Ironman Louisville - TriathlonFull Ironman

Just not great. All around average. Had a little confusion/disorientation with navigation, but nothing too major. Didn't stay on feet well--but hard to in muddy water. I wish this was a below average swim for me, but it was really a realistic result. I have lots of room for swim improvement.

Be a little more aggressive (with pace, with staying on feet).

Not bad compared to previous ironman. Had shoes and helmet on the bike; so basically just removed speedsuit, dried arms, sprayed on sunscreen, and put on arm coolers.

Need to get smoother getting feet into shoes.

Still had to pee on the bike a lot. Felt much better after one stop to do it fully and properly. Never had to pee in training this year or in any race other than previous ironman. Don't know what's best. Don't like being uncomfortable on the bike, but don't like stopping (also don't want to risk dehydration or insufficient calories).
Hills were tough. I knew from camp that this course is over 1 mph slower than same effort anywhere I normally train. But I wish that I hadn't faded that much during the bike.

Not a whole lot other than train even more on bike portion, emphasizing hills. For ironman it's really all about the bike on race day. Swim is a warmup and depends on technique more than fitness. The run speed you're left with 8 hours into the race seems to depend on natural run ability more than on run fitness. Plus the speed of an ironman marathon may have as much to do with bike form on race day as it does on run form.

OK. Felt slow. Bag knotted, undressed, put on Bodyglide/socks/shorts/new shirt/hat, sunscreen, grabbed 2 FuelBelt bottles. Volunteer very helpful.

Not much. Maybe next time I won't change shirt and shorts.

Felt OK overall. Just had the inexorable slowing that seems inevitable. At the beginning 8 minute pace feels slow, and by the end 9:30 pace feels fast.

Not much during the race. I don't think I started crazy fast. Would try to train more for the bike, especially during off season. I don't think you can really train well for the run before ironman. I think preparing for a fast marathon before starting ironman training is the way to go (like we did for Toledo and Boston). Just can't do much quality run work along with all the bike volume. Over half the race is on the bike, and the marathon totally depends on the form you had for the bike, so I say HIT THE BIKE.

Walked. Tried to take an ice bath, but hotel machine ran out of ice and hotel water wouldn't get very cold.


No wetsuit. Lack of swim ability (technique). Poor drafting.
Bike hills. Inability to sustain power on the bike. Bladder discomfort during both bike and run.
Gradual slowing during the run. Not sure how to combat this (more calories? better bike form? run form? more or less hydration?).


Very good venue and great volunteers. I had high and unrealistic hopes after 11:02 IMFL last November. I really thought I could do 10:30s. I was quite a bit more fit (bike especially), and executed well (no real mistakes with pacing/nutrition/hydration). But swim and bike course here were just that much tougher. And maybe it just wasn't an "on" day for me, bike especially. But I'm still proud of the results. Respectable run, respectable overall time.