Ironman Louisville Race Report

I'm so sorry for the delay in getting this blog out. I've been a little tired from the race, getting packed and getting home. It's been a crazy 24 hours, but I will do my best to recap my race day experience.

The day started at 0400 with every alarm we owned going off within a few seconds of each other. About 0415 room service showed up with my morning breakfast, which consisted of a bacon & cheese omelet, wheat toast and coffee. I also had a banana and a peanut butter and honey sandwich. I was also drinking gatorade to start hydrating. We departed the room at 0500 for the great lawn (transition area) to check my bike, pump up my tires and walk thru transition one last time. Once everything was set we walked to the swim start, which was about 3/4 of a mile up the river at Tumbleweed Marina. The swim start is a time trial start so we had to get in line, which was about 2500 people long by the time we got there. I was in line with Lisa, Matt, Joe, Don, Kelly and Connie. All folks from Va Bch/Norfolk area.

The cannon went off promptly at 0700 but it took us 31 minutes to get to the water. They could only put about 4 people at a time in the water. We waited and moved, waited and moved until finally it was time. I started my timer when I crossed the timing mat and jumped in the water. The swim was interesting and not really all that hard once I got into a rhythm. It was crowded and I swam over and passed a lot of people. I got kicked in the hands, face and even in the junk once. About two miles in I got cramps in both legs and had to float along for about one minute until I could start moving again. I was worried at that point but somehow I managed the rest of the day without any cramps. I finished the swim strong and ended with a time of 1:08:24.

T1 went smoothly, except that I had a very upset stomach. I had hoped for a faster transition but the way it was set up it would have required sprinting the entire thing to get below three minutes. I got dressed into socks, shoes, riding jersey and helmet as fast as possible and off I went in search of my bike. I bypassed all volunteers putting on sun screen since I had my own spray-on sun block. I finally got on the bike after a T1 time of 5:46.

The bike course was very crowded. It was nearly impossible not to be in a drafting position, which is illegal. The bike went well for me other than my stomach not being happy. It took about two hours for my stomach to settle down. I only ate one of my three peanut butter and honey sandwiches, but I did force down a gel every 20 minutes. I rode as hard as I possibly could on that ride despite it being very hilly. Most of the 32 miles going back to transition was into a 5-10 mph wind which really didn't help any. I managed to finish the bike with a time of 5:39:00.

T2 went smoothly as well. When I came back to the bike dismount line, I handed my bike to a volunteer and ran down the shoot to get my bike-to-run transition bag. I quickly put on my shoes, took off my riding jersey and headed out. I did stop in a port-a-potty while in transition and noticed that I was dehydrated. It was about 95 degrees by this time. My T2 time was 4:33.

I thought I was doing well on the run but it was brutally hot. The heat, plus being a bit dehydrated, put the brakes on my run. After 3 miles I started walking through each water station. Did I mention it was 95 degrees? I also drank 3-4 cups of water at every station. My strategy was to run from water station to water station. I think I was also behind on my nutrition since I missed about 2 hours of food on the bike. Now I love to run and this was one hard run. I just couldn't put together a faster time. I just wanted to keep moving to the finish line since that was the fastest way to stop the pain. I finally passed the 25 mile marker and knew that it was almost over but that didn't really put any pep in my step. I just continued to grind away until I turned the corner onto Fourth Street and could see the finish line. Those last two blocks were the easiest park of the race. It was awesome to run down the street knowing that I had made it to the finish line. I was going to be an IRONMAN. I did the run in 4:14:06.

My final time was 11:11:49 and that gave me an 8th place finish in my age group (45-49).

I have to mention my supporters. Thank you Lisa! You have been with me since I started this adventure and you've always been the voice of reason. I really appreciate your support, pep talks and the "you can do it" attitude even when I was not feeling it. It was inspiring to see you when I finished the swim, started the bike, halfway thru the bike, at the bike finish, run start, run halfway point and of course the finish line. Thank you for sharing the emotional moment with me at the finish line. I don't have those moments often but I'm glad that I got to share that with you. Mom and Dad thanks for making the trip and running around all day trying to keep up with me. I appreciate all that you've taught me in my life. I applied all of those lessons to getting me through the day. I also want to thank all of you that have been reading my blog over the last months. Thanks!!

Now for the big news!! I've signed up for Ironman Canada for next year on 28 August 2011. So the blog will continue and I hope that you'll continue to follow me in my adventure.

I'm going to take the week off and rest.

Have a good day!!

This is it!!

Well friends this is the last blog before the race. I want to thank each and every one of you for following me to this point. I don't know all of you but I do appreciate you taking this journey with me. I'm excited to get this going but I'm also sad that it's coming to and end. My training has become a big part of my life. I know that this will not be the last Ironman for me. I hope that some of you will join me for triathlon races in the future. It's not about being the fastest, it's about living and enjoying our life's to the fullest. Thank you again for your support.

I Officially started this journey on 1 Dec 2009 with a 12 minute swim. I've gone a long way since that first workout. As a matter of fact, I've gone 2463.55 miles in the last 9 months.

Here is the breakdown:

Swim - 65.46 miles over 36:40:10 for an average of 33:36 per mile.
Bike - 1898.3 miles over 101:00:07 for an average of 3:12 per mile.
Run - 499.84 miles over 63:23:21 for an average of 7:36 per mile.

Tomorrow on race day you can follow me online at www.ironman.com
When you get to that page you'll see a LIVE window in the middle top of the page with Ironman Canada and Ironman Louisville. Click on the Athlete Tracker for Ironman Louisville. My bib number is 2481 and my age group is 45-49. There are timing mats that I cross a number of time during the day that update my position.

Once again thank you for your support. It's been an awesome adventure that I plan to do again and again. I hope you'll follow me tomorrow on my race as well as in the future.

Have a great day!

Today I did an 18 mile bike on the ironman course. Me and a group of friends rode out River rd and back. It was a very easy pace going out but we did hit it coming back home. The bike felt good...I felt good!

I then drug the whole family down to the expo for athlete check in, only to find out that they can only go so far. So I continued solo and got weight, signed waivers and received my race packet. On a side note I ran into a guy, Mark R., that I haven't seen since 1986 when were in the Army together. It's a small world.

After getting all checked in we loaded up my dad's truck and went for a little drive.
An 80 mile drive to be exact. That's all of the bike course you need to drive since 32 miles is repeated twice. I'll tell you I don't remember the hills being this tall when I was here riding a few weeks ago. Not to worry though because my legs are rested and ready to go.

Tonight I'm going to the Age group athlete meeting. This is were we'll get the rules about drafting, littering, etc told to us again. Then it's early to bed.

Have a great day!

Louisville, KY

Well after another normal flight on Delta airlines we finally made it to Louisville. I say normal because Delta hasn't been able to get me anywhere on time in the last few months. I'm just over their delays and cancellations.

OK back the good things....

We arrived in Louisville and were meet at the airport by my parents. Who drove all the way from Amarillo to see me and Lisa. We got checked into our hotel, which is right downtown and one block from the finish line, so I don't have far to walk when this is over. We then retrieved my bike from the company that transported it here and took a walk around the transition area. It was an awesome feeling walking around that area and looking at everything. I can't wait to see it full of bikes and people running every which way.

We then had a very nice dinner at the Red Star on 4th Street Live. Which just happens to be right where the finish line is going to be set up. It's an awesome place for a race finish. After that we headed across the Ohio river to see Matt W. who had the race wheels I'm going to be using. Once we had my bike set up and race ready we headed back to our hotel to end the day.

More to follow tomorrow. Have a good day!

Today I did a 3 event workout, all of them at a very easy pace. I started the day with a 45 minute bike. I rode on a Greg Lemond spin bike. My bike is gone to Louisville. I then did a 15 minute tread mill run at 8 minute pace. It was easy and my heart rate never got above 130 BPM. I hope that is a good sign! I then did lunch and some work before heading home. On the way I stopped at the fleet rec 50m pool for some easy laps. I did 300m free, 4x50m lt/rt (left hand only/right hand only), 300m free, 4x50m tips (dragging my fingers tips on the water as I recover), 300m free, 4x50m catchups, 300m free, done. I did 1800 meters total. All of these workouts were done at an easy pace just to keep my body loose.

Tomorrow morning Lisa and I are heading to Louisville so I'll be blog from the event sight tomorrow night. YEAH!!

Have a great day!!

Well I was suppose to swim today but work got in the way. So I ended up rowing 5000 meters and then running 4 miles. The row took me 20:37. That is the first time I have ever rowed that far so hopefully I won't be sore tomorrow. I did the run in 30:30 and just maintained a nice relaxed pace. I'm really looking forward to getting this race going.

We are still closing up loose ends before the trip on Thursday. Lisa had to pick up some race wheels for me from Fat Frogs. We then met at Starbucks to listen to her daughter sing at open mic night. Then I had to run the wheels down to Chesapeake to Matt's house. Matt is also competing in Ironman Louisville and is driving to the race. So he's carrying the race wheels. Thanks Matt!

Have a good day!

Today I took my girls down to the ocean front to watch Lisa and her daughter run a 5k. They did great! Lisa's daughter was the winner of the 14 and under group. Great job ladies!!

I then headed home for an easy bike followed by a hard run. I did 45 minutes on the bike spinning at >100 RPM. I then changed into my running gear and did a 53:54 run covering 7.3 miles. It was a good day and that is pretty much my final bike/run workout of this program. The rest of my bike/run workouts are going to be easy and short.

I took my bike to 3 sports in Richmond today. A company called Tri Bike transport is going to pick up my bike and take it to Louisville. The nice thing about Tri Bike transport is I only have to take the pedals off. The bike is shipped on a special trailer completely intact. I'm feeling like I left a child with a stranger! I'm going to have nightmares about them forgeting my bike until I see it in Louisville Thursday. The company owner has promised me a call Monday morning when they pick it up. I'm hoping everything goes well.

Have a good weekend!

Today I went back to were my riding really started and rode with the group at Fat Frogs Bike and Fitness. Let me just say that the the guys that work that shop are awesome! They are very knowledgeable and very helpful. They somehow put up with all my questions and never even smirk or giggle. I need to say a special thanks to AJ, he knows why. Thanks AJ!!

I had a good ride and run. My ride was 35 miles in 1:43:00. I rode half the time with the Fat Frogs group and the other half alone. When I got back to my car I changed my shoes and headed out for a little run. I did 4 mile in 30 minutes. I'm so ready for this race to get started. I'm sure by next weekend I'll be going crazy to get this started. Strangely, I want to get it started and but I don't want it to end either. I've put so much time and effort into this race. Nine months of my life have been committed to this one event. The reward is the finish line and I'll go as hard as I possibly can to get to that point.

Have a good day!

I was planning to run/swim today but my flying job took up most of the day. I did manage to find enough time for a 45 minute run. I started the run planning to just run but after about 10 minutes I decided to work in 4 x 5 minute intervals with 3 minute running recoveries. I did the intervals and felt very good. I probably could have just ran the entire run at interval pace. I ended up doing 6.27 miles in 44:57. That my friends is a 7:10 per mile pace. I'm feeling very good about my planned 8:00 minute pace for the marathon. The taper continues......

Have a great day!

Today I did a swim/bike workout. I decided to swim at lunch because it was raining like crazy when I wanted to ride my bike. So I headed up to the indoor pool at Ft. Eustis and did my workout there. I did 3400 total meters but I only timed 1500m of it. Mainly because I don't time the kicks, drills or cooldown. Today was a lot of drills with 300m swims in between. My 1500 meter time was 25:24 which is a 1:42 per 100m pace. That would be perfect for the race.

I then had a nice lunch and was going to do my ride afterward, but when I was getting my bike out of the car I started to hear thunder. So I took it inside for some bike trainer work. By the way I HATE the bike trainer. It's so boring!! I did manage to get 45 minutes of riding done for a total of 14 miles. Not really that fast but I'm telling you using a trainer is nothing like riding on the road.

Speaking of the road I got my racing rims put on today. I'm going to be racing on Zipp 404 speed weaponry wheels. They are very nice carbon fiber racing wheels and will definitely help get me down the road a bit faster.

Have a good day!!

Brick Day

Today I did my weekly brick workout. I did 47 minutes on the bike and then immediately changed into my running gear for a 14 minute run. I did 17 miles on the bike and 2.1 miles on the run. I still workout at full intensity but the time I'm working out is getting shorter. I'm feeling good and by the time race day gets here I'm going to be dying to get it on!!

Have a good day!!

Open water swim

Well I'm having a little more soreness than is usual in my left calf. So today I took the day off from running and just concentrated on my swim. The local bike/tri shop near my house does a Monday afternoon open water swim. Basically it's just a way for people to meet so that you can swim with others and not alone. The course is an out and back that is 1 mile in length. I felt so good today that I did it twice. Yes that's right I did a 2 mile open water swim and didn't get eaten by any sharks. Although I kept hearing this music in the back of my mind. Anyway, I did the swim in 58:37 which is not to bad for an open water swim. The most promising thing is that I didn't feel completely worn out when I finished and could have continued at my pace. This tells me that I should be moving a bit faster on race day. Which I'm really looking forward too!!

Have a great day!

I think I can official say "finally"! There are no more runs greater than 1 hour until I get through T2 at the race. I feel that I'm as ready as I can be. I have talked with countless people about this race and course. I have read book after book and I have put in the time, miles and effort. Now I just need to stay healthy, get to the start line on 29 August and get it done.

Today I had my girls most of the day. Actually I have them until next Wednesday but I found some time to get away and do a short ride and long run. The short ride was 47 minutes and covered 13.4 miles. The goal was to spin at a high RPM (>100) and then get my run on. I ran through Sea Shore state park for 1:51:27 covering 14.15 miles. That was good enough for a 7:53 pace. That is exactly the pace I'm looking for at the ironman.

I also received my bib number today. I'm officially #2481, you'll all be able to track me on race day through the ironman website. I'll post all that info before the race.

I'll be back on Monday so have a great weekend!

Long Bike/Short Run

Well I'm tapering but I still have to scale back gradually. Today I did a 3:57:20 bike North of Williamsburg for a total distance of 80 miles. I'm still riding up there since they have hills and Louisville has hills. I experience rain, wind and sun! It was a crazy ride and probably one of my better days on the bike. I ended up with a 20.1 average. Now I just have one more long ride next week (2 hours) before the race. See I am scaling back!
I then did a quick change into my running shoes and headed out for a quick 4 mile run. It took me 28:40 to complete the run which is 7:10 per mile. I do love to run and I wish I could be the fast during the marathon. I think during the race I'll start off at 8 minute per mile until I get some distance behind me. Then if I feel good I'll pick up the pace a bit. But I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.

Have a good weekend!!

Hey Friends,

Another great day in Virginia for some ironman training. Actually I'm just training for a healthy life and the ironman is an obstacle that I want to get over...perhaps numerous times.

Today I did a run/swim. I did my run at lunch time when it was nice and hot. Of course it was overcast all morning and then when I head out for my run the sun comes out. But that is OK because I want to be training in the heat. I started my run with Austin one of my colleagues at work. We ran together for 20 minutes to get warmed up before I started my 4 x 5 minute intervals. Yes I did the same thing I did yesterday, only I was running. I held an average of 6:40 on the intervals covering about .75 miles on each one. I finished the run with a total time of 56:24 and 7.1 miles.

I then stopped by the fleet rec center on the way home for a few laps in the pool. I'm fairly happy with my swimming but I already know that my swim is going to get a lot of attention over the winter. Next spring....watch out Michael Phelps...hehe. Here is what I did today: (at the speed of a guppy) Warm up 300 free, 200 Kick, 200 drills then 4 x 300m (15s RI), 2 x 200m (20s RI), 1 x 300m, done. I timed everything but the kicks and drill. That left 2200 meters of swimming and a time of 40:29.

Have a good day!

Hey guys,

I fell asleep last night before I had the blog written. Sorry about the added stress! I know that each of you check this blog first thing in the morning to get your day started. OK I'm just kidding, I appreciate each of you for checking in on my progress whether it's daily, weekly or monthly. Thanks!!

So yesterday I did a bike and swim. I'm still feeling a little tired from my 6 hour bike and 3 hour run this past weekend. So today I did an easy bike with some 4 x 5 min intervals in the middle. I ended up riding 18 miles in 1:01:00. It was a nice ride and I think my body appreciated the reduced pace. Later in the after noon I went to the fleet rec center pool for some laps. Here is what I did: warm up 800m free then, 3 x 300m (30s RI), 3 x 200m (20s RI), 3 x 100m (10s RI), cooldown 200m Kick. My average pace came out to 1:45 per 100m. I'm feeling like I've reach a plateau in my swimming. So these next few weeks I'll continue to work on technique and endurance. I'm sure that on race day I'll be able to pick up the pace enough to reach my 1:05:00 goal.

Have a great day!

Brick Day

Today was brick day and as promised I'm scaling back the distances. I'm not scaling back the intensity. I think I said that last night too. Anyway, today I did a bike and run back to back. The bike was 51:00 and covered a distance of 17.15 miles. Average speed was 20.1 mph. I then took about 5 minutes to change into my running gear, get some water, nutrition and then get started. I ran 30:04 and covered 4.18 miles, which is a 7:12 per mile pace. I'd love to keep that pace in the heat at Louisville.

Today it was around 98 degrees when I ran. I'm going to be glad I did all this training in the heat when I get off that bike. I'm expecting it to be around 2pm when I get off the bike and about 95 degrees.

Have a good day!

It's Monday and I'm back to it. I might be tapering but I'm still maintaining my workout intensity. Things will just get shorter over the next few weeks.

Today I did a 20 mile bike with the guys at Fat Frogs. I rode with the A group (fast but not the fastest) and I was able to keep up with them. Three months ago when I started riding with them I couldn't even talk to the A group guys. So today it felt good to not only ride with them but I finished with them. It was a great ride. Total time was 1:01:30. (The first 3 miles and last 3 miles were a warm up and cooldown).

I then did a 600 meters of drills at the fleet rec center 50m pool. After that I met Lisa at Runners, etc so both of us could get some new shoes. After that I went to Chick's beach and did an open water swim with some folks from Final Kick. I ended up doing 1 mile in 34 minutes. Not my best swim but I swam into the current going and with it coming back. I did feel good and my open water swimming technique is getting better.

Have a good day!

Friday/Saturday

Ok this week was my longest ride and run for the ironman. I'm officially tapering from this point until race day. There are still 2 long rides and runs but the distance will continue to decrease right up until race day. So......

Friday I did a my bike north of Williamsburg in the rolling hills of Virginia. I felt great for most of the ride but I think I ate to much and felt somewhat bloated or full towards the end. I'll adjust that by next week. Anyway, I ended up riding 114 miles in 5:51:00. I'm happy with that especially since I'll be stronger once I taper and get to the race. Right after I finished the bike I did a quick change of shoes and took off for a run. I really didn't feel like running in that heat but I needed to get it done. I went 5.8 miles in 48:30. I would've like to seen a better time but considering I had no support for water or food I'm pretty happy with it. At the ironman I'll have water, gatorade, food, salt tablets, etc every mile on the run.

Saturday I did a short easy bike of 1:22 for 18 miles. Lisa and I then drove to her house to pick up her bike. We then started running and riding back towards my house. My house was 13 miles and it took 1:40 to cover that distance. We then did an out and back in sea shore state park which added another 10 miles to the run. Total distance ran today was 23.06 miles in a time of 3:01:48. That comes out to 7:53 per mile. I am ready for this race!!

Have a great weekend!

Run/Swim

Well yesterday was a travel day from NM back to here. I flew delta airlines and I'm not very happy with them. I fly the airlines a lot getting around this country and delta has left me stranded way to many times in the last few months. Yesterday we sat on the plane for 3 hours before departing for Atlanta. The captain said that they had a leak in the left engine so a mechanic checked it out and fixed the leak. That took about 1.5 hours. We then pushed back from the gate, started engines and then returned to the gate because it had gotten hotter and the plane was to heavy for conditions. After about 20 people volunteered to get off we thought we might get going but taking off there luggage took another hour. Then the computer in the plane when down and we had to wait for that to be rebooted. We finally left but when we got to Atlanta we taxied and were held up at different gates so long that we missed our 2nd potential connection of the day. Finally after leaving Roswell, NM at 4am, driving to El Paso for our flight, I arrived back at home around 2am today. Thanks Delta airlines!!

So today I did a long run this morning in sea shore state park. I ended up running 1:27:24 and covered 11.36 miles. That comes out to 7:42 per mile. I'm very happy about that! I didn't take any nutrition on the run and I paid for it later in the day. I just felt like something wasn't right all day. I then when to the Fleet Rec 50m pool for some laps. I did about 1600 total but I had 3 bad cramps during my swim. I had a foot cramp, a calf cramp and then a hamstring cramp. The hamstring put me out of the pool and sent me looking for a good electrolyte replacement drink. I'm feeling much better now and I'm loaded up with electrolytes.

Have a great day!

Brick Day

Today is my last day in Roswell, NM. I'm heading to El Paso tomorrow to catch a plane home. I'm ready to get back to all my girls.

I did a brick workout at the bottomless lakes state park. I rode the bike on some of the worst roads I have every seen today. They were so rough that I had to pedal down hill or the bike would slow down. It's a wonder I rode as far as I did. I ended up riding 17 miles in 1:01:15. I'm starting to think that my old road bike might need a little tune up. I then did a 2:58 transition to the run. My run started with my legs feeling like lead but I quickly shook that off and ended up running 4.08 miles in 30:07. By the end of the run I was feeling very good and could have continued on at that pace for miles.

I'm looking forward to getting back to my normal training grounds.

Have a good day!

I'm still here in Roswell, NM. I haven't seen any aliens from outer space but I'm pretty sure I've seen a lot of aliens from south of the border. There is a chance that I'll be leaving this place tomorrow. Lets hope so!

Today I went out to the little lake I've been swimming in and did another open water swim. The measured distance on google earth was .67 miles and I swam that in 19:49. That's not record breaking but it's more open water experience. I'll keep working on the swim.

This afternoon I did a 1 hour run around the bottomless lakes state park. It was around 95 degrees but I felt great. The altitude here is about 3700 feet and I guess I'm getting use to it. During today's run I was able to cover 7.93 miles in 1:00:00 which comes out to a 7:34 mile per minute. I'd like to run that pace for the marathon. We'll see in a few more weeks.

Have a good day!

Today I did an open water swim in New Mexico. Yes, that's right, I'm in New Mexico and I did an open water swim. There is a state park here that is called bottomless lake state park. One of the lakes is open to swimming and if you swim it the right way you can swim 1100 meters. So today I did just that! The winds were out of the south today, actually there out of the south everyday. Anyway, when I would swim to the north it was no drama. However swimming south into the wind and small waves was an asskicker. It was so bad that I could only breath out of one side when swimming to the south. I completed my 1100 meter swim in 21:45. I know that isn't burning up the water but I think it's pretty good considering the altitude and winds.

Have a good day!