Ironman Louisville - TriathlonFull Ironman

My plan: Long smooth strokes and swim efficiently. Goal time: 1:10 - 1:20

I did not have many concerns about the swim other than losing focus. While the swim comes easily to me, I typically just want out of the water by the end of long swims. I wanted to make sure that my head kept focus on what needed to get done by the end of the day and that I had every intention of enjoying myself from start to finish.

Heading out to the first turn buoy was much more crowded than I had expected. I suppose I thought that the time trial start would thin out the crowd some. It didn't bother me but it made for a choppy/inefficient stroke while swimming shoulder to shoulder head to feet. It was nice to swim next to Becky approaching the buoy, I stayed right next to her until I was pretty sure that we both knew we were out there together.

The first turn buoy came about 1/3 into the swim. I swam a bit beyond the buoy, stopped swimming, a pulled my goggles off of my eyes. I wanted to take a moment to watch the mass of swimmers coming up towards the turn buoy as well as all of the swimmers heading down river, it was an amazing thing to see.

I got back to swimming and headed out to the right, away from shore, as far as I thought the kayakers would let me go. It was like I had the entire Ohio River to myself. I concentrated only on my form and enjoying the swim. I know my breathing pattern for an effort that I can maintain almost forever and I stuck to it, I was confidently hoping that it was somewhere near a pace of 2 minutes / 100 meters.

I used the bridges to sight and happily watched the hot air balloons pass by as I breathed. I knew that the first of the two bridges marked the beginning of the end of the swim and enjoyed watching that bridge get closer and closer. By the time I hit the second bridge I was a bit dissappointed that the swim was about to end, I enjoyed every minute of it.


Absolutely Nothing!

Plan: Take it easy, head out on the bike prepared for long ride. Goal: 8-12 minutes.

I know I was taking my time but I was surprised how fast time passes in an Ironman transition. I knew I wasn't moving quickly but I wasn't resting or wasting time either. I got ready for my ride, got a drink, got slathered with sunscreen, and headed out with my bike.

I walked slow looking for my support crew, I knew they were there somewhere and I didn't want us to miss each other. There they were right at the bike exit waving, jumping and cheering so loud that it was all I could hear.

Hopped on my bike ready for a long ride through horse country.



For a first Ironman, I don't think I would do it differently at all. If I do another, if I have time goals, I can streamline the process and pick up the pace.

Plan: DON'T EAT THE PASTE! DON'T OVERCOOK THE BIKE! Maintain a decent pace without pushing the effort too much and stick to the nutrition plan. Goal Time: 6:47 - 7:20

A bit of a mixed bag. So much of the bike went better than planned while a good chunk of it did not go nearly as planned.

1st 10 miles were flat and fast but my heartrate was low. Made the left off of River Road and the hills began immediately.

I got to the out and back section, the section that I've known for quite some time would have the most challenging hills. Thanks to long Saturday rides in north Georgia and Tuesday rides in Roswell I had no problem with the hills. Easy spinning to the top of each hill then back into aero position to keep going.

After the out and back I knew I was back to constant rolling hills. I was sure that no one particular hill could kill my day but fully aware that, if not careful, the cumulative effect could ruin my day. Easy spinning up all of the hills.

The ride continued to be uneventful, maintaining a good pace and low heartrate, just counting down to mile 38, where I thought I'd see my support crew. Sure enough they were there, waving, jumping, and screaming. What a boost.

About 15-20 minutes later I felt the beginning of a problem, I was not digesting, my stomach was shutting down. Everything that I was trying to take in was just sitting in my belly. I felt bloated and a bit nauseous. More than anything I was very concerned that if I couldn't take in nutrition and fluids that I'd not make it through the day. I noticed my heartrate, sky high, well into zone 4. I had stopped watching my heartrate for quite some time. What was an easy effort while cool was not as easy now that the heat of the day was setting in. I was very careful for the next hour, keeping my heartrate as low as possible and laying off the nutrition. I started to feel better but when I tried to start taking in nutrition again the symptoms started again. I just took in little by little. This was frustrated because, of all things, my nutrition plan was something that I felt very confident about. I had followed it on every Saturday long ride and it had worked flawlessly. Oh well, such is Ironman. Time to adjust. The next aid station I took a bottle of very cold powerbar drink, it was deliciuos and I seemed to tolerate it.

Feeling better, I was again counting down to LaGrange when I'd hopefully see my support crew. I needed them this time after more than an hour of not feeling well and being concerned about finding a new nutrition strategy. Sure enough they were there. Cheering harder and louder then they were the first time through. My spirits were totally lifted and I instantly knew that the next 45 miles would be a breeze.

It didn't take too much longer for me to realize that my nutrion drink wasn't working at all but the sports drink at the aid stations was working. Warm water with or without electrolytes not working but cold water with endurolytes was fine...basically, it seemed, that cold was good warm was bad. I tossed all warm fluids off my bike at an aid station and only drank cold and got back on track with gels.

It was really only 1 hour of feeling bad and getting nervous and then 1 hour of trying a new plan that seemed to work. That's really only 1 tough hour and the only hour and the only hour that it affected my pace.

Again confident, I somewhat zoned out and just enjoyed the ride, the scenery and being out there with everyone else. I didn't get that "I want off my bike" feeling until I was approaching mile 110 and at that point I think I was just excited to get on to the next part of the day.

Seeing my support crew again was the perfect way to finish this ride.

By the end of the ride I had made up much of the caloric deficit and I estimated that I was only off by about 400 calories, not a big deal.

I thoroughly enjoyed this bike, it was even gratifying to have gone through the tough hour knowing that I adjusted to the day.

It's hard to complain, I had fun, I finished almost 20 minutes ahead of what I thought would be my best time, I was confident that I had overcome my digestion problem, and I was confident that I had only overcooked (just barely) about 15 miles of the bike and still had the legs to get through a marathon.

Plan: Take my time. Total change of clothes. Time goal: 8-12 minutes.

As I got off my bike my legs almost gave out from under me. I caught myself and had no other problems. That said, I must have been moving in slow motion. I don't think my head was processing as quickly as it normally could. I certainly had no clue that I was taking this long until I looked at my watch on the way out of the changing tent.

Again, for a first Ironman, no regrets. However, in hindsight, had I been out of transition in 10 minutes there is no doubt in my mind that I could have picked up 9-10 minutes during the marathon to go sub 14. Oh well, I have no regrets.

Plan: 3:1 run/walk intervals for 14 miles; 3:2 intervals for 6 miles; 2:2 intervals for 6 miles. Nutrition plan was just to survive, me and sports drinks/gels/food don't get along while running. Goal Time: 6:07 (14 min/mile)

I've known for months that I'd not be able to get through this marathon without walking. My best strategy was to have set run/walk intervals so that I could be disciplined while out there and stick to a schedule. Otherwise I'd end up walking way too much. I also know that I'm not a strong enough runner to even think about negative splits. I just wanted the whole thing to average out to 14 minutes per mile.

Ran out of T2 and headed onto the course. Legs felt good. Immediately saw most of my support crew. I stopped for words of encouragement and high fives from my parents, my sister and brother-in-law, and friends as well as hugs and kisses from Jack and Kristen. Kristen reminded me to pace myself. Saw Steve about 100 yards later, more high fives and him assuring me that I could run a two hour marathon or something crazy like that. Saw Jarret and Michael about 1 block later, more high fives....Wow, it felt so good to see them all. More support crew as I was coming off the bridge. If they could keep this up for 26.2 miles I just might finish in 2-3 hours.

1st 5k or so was easy, no issues, didn't even feel as though I had been on the bike for 6 1/2 hours. 2nd 5k my legs were fine, my thoughts were still positive, still having fun, but the stomach was shutting down again. Bloated and wanted to vomit. Ignored it and stuck to my intervals, and continued to drink at aid stations.

Mile 6-8: At some point soon after mile 6 I walked an extra 4-5 minutes, just let my stomach empty a bit. I continued to drink sports drink at each aid station but had no desire to eat and forced my 1 and only get of the day. Otherwise, I was feeling pretty good and my legs felt strong. For the most part, I stuck to my 3:1 intervals plus walked aid stations.

Mile 8-14: Just past the turnaround I switched to coke rather than sports drink which really helped my stomach but I was still looking forward to the special needs bag. I had Gas X and I was hoping that it would get rid of the bloat in my belly. I was definately slowing down, extending my walk breaks just a bit about once per mile but having the run/walk interval plan really got me back to running sooner than I would have otherwise. I was still happily moving forward. Past the special needs bag I started looking forward to the next turn around where I'd get the vibe of the finish line but also see my support crew. Once I got to them I stopped briefly for words of encouragement and to let them know how good I was feeling. I told my mom and sister "this is gonna happen". There was no doubt in my mind. Despite some minor stomach issues, I still felt good, my legs were tired but still had plenty in them, I was in a great mood and continued to enjoy every moment of being out there.

Mile 14-20: Feeling good and bad came in waves during this stretch. I had short stretches of feeling great and picking up my pace but I also knew that I was dehydrated, had the stomach issues, had a headache, and the balls of my feet felt were really starting to hurt. Despite all this, the run was going well enough that I stuck to the 3:1 intervals and a couple times I flirted with the idea of picking up the pace and trying to go sub 14 hours. Each time I ran faster for a couple minutes but quickly realized that the pace was not sustainable. Mile 18 I switched from 3:1 run/walk intervals to 2:2 intervals. I did tell myself that I wasn't going to allow myself to walk too much and let 14:30 slip away.

Mile 20-25: I hit the turnaround and raised my arms and jumped with excitement, nothing left but a 10k. Stuck to my intervals and I started alternating drinking coke and chicken broth at the aid stations. My stomach was no longer an issue, my headache would come and go but was mostly gone, legs were tired but not done, and the balls of my feet felt as though they were being hit with hammers with every stride of my run (really more of a shuffle).

Last Mile: The end of an incredible experience. It felt great knowing that I was nearing the end. I was excited to get to the finish chute. Once there I didn't want to walk but jogged as slowly as possible to take as much of it in as possible.



I have some ideas about what I might do to better prepare for an IM but I'm very happy with my execution throughout the day.

More importantly, I really had a great time while I was out there, start to finish. Some of that is due to me knowing before hand that I just wanted to have fun. I didn't care about my finish time and just wanted to take it all in. However, most of my enjoyment is due to such incredible support. I had a great cheering section with my wife, son, parents, sister and brother-in-law, sister-in-law, and several very close friends. Additionally, I was on the course with 7 other members of my tri club all of whom helped keep me going strong just by seeing their determination and several other club members along the route and at the finish.

Celebrating with my support crew! Which was really trying to decide if it hurt less to stand still, sit, lay down, or walk around a bit. I tried it all. I felt a combination of hunger, the need to vomit, and exhileration.


Next time I'll make some adjustments to my training but I don't know if I could execute a first IM much better.


I had a great experience with the race, the course, and the volunteers. However, it is troubling to learn that they ran out of water. I can't imagine being out on the bike course or trying to finish up the run w/o water. There is no excuse for the race directors to not be prepared for a hot and humid day.