Ironman Louisville : Official Thread (Page 41)

I'll never understand why some triathletes feel entitled to crowd support.  I think most people (myself included) think watching grass grow is just as fun.

Congratulations Everyone!  I was down there cheering you all on!  It was a great day; I had several friends cross the finish line ~ some first timers, some seasoned veterans ~ SO happy to see them all.

FWIW ~ I watched weather bug on my phone all day; and the highest it reported was 91.  It was hot, but could have been worse.  Needless to say, that's what you're gonna get if you sign up for IMLOU

Enjoy your post IM bliss ~ you all deserve it!

One word YES!!!

Nope, not again, final ironman of my career, unless I decide to do another one at age 60.  I think 2 ironman races are more than enough for this old fart and my wife agrees. 

Happy for everyone's success' an sorry for other's misfortunes.  There is always next year.

I am not signing up for next year, but encourage anyone on the fence to do this race.  It is very well run, and a neat little city.  Yes, there were some issues, but there always are.  I was happy with my result (10:30), and may retire with that.  19 minutes away from Kona, but it took a lot out of me.  Looking forward to more time with the family...and we may just go to Hawaii anyway

And when I say retire...it may just be a year retirement

I looked for your results. Very impressive yet again!

I was going to send you an email but might as well say it here. I used a LOT of the information you gave me and mixed in some of Jordon Rapp's plan and it worked extremely well. I finished with a 12:16 and had more left in the tank. Slow swim but very solid bike and run for me.

I paced a little too easy on the bike and early on the run, but I'm beyond pleased. The nutrition plan and other tips were a big part of my success. Just wanted to say thanks.

On another note, I saw this mentioned once, but did anyone else think the swim course was long? My time was 10-15 minutes short of what I felt I should've been able to do and really how I felt I was doing during the swim. I also compared the pro swims from last year to this and they appeared to be 5-6 slower. Not complaining. It just seemed odd.

I thought the race was outstanding. Very well run, as I've noticed in all WTC events, and the volunteers and fans were awesome. La Grange was really cool. That gave me a little extra energy each time I went through.

The bike course had much more elevation gain than the ~2,000 shown on the profile. More like ~4-5,000. Pretty fun course, though. And I loved the flat run course.

Heat was a little tough but the low humidity and occasional cloud cover made it much more easy to deal with.

I have talked to multiple people and general consensus is that the swim was approx. 1/4 mile long.

I, too, had nutritional/hydration issues on the bike and went into survival mode just to make it back to T2.  Spent about 30 minutes in the transition medical tent until I continued on the run.

I basically walked the entire marathon and after vomiting 3 times in the last 3 miles, I finished with about 15 minutes to spare before midnight.  My time was over 2 hours slower than last year.

I may take a break (1 year??) and focus on the 70.3 distance.  I will not be in Louisville next year.  My next IM will most likely be in a vacation destination (Cozumel, Brazil, or ???).

Confirmed.  My memory could be faulty, but I remember seeing one camo dressed guy on the Ballard School road portion of the ride.  He was very good at the camo!

I thought yesterday was going to go a lot better than it did.  My swim was 11 minutes slower than the previous year so that kind of set the tone for the whole day.  The temps and headwinds got the best of me. My legs were shot by the time I got back into T2.  I was able to walk 14 miles and then had to call it a day.  My body was shutting down.  No matter how much fluids I took in, I just couldn't stay hydrated. Regarding my health, I am positive I made the right call.  But as far as my pride and ego go, well, they both took a swift kick to the butt.  I would love to do Louisville again, if for no other reason than redemption!  Does anyone know of an IM that takes place in cooler weather?

On a side note, I stayed at the Galt House hotel.  They have a little restaurant on the third floor which has a microwave. Last year they had no problems with heating up the left overs that the athletes were planning to eat for breakfast before the race.  Apparently that changed.  So no microwave.  I needed to reheat my spaghetti or else this would have been a much shorter day.  After about 15 minutes of complaining to the front desk, one of the ladies used their employee microwave to heat it for me.  For the money they charge for the rooms, not having a microwave available to the guests is ridiculous.  I will stay at one of the other hotels nearby. Also, they advertised free wi-fi with the rooms but they charged for it. They said this changed back in February.

I heard that the 2 guys in camo were arrested, as well as the guy who threw tacks on the course.

The woman standing with me didnt finish.  She cut her day short at the run turn and thinks it was for the best.  I ended up on a bed right next to her in the medical tent.  She was in there for 2 hours and they couldnt get an IV in her since she has small veins.  I talked to her yesterday and she was pretty disappointed, but since she had already done this race in 2010, so that probably helped.  I am not sure who Hannah is.  Was she standing with us in line?  Congrats to you as well.

I did not see the guys in camo guys but glad to hear the person who threw the tacks may have been arrested. I gave a tube to one guy that had hit one.

Not sure how they caught the tack guy would be interested to hear.

hi everyone!  Hope you are recovering nicely. 

I thought the day was great weather wise, but you wouldn't have guessed it from all the carnage out there.  I've had several other collegiate swimmer friends mention they thought the swim was long, so that is a big relief!  Even though my shoulder wasn't happen, I thought I had a decent swim, but it was my worst yet. 

I went with my same plan, was riding great, but by mile 80 couldn't eat anymore, had trouble taking in any calories, and at mile 95 started to feel cramping in my quads.  On one tiny hill on the way back both quads seized and I had to stop.  If you saw a pathetic girl on the side of the road rubbing her legs and bent over dry heaving, that was me.  thank god the rest was downhill or flat.  I could pedal if I pointed my toes down.  Got to T2 and thought I was done. Rested, drank coke, took salt, decided I'd try to at least walk one loop.  Managed to do a walk/jog until I saw a distressed friend and decided to just walk until she caught me, which wasn't until 13. Walked some more with her, then saw another friend that could only take in water, and stayed with her.  She really worried me, and at that point, was walking a few more miles going to hurt? I did the math and knew I could finish. 

Now my feet? they were NOT ready to walk a marathon! 2 inch blisters on the balls of my feet.  But I did finish, got my medal, a shirt in the wrong size that doesn't fit (second time!!! really??) but I made it. 

Tough tough day.  Lots of folks with cramps out there. I handed out tums to 4 people, tylenol to a few others.  I witnessed two crashes, came upon another on the drop your chain hill on Ballard School, and talked to a guy that also crashed.  Plus I had a friend in the race that got taken out at a water stop and hit her head on the ground, ended up finishing the race with a concussion. Combine that with the tacks....brutal day.  Congrats to all.

Oh, I forgot, my happiest moments?  Playing Jenga with the frat boys on the run and petting two horses on Ballard School.

@Turtlegirl:  I think your bike ride went about like mine.  

Felt great until mile 70 or so.  Things quickly went south and my planned 18MPH pace dropped to 15.  Ended up dry heaving a couple of times on the side of the road and each hill brought new creative ways to peddle without involving my quads as they would cease up if I did much more than look at them.  Hah, it was fun. 

Both feet had huge blisters on the pads and hurt so bad that I could barely put weight on them.  Considered taking a nap in T2 but figured I had 8 hours and worst case I could walk a marathon in that much time.  Out the door I went and ended up finishing just after 10PM.  Ran a little but walked most of it saving just enough in the tank to run the last 1/4 mile or so.  

Finishers chute was amazing and my family was all there to greet me.  I had a blast but right now have no desire to do that distance again.  I think 70.3 is the perfect distance.  Long enough to be a challenge but not so long that I get bored.