This was my first OWS race without a wetsuit. I know that I always have somewhat of a panic attack on the swim, and the fact that I wasn't in my wetsuit made me a little nervous. However, once we started I was so comfortable and was having such a good time that I forgot to freak out....oh darn! I really enjoyed each and every minute of this swim. The water was perfect. I am a bit dissapointed with my swim time. I'm definitely faster than this, but then again, i'm not used to swimming with 50 other people in my lane either.

Nothing.

I was in no real hurry here. It was a long run from the swim exit to transition and I just wanted to make sure I didn't forget anything.

Nothing

I didn't come into this race with a taper. It's a tune-up race for IM Louisville. With that being said, I had no real plans of trying to set any type of record.......that was until I started riding. I was surprised at how fast I was going at the start, so I decided to push it a little bit. That turned into pushing even harder in an attempt to see what I had.

We hit the first turn and I quickly realized why I was going to fast in the beginning....a tailwind. I was now in a cross to headwind. The wind changed with the turns, but for approx. the last 20 miles we had a tailwind again. I was cruising along at 20-27 mph. I knew going this fast for that long was going to ramp up my average pace, and I wanted to see what I could do. As we made the turn off of the main course, I looked and saw my avg pace was over 20 mph. I didn't want that to drop, so I pucshed really hard to the end. I was happy with my performance on the bike, but nervous of what it would do for my run.

Nothing

Again, I wasn't in any real hurry here.

Nothing

I felt fantastic at the begining of this run. I started out running in the low 8's, which I knew was way too fast. I slowed down a bit and ran a pace that was comfortable. I didn't care what it was, just as long as it felt like I could run it all day. I was taking advantage of each and every aid station as far as fluids and sponges. That worked great and I continued to feel really good until the turn-around.

At that point I was getting hotter and felt I drank too much. I also realized that I had not urinated all race, which is not common for me in races. I usually have to pee so bad when I get off the bike, but I didn't have to. I chalked it up to the salt tabs and kept on going.

By mile 8, I started to decline a bit. It got progressively worse with each mile that went by. I wanted to walk so bad, but I wouldn't allow myself to actually do it. I knew I would be close to a PR, so I wanted to keep going and see if I could do it.

With about a mile and half to go, I saw a guy on the side of the road who was out cold and being treated by a mdeic. I remember thinking how bad that would suck and how unfair it is to come all that way and not be able to finish.

They sure do have a sense of humor with the big hill right before you exit the road and down to the finish. That was a smoker! I was really happy to get to the finish and gave a fist pump as I crossed.

I looked down at my watch and hit the stop button......5:41 and some change, which was a PR for me at this distance by 7 minutes. I was really happy with that.

Nothing

I walked around and talked to a few guys from my tri group who also did the race. I found David, got some food, walked around a bit then left for home.


Heat and rolling hills on the run


This was my first Ironman brand race. I was impressed with the show of volunteers.....almost matched the number of volunteers with participants! That's pretty awesome.