Ironman Louisville - TriathlonFull Ironman

We arrived at the swim start around 5am and must have been 700th in line to start. We heard that some people had arrived at 3:30am to claim their spots. We walked to the end of the line of people, which included many family members and spectators, and sat down about 1/2 mile later on the sidewalk. Around 6am the volunteers came around and collected our morning clothes bags and asked all non-athletes to step out of line. It was still very dark outside, but the line moved up and I started to get very nervous! The pros started at 6:50 am and by that time the sun had just started coming up. Then at 7am they started the age-groupers and everything moved very fast after that! We said good luck to each other and gave each other a kiss and then we were off. A volunteer yelled "jog it in" and we basically had to run down the pier and plop into the river.

The swim is by far my strongest leg so I needed to take advantage of it. I felt great and kept saying to myself "wow, I'm doing the Ironman!". I easily passed many other swimmers and stayed calm and kept a good stroke speed the whole time. The water was pretty dirty and you couldn't see anything at all underwater. I was hit by a couple of pieces of driftwood -- one hit me square in the forehead -- but other than that, it was pretty uneventful. I knew we had to swim under two bridges and it seemed like I would never get the first one, but I eventually did and the second one came up very quickly. From there I could easily see the last red buoy that marked the swim exit. One of the amazing volunteers grabbed my hand and pulled me into the stairs. I then fell backwards a bit, but another volunteer grabbed onto me and pulled me up the stairs. I regained my footing and ran up the swim finish chute to thousands of cheering supporters. I saw my high school friend Phil and I couldn't keep the huge smile off my face. I felt great as I ran into the transition area!

Nothing, really enjoyed the swim.

The volunteers in transition were amazing. Someone quickly handed me my bike gear bag and pointed me in the direction of the women's changing tent. I was already wearing my tri top and shorts so I didn't need to change. Just dried my feet with a small towel, put on my shoes and socks, put on my helmet and sunglasses and ran out of the tent to the sunscreen volunteers.

I would have been much more diligent with the sunscreen application. We will discuss this later...

I was very worried about the bike leg headed into the race. Honestly, I don't really love biking and didn't train a ton on the bike. My longest ride prior to the race was 85 miles. I ride a road bike without aerobars and one guy who passed me shouted that I was super tough because I was riding without then. I really just try to stay out of people's way on the bike and many, many people pass me, but I get lots of cheers that way because my bib with my name was on my back. Kind of fun!

I knew heading out from the river into Oldham County would be a challenge but I kept telling myself that I would get to ride the last 20 miles downhill into town. The hills on the course were pretty darn tough for me and my chain fell off on one because I was in a completely wrong gear for the incline. But going through the LaGrange festival area was fantastic and I welled with pride as I rode through both times.

I actually felt pretty good until about mile 80, but then the heat (94 degrees) and the distance started to get to me and I began to get antsy, really wanting to get off my bike. I started seeing many other athletes just sitting by the side of the road with the bikes waiting for the sag wagon to pick them up. At mile 100, I had pretty much decided to quit because it was 4pm, I had been up since 4am, it was hot, and I couldn't even imagine how I could run 1 mile, let along 26.2 miles. I was ok with my decision and I rode my way into town with a very achy back. I had been in the saddle for over 7 hours and 30 minutes and my rear end felt every bump as I coasted into transition.

Train harder, longer, and on hills!

As I headed into transition I saw one of my high school friends and that distracted me from my quitting plan for a bit. Then a friendly volunteer took my bike and told me run down the chute to toward the women's changing tent. I did as I was told. Another volunteer handed me my run gear bag and I headed into the tent. A woman gave me water and flat cola and another woman helped me remove my bike shoes and put on my run shoes. She asked if I needed anything else, I said no, and she said good luck. I got up and walked out of the tent and started on the run course after getting a bit more sunscreen for my now burnt face and arms. There was no time to quit -- the volunteers really kept me going!

Nothing at all -- I'm glad I kept going!

I starting running out of transition and knew that I couldn't stop or I might not start again. I wasn't running fast -- maybe 13 or 14 minute miles, but I was running and I was still doing the Ironman! I ran across the bridge and back and saw my parents at mile 2. Then I saw my in-laws at mile 3 and finally my husband, who was finishing his first run loop around my mile 4. He later said that he was so glad to see me because he almost quit after the bike and wasn't sure I had started the run.

I kept my slow but steady run through to mile 10 when my husband lapped me (he was at mile 22). He slowed to my pace and ran his last 4 miles with me. As we rounded the corner into Fourth Street Live he split to the left and I split to the right to start my second loop, but not before I saw him finish and he was pronounced an Ironman. That's really the first time I got super emotional because I was really proud of him, but then I also quickly realized I had to go 12 more miles.

I ran to mile 16 and then I decided to walk a mile. A poor mental math calculation told me that I only had 8 more miles at mile 16 and I could walk the rest of the way and have PLENTY of time. It was only at mile 17 that I realized I then had 9 more miles so I tried to run again. But alas, I suddenly realized I had big blisters on my feet and a scorching sunburn on both of my thighs (I didn't put any sunscreen there before the bike -- VERY bad move). I was having a hard time thinking of anything else but the pain of my skin -- funny that I wasn't thinking about pain in my muscles, just my skin! I ended up walking the last 7 miles in the dark. One guy passed me and asked if this was my first. I said yes and he said I know this is awful now, but the finish line gives you the most amazing buzz. I thanked him, but I couldn't believe I wouldn't want to pass out as I made my way to the finish. Many of the other walkers were faster than me but I found a nice guy with around 3 miles left to walk with. I'm not going to lie, it was pretty tough but I knew I had already gone over 137 miles and I wasn't going to quit, even though I wanted to. With one mile left my dad came up the sidewalk from downtown looking for me. He said my mom was worried. I just said "Dad, this is tough" and he looked sad for a moment, but then said I'm going to run back to the finish to get your mom into position to see you finish.

With only a couple blocks left, I could hear the music and crowd. I turned the last corner and saw the finish chute. A couple of guys started yelling "Jill you are about to be an Ironman" and were giving me high-fives and patting my back. I began to run again right after that -- amazing I felt no pain at that moment -- and ran through the chute alone giving everyone high-fives and crying. Then I heard "Jill VanDervort, from Arlington, VA, you are an IRONMAN!" It was a fantastic feeling and I will never forget it!!

Maybe put a dry pair of socks or some blister pads in my special needs bag. And do a couple more long runs in training.

A few minutes after crossing the finish line, the pain in my feet came back. I removed my shoes and saw blood on my socks. I walked back to the Galt House with my parents very slowly and took a nice bath. Adam and his parents went to pick up our bikes and gear bags -- they walked, but they should have taken the car.


The volunteers were great! I am undecided on when I will do another Ironman, but hopefully I can volunteer at one in the near future. I realize just how important the volunteers are!