Ironman Louisville - Triathlon

The swim begins against the current in an area protected by an island. I found some open space without a lot of people towards the right. After the island, I moved closer to the buoy to get ready for the turn into the main part of the river. I arrived at a buoy thinking it was the turn. I looked up and saw there were still two more buoys before the turn. This was a tough moment in the swim because swimming against the current seemed to take forever. I finally arrived at the turn. I looked at my watch it was about 30 minutes. I turned into the main part of the river and I enjoyed the current. During the swim I tried to keep my mind occupied. I did math in my head and I also kept saying over and over the Ten Commandments, Apostles Creed, and the Lord's Prayer. As I got closer to the finish, I moved in a diagonal from the wider part of the river towards the swim exit.

I wish I had more knowledge about how many buoys were after the island before the turn into the current.

I got out of the water, and I then moved over to the wetsuit strippers. They quickly stripped me of my wetsuit. I then jogged over to the bike transition. I picked up my bike gear bag. I went into the changing tent. I sat down. I put on my helmet, put on my socks and shoes, and then I put body glide on the important parts. I ate a gu and drank a bottle of water. I left the changing tent and I went to get sunscreen. The volunteer asked if she should avoid any spots that got raw on the swim. I said she could spray it everywhere. At this point I realized my neck experienced some chaffing. Ouch that sunscreen found the raw spots. I ran over to my bike and I jogged to the bike mount line. It was encouraging to see my wife and friends cheering me as I jogged with the bike.

My average moving speed was 17.9, but I was slowed by two things. At mile 13.5 I got my first flat tire in 8 years. Good thing I watched the youtube video on how to change a flat. The second thing that slowed me down was having to go to the bathroom four times. I tried to stay on target in my heart rate and keep my pedal cadence between 80-90. Going through La Grange was fun, because I knew I would see my wife and friends every time I went through the town. The first loop I saw Christi and the other wives, and I got a little misty. It was fun to hear after the race about their experiences of draining the battery in the car and finding Dave from Mt. Clemens.

I wish I had put new tubes in my tires before the race. I also want to figure out how to manage fluids on the bike so that I don't have to pee every 30 miles.

After the bike dismount line, I jogged with my bike to the volunteers who grabbed the bike. I then continued to jog towards my run gear bag. I stopped to take off my bike shoes because it was tricky running on the cement in the bike shoes. I didn't want to slip. I grabbed my run gear bag but I also stopped to get the body glide out my bike gear bag. I had planned to have body glide in both gear bags but during the first transition I realized I had put both in the bike gear bag. I went into the changing tent and the volunteer was great helping me dump out my bag. He handed me stuff and helped me put the bike stuff back into the run gear bag.

I want to get better at getting out of my shoes and riding with my feet on top of my shoes so that I don't have to run with the bike shoes on my feet.

I had planned to run between a 10-11 minute pace. The first six miles I stayed in that target. I then slowed down to the 12 minute range. I stayed on that target for awhile, but then I walked a couple of miles around 19-20. I made the turn to the home stretch, and I wanted to start running again. I had originally thought I would finish the race under 13 hours and I did the math in my head that let me know I needed to start running again if I was going to finish under 14 hours. The last five miles I ran hard.

I should have done more long runs in m training.

I walked over to the food and medical tents. I had what I imagined to be a huge bloody blister on the ball of my left food. Medical took of my shoe and sock and said there was nothing wrong with my foot. So then I walked over to the massage tent and enjoyed my massage. The food tent ran out of pizza so I waited for 10 minutes for the pizza. Much of my cool down was defined by walking around after the finish checking on my friends.


I was not prepared for the run nearly as much as I desired. This was my first Ironman distance race. I am so proud of this accomplishment. Completing this race would not have been possible without my training partners and friends Mark, Ben, and Drew. My wife and kids have been great supporters. I am overwhelmed by the number of people that cheered me on throughout all the training and on race day.


The food tent was empty of options by the time I got there. The volunteers at every level were cheerful, helpful, and encouraging. I loved the number of people throughout the course cheering on the athletes.