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 Swim
Comments: I bought a skinsuit a few weeks before the race, and I'm glad I did. I think it helped me keep my hips up. I jumped in and swam freestyle to get myself away from everyone. I ended up more in the channel, as I didn't want to get swam over by 2000 people! I did breaststroke and freestyle, and didn't get touched by many people. The turnaround was a contact sport, that's for sure! I sighted off the changing tents on the way back, so that kept me more in the centre of the river. I didn't realise how far over I was until the coastguard came over and told me to move more to the left! By the time I reached the second bridge I knew if I pushed it I could make the cutoff. I reached the steps at 2:19, but apparently 2:20 still gets you an official time. Saw Tammy (tnickerson), and had to smile and tell her I'd made it. Mainly walked to T1. What would you do differently?: Work more on swimming with pack. Sort out shoulder injury so that I can swim freestyle the whole way. Not get new goggles for swim!  Transition 1
Comments: Mainly walked up hill. Jogged into change tent. Gulped some water that went up my nose, and the next thing I know my nose is bleeding everywhere! They didn't have any gauze or kleenex for me to stuff up there, so I used my towel, and a facecloth that the volly found. Bleeding stopped and I was on my way. Bike easy to find in a nearly deserted transition area. What would you do differently?: No nosebleed.  Bike
Comments: So here we go! I spent the first ten miles just smiling and enjoying the fact that I had made it to the bike. I got passed by plenty of people, and even managed to pass a couple myself. The out-and-back, really killed me, as I hadn't done any hill training apart from on the stationary bike. The rolling hills were relentless, but I kept at it, slowly but surely. Nutrition was OK. Gatorade and water at each aid station. Gels on 45 and saltstick tab per hour. Lost my saltstick somewhere between 50-60 miles, but had a pouch with spares. Didn't stop at SN as I knew I was going to be close with cutoff. Saw Shaun go powering by me at one point and he looked strong. Heather rode next to me for a minute and chatted for a minute. She gave some encouraging words and went off. After the school lane hills there was an aid station, I think it was 76 mile point. As I approached they told me to not toss any of my bottles as they didn't have anything to drink. I stopped, and they apologized, but did have ice. I loaded my aerobottle with ice, and I had 1/4 bottle of gatorade left. I did feel sorry for these folks, as they knew we needed fluid, but they just didn't have it. Off I went, praying that the next one would be close. I saw a few riders on the side of the road here. They said they were fine, just done. After about nine miles I started to drag. I'd drank my ice, and had a tiny drop of warm gatorade left. I briefly thought about doing a Norman Stadler from Kona in 05, you know, throw my bike into a hedge and shout 'I have no powah!" but decided to keep going. I finally saw the one at 88 miles. Relief! I stop and they tell me the same. They were out of fluid, but they had some powerade they could give me from their cars. I gratefully took it, and drank a couple of the little bottles. They had water bottles filled from the ice buckets to pour over your head, but I asked for one for my aerobottle. They explained that the bottle was from the floor, and the bucket wasn't clean, but at that point if I'd found a pond with a dead cow in it, I would have drunk that. So a little refreshed I tried to give the last 22 miles everything I had. I did stop at the last aid station as they'd cleaned up, and I felt bad tossing stuff. They had everything, so I took it and headed into town. I rounded the corner at the finish, and there was still a little cowd there. Two guys stood there waiting, and as I stopped they told me that I missed the cutoff by 7 mins. This didn't really surprise me, as I knew I was close. Then he looked at his partner and asked if he wanted to get my chip. I was now offically out of the race. What would you do differently?: Choose a flat IM race! However, my wife has now consented to a computrainer if I ever decide to do a hilly course. Transition 2
 Run
Post race
Warm down: Racked my bike right at the finish line. There was a special place for us! Saw Lydia (Heather's friend), and told her what happened. She was really nice about it. Some guy who was jocksrapping told me he missed CDA by 4 mins. Got my bags and walked to KICC to get my morning bag. Went to see if there were any BT finishers, but didn't see anyone. Saw Tammy, and she was great with me. Even gave me some advice. Called home, got something to eat and headed to the hot tub at the hotel. What limited your ability to perform faster: Swim technique and hill training. Where I live is pancake flat. Event comments: I had debated not doing this race and doing Chessyman instead. It's a little over an hour away, wetsuit legal and FLAT! However, I'm glad I got to spend a weekend with so many good people. Even though I'm a little quiet (due to peple no understanding my accent!), you were all great. I would love to have had time for a few beers with Kenny, Shaun and Amy, as you guys must be the entertainment when you're out! Tammy and Sharon were great volunteering all weekend, and thanks again to Kelly and Heather (+1!). Thanks for reading this far, and I'm planning on doing another next year, just trying to decide between Chessyman or IMFL. Well done to all of you who made it on a difficult day, and to the other DNFers, our day will come! Last updated: 2008-09-05 12:00 AM
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OK, I'll try to not make this the 'War and Peace' of race reports, but we'll see. Firstly I'd like to thank all of the BT people who were there, and made what could have been a very bad weekend a good one. Especially Heather (slowone) and Kelly (kaburns), who, through no fault of their own sort of had to adopt me for the weekend! Thanks to all!
I left Wednesday night after the family was in bed, and arrived in Louisville Thursday lunchtime. Registration was a breeze, and was given the non-existent goody bag. The expo was small, so it didn't take long to walk around. The Elite guys were there, so got my bike tuned up for free. Was about this time that my Mum called from the UK to say that the doctors thought that she had bowel cancer, but wouldn't be sure until all their test were completed over the next couple of weeks. She said she was going to wait until after the race, but didn't want me to be the only child that didn't know.
Checked in to Wingate hotel which was about 20 mins east of Lou. Nice and new, with no other IM people there. Went to both practice swims, and drove the course with Kelly , Heather and Heather's friend, who I believe was Lydia. The pre-race meal was fun, as having the T-shirt meant you were never alone. Karen had a great idea and brought name tags for us to fill out, which helped. Everyone was so friendly, and I had a good time. Spent Sat getting stuff ready and dropped off. Realised Sat night that I'd lost my goggles, so had a slight heart attack, and was relieved to find that the ISO sports store was still open. They only had Kaiman's, which were different to my Seal Mask XP, but better than nothing.
Got up at 3:30, had oatmeal square, water and gatorade. Arrived early and go a place near front of line. Saw Kelly and Frank. He offered to swim with me, as everyone (and I mean everyone) knew I was worried about meeting the cutoff. That was kind, but after he's trained for a year, I didn't want to hold up his race (he had an awesome swim by the way!). Heather came and sat with me. I think she spent her tim telling me that I could do it, and not to worry so much. Had some gatorade whilst waiting, but couldn't stomach my gel.