Ironman Louisville - TriathlonFull Ironman

The 3 of us eventually hit the dock and I jogged in front of Amy and Jon and said "wow you letting a girl pass you!" Figured it was the only time I'd have the chance to be in front of either of them all day. Amy gave my butt a squeeze right before a jumped in, a nice way to start my race :)

Of course the guy 2 people in front of me cannon-balls into the water, I think of Gary. I jump in and of course....wedgie, but only 1 cheek. I decide to leave it there for a while just to amuse myself :) It's a long day have to find the fun in it when you can.

This swim turned ugly for me. It was like a prize fight out there! I was kicked in the ribs and caught a heal on my hip-bone. Almost started to cry it hurt so much. Then I was hit in the head with a random tree branch and someone got to second base with my left boob!

Sighting was not great, I should have worn my tinted goggles, could not see a thing going into the sun. Started to sing "Mandy" in my head to try to calm down. Toward the end the water started to get choppy and I took in some water. Yuck!

Made it out of the water 5 minutes slower than last year, I was bummed. My pool times have been great this year but for this swim, it was not meant to be. I saw Tammy and she yelled to me, loved seeing her there! It totally picked me up.

1- Wear tinted goggles.
2- Take boxing lessons to cross-train so I don't get pummeled or body-guards for the swim.
3- Have the right boob groped, maybe it was jealous of the left and that's why my swim sucked...not balanced?

Grabbed my transition bag and passed the men's change tent. I asked the volunteer, "Can I just take a quick look inside for a little inspiration? That was a brutal swim!" He didn't respond, just smiled and pointed to the ladies tent.

I had a great volunteer help me. I changed into tri-shorts and threw on my number...ripped the sucker immediately, damn! Made a stop at the bathroom and off to my bike. Decided to run and put my shoes on out of T1 since it was so muddy. Another volunteer held my bike while I put my shoes on. I clip in and I'm about to head out and the chick in front of me falls into my front tire! I almost wiped out, but I had not clipped in yet, so I had a nice save.

Learn to leave the shoes clipped on the bike. What can I say, it just looks friggin cool to mount the bike with them already on!

Not rip my number, darn thing blew in the breeze so I tucked it into my shorts.

Coming out of T1 3 people run across the street in front of me, I yell "oh if you haven't noticed there's a f-ckin race going on!" Yes, I brought my biking road rage to KY.

Told myself to ride MY race and let everyone pass me. I was averaging about 18-19 MPH on the flat section. Within the first few miles, my legs feel bad, really bad....cramping from hip to toes bad, WTF?! This HAS NEVER happened at the start of a ride! I tried eating, drinking, anything to feel better, but nothing worked. Maybe it was the wind, I felt the wind all day, it was relentless. Maybe the cooler temps? No idea, but cramping this early really messed with my mind. If I feel this lousy at mile 10, how am I going to feel at mile 100??

I wanted to cry at mile 10 and about 6 other times during my ride. By mile 20 I really wanted to turn my chip in. I cursed myself for even thinking I could do 2 IMs this year and told myself to DNS IMAZ. Yes, I think about other races, even during an IM. I looked at my arm and remembered I needed to Suck It, this is IM! I thought of everyone tracking me online and thought they would worry about me if I didn't post a bike time, so on I went. I really wanted a hug. I told myself, that some volunteer would give me a hug in T2, so I kept dangling that carrot in front of myself. I began racing for a hug, sad isn't it? Keep telling myself to not cry, because tears would end my day.

At one point I get hit by spit in my face, I yell out "are you f-cking kiddin me!?! I mean, I wanted to cry already and then getting spit on, yuck! I rinsed myself off with some water. At one point I see a guy in a bizarre tri-suit....it has the human muscles structure all over it. It freaked me out for some reason.

My back starts to cramp about mile 60, so I think of Hugh Jackman (yes, Wolverine) giving me a back rub while I'm riding. It doesn't help, but it's a nice fantasy :) I start to think about having fresh legs, doesn;t work. I pass a guy with the phrase "You will do this" on his arm and I say "nice phrase, I have one of my own." I show him my arm and he laughs.

I pass Melissa and she looks like she is having a blast. I eat when I am hungry and try to drink before getting thirsty. A few times people yell out to me "nice roadie!" Finally at mile 80 my legs are feeling better....a friggin 80 mile warm-up, what a pisser! I look at my watch, do some IM math and figure I can go 7 hours.

Now I want to race and I say "bring on the suck!" I keep passing one guy on the up-hill and he says, "You are kicking my azz on the climbs but I got you beat on the downhills" I smile but feel like saying, "dude you out-weigh me by about 60 pounds! Ummm there's a thing called gravity!"

Finally get to the last segment and I pass a woman on the final climb. She says, "I so want off of my bike!" I said, "well, I want an azz transplant!"

Only used the porta-potty once, I really want to beat my time from last year. Told myself, you can pee in T2 and kept repeating "move your azz out of t2, move your azz out of t2"! I wanted to keep my legs moving. Wound up getting off the bike 20 minutes faster than last year, but I know I should have done better.



Not sure what happened with legs cramps from the start of the bike. Throwing cycling tights on is not an option, so no clue what to do different. I pulled every mind trick out of my hat to survive this bike ride.

Came into T2 and saw Tammy standing by my bags and she yelled "looking great! how are you?" I said, "I feel horrible, I need a hug." She said, "oh girl, get over here" and threw her arms around me. I almost melted. I had been waiting for a hug for almost 7 hours and it was AWESOME! I smelled so bad I thought about Amy and wished I had some deodorant :)

Went into the tent and changed in front of the open flap, not than anyone is looking in. Put my running shorts one and my other race number...rip that one too! Damn!

I ask the volunteer helping me "do I have snot on my face?" She says, "no, you look beautiful!" I say "thank you for the wonderful lie" and smile.

I head out of T2 and see Matt at the exit. I run over to him and get another huge hug. Almost cry, but hold it together and continue out of T2. I tell myself "bring on The suck!"

Figure out why I'm ripping my numbers, that sucker was flapping in the breeze on the run! Total pisser!

I head out on the bridge and my legs feel pretty good. I guess it's because they finally woke up at mile 80 on the bike! I see Smoke and Wade on the bridge, they both are looking strong and in good spirits. Once off the bridge I see SweetP and attempt to flash her, and we both get a good laugh out of that.

Out to the main part of the course and I see Jon, I know he is on his second loop without even asking. I'm running and as he approaches he yells, "why are you running?" I say, "the foot feels ok so I'm going with it" and give him a hug.

I keep running and see Smoke running toward me, he yells "Abbie-cakes!" For Smoke, we exchange sweaty-azz grabs. Then I see Amy and Mark (BamaDC) and they are looking strong. They yell at me too, "why are you running!?" (Geez, I guess you guys really do read my blogs) Was really sweet to see so much concern from you guys! Amy grabs my azz and we all walk together for a bit. Off they went to claim their amazing race times!

At one point I am running about 10 yards behind this guy and he farts. He says, "oh, excuse me!" And I say, "no worries, just a little Iron-gas!" The guy next to me laughs and says, "It help with a bit more forward motion!"

I see lots of BTers on the course, everyone is looking good. I am doing run/walk combos of 5/1, 4/1, 3/1 or whatever feels right and my foot can handle. At mile 13 I feel a blister and yell out loud. Of course I didn't pack a band-aid for special needs. I ask for one and none of the volunteers have any. One volunteer heads into the porta-potty and makes and takes a bunch of toilet paper and makes an amazing cushion around my pinky toe! It felt better and off I went in fresh socks.

I finish my first loop and envy everyone finishing, kinda bummed I have another loop. I remember last year being told that IM is a "big dick swinging contest" so I tell myself "get out there and swing your big dick!" This makes me smile and off I go. I see Maura and Melissa, both are smiling. I eat some grapes and bananas at the aid stations. I look at the time and see I can go 14 hours and change!

I'm pumped and try to run as much as I can, but by mile 21 I don't know if my blister or quads hurt more. More walking. Wade comes up to me and he is doing great! He walks with me for a bit and try to match his stride on the run, but I know I can't. I tell him to "go ahead and have a great race"...I had a feeling that he would have slowed his pace just to stay with me to bring me in and I didn't want that to happen. I start to sing "Say My Name" by Beyonce in my head and imagine Mike saying my name when I cross the finish line.

I finally get close and see Matt, I give him a hug and I'm ready to finish. He goes ahead and I run as much as I can. ONe guys says, "you are almost home, you dont need you glow-stick!" I say, "you are right" and give it to him. I make the turn for the finish and see that amazing crowd, the rush! I run and feel strong but hold back a bit to savor the moment. I slap hands down the shoot, and bow before the finish line and here Mike say those amazing words, "You are an Ironman!" I got see some smiling BT faces in the shoot and Tammy catches me, it's only fitting, that she be the one! Tammy you were a huge part of my day, thank you!!!!



I'm not sure I can prevent a stress fracture 2 months out from racing! I dealt with my foot as best I could. I PRed the mary course from last year!

Told Tammy a bit more about my day. Took some pics and went to get my monster blister checked out. Matt helped me hobble around and I really wanted to watch the last people come in later, but my legs were toast.


Blister and little run training leading up to race day.


I PR'ed this race by 49 Minutes no complaints on that!! Post race food could have been better, they only had pizza.

Things have been crazy leading up to this race...no job and a stress fracture! A huge thank you to Matt and my BT family for always reminding me to put my best foot forward. Your never-ending support means more to me than I can express.

Ironman continues to amaze me. There is so much we can accomplish, it's mind over matter. Thank you for following my training, but we are not done yet....IMAZ in a few months...bring on The Suck!