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!!