A pretty good swim.... I was in awe as Parachuters and Hot Air Balloons floated above me celebrating this great event. It was a time trial start and sp I jumped in with Wii. The last I saw of her until the run...

Nada.....

At the changing tent I put on dry bike clothes and vaselined my toes. My aid put Desitin on my shoulders and suntan lotion on. I took a little more time than I should have but no harm done... It's shaping up to be a long day in the heat...

Nada

Harder than i realized. Jimbo Loretta had warned me that this course was tough.... HE was right. No relief. I'd think I'd rather deal with 4 or 5 really hard climbs and then some flats, but this course was always rolling... There is nothing small about rolling hills.

Get a different cassette for the rear. I felt I was working too hard at the 25....

Back in the changing tent, my butler helped me out of my clothes and I changed into dry clothes. I dried my self off and re-applied sunscreen due to the intense sun.

I cleaned my feet and re-applied Vaseline in between my toes. Put on the Newt's and OFF I went...

Shave- because I could have broken the World's record for the slowest transition if I'd just taken 45 more seconds....

I ran the whole thing.... No walking except for 5 water stations... I felt really good about that. Oh... I took 3 dookies on the course... The port-o-lets were like 130 degrees inside... On my third duke, I did it with the door open to get some ventilation and I actually said hello to a few runers that looked at me....

With 10K left, I increased my speed and finished strong...... I could have kept running which gave me the feeling that I didn't push hard enough. BUT no complaints... I managed well and on the conservative side...


FIRST RUN SEGMENT 4 mi. (44:42) 11:10/mile
SECOND RUN SEGMENT 4.3 mi. (51:21) 11:56/mile
THIRD RUN SEGMENT 4.15 mi. (53:47) 12:57/mile
FOURTH RUN SEGMENT 3.5 mi. (42:58) 12:16/mile
FIFTH RUN SEGMENT 4.3 mi. (54:56) 12:46/mile
SIXTH RUN SEGMENT 4.15 mi. (47:29) 11:26/mile
FINAL RUN SEGMENT 1.8 mi. (17:57) 9:58/mile
TOTAL RUN 26.2 mi. (5:13:10) 11:57/mile 772 115

Run a bit harder... Trade some of the 12 minute pace segments for 10's... That would have been nice.

I loved finishing strong... Saw Jess twice on the course- NICE!!!!!!

Sat down with family at 4th Street Live and just relaxed for a while.. Walked 4 blocks to the hotel


NADA...


An AMAZING event put on by Steve McFessel... I encourage everyone to race in an event that is put on by WTC and not by NA Sports. There is a HUGE difference.. This was a BIG deal to the people of Louisville. EVERYONE was welcoming and super hospitable- like I have never experienced before. I was treated like a ROCKSTAR by everyone for 6 days....

It seemed like the people of Louisville were well educated on this event and even my hotel room maid service knew about the distances... Everything was PERFECT!!! Volunteers like I had never seen before... They were tutored and they all had answers to any question I'd throw out...

I will try and do this race again in 2010....

Almost left out my training partner.... Linda Wienants... There from day one trying to catch up to me and there at the finish line waiting for me to finish..... That sums it up. But that's not enough.....

Commitments are sacred.... When one is made, it is often difficult to stick to them with all that life throws at us. During the past 20 weeks, under the threat of rain, thunder, lightning, wind, snow sleet and yes- even a few mudslides, Wii was there at the oddest times of the morning and night representing what this sport is about... It is a privilage to have met and been able to train with someone like Linda.... AMAZING!!!!!