PITA to get on my wet arms.

I dunno. It was a relatively fast time, and the arm coolers helped me stay cool and blocked the sun.

This was not the bike I had planned, but it was all I could do while keeping my stomach digesting and leaving enough in my legs for a marathon. I struggled a bit with the hills. I didn't struggle with getting up the hills. My problem was getting up them with out burning matches. On the second loop I started getting up to speed on the downhills, tucking for the second half of the downhill, and begining my pedaling at the bottom of the hill. This seemed to work better.

I was feeling pretty good at the 70 mile mark and decided to pick up the pace for the ride back into town. This didn't work so well. It was hot as hades, hilly, and there was a head wind. At about mile 85 I started getting leg cramps to my surprise. I've never gotten them before, and I don't want them again. I think they were due to dehydration, but who knows. Anyway, they hurt a lot worse when I was in aero so I spent a good bit of the ride back sitting up. Did I mention the headwind? Fabulous.

There was a big gap between the last two aid stations plus they were out of water. I drank the Perform and made the best of it.


Details for someone doing this race: I think this course is sneaky hard, so you need to nail your pacing. Ride the out and back prior to the race. It has a pretty good descent, really crowded, and there a lot of wrecks. Think about your hydration set up. It is a good idea to be able to carry an extra bottle or two for the last 30 miles. Also, consider using cheap aluminum cages for your rear hydration. The roads are really rough in places, and carbon cages don't grab the perform or water bottles very well. You can reach back and crimp the aluminum cages to tighten them up.


Train harder on the bike. I just didn't have the fitness to go faster and still be able to run.

Stash an extra bottle of water in my rear cages at mile 70ish.

So, I needed to take my bibbs off and put on my running shorts. The problem was I needed to take off my shirt and cool wings to get the frickin' bibbs off. This took way to long.

I slathered vaseline all over myself and then went to put my shoes and socks on...

No socks.

Oh, I had a hat and a visor so I could pick which one I wanted. I had bandaids, gels, and other "might needs", but I forgot the f'ing socks!

I put vaseline on my feet and headed out.

Wear socks on the swim, since obviously I can't be trusted to put them in my T2 bag.

First thing is let me tell you about my shorts: I was wearing DeSoto Tuesday run shorts, and they are perfect for the IM run. They are loose enough, and have the best pockets.

I went out on the run knowing that I had very little chance to make my goal of sub 12 hours, but a reasonable chance to break 4 hours. Well, unless you factor in the heat or my lack of socks. I ran pretty well for the first 3 miles and kept my HR in check. I lost a lot of time to the aid stations, but I needed the water.

At about mile 3 I decided that something needed to be done about my right pinky toe. I could tell things were getting ugly down there, and I still had about 23 miles to go. I had a bandaid in my "oh shit baggie" that was in one of my short pockets. I decided to use the bandaid and found a brick retaining wall to sit down on. I wasn't confident that the bandaid was going to stay for long because my feet still had vaseline in them, but it was all I had.

Until I saw Special Needs on the other side of the road. Ahh, socks...

So after all this I looked down and realized that I was not going to hit any of my goals. I was a bummed and thought some fairly negative thoughts. It was maddeningly hot out there. I was kind of seeing stars and had a headache. Boy, did I want to walk at this point. I saw my buddy Greg going the other way back into town and decided to run until I caught him.

At the 10 mile mark I caught Greg, and he was in the middle of a rough patch. We walked/ ran for a bit and then I talked him into running the part where we turn around by the finish since there was a pretty good crowd. We exited that part and Greg's stomach was doing better, so I gave him some tums from my "oh shit baggie" and headed out to track my wife down.

I had done some math and figured that I could catch my wife before she turned around at the finish. She was struggling with her stomach and I could tell the few times I saw her that she was getting down on herself. I figured she needed me to remind her of how great she is and that she could do this thing.

This part of the run was very surreal. I was on cruise control running about 9 min/miles and then wasting about a minute at each aid station. Folks were puking, collapsing, and past out in the grass all over the place. I ran scanning the other side of the road for my friends hoping that they were all OK. I saw all of them right about where I thought they would be except for Kevin. I knew he was struggling and was only a mile or two ahead of me. I got to the turn around to head back to the finish and the dread set in. I had not passed him or seen him heading back to the finish. It wasn't long before I saw Greg running and he told me Kevin was behind him and OK. I must have passed him while he was in a portajohn or something. After that I felt better and started looking for my wife.

I never did catch her. She had the audacity to start running again so she beat me to the turn around. I did see her as she was starting her second loop though, and told her to keep it up. I caught my friend Katie at the last aid station before the finish (25.5 miles?) and wished her good luck. She was annoyed with me not charging to the finish. It was kind of funny.

I made the turn onto 4th street and soaked up the scene. It is just crazy! Loved every second of it.

I headed immediately to the athlete recovery area and ate 4 pieces of pizza and a roast beef sandwich. I was bit hungry. I pulled my phone out and realized Greg had just finished so I hung around and waited for him. He did great and recovered from the earlier stomach issues to run the last 11 miles very well.

After that I went outside and cheered with the Moormans and Lisa for all my friends as they hit the finishers chute. Congratulations to Greg, Karen, Daniel, Ronnie, Jay, Becky, Karen, and most of all my wife. They all did a fantastic job completing their first IM.



Details for someone doing this race: Train using the walk run method. Everyone walks the aid stations, and you need to train that way. If it's hot, bring a run bottle and fill it with ice water. It made a big difference for me.

Nothing.

I had a blast on the run. I saw all my friends, made new friends, saw my friends who were cheering us on, and soaked in the IM vibe.

I ran an extra 2.5-3 miles in order to get my wife's and my bike out of T2 before it and the med tent closed.



lol. Lack of fitness.


I would love to see this race get moved to the end of September and for the race director to provide water to all the athletes.

Louisville is a great town and they come out and make this event worthwhile.