Ironman Louisville : Official Thread (Page 2)

I did Louisville this past year and wanted to toss out a few things that I would have loved to have known prior to for planning and just a few general things. Hope this is helpful to some and good luck to all.
Logistics:When considering your hotel location it's important to realize how spread out this venue is. A mile to transition race morning might seem short but then add you have a decent walk to the swim start and the reverse trip after the race. Finish line to your morning bag pick up is 2 blocks down and then you can catch a shuttle to transition but have to get your bike and bags back to your hotel on your own. What may seem like a minor thing can become a painful long walk post race if you dont have helpers with you. If you have people or a person to bring with you to help I highly recommend it!
Race morning was pretty cold while you wait. The line formed fast and went on and on. We got there pretty early but were far down. They let family members and friends sit in line with athletes which obviously would stretch the line farther. Be prepared to sit in the cold wet grass or on concrete. Very little lighting and no speakers so you cant hear what's being announced. This part I thought was frustrating just because you didnt know what was happening and no national anthem nothing- just wing it. The morning clothes bag was handed off to a volunteer as you walked down the ramp which was awesome so you can keep your feet warm until the very end. If you hear about a sandbar just past the island- it's real and pretty large so stay to the left if you can.
Bike special needs is off the route, it's in the parking lot of the school so you need to plan to lose a little time there if you choose to use this.
Finish line is amazing. The chute into it is very narrow so you can slap hands on both sides really easily. Its a beautiful course and the business and people in Louisville all seemed so welcoming and happy to have us in their city. I hope everyone enjoys it and has a great race!
Amy

Thank you for the little cheat sheet of what to look out for. I am driving down from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada and it is always nice to have an idea of the area and what to expect before, during, and after the race.

Just signed up on Sunday as my Valentine's Day present to myself! This will be my 3rd Ironman! I wasn't going to race this year because I'm getting married and starting grad school, but my OCD got the best of me. See you all on October 9th! Cannot wait to cross that finish line again!

Just wanted to pop in and say hello. This WILL be my first Full Ironman and I'm looking forward to it. I was signed up for Ironman PPD (NC), but when they offered everyone a free transfer I jump on it after reading so many good things about this race.

http://www.runningalife.com/ironman-louisville-course/

Read this for a thorough course review. The one difference is the bloggers review was for the August race.
As for the swim. I got in line with my buds an hour before the start. We were nearly a mile back. People that got in the back of the line as it was moving hit the water maybe 10 minutes after us. This year I'm sleeping in....if you expect to be close to the 16.5 hours time limit you may want to camp out...

I just signed up, was originally going to do IM CdA but a few bike crashes/associated injuries have put me back on training. Just happy that general entry slots were still available.

Welcome and sorry to hear about the injuries. Maybe with you now on board we can make this a way more active group

I've been lurking

Training has been going pretty good thus far (besides a slight back tweak this weekend). Swim distance up to 1.5 miles, biking for a few hours at a time for long sessions and runs up to 12 miles. Assuming my back just needs a rest for a few days, I'll be getting to the 2/75/20 goal in a month.

My bike should be ready today. The last crash ended in a broken base bar (stock aluminum on my Felt B14) so I upgraded to carbon base bar and carbon aerobars. New left brake, new bar end shifters. Luckily only a few chips on the fork and no damage on the frame. Hoping to get a good ride in after work today. Got back in the pool on Tuesday after 3.5 weeks off. Was good to get back in the water.

I took my first long ride on my new bike yesterday. The 93 mile "Tour de Lumberjack." I'm really happy with the way the bike performed and the ride was a great confidence builder. I still have a lot of work to do between now and October. I have to admit that at the end of the ride I thought OH $#it I will have to run a marathon after that. haha

My swim is in great shape. I'm still targeting a few more long runs and bikes in the next few weeks.

I felt the same way Sunday after a half marathon. I ran a PR and went non stop (also a first at 13.1), but the thought of it doubled and after 2.4 and 112 had me shaking my head. It doesn't help that this was at the end of an almost 2 week vacation with no cycling and only walking / hiking. Still got 10 weeks so I have time and know what i need to

Had a nice 16 miler this weekend. Was suppose to rain all weekend so I stayed closer to home instead of driving to a state park to get a good SBR in. Of course, not a drop of rain... So next week I will head out for a nice 5-6 hour SBR session. Targeting 1.5 mile swim, 50 mi bike and 9 mi run. 68 days!

Had a great ride yesterday, did the Sunflower to Roses bike tour (Cancer research fundraiser) on the TT. My first long ride with the new base bar/aerobar setup. I moved the aerobars a little closer together as I'm getting more used to it. The bake levers are a little more forward than my old setup so still dialing things in. My original plan was to ride 5+ hours by going out at 5:45 and getting about 30 miles before the bike tour but I ended up sleeping in so only did 67 miles. But I had a great ride and am feeling good today so my long(ish) run tonight will hopefully go well.

Glad to hear everyone's training is going well. This will be my first IM and I can't wait... 68 days to go!

I crashed going downhill at 40 mph a few weeks back (completely my fault, I'm an idiot) but everything seems to have survived aside from one water bottle cage. My neck is still bugging me a bit and my hip is a little tender, but it could have been much worse. My mountain bike friends like to joke that us triathletes have no bike handling skills, but I was able to hold the skid long enough to aim myself towards the grass/weeds on the side of the road and I think that helped. My new helmet should be here today... PSA, helmets are designed for one impact so even if it looks fine you should probably replace it as the foam layer you can't see can be damaged.

I've been battling an IT band injury since last October and my run is suffering. On the bright side, I'm up to 5 miles at a time without pain and am doing that several times per week. My weekly mileage is in the 18-20 range and I hope to keep extending that. I've tried just about every treatment option available with minimal success. I will just keep plugging along and do my best come October.

Not to be all doom and gloom... I did a practice Ironman swim maybe 6 weeks back at 1:08 and was happy with that considering I haven't been much of a swimmer until earlier this year. Scott (k9car363) has helped me with my swim (with everything actually as he's my coach). For now swimming is going into more of a maintenance mode as we focus on the bike and the run.

I rode my first century of the year this past weekend and was pleased with the results. I was on my road bike but rode with friends who were on tri bikes and I was able to keep up. We averaged 20 mph for the ride and I figure the road bike costs me 1-2 mph compared to my tri bike, so it was definitely a great workout. Overall, things are looking up and I can't wait for October to roll around. Hope training is going well for everyone else!

What kind of wetsuits (if applicable) are people wearing? I'm watching some race footage and I have not seen a full sleeve suit. I have both sleeve(less) suits but if sleeved is not allowed for a particular reason then I will practice with the sleeveless.

Nevermind, it looks like wetsuits were not legal due to the race being held in Aug. Looked at some footage from last year and there are some sleeves. Cheers all!

Edited by deboerkj 2016-08-04 10:05 AM

I did Louisville IM last year and I must say it was awesome. Since it was my first I was worried about the line and such for the swim start but after I put the air in my tires at transition and got to the wait line I was a good bit back but the line flew by. One thing to keep in mind is that you should go to the bathroom as early as possible. I went to stand in line for the porta-jon about 45 minutes before the gun blew to start the swim and I waited for about a half hour. Just something to keep in mind that morning.

I wore a full sleeved wet suit and was really comfortable in it. I am someone that get warm pretty easily and I wasn't too warm at all in it. Do take a sweatshirt with you for when you wait in line it is pretty cold that early in the morning, but the water was much warmer than I thought it was going to be.

The first 10 and last 10 miles of the bike are as flat as you can expect. The bike itself is a great ride. There are some hills but as long as you are getting in some hill work during your long training rides I think you will be fine. In my long training rides I was getting about 5000 feet of elevation gain and I found that the elevation gain on the race course wasn't as bad as I anticipated. Going through La Grange on the bike is a huge pick-me-up when you are feeling like the bike is never going to end.

The worst thing about the entire race is the turn to start second lap on the run. When you make the turn to go to lap two you run about 30 yards short of the finish line. It sucks.

Aid stations on the run are about every mile. They are stocked with a bunch of good stuff and they have base salt people handing out stuff every couple of aid stations. Take advantage of it to not cramp. It worked well for me. I was dead coming down the home stretch but when I knew I was like a mile away that was maybe the fastest I ever ran. I did make sure to take it slow going down the chute. I finished around 9:30 p.m. and there were still wall-to-wall people there. Make sure you soak it all in, especially anyone doing it for the first time.

The volunteers at Louisville are awesome. Anything I needed they were there. They were maybe the nicest people I have ever met in my life. You will need them at some point in the race for something and they will be there. Just outstanding people.

Good luck to everyone doing the race. I am so glad that I picked Louisville to do my first IM. If you are a beer drinker (I am) make sure you go around the day after and hit up some of the local breweries (I did). They have good stuff down there. I am not a bourbon, but I made sure to try some. When in Rome, right?

Thanks for the info.

Thanks for all this great info! During my training session yesterday, I was wondering how the bathroom situation would work out with the line. I'm one to go a few times before my race, which I'm sure is normal. #1 I'm not too worried about, but the #2's is where my concern is. 61 days ladies and gents!

I don't know about anyone else, but I'm getting to the point where I'm starting to get nervous/excited for the race. Every good workout I feel like I'm getting closer to my goal. It is an awesome feeling.

Did my longest run in a while yesterday, 10.5 miles. I won't be as "Iron-fit" as I wanted to by October but I'll be up to the task of 140.6 miles at least.

You will do it! I did an OLY distance S/B/R yesterday. I've have a long run of 16 miles so far. I'll make sure I get a few 20 mile runs in before the race. My biggest hurdle is finding the time to get the 4-5 hour bike sessions in.

I hear ya. Big decision for me this weekend, got Nationals Saturday and on Sunday my cycling team has a 72 mile road race. My daughter's going with me to Omaha so I thought Sunday we could check out the Zoo. She's been there before but.....

If I do the 72 mile road race I'll be on the roadie and the total riding time will be less than 3.5 hours. Pace will be faster than IM pace but I'll also be sucking wheel for a while unless I get dropped.

The good thing is It's my first IM so no pressure on my finish time , not quite Kona fit just yet.