Ironman Louisville - Triathlon

...dove in and thought to myself "holy s**t, I'm doing an Ironman".
I went completely underwater, and was worried someone would jump on top of me. Thankfully, I resurfaced, goggles still in place, and no contact.

The rest of the upstream section was very hectic, and the lack of buoyancy from not wearing a wetsuit made me a little uncomfortable at first. Tons of contact, and directly into the rising sun, which made sighting quite difficult. Fortunately, with the TT start, I could just follow the stream of athletes.

In the channel, I saw a guy lift his head and puke. Gross!

After passing the tip of Towhead Island, the going seemed to get a little tougher. I think there was definitely some current present.
After reaching the T1 buoy the field spread out dramatically. There was much less contact on the downstream leg.

Swimming under the bridges felt very cool. The chop was minimal, I felt good with my stroke, and after passing the 2nd bridge I noticed a current carrying me along.

Finally, I reached the exit ramp. Total cluster f**k. I ended up having to tread water for 20 seconds until I could reach the steps. But I was done. The 1st leg of my 1st Ironman was in the books. I was a very happy chappy.

I would try not to be so timid when it comes to contact. I was constantly adjusting, and accommodating other swimmers, rather than just staying with my stroke. Not a big deal.

I was happy with this time.

Took it slowly and deliberate. Didn't want to forget anything.
Put on my helmet, which felt weird. I guess the strap had shrunk while in my T1 bag. Fortunately I was able to fix this in the first couple minutes on the ride. At first I thought something had bent or broken.

Nothing. I wasn't in a rush.

The dreaded bike leg. The section of the race I feared the most.

Firstly, a little preface to this bike leg:
before coming to Louisville, I'd watched the "4 keys to Ironman Louisville" by Endurance Nation on Youtube. I was pretty worried about this ride given the distance, the hills, and the weather (hot, not a cloud in the sky). I was terrified of getting dehydated. As a result, I'd put a bottle of water in my T1 bag, and put 3 water bottles, and 2 bottles of Infinit mix on my bike.

Before reaching the first aid station (mile 7) I'd already drank 2 bottles of water, and 1 Infinit. I wanted to try and drink 3 bottles between each aid station.

The first 10 miles, out of transition, I was feeling awesome. It was flat, and I was effortlessly gliding along at about 19-20mph. Then the hills started, not bad at first, but I knew worse was coming. I reached the "finger" which was a lot of fun. I still had plenty in my legs, and I found the hills and turns quite entertaining. I saw a guy getting stretchered off on the first ascent, which was a reminder not to be complacent. On these hills you can easily hit 40moh with minimal effort, but you'll be doing sub-10 on the uphills.

After completing the out-and-back, I turned back on 42, heading for the loop. The first loop was relatively uneventful, except for the increasing urge to pee. I tried to do it on the bike, but no dice, I just couldn't relax enough. I had to stop at the 4th aid station (mile 45ish) to break the seal. Felt so good. After that, I pee'd another 4 times during the bike. I didn't mind one bit, I was PUMPED to be so hydrated. Overall, the 1st loop went well. I was feeling great, by all accounts.

After entering the 2nd loop, this is where I started to feel not-so-great. The relentless hills, and unbroken beating sun began to have an increasing impact on me. I was continuing with my hydration/nutrition strategy, but I was definitely feeling a little off.
Around mile 80, I turned back onto 42 for the home stretch, albeit another 32 miles. At one point a lady passed me, and asked if I was taking in enough salt. I thought it was a strange question, and told her I was pounding perform. She told me my back was "caked in salt" and I was "white as a ghost". This completely freaked me out, and I sort of began to panic. I was almost 2 hours from finishing, and with only 2 more aid stations at which to take in sodium.

This was the first moment, in any of my preparation, training, or even during this race, that the thought of not being able to finish entered my mind. I knew I was going to give it everything I had, and I thought my nutrition strategy was sound, but I had never tasked my body so hard, so I wasn't sure how it would react to such extreme exertion.

The last 20 miles were truly a grind. Even when I got back to River Rd, and the flat inbound section, I was just antsy to get off my bike, back to my comfort zone of running. Turning into the "bike in" chute was a glorious moment. Getting off the bike was euphoric, but my stomach was feeling queasy. The prospect of running a marathon seemed ridiculous.

Nothing. I'm not a good biker. I know this.
I was just ecstatic to finish without bonking.

I wasn't feeling good. The beating sun and the heat was taking its toll on me. I felt nauseous, so I took my time to make sure I had everything, and tried to cool off a little in front of a big fan.

Nothing.

Starting off, I felt absolutely terrible. Just couldn't shake the nauseous feeling. My stomach was a mess, and was preventing me from running. I knew I had about 7.5hrs to finish the marathon, and I feared I would have to walk every step, and I wasn't sure if I could keep up a good enough pace to finish in time.

I found I could run a couple hundred metres, before the feeling of nausea became too great, and I had to walk. Whenever I walked, I would try to maintain a brisk pace, and not just stroll. The sun was still beating down, and I chose to run on the "inbound" side of the course, since there was more shade. A few people commented, but I honestly couldn't have cared less. Finding shade, and being comfortable (relatively speaking) was far more important than following the rules.

The first few miles were a really dark time for me, all sorts of negative thoughts were going through my head, and I genuinely considered quitting.

Then, by way of counter-argument, a couple of other, more positive thoughts took over. Firstly, I was telling myself "you paid to do this, suck it up", but also, a quote which last years winner mentioned at the mandatory meeting on Friday. For some reason it really resondated with me, and I kept repeating it to myself, whenever I wasn't sure I could run.

The quote was, "do it today, or you'll regret it tomorrow".

Whenever I was walking, and wanted to KEEP walking, I would repeat that quote in my head, and start jogging. It didn't last too long, but it was a hell of a lot better than just walking.
After the initial few miles, where I felt really terrible, and very negative, mile 5-13 weren't all that bad. I was tired, sore, and felt like I was going to puke, but I kept up withe my run-walk. Ending the first loop, and seeing the finish line was just plain cruel. Still, my stomach was a mess. Nothing I was taking at any of the aid stations was settling my stomach. It was frustrating. I knew I was still getting enough hydration because I must have pee'd about 4-5 times during the run, and it was clear (sorry if that's TMI, but I was still freaked about getting dehydrated).

I'd forgotten my watch, so I had no idea what time it was at any point, i just hoped I was making good enough progress in case there was a point where I needed to walk the remainder of the race.
As I entered the 2nd loop, I asked someone for the time. It was 7.34pm, if I'm remembering correctly. That gave me 4.5 hours to travel 13 miles. I felt much better about this, and it really lifter my spirits. Plus, with the sun descending, the weather became more tolerable, and shade more plentiful.

By the time I reached the turnaround point at the far end of the course, for the 2nd time, the sun was down and it was dark. By this point, I was starting feel quite disoriented. I kept forgetting where I was on the course, and several times I almost think I sort of dozed off, because all of a sudden I would come to my senses and have to remember what the hell I was doing.

At mile 23 a girl next to me asked if she could walk the rest of the way with me. She was crying, I think just because of fatigue, but I really appreciated the company. I wasn't in the most social mood, but having something to keep my attention helped a lot. We chatted for a while, then tried to run, but my blister on my foot put a stop to that in short order.

We kept walking and chatting, all the way to the final turn, when her fiance (who was also racing, but I think was DNF'd before starting loop 2) came over and that was the last I saw of her.

Anyways, as I ran into the finishers chute, the light was blinding, and the noise became increasngly deafening. Truly amazing. Even in my state of fatigue, I was looking around and almost laughing, it was such an awesome spectacle. I couldn't really see anyone, because of the bright lights, but the cheering just kept building and building. Then, over everything, I heard, "Paul Taylor, from Chicago, YOU ARE AN IRONMAN". Unreal.

As I crossed the line, a volunteer grabbed me, and started to guide me over get my picture taken. All of a sudden, my I got super woozy, and thought I was going to faint, so I sat down on a chair to chill out for a couple minutes.

Not sure. I couldn't shake the feeling of nausea. Maybe I should have pulled the trigger, to see if that helped, but I was worried that if I started puking, I might not be able to stop, which could leave me in an even worse place.

After sitting and collecting myself, I got my picture, and met up with my friends. I was still completely out of it. I got my Morning Bag, ate a slice of pizza, which didn't sit too well, then stumbled back to my hotel

As soon as I got back to the hotel, I took a quick bath, which was heavenly, then fell asleep almost immediately.


The heat, and hills.
Maybe I should have trained more. I don't know.

Overall, I'm happy with my performance. It was a monumental day, and I'm just delighted to have finished.


Great race. Extremely well organized.
This course is not to be underestimated. Coming from Chicago, which is flat as a pancake, this course is HILLY. Also, Kentucky in August is HOT.

This was a huge goal of mine, and I'm very proud of my accomplishment.