Ironman Louisville - TriathlonFull Ironman

I was calm until the cannon for the pros. I'm a decent swimmer, so the nerves I was feeling were not about the swim, but for the unexpected as this is my first Ironman race. We were able to see all the swimmers swimming from where we stood, and noticed twice that there was a big break in action. Word spread that CPR was being performed on a competitor, and that struck a chord with all of the competitors around me. This is serious business.

A couple of minutes before I jumped in, I was able to find my wife. She had the prettiest smile on her face and was just as excited for the start as I. I knew then that this was going to be a great day.

Jumped in the water at roughly 7:38 and began navigating my way around other competitors and toward the bouy line. I never really had any major contact with others, but there was some slight bumping.

Swim went as planned. No issues with sighting at all. I found my mind wandering off on some of the most random thoughts. Many of which had nothing to do with this race or even racing at all. For instance, I thought about the upcoming football season a lot!. Not sure why.

I found my wife again while running up the ramp. I was pumped and ready to continue on to the bike.

Nothing differently on race day. Maybe I could have done more training, but on race day the swim went well.

I ran up the ramp and celebrated a couple of seconds with my wife. I was really pumped. Ran to the changing tent and slowly got everything on. Took much longer than I wanted, but I am OK with it. Ran to the port-a-poty and headed to my bike.

Unracked my bike and started jogging to the line. WHAT?!?!?!?!? My stinkin' bike computer isn't working!!!! What to do? What to do?!

I saw my wife as I was leaving T1 and let her know of the issues. There really was nothing I could do other than race 112 miles using perceived effort. How funny is that?



Own a better bike computer?? Slower than I thought, but no complaints

The ride out to the out and back was exciting and without issues. I periodically asked other racers the distance we have traveled and explained my issue. I tried to do the math in my head to determine my speed, but I am not that bright. Ha!

I am not confident in my bike handling skills, so the out and back had me nervous. I'm not sure if I really wanted to know my speed while heading down the hills on this section. Had to deal with the log jam of folks at the turnaround. It never crossed my mind that we would be so bunched up. No big deal.

I rode the loop a couple of weeks ago, so I knew what to expect. LaGrange was nice, but I didn't see my wife on the first go round. I was a bit bummed because we agreed before hand that she would stay in LaGrange for the first loop only so that she could get back to town and meet up with my parents and our 3 year old who were to arrive around 2:00 or so.

How 'bout that dead deer on the side of the road on the back side of the loop? Pretty gross, huh?

Felt strong on the second loop and to my surprise, I saw my wife in LaGrange this time. No way! She wasn't supposed to be there. Awesome. I admit though for a split second I wondered if she was going to have any issues with the shuttle bus and getting back to town in time to meet my folks and see me at T2.

The ride back to town was not fun. My big toe on my left foot was burning something crazy. I periodically sprayed it with water and got temporary relief. I kept expecting to see blood spilling from my shoe, as I just knew I rubbed a blister all the way to the bone. :) My legs and back were fine, but my toe issue had me wanting to get off the bike. I found relief when I coasted on the declines with my left foot up. I'm sure it slowed me down some, but I wouldn't know--remember my computer wasn't working.

Notice I didn't mention anything about stopping to pee? Never happened. Did I pee on myself on the bike? Nope. Uh oh...will this be a problem?



Not much. Even though I didn't pee, I never felt like I was getting dehydrated or anything. Took in my correct number of calories, and actually took in more fluids than I anticipated.

Didn't see my wife, son or parents while riding in to T2, but all I could think about was getting those bike shoes off. What a relief. No blister, just pain that I have never experienced.

I changed shorts and socks and slowly made my way to the port-a-potty. The burning sensation I experienced while atempting to pee was like none other. I just couldn't go. Headed out toward the exit and saw my wife and got a kiss and pictures. She mentioned that my parents had just pulled in to town and that she was about to go get them and my son.

Nothing. Sure it was slow, but I don't care.

It took about 3-4 minutes for my big toe to stop hurting. My legs felt fine and I wasn't having any issues. In a word, I felt GREAT!

I carried a 10 ounce bottle and filled it at almost every aid station with water. Went the first 8 miles averaging a 10 minute pace. Got sips of Perform and sponges along with the water during that stretch.

Still feeling strong, I picked up the pace a bit and added a chocolate chip cookie to my nutrition plan at every other aid station until about mile 16.

Saw my family near the turnaround and experienced the greatest moment of the race for me when my 3 year old (Nash) squirmed out of my wife's arms and ran with me for about 100 yards. Just awesome!!!

I still haven't peed, and I started having trouble taking in water. No cramping issues, but my legs were really tight. At about mile 15 or so, I stopped the Perform and started taking in Coke. My pace was still strong and I was feeling confident I could beat 12 hours. Of course, I have never run further than 20 miles, and I am familiar with the saying that a marathon doesn't start until the last 10K.

By mile 18 or 19, i couldn't take in anymore fluids. I would pour water in my mouth, but I had to let it spill out. My pace was strong, and my body felt good, but I just couldn't get anything down.

I reached mile 20 and my watch said 11 hours. Here is the last 10K of the race and I just needed to break an hour. I couldn't take in fluids, and I hadn't peed for close to 10 hours. Dig deep.

I started thinking about Macca's recent book and how much he mentioned blocking out the pain. Sure, I had my doubts that I could finish this last stretch in an hour, but I was gonna give it my all. I moved to the far left side of the course and didn't even look at the aid stations. For the next 5 miles I ran 9:20's and I knew I was gonna beat 12 hours.

The last 1.2 hurt like nothing else, and my pace was getting slower. When the finish chute was in sight, I pulled out a University of Kentucky (my alma mater) flag from my jersey pocket. I hadn't told anyone other than my wife that I was going to do it. I held it high for what seemed to be an eternity and got a lot of "Go Big Blue!" and "Go Cats!" cheers. I saw my wife and son to my left and my parents just around the finish line. I did it!! 11:58:28

My catcher caught me, and my body seized up. I spent every ounce of energy I had.

Not a damn thing. I ran the whole marathon.

My catcher was a UK graduate, and she was rambling about all things UK, but I don't really remember what she was saying. I barely made it to the finisher's picture and she saw that things were rapidly getting worse for me. She found me a wheel chair and we assured my family that i was OK and that an IV was in order.

Medics were great. They gave me an IV quickly, and tested my blood. the blood test determined that my electolytes and blood sugar was just fine. Simple dehydration. About half way through the IV, I was able to sip on a bottle of water. After the first bag, I went to the bathroom to pee. Success!! Now get me out of here and to my family.


I loved this race. The volunteers were great. The course was great. The weather was great. And meeting all the different BTers was great. I loved it!!!