Ironman Louisville - TriathlonFull Ironman

Once they started the race, I felt much calmer. I tried to find feet to draft off of but couldn't find anyone going my pace. I had a lot of open water to swim in.

Nothing. The swim seemed fairly easy and short.

Volunteers extended hands to pull us onto the steps to exit. That went smoothly. We had to run quite a distance to the T1 tent. The beginning was up an incline. I was glad I took note of where my bags were because the volunteers there weren't quite on top of things. They tried handing me the wrong stuff. Then it was into the tent. I had 2 helpers there. I made sure I sunscreened everywhere because I forgot to do my arms and legs in my last IM race. I stopped at the porta-potty on the way out.

Nothing

The bike ride was enjoyable. The scenery was beautiful--going past the horse farms and through the town of La Grange. There were so many hills, though. You were either going up or down. There wasn't much flat at all. I was glad we drove the bike course the first day in Louisville. I felt like I knew where I was going and how much I had left.

It was hard to eat on the bike because you don't want to eat going uphill and you can't while flying down. It took me 25 miles to eat my PB&J, which I started around mile 50.

They had a few people in costumes. The guy dressed as a devil poked me in the butt with his pitchfork. Then there was the grim reaper telling everyone to end their pain and go with him. It was entertaining.

Ed passed me at 9 miles in. Carrie passed me at about 48 miles. About 20 miles later, I saw Carrie on the side of the road. I asked if she was okay and she said, "I'm having issues." Heather passed me about mile 80 and then I saw her on the side of the road changing a flat at about mile 100.

It was really exciting going through the town of La Grange. They announced your name as you came through. I got choked up the first time. The crowd would really get riled up with a little encouragement.

I did not get off my bike at all during the ride. You know what that means.

Consumed on the bike: 1 Power Bar, 2 GUs, 1 pkg. Clif Bloks, PB&J on whole wheat pita, and 3 banana pieces from the aid stations. I had my 2 original bottles of Gatorade, lots of water and only 1 Ironman Perform from the course. I don't like the lemon lime Perform. I took 3 Endurolytes every hour.

Train more on hills or just plain train more. Two days a week is not enough. Although I was happy with my bike split, it is still my weakest leg.

They took my bike from me upon entering T2. I took off my biking shoes because my feet were killing me and I knew I couldn't run with them on. I couldn't actually run with them off, but at least my feet could breathe. The grass was so lumpy going into the changing tent. I couldn't wait to get in there. I took my biking shirt off, Aquaphored my feet, changed socks, re-sunscreened, put my visor on and headed out.

Nothing

I jogged out of transition, which I thought was a good sign. I soon realized that the hilly bike took a lot out of my legs. It amazed me that people were actually running. I did the walk/run thing the entire way.

I had a GU at miles 5, 10 and 15. I took 3 Endurolytes every hour for the first two hours and then switched to the chicken broth. I drank the broth at every available opportunity. I also had some pretzels, Perform and ice water.

It was hard finding porta-potties that were available. Every time I'd get to one, someone would beat me in. I hated waiting and wasting time. At one point, as a guy got to one right ahead of me, I noticed that the one next to it had an out of order sign on it. What could be out of order with a porta-potty, I wondered. So I opened it to find that it was pristine. I realized that they were saving it for the volunteers. Oh well, I used it anyway.

It was lots of fun seeing my friends on the 2-loop run course. I knew George was going to have a tough time since I didn't see him until I was nearing the final miles of the race. He was just starting his first loop at that point.

I've got to figure out how to run the run and not do so much walking. Every time I'd see someone walking, I'd think that I could walk because they were. No one was overly chatty though, which was a bit disappointing.

The finish line at Fourth Street Live was pretty exciting and I remembered not to look down and stop my watch as I crossed the line. I wanted a good finish picture. After getting my hat, medal and finisher shirt, they immediately took my picture. I could hardly stand without falling over for that. A volunteer asked me how I felt and if I wanted medical and I figured why not. I like to be pampered. And here's the best part--they whipped out a wheelchair and I sat down. That was such an enjoyable ride the block to the Convention Center. I was giddy with laughter. I almost felt guilty.

Once inside, the cramps set in. I was also light-headed. They took my vitals, did bloodwork and started an IV. As I sat there, I figured that Ed was probably there, too. Sure enough, I saw him about 5 beds down and I yelled to him. He had dueling IVs going--one in each arm.

After I finished my first IV, I had to do an escorted walk around the area. I was almost good to go until they let go of me and I was still tipsy. After a second IV and some hot chicken broth, I was released.

I grabbed a piece of pizza but couldn't really eat it. I found the results table and was disappointed to find out that I was 4th in the age group. What could I really expect after so much walking? I was going to go to the finish line to find the Richey boys, Fred, Bill and Carrie but I realized that it was so crowded that it was useless so I headed back to the hotel. On the way, a guy actually tried to bum a cigarette off of me. Do you believe that?

Now onto what I missed at the finish line. Carrie and Linda both finished so that just left George. Bobby was madly calculating the time and realized it was going to be a close call if not impossible. Carrie and the boys decided to go find George and "run" him in. It was quite exciting. They got him to the finish shoot and he staggered in, crossed the first mat and fell onto the Ford car. To use George's words, some volunteer (Mike Reilly) came over to him to help him off of the car. He said he was cramping and needed a minute. Mike suggested that he finish the race first. George had thought he was done. So he got up off of the car and did a forward-leaning jog towards the finish line as the seconds counted down until midnight. He made it!!!! The crowd went wild.

So Kudos to everyone in our group. It was such a fun time!



Let's see, what excuses can I come up with? I'm a granny? I have a bad lower back?


2450 started and 2287 finished. 163 DNF'd. 93% finished, which was really good. Sadly, one guy had a heart attack and died in the water. That led to some people being delayed getting into the water. They extended the finish time to 12:10 a.m. because of that.