(pace 2:00/100 meters)
Once the gun went off, the line moved at a pretty consistent pace. I had a bottle of water and when we got a few minutes away i put water on my face and spit in my goggles and then rinced them out. (that worked super well!!) Then walked/jogged to the end of the dock and jumped in with my hands on my goggles - entry time: 27 minutes after the gun went off. The volunteer said 'dont jump on anyone' so I didn't and actualy wasn't worried anyone would jump on me. There seemed to be plenty of room in the water. popped up and started swimming! stayed to the right the whole way through the channel. Very little contact and no drafting - it was super open - I couldn't believe it! There was a little current in the channed, and once we got into the open river, I could really feel that we were moving against it. I had to stop really quick to adjust my goggles and I drifted back right into a guy - oops! At one point I looked up and there were people standing in front of me! So I stood up and found the far turn buoy then went back to swimming because the bottom was gross! Fought the current to the turn then sighted the Crab Shack and stayed right and went to town. Swimming down current ws AWESOME!! Still, no real contact. At one point a girl and I kinda got close, we both poped up and said 'sorry!' and went on our ways - funny. My shoulder started to hurt morethan the normal ache about the time of the turn around so I kept it pretty easy and didn't pull at all with my left arm, easy enough where I could breath every 3rd stroke on the whole way down! My goal was to get out of the water without any energy expended and with as little shoulder pain as possible. I veared to the upstream side of the exit and drifted right towards it (thankful for the practice swim or i would have been pushed below the finish because of the current!) grabbed a volunteer's hand and exited up the steps. Felt GREAT and relaxed and like I just swam easy for the entire time. SWIM WIN!! jogged up to transition. I'm really happy with this swim. I swam LESS THAN A DOZEN TIMES all season due to my shouder injury from the bike crash. a 1:17 after essentially not training (I logged a grand total of 13hr 30 min in 2013 for swim training.) for the swim - I'm extatic with that!!

Draft. especially upstream.

Jogged to my bag and into the tent. found a spot without a chair. compression shorts and swimsuit off, bras and top on, bike shorts on, chamios butt'r on, wiped off the feet (THANKFUL i brought a towl - my feet were gross from running across the grass!!) shoes on. then my helper sprayed me with sunscreen (i brought my own) and then rubbed it on me! WHAT A DOLL!! then i ran to my bike, got on and was off. a pretty good transition I'd say:)

I wore a suit and shorts on the swim because I heard the river stains white. I didn't want to stain my cute kit so I opted for a total change. This probably added 3-4 minutes onto my time (getting sports bras, a top and shorts on while wet is a PAIN!) but oh well. :) If i ever did this again, I wouldn't wear white on race day and therefore wouldn't have to change. :)

not change.
so thankful for the towel i put in my bag though to wipe off my dirty feet before putting my shoes on!

After having driven the course, I adjusted my game plan for the bike and went with the mantra "stupid easy." I wanted to stay in Z1 and Z2 for the entire ride. On the way out on River Road I rode in Z1, then spun in my easiest gear up the big hill - the hill was totally packed though so you kinda had to go the speed of the people in front of you - which was fine. Took it totally easy - most of the time I looked at my watch I was in Z1 - good! The out and back part is crazy. you go flying down one side then climb up the other while the people going the other way are doing the opposite of you. I was able to hold conversations on the uphill climb and actually though it was easier than i had anticipated. I never left Z2 on either of those climbs - ion my opinion, the two hardest on the course. After that section I decided I would try to go pee on my bike. I couldnt do it! but wasted every downhill for the next 10 miles thinking about it. Finally I though 'all these people are passing me while i'm coasting trying to pee, i'm just going to stop and let them pass me while actually going pee!' So i quit trying. I remember thinking as I turned onto 303 that I had alot of miles to go so I broke up the course into sections. first the first loop, then the second loop, then back to town. 30 mile sections are totally doable! I was doing good at keeping my HR low on all the hills - i was really happy with that. At every water station I would replace my water bottle, then grab a second, cold bottle and empty the entire bottle on my back and front. This really helped with staying cool!! I drank my gatorade that was on my bike and at SN stopped to grab a second gatorade, put on more chamios butter and get more gu and stingers. I also spent a few minutes applying sunscreen. Smart move - I would have fried without out a reapply!! (I didn't drink ANY perform on the bike - success!!) My fueling schedule: gu at the top of the hour, 1/4 stinger at 20 min and 40 min, salt tab at the 30 min mark and whenever else I felt like having one. Drinking every 10 min at least. This worked out great! But I had to stop twice to pee in the woods. (i found the best super secret spot!) Once on the turn back to Louisville (33 miles to go) I started putting a little more effort in. I actually passed a TON of people on this last section. It would be sooo easy to burn out on those relentless hills, i was super happy with how i held myself back on the hills and with how much energy I had left on the bike. I averaged 19mph on the flat section back to transition while staying in Z2. I was uncomfy in the saddle starting at about mile 80 and was glad to get off my bike, but it wasnt too bad. and the balls of my feet hurt a bit - weird, but not too bad either. I'm really happy with how i rode the bike. I got off feeling like i was able to run! It was hot hot hot out there, but overall, keep cool was pretty good. That course is beautiful. The only thing I didn't like was all the traffic on the course. I got stuck behind cars who couldn't pass bikers and I think in a number of places, it slowed down my bike. I couldn't have lost more than 5 min to the traffic, but still. Way different from the IMWI course in that regard.

maybe push it a BIT more - I NEVER got out of Z2 - not even on any of the hills. I probably could have rode less in Z1 and more in Z2 overall, but you never really know, so I'm happy with this. For a course I've never ridden, I was happy that I came in with lots of energy - I'd much rather go to easy on the bike than to hard!!!

Handed my bike to a catcher and jogged to my bag and into the tent. Shorts off, new shorts on, chamios butt'r on the feet, socks and shoes on. Then I took out my braid and changed it to a ponytail and tied in my cute ribbon (totally worth the time! ;) ) then put on more sunscreen, put on visor and fuel belt and was off. stopped in the GROSSEST PORTA JOHN EVER on the way out of transition for a pee and jogged out. it was slow, but speedie transitions during an ironman aren't my highest priority.

put chamios butt'r on my butt! holy chafe on the run! ouch!

Here's where the challenge of the ironman starts for me.

I felt great coming off the bike - ready to run, but as soon as I started to run I got HOT! hot hot hot hothothot. This was hotter than any day I had trained in all summer. I knew it was going to be a slow run. So I resolved to run to each aid station then walk through the station till the turnaround then reevaluate the plan. oh my gosh it was hot. and slow, and I didn't put sunscreen on my face and the sun was hitting the right side of me and it felt like my face was going to melt off - there was no shade in those first 6ish miles until the turnaround. I was just under the hour mark on my bike so I told myself that I'd have my next gu right away on the run but I felt so hot that I couldn't eat a gu - just the thought of it made me feel nausous! The origional plan was to eat a gu every 4 miles - not happening. so for the first 6is miles, i jogged to the aid stations. at every one I took Ice sponges and wiped my arms and neck off (being very careful not to get my feet wet), i'd refill my handheld water bottle with ice water (i'm sooo glad I decided to carry that!) drank water, a sip of broth (they had broth out early!) and on a whim, decided to drink coke starting at about mile 4. I knew i wasn't feeling the gu and would need sugar so I opted for the coke. it didn't upset my stomach and gave me the energy to make it to the next aid station - i'm totally drinking it again in the future!! Didn't drink a drop of perform - I HATE that stuff! I stopped to pee in the porta john at about mile 4. I was walking longer and longer past the aid stations because i was soooooo hot! but I told myself that not feeling like running was not a valid excuse to not run. no one out there felt like running! so i ran - slowly. from the turnaround to the finish area was super slow too. I talked to a few people and just kept slowly getting from one aid station to the next. At the turnaround I saw Josh and he walked with me for a bit. it took me 3 fricking hours to run a half marathon. he told me to keep going. that i was doing good and just pumped me up. I tried to eat a gu at mile 13ish and couldn't get it down - yuck! at that point there was more shade so although it was still in the upper 80's it felt cooler and I was able to pick up the pace alot on the second half. Still walking at the water stops, but running faster between them. it took alot of mental effort, but i kept thinking about madison last year and how nausous I was then. i wasn't nausous now (maybe because I didn't have any gu or perform?!) so i said 'keep going tracy! dang it!' (about mile 16 I stopped for another potty break). It took a pretty big mental and physical effort (my feet hurt like hell!), but I ran the second half of the marathon in 2:15 - 45 minutes faster than the first half! Truthfully, one of the things that kept me going was the fact that so many people were tracking me back home. Even though there werent on the course, I still was motivated by them! The last 3 miles were super tough, but I keep thinking of the finish line and the magic there. I pushed hard thru the last mile and ran to the last block. At that point I slowed to a jog, then to a walk and enjoyed the finish shoot and walked over the finish line.

My goal for the day was 'somewhere in the 14's. After the second half of the marathon, I thought that if I tried super hard, I could finish in under 14hrs. To finish in 13:50 on a SUPER hot day, on a course I've never seen, after taking 3.5 weeks completely off in june after my crash - I was STOKED!! There were things I could have done better, but I have to focus on the success of this day. I'm super happy with it and my effort level!!



Start running again right after leaving the aid stations.

My finisher caught me and I waved him off, slowly made my way to a trash can and puked within 2 minutes of finishing. I never felt nausous during the run (a HUGE improvement over last year!!!) but it came after. After I puked i felt a ton better, but still went to get an IV and some zofran. Then I had a piece of pizza and walked to the car. Grabbed the bike from transition and went back to the hotel. What a great day. a super duper great day! :)


taking 3.5 weeks off from training in june. the heat.


What a great adventure! I had origionally planned to get a foundation spot for IMWI this year and when they sold out I was crushed!! I choose IMLou because it was close in time to WI and the training schedule would be pretty close. Turns out this was meant to be. I had a great time and I'm so thankful I got to experience a different IM venue. It was a great course, great town, great volunteers, great new friends. I'm so glad I did LOUISVILLE!!!!!

THANKFUL!!!