Ironman Louisville - Triathlon

I was happy with my swim. It is the weakest of my three sports and was nervous after the practice swim. I was hoping for 1:30 and was nine minutes faster so very happy.

Continue to improve on swim with Masters group.

Went into changing tent and volunteers were great. Dried off my feet and put my socks on. Ate a payday and drank water.Wore my Tri suit so no change of clothes. Took my time so there was no rush in T1.

I forgot to take my swimskin off in tent and took it off at bike. Too dang excited.

I think I drink too much water and did not get enough salt. My stomach started getting knots and hurting. This would lead to problems on my run.

Slow down on water and switch from Endurolytes to SCAPS.

Good T2, again volunteers were awesome. Best ever!
Stomach still hurting It was great to see my wife and daughter coming ou t of T1. My wife said she would see me at the Finish.

Not much

This is where things went bad. My stomach was still hurting but I tried to run first 3 miles. I had to start walking after the 3 miles because I felt like I was going to puke. I cant recall having stomach pains like this before in my life. I knew I could do two things. Try to keep running and run the risk of bonking or walk a lot and finish. I choose to walk a lot. Tired to drink and eat at aid stations but nothing helped and I could not keep anything down. Had to puke a few times on run but my goal was to finish. Wish I had something that would settle stomach. The last time I puked at mile 21, my stomach felt better. I told the guys I was wakling with that I was going to run some. I was able to run on and off pretty good the last few miles. I made sure to run at finish and was great to hear "Elton Cooper, you are a Ironman".As soon as they put the metal on my neck I asked for trashcan and puked for the final time. Went to the medic area and was given two IVs. My blood pressure was 90/70. Felt bac and now I could feel the pain in my feet. Both big toe nails were black.

Take Scaps and slow down on water. I hate I had to walk because the run is my strongest area. My goal was to finish my first IM and I did. I was down about my performance on run but happy to finish.

Two IVs and napping on cot. Had pizza after getting back to room. Took shower and went to bed.


Stomach pain. Wish I had known about S Caps before race. Pumped about finish but down about run performance.


Great race and awesome volunteers. The people of Louisville were great and supportive. Happy with race but not happy with my run performance so I signed up for B2B this year. I plan on not making the same mistakes.