Ford Ironman Louisville - TriathlonFull Ironman

IT was kind of a relief to know the swim wouldn't be a mass start, which can be more than hectic. I could see why they made the choices they did. The channel we were starting off in wasn't wide enough to support a mass start, but they could've done waves like at California 70.3. Anywyas, after arriving up at Tumbleweeds where the swim start was, I realized there was a major line that had already formed. I cruised down about 1/3 of the way and just sorta "blended" into the line. After the Pro start, finally it was our turn! The line seemed to take forever to move, and it was over 20 minutes before I finally hit the water. I chose a line pretty much towards the middle of the channel which seemed to be faster then the edge. I never really felt like I was fighting any current and actually was doingg very well sighting. I never did find a good set of legs to draft behind- either I was always passing people or a few times someone would come up behind me but they were always faster and I didnt want to work to hard early-

After a 1:12 swim I feel I did pretty decent on my first IM swim, especially without a wetsuit. I'd figured all along I could come out of the water by 1:15 feeling very good, and that is exactly how I preformed.

Well, I obviously had little sense of urgency in transition. I was thorough and covered all my bases before heading out to my bike. Dried off, sunscreen, packed my bags, drank some water- had a grand 'ol time.

Probably move a little quicker- duh....

After hitting the road, the first section is fresh pavement. Nice and flat and fast. First 12 miles are like that before you hit the first grade. Theres a few nice slow grades with some smoking downhill stretches as well. Once we hit the back portions of the course, Hwy 133 I believe, we headed into a town called LaGrange, that had advertised and brought in all kinds of tourists. We turn the corner, and theres probably a mile of people, both sides of the road, just cheering like hell as we go by. Coolest part was my parents were out there as welll, and it was a total adreneline boost! I was probably 50+ miles in before I started to feel like I could use a break. Hitting the Special Needs at Mile 65 was something to look forward too. AS I pull up to SN and grab my bag, I pull off to one side and start grabbing my stuff and refilling with Gel and bsrs. The guy next to me must've passed out, cause all of a sudden he's on the ground. It wasn't pretty either. He hit his helmet hard on the pavement and it just broke all apart. I didn't stick around but when I left they were calling Paramedics-

I had a really good bike for the most part, but heres some spots I could improve- hydrate a little better. While I did pretty good, I can't say I nailed my hydration. I cramped a few times and after taking some extra Enduralytes it all got better. Nutrition plan needs some tweaking as well. I'm close though. Felt good majority of the ride

I was very stoked at this point of the race, and even though I was tired I was more than ready for the run. Again though I took forever! Guess I wanted to make sure I was thorough. I've read some Race Reports where people talk about forgetting something at transition and I wasn't going to let that happen

be a little quicker

I knew once I hit the run I would finish the race, just how painful was it gonna be. I felt pretty good coming off the bike, and while my legs were a little heavy at first all the brick training sessions i'd done pay off big time. I plodded thru the first two miles, then decided my best long term plan was a run 5 minutes, walk 3 minute plan. I stuck to it for the majority of the run too. I'd never run past 17 miles so this was gonna be a first

I think my training went really well, and from having absolutely no background in running prior to my insane decision to do Triathlons I did quite well. With the base training I now have in place I can focus in the future on increasing speed and threshold levels

Overwhelming experience finally crossing the finish line!! The music, crowds, cheering and announcer saying "You're an Ironman" was the coolest feeling and really gave me the sense of accomplishment. It was everything I could do to keep from breaking out in tears I was so happy and proud of myself.


Lack of a solid running base. Theres no shortcuts to solid base so I did the best I could with my running. I have some work to do this off-season in preperation for my goals next season


The whole IRONMAN experience is something i'll never forget as long as I live. I could do 100 more but none will ever compare to the first.....

I've learned so much about myself, training, equipment ect. from IM training I know this is where I need to be. I loved every minute of the experience and look forward to successful registration for IMOO and another great IM experience in 2008