Ironman Louisville - TriathlonFull Ironman

I was in the water within five minutes of the age group start and it was beautiful how just as we were all starting the sun was coming up and lighting up the water at the exact same time. Picture perfect. I kept my pace slow and easy for the first 200m or so and gradually picked it up and drafted off people for a time until I reached the turn around the island. They had said at the pre race dinner that the river had recently been dredged and as long as you were on the course, there shouldn’t be any problem. However, I noticed right around the turn that there were people all around me walking by me faster than I was swimming. Just for fun I stood for about 10 feet along with them, but I decided I’d rather be swimming than doing an aqua jog (I never would have said that a year ago that’s for sure and would have welcomed any break from swimming!). The rest of the swim was a straight shot and got kicked in the jugular, grabbed in the butt, and someone held my right arm down while I was swimming for the rest of the way homeward, so not bad!

I held myself back on the swim and was very comfortable. However, I could have easily pushed myself to go much faster and I wish I would have as at the end of the swim I was thinking to myself how I could have easily gone another mile and for the first time in my triathlon career I truly enjoyed the swim. I owe my drastic improvement of my fastest swim split to the swim lessons I had only within the past month that helped me dramatically by only making small changes in my stroke. So, my limiting factor was me limiting myself and that’s something easily controlled.

I jogged for the first part of the chute to the transition area but then decided on a fast walk, as I knew I had the rest of the day to go fast and a few seconds would be better spent on recovery than jogging. They had my bike bag quickly ready for me and I headed to the change tent and grabbed a seat. I used my towels to clean off my feet from all the sand and put on my bike shoes. Not a smooth move. I knew I needed to put my jersey on first but didn’t want to take shoes off and have to waste time cleaning them again. I tried pulling jersey overhead but that was to no avail and I ended up pulling it over my shoes. That cost me at least a minute and won’t be happening again. I took a bite of a granola bar and headed to get lathered up and was off.

Put jersey on first

The first 15 miles of the bike were great and I was passing by lots of people and was thoroughly enjoying the great condition of the roads and the beautiful scenery and great weather. I knew I was pushing myself too hard too early and would pay for it later, but I was on the road to being an Ironman and just too excited. I thankfully had driven the course the day before so I knew what to look for as far as hills and when to let off the gas. The out and back is surprisingly fun to ride but had scared me the day prior when I thought about having to bike back up it. There were a few people dressed in costumes that made for some good laughs on the ride and the slower speeds back up the hill allowed for some good bonding between some others and myself.
I was shocked to see the aid bags so early on and didn’t realize we would be passing by them twice, however I just kept riding past as I felt as though I had just gotten started and didn’t want to stop. Driving into La grange was great and they mentioned my name as I went by which was a great feeling and I saw my parents as well, however I thought it would be a little bit bigger after all that the people had talked it up to be I was expecting something more. But, I am very grateful for all the people there and the support! I am so used to doing rides completely alone that all the people riding with alongside and the support groups everywhere definitely helped to fuel my excitement for the race and was an instant morale boost every time I saw anyone or heard cheering. Thank God for all those people and being willing to cheer for everyone that passes by! The northern part of the loop was hillier than I thought it would be but visually didn’t appear like it would be. Looks can be deceiving! Up until this point I had been getting all of my nutrition from infinit and it seemed to be working well, however I was getting hungry and at the next aid station tired to get a powerbar and was grabbing it but the aid station kid wouldn’t let go of it and started asking me if I wanted the bar or gel and I ended up not being able to get either and he apologized as I rode by. It wasn’t his fault as I’m sure it was his first time doing it, but it didn’t help my hunger! On the second lap, I stopped at the special needs bags and I got my Snickers bar, which tasted absolutely wonderful and retrieved my second bottle of infinit. The rest of the race went well until around mile 70 when my seat came loose and started rotating under me and at the aid station I was pulling up to I was able to quickly fix it and take a pit stop and head back out. The rest of the course was fine and the last 12 miles in seemed to take forever but they were an easy 12 in. Throughout the bike I made sure to pop a couple of endurolytes every hour even though it wasn’t very hot this was something I had planned on doing in advance and stuck to it, which paid dividends later in the day. From around mile 25 onward, my lower back was in intense pain and it seems that no matter the positioning on any bike I ride this seems to come and I need to start working on lower back exercises to hopefully alleviate some of the pain.


I had read from other athletes the race isn’t very hilly and only rollers other than the out and back and so practiced on the rollers around me in Missouri and well, evidently the rest of the country has a different definition of rollers and it appeared to be much hillier than I would have ever thought. However, I enjoyed the challenge and just would have practiced more hills to get stronger and I should have kept my pace lower in the beginning as through all the splits my times dramatically shifted downwards.

I came up to the bike in area and handed a volunteer my bike and walked to the bag pickup area in order to get some quick recovery and then headed to the change tent. I didn’t have much to do here other than wipe the feet down, use some Biofreeze as a precaution on my knees and put on shoes and run hat. I downed two cups of Perform and one of water and was off after getting some more sunscreen and walked for a couple hundred of feet, as this was my plan from the beginning and not out of exhaustion.

Nada. Just get faster

Almost on my way to being an Ironman and I couldn’t have been more excited and saw my parents as I started out and gave them my normal big smile and a thumbs up to let them know I was doing well. The first part of the course goes back and out around the bridge which I had biked the day before and was the only real “hill” (I would call a roller!), I enjoy running hills so this was a slight disappointment for me for the rest of the day as it was all flat, but I suppose I shouldn’t complain about that. I followed the run strategy I just adopted only a week before this race (and who say’s you shouldn’t try something new on race day?! Not recommended still, but it worked quite well for me). I followed a run/walk strategy that I had never used before as I had always just run every race I had done. This strategy was a huge blow to the ego upfront as I was walking from the beginning (not slow, don’t get me wrong, still a 12:30 pace). I was set on a 10 minute run followed by 1 minute of walking. I tried keeping my pace at around 9 minutes per mile and I did for a little, but ended up dropping it down a little bit since I had never ran a marathon before. There was a lot of great moments along the run, including some guy playing Colbie Caillat and us having a great conversation while on the run. I felt great however on the run the entire time due to holding myself back and not knowing exactly what to expect at the forbearing “wall” I’ve always heard about. However, I never really experienced this or if I did, I kicked it down and went on through without noticing it. About a quarter mile before the finish, someone in my age group whom had been attempting to pace me the last mile after I had passed him quite awhile beforehand tried running in front of me and I still had plenty of gas left in the tank and sprinted the last part of the race and came in quick and still leading.

Keep my pace up for the rest of the run as I had more than enough in me to keep going faster.

Ate and stretched


Just held myself back as I didn't know how my body would react after 12+ hours of working out


I felt great at the end of the race and still had plenty of energy left to do whatever, including running another Ironman… ok, maybe tomorrow. I stuffed down four pieces of pizza and stretched out a little while and watched some of the other finishers. It took me the rest of the night to realize my life dream of becoming an Ironman just happened that day. I never had a moment of doubt during the day that I would complete this challenge and I feel as though all my training has paid off much more than I had believed in. After my first half ironman, I told myself I’d never do another one of those and I had serious doubts about being able to one day finish a full Ironman. Now, a year and a half later, after my first Ironman, right after crossing the finish, I’m ready to sign up for the next one. I am so thankful for this sport and all I have learned and experienced from the past few years and excited to see what the next season will hold. To all those looking to becoming an Ironman, remember “Anything is possible.”