Ironman Louisville - TriathlonFull Ironman

Had a really great swim. Got kicked/punched/dunked/swam over/ a few times right at the start. Stayed nice and relaxed. Got near the turn buoy and saw a bunch of guys walking in the river. I kept swimming and rounded the turn buoy. I actually got into some traffic after the turn but it thinned back out after a few hundred yards. The rest of the swim was great. Had no real problems the whole time. I was pleasantly surprised with how well the swim went. I finished about 9 minutes faster than I thought I would.

Nothing, had a great swim and enjoyed the whole thing.

Ran up from the swim exit and grabbed some water and Perform from the aid station, drank it on the run. Grabbed my bag and hussled into the change tent. Got changed with no problems. Took my time to make sure I did it right. Saw Justin as I was heading out of the tent. Hit the porta-crapper to pee, grabbed my bike and ran out.

T1 quote of the day "Man! What a sausage fest in here!" -Another athlete as he entered the change tent. I thought it was funny.

Stop at the sunscreen station on the way. Arms and legs got a little on the red side. Was a slower than normal transition but that was intentional.

If this had been a training ride I would have been really pissed with the pace, but I intentionally held back on the bike to save some for the run. Averaging under 17m.p.h. wasn't what I was hoping for but I think it paid off in the long run.

The ride started out great except my bike computer decided not to work, at all. I was fine when I checked it in the morning then was 100% dead on the ride. I rode just according to how I felt. The first 30 miles were easy. Going through LaGrange was fun, I got to see Kim, Dina, and the VanWinkles. Towards the end of the 1st loop I had a little bit of a mental struggle. I just started not feeling like I was riding well and didn't feel like being on my bike. When I hit the special needs area I stopped for my bag. It took a minute or so to get it, but the Snickers bar I had in there was the best tasting thing I had on the course. It was kind of a little 'pick me up' and I felt better the rest of the ride.

The rest of the ride went pretty well. No big problems on the bike.

Have a working bike computer. Maybe push the pace a little harder.

Was happy to make it to T2. Gave my bike to a volunteer and headed for my bag. Inside change tent I again took my time to make sure I did everything right. A volunteer came and helped me get everything back in my bag which was nice.

I made sure to hit the sunscreen table on the way out this time. Hit the porta-crapper again. I think I pee'd for 3 minutes, no joke. Ran out of T2 feeling good.

Nothing.

My run went a lot better than I thought it was going to. I left T2 feeling good and my legs felt fresh. I ran at a comfortable, east to maintain pace.

I ran the first 4 miles without stopping. After that I ran between the aid stations and then walked to be sure I was getting in plenty of fluid/calories. I ended up dumping my gels and Cliff bars. After eating so much on the bike, they just didn't sound good.

The first loop went really well. My overall pace was below 12min/mile. I saw Justin on my way back, he looked like he was having fun. Skipped my special needs bag, nothing I had in there sounded good. I tried eating a cookie at an aid station but it did bad things to my stomach. At first it was a little hard to make the turn to start the second loop, I could hear and see the finish line party but I got over that pretty quick.

My second loop started well, I saw the girls again, gave Jake a high five on the way by. I had to walk a little more on the second loop. Legs were getting heavy and tired. I saw Justin again and saw Jeff. Continued with water and Perform at every aid station. When I made the turn to go toward the finishers shoot, all the pain went away. They crowd was amazing. I high-fived a bunch of the spectators, heard "Jeremy, you are an Ironman!" over the speakers right as I crossed the line.

Nothing. I am very happy with my run and the entire race.

Got my finishers medal, hat, shirt, and picture taken. Got some water and another bottle of Perform. Gave Kim a big hug and kiss. The finish line volunteers walked me to the end of the corral and passed me off to Kim. I walked/shuffled to the athlete care center. After the adrenaline of the finish line wore off my legs really started to hurt. Kim got me into the massage area then went back out to watch for Jeff and Justin.

Got a massage, some food, and my clothes bag. Put my recovery stuff on and headed back outside to watch more finishers.


Nothing really. I felt good about the training I was able to put in before the race.


I really enjoyed Ironman Louisville. I was very blessed to have my wife and some really good friends there to watch. It was great to train and race with Jeff and Justin.