Ironman Louisville - Triathlon

I expected to have more clean water because of the time trial start of this course, but because the swim is my weakest link, I stayed close to the buoys to minimize swimming any extra. This meant I was swimming over slower swimmers who started early, and getting run into by faster swimmers behind me. It was crowded at the turn buoy, so much so that everyone was just breast stroking through there, no way to continue a normal swim stroke. After the turn, I had fairly clean water for a while, but would frequently have people swimming at a diagonal in front of me. Because of the straight course, I did not have to sight as often as usual, so that was nice, and the buoys were large and easy to see. I was able to pee while swimming, which isn't easy since the body is in motion, but I felt much better after getting that out of the way! It got really crowded passing under the two bridges, though there was no apparent reason for this. Getting out of the water was also crowded, but the volunteer catchers were great helping pull everyone up to the stairs.

This was the first triathlon swim that I didn't hate! I had lower back, hip and hamstring pain (or tightness) that worried me, but I actually enjoyed the swim, especially after the turn. I might have been able to push it a little bit harder, because when I finished I was not tired at all! My breathing was pretty good throughout, so again, I possibly could have gone harder, but every time I felt as though I was getting too comfortable with my stroke, I would try to pick it up. The current definitely helped me have a good swim time. I did get dunked once (it felt intentional), kicked in the face (unintentional), and punched in the back of the head, but I just don't know if I could have avoided those things.

I felt great coming out of the water, so the run to T1 was good. The volunteers had my bag ready to hand to me as I ran to the tent. I had read in a previous race report that you could sit outside the tent to get ready, and that is a good opportunity to pee in the grass if needed. I tried, but I guess I didn't need to, but I still got ready outside of the tent since I wasn't changing clothes. I made the mistake of putting on my shoes before lubing my feet, so that added extra time because I had to take the shoes back off. Although it would have been nice to have a chair to sit in and a volunteer to help me had I chosen to go in the tent instead of on the grass outside the tent, as I ran through to get to my bike I saw how crowded that tent was and knew I made the right decision just going it alone for that one.

I had my Body Glide and chamois cream in a small plastic bag, and my nutrition in another small bag. Maybe numbering the bags so I follow the steps I want to in order would have helped--my mind was racing trying to get through transition as fast as possible that I wasn't really thinking clearly, so maybe that would have helped.

I started down the wrong row for my bike, then ran right by my bike when I was in the right row. Even though I had counted the racks prior to the race and knew where my bike was, I was just so excited that I wasted some time looking for it. So I think slowing down and calming down would help.

Overall I was happy with transition.

I was nervous that I wouldn't meet my time goal on this course after driving it the day before, and that was based upon a comparison to a somewhat hilly route I have ridden near home and the length it took me. My plan was to ignore my speed and instead focus on my heart rate, though I did change my Garmin to show my average speed. As it turns out, I beat my goal and really enjoyed the course! I went out pretty fast on the flat first 10-12 miles, but I wasn't pushing too hard, it was just a comfortable, somewhat hard effort, but nothing crazy. Still I was passing a ton of people. Then when the hills started I stuck to my strategy of going as fast as comfortable on the downhills and just riding the pace I could on the uphill without grinding too hard. This worked! Although I was a little nervous because everything I read said do NOT push too hard on the bike until the final 33 miles, because those who do end up walking the marathon. And here I was, passing a bunch of people the entire race, and wondering if I was going to end up as the one "they" warned me about, pushing too hard on the bike and walking the marathon. But I felt within my limits all day. The most difficulty I had was with my shoulders and neck, which fatigued earlier than usual and were in a lot of pain for most of the ride. My hamstrings sometimes felt tight, but ended up fine. I could not get in as much nutrition as I had planned, but since I had fueled well prior to the start of the swim I wasn't really worried about it. I didn't feel hot until the second loop on the bike, but the heat didn't really bother me at all.

I'm not sure--I think I pushed it as hard as I could have without blowing up my legs. I was nervous at times about being penalized because I had to pass so many people, and sometimes I was double-passing--going behind someone else who was passing but who I also needed to pass. Though I had trained with Perform, the stuff in the bottle on the course was just horrible, but I had to drink it anyway. I tried to pee on the bike starting at about mile 80, and it just wasn't happening. I did not have to go badly enough to warrant stopping, and that made me unsure as to whether I was drinking enough, but I think I was. Maybe because I went in the swim I was okay.

I didn't even think about taking my feet out of my shoes prior to getting off my bike, so I just ran through transition with my bike shoes on, no big deal. A volunteer took my bike, another had my bag ready to hand to me, and this time I went into the tent, which was pretty much empty, and a volunteer helped me with my bag. She got my nutrition out for me to hand it to me and repacked my bag so I didn't have to worry about it. She also handed me a cup of water. She was awesome!

Nothing, though I kind of wanted to stop at the toilet on the way out, but there was a line of 4 people and I didn't want to wait. Otherwise this went smoothly.

I'm not sure how I feel about the run course--it's a little bit boring because it is almost a completely straight out and back that you do twice. Also, some people said it was shaded, but at the time I was running there was very little shade except for maybe a mile on the way back in. I did pee while running, twice...that made my socks quite soggy--gross! However, my Saucony Kinvaras are so light that they drained well, and I was using ice and sponges at every station, so I had plenty of water to wash everything off. I'm not sure there were many toilets on course--I didn't pay much attention, but it seemed like only a couple at each aid station. As I expected, I started the run too fast, and ended up running slower in the second half. My Garmin is set to show me mile splits, and they kept getting slower for a while, then stabilized, then got slower again. I started just drinking water and putting ice in my sports bra and sponges in my shirt. I tried Perform a couple of times, and it was better than the stuff on the bike course. I took a gel between miles 5 and 6, but then realized that my stomach was going to start rebelling. I planned to take another gel at mile 10, but my stomach wasn't ready, so I managed it at mile 12. After that, I relied on water, ice, coke and some Perform. I was feeling thirsty, but only because of dry mouth, I think. Since my stomach was seizing up a bit, I would take a cup of ice and suck on the ice cubes to try to satisfy the thirst feeling. Everything got tough at mile 12, and at mile 17 everything below the waist just hurt--feet, ankles, all leg muscles, etc. I didn't really look at my watch to determine finish time until mile 20, when I realized that not only was I going to beat my 12 hour goal, I was likely going to beat 11:30, too! So I started passing the time by calculating what pace I had to run to do that. When I got to mile 23, I really wanted to walk (which I had not done yet), so I made a deal with myself that I could walk for 1 minute at the next aid station. But then I realized that I was close to an 11:15 finish time, so I made myself keep running. I tried to pick up the pace at mile 20, too, but only managed to do so in the last couple of miles. With less than 2 miles to go, I knew I was going to make it. I had felt worse in previous marathons, so even though I was no longer having fun and wanted to stop, I knew I would be fine. With less than a half mile to go, I started smiling. Then I started to get a little choked up. Then I started to have breathing problems! This has never happened before, but twice during the run I felt chest tightness, but it went away, so I figured it was something environmental I had run past. But I almost starting hyperventilating just before the finishing chute. Luckily I regained control of my breathing and was smiling big! I saw my family in the chute and gave them high fives, then I heard my name over the PA system and I celebrated as I crossed the line. Amazing!!!

Although I beat my goal, I am a little frustrated that I could not keep a 9:20 pace through the whole run. I started at 9:10, probably averaged 9:20 for the first half, but then averaged around 9:40 for the second half. I don't think going too hard on the bike was the problem, because it wasn't that much of a slow down. My nutrition problems were likely just a cause of my blood flowing to support my tired legs and not to help with stomach and digestion. Maybe I should have tried some chicken broth to add some salt instead of sweet. I did take 2 salt stick tabs during the run, and had no cramping problems at all.

Hobbled back to the hotel, which was only a block from the finish, and sat in the hotel pool. The water was not cold, but I felt like I needed to let my legs float. I don't know if it helped or not.


I don't know--maybe bike fitness? If I had gotten more bike training in, maybe my run would have been faster? Also, I clearly still need to work on my swim form, based upon my age-group ranking in each of the disciplines and how out of whack my swim is with my bike and run.


Really great race, awesome venue, good bike course, decent run course. Volunteer support is phenomenal, everything well-organized.