Ironman Louisville : Official Thread (Page 4)

I raced the Cedar Point half this past year. It was a great event and would recommend Rev3 to just about anyone.  I know a couple of people that have done the full there and others that are doing it this next year.  It's a smaller race and definately more "family" friendly.  The bike course is definately more flat than anything you'll see in Louisville. The run had plenty of spectators but was alittle boring since most of it is neighborhood running out & back's. 

If I weren't doing IM Louisville this year, I would be doing Cedar Point.  I just have to experience that "YOU ARE AN IRONMAN" feeling when crossing the finishline......at least once!

At Cedar Point, they called the name and where you were from.

You are going to find people on both sides of this argument.  I firmly believe that this year (2011) we got the benefit of a current.  I can only give you my n=1 experience:

I read many race reports and had expected the current to be of no assistance.  I went into the race expecting a 1:40:xx and with 1:30:xx being an absolute best case scenario (of course this was based on my previous race times).  I swam a 1:22:xx and it remains the only time I've had a time of less than 2:00/100 yards in a non wetsuit swim.  And I've raced 21 times in the past two years (about 2/3 non wetsuit; 1 swim cancelled).  Additionally, exactly one month prior to Louisville I did a 2 mile, non wetsuit swim race in a lake (no currrent) with a time of 1:13:xx (approx 2:05/100 yards).

Given my experience, I will say that I gained 8-12 minutes from the current this year.

Good Luck!

Alan

14:08:xx.  The bike has hills, no doubt (the middle 2/3 of the bike)  First 10-12 miles pretty flat.  Last 20 miles or so = net downhill.  Its not too bad if you have the opportunity to train on hills.  If you have the opportunity, go there and ride the course before the race.  I did this 3 weeks before race day.  This was the most beneficial thing I did in training, without a doubt.  As mentioned before, the iamtri group training days are AWESOME!

Ghost!! As always, it'll be good to see you on course. Question! Are you talking about adding 15-20% to your total bike volume? Power to your longer rides? Or distance of your individual long ride?

I did IMAZ (April Edition) and IMKY in 2008. Swam a 1:12 w/wetsuit in IMAZ and 1:22 in IMKY w/no wetsuit. I did have a lot of life changes/moves within that 4 month span but not enough to make my swim suffer 10 minutes (especially when my swim training for AZ wasn't anything that great haha) . I always assume it'll be a slower swim due to not having a wetsuit. Just as an example

Martin,

Where did you do your 1st?

Although I have not signed up yet, I'm pretty sure I'm going back to Louisville in 2012 for my 2nd.  I had an AWESOME experience this year!

Good Luck!

Alan

Yes it sold out 2-24-11

Got bit by the ironman bug over the holidays last year.

Was planning to work towards it over 2011 and sign up for 2012, but got distracted focusing on the marathon  [sub 3 and all that jazz....], intended to try the darn triathlon in 2012 [I grew up a swimmer and train tri-style so I can't shake the need to TRI!]...
....but what I really want is the ironman.  This year, I can't virtually obsess over it, halfway prepare for it and "hold off" [at 3.5hr rides, etc.] another year to go all the way...
Yes, I have a lot of steps to fill in [HELLO outdoor biking! transitions! changing flats?! Ahh!] but it's time to seal the deal and DO IT....

I'm in. 

Hey Everyone! I am not doing Louisville, but my dad is.

I'll be checking in here from time to time to see how everything is going, and relay some info to him if I see fit.

Good Luck to you all over a long hard training season!!!

Going for Louisville 2013 or Maddison 2013 will decide when it gete closer

Hi all,

I did Ironman Louisville 2011. Here is a little write up about my experience. I never did get around to filling out a race report but I wrote this for a blog. Hope this inspires someone:

Never beyond my wildest dreams would I have thought that so much pain & suffering both mentally and physically would yield the most fulfilling emotional experience I have ever had.

Let’s back up a bit. Ironman 140.6 is a long and lonesome journey (in my case). When I signed up in September of 2010 I knew I was not going to have the same resources as many of my fellow competitors. A personal coach, master’s swim classes, and triathlon clubs are all very valuable and expensive things that I bet many of the other participants probably had leading up to Ironman Louisville. Being the broke young adult I am, I knew I couldn’t afford any of this. So like many lost young people of our generation, I relied on the internet to get information. I quickly found a race plan, shaped it around my work schedule and off I went…

Training to complete Ironman 140.6 took a year of solid hard work, discipline & commitment. If I was going to tackle a 2.4mile swim, 112mile bike & 26.2 marathon in under 17 hours, I needed to be very well prepared. There were weeks I would wake up at 4:30am, head out for a long run, come back to quickly shower and then head to work until 5pm. Then I would change fast so I could get a two-three hour bike in. Head home, shower, use my foam roller for a half hour and then pass out only to repeat the same thing the following day or by swapping the bike workout with swimming. Where did most of my eating take place? On the run, on the bike or on the subway to a swim workout. Meals? Thank god for my wonderful girlfriend who put up with me the past year. She would have delicious food made for me late when I got back.

Being my first Ironman, I had originally planned my finishing goal time to be around 11hrs 30mins but my body decided otherwise. On my last three hour run on August 1st, four weeks prior to Ironman 140.6, I injured my right hip bursa. Hip bursitis is a very nasty injury. I would not wish hip bursitis on my worst enemy. Right above your femur there is a fluid filled sac, the bursa, which protects your bone from rubbing against ligaments, tendons, and other bone. This bursa sac became inflamed because my Illiotibial Band was so tight, it rubbed repetitively too hard on the bursa sac, injuring my right hip. The pain of hip bursitis can be so intolerable at times that it can prevent you from walking correctly or sleeping on the injured side at night.

After visiting a sports orthopedist and my chiropractor, they ordered 6-8+ weeks of rest for a full recovery. Seeing as Ironman 140.6 was only four weeks away, they knew that this was not possible. We tried every trick in and outside the book: kiniseo tape, ultrasound, cortisone injection, ice, heat, Ibuprofen, Active Release Technique (A.R.T), acupuncture, massage, rest, elevation, EVERYTHING. Prior to jumping into the Ohio River for the start of the 2.4mile swim, people were looking at me like I had something wrong with my leg because I was limping.

I have never, ever suffered that much both mentally and physically. My hip began to hurt at mile 20 on the bike but I fought my heart out. Reaching that finish line and hearing Mike Reilly say “Noah Fessler, YOU ARE AN IRONMAN!!!” was the best emotional experience I have ever had. I was in tears because of the pain from mile 22 to the final meters of the marathon. When I turned that final corner and saw the finals meters to go, those tears of pain became tears of absolute joy. I cried while watching my best friend walk outside the barriers cheering me on. I had dreamed about this moment for a year and it was finally here. I crossed that beautiful finish line to tons of cheering onlookers and quickly ascended to cloud 9.

My body felt like it was hit by a Mack truck but I was wearing the biggest smile.

My friend asked me after the race: “What do you think you learned from all the training and getting through the race injured?”

“I can do anything I put my mind to…anything.”