Big Boss Watts!

Short story: Great showing for the All3sports team, TriCoachGeorgia, and everyone for the most part! Chuck and his crew put on another great race and there were lots of smiles and good results. There was no rain like last year. I banged out 1ag which put me in for 3rd Masters. I missed 2nd by a :12 margin and Andrew D. crushed another top slot masters like he did at Mistletoe. Well done everyone!

The swim was hot, long (for me) and non-wetsuit 2 loops lake swim and I tried to grab feet and swim relaxed which may have helped me lower time from last year by about 2:00 but continues to show my weakness and put me in the hole a bit. Wish I could swim more at Dynamo!

T1 was a bit of a cockup with trying to snap helmet but otherwise uneventful. Off I went transformed into Slayer again.

On this rolling hot course, my bike was less power than I was shooting for but that wasn't a bad thing. 315 watts was the goal and I had difficulty keeping 305w. Strangely enough this resulted in a 2:00 faster bike than last year. Probably a top 2 bike overall. I attribute this improvement to my visit to wind tunnel and a winter of bike with a bad running foot.

T2 was pretty quickish. Off I went to chase #2 masters.

The run was a bit slow for me (down :20 from last year) but probably where I am at now. I was kind of disappointed in myself for not holding #2 Masters off when I passed him but I think I am lacking confidence in my run, the heat played a big role, and I lack training time at or above threshold this year. On the whole, you really can't complain with 1AG in a tough AG with my weight a bit higher than last year.

After the race we all hung out in the million degrees and har dee har har'd together. We got a good photo and talked about the current and next races. Off to Augusta 70.3 at the end of September and then IM Arizona!

Jeff Caplan of All3sports and an IM Louisville Race Report

Race Report Jeff Caplan Ironman Louisville, 8/25/13

A little context for my race at IMLOU:

1) This was my 17th Ironman and third time doing IMLOU. My first IM was Florida in 2002, and I had an Ironman retirement party right after the race. I remember crossing the line and saying to myself “no how, no way – there ain’t gonna be a rematch.” Funny enough, I found that I loved the training and just kept on doing it even though I did shorter races in 2003. My wife Lucye said that if I was doing all that training that I might as well do the races. I did IM Wisconsin in 2004 and things went from there.

2) My main reasons for doing all these Ironmans have always been the same – I love the people, I love the lifestyle, and I love the challenge of the sport. I’ll keep doing it as long as it stays fun and I stay healthy.

3) I can’t say that I’ve ever really had a great race at IMLOU. The swim and the bike usually go ok, but I don’t run well in hot weather and LOU tends to be a meltdown. I keep coming back because I love the course, the town, and all the support from the people there. Plus one of my favorite restaurants is in LOU – Taco Punk!

IMLOU is a Sunday race, and I got up there on Thursday. The downtown LOU area is great – everything is so close by, and it’s really easy to get around. I was able to go to the expo, check in, and also go for a nice four mile run. It was already pretty warm and humid on Thursday so I started to really pound the hydration. Thursday night I got my transition bags together so that I could leave myself as much free time as possible over the next couple of days. On Friday, I went for a ride and run with friends and then drove the bike course. Even though it’s been the same bike course the last few years, it’s always good to get a reminder of all the hills. IMLOU doesn’t have some of the longer sustained climbs that you get in Lake Placid or Coeur d’Alene, but the rollers are just non-stop. Friday afternoon I hung out with my buddies Jack Spartz and Bill Hague before grabbing a bite to eat and hitting the Athlete Meeting. I usually try to attend the meeting because there are almost always some facts or insights you pick up that you didn’t know. This year, it was that they would pull the chips of anyone caught using the pre-race swim area for a nature break. Bummer. Not that I've ever done that. Really.

Saturday was a pretty quiet day as I met my friends Michael, Janice and Larry for a swim, chilled out at the hotel, and checked my bike. This was the best I’ve ever done at staying off my feet prior to the race. Turns out I’d kind of need that on Sunday ;-)

On race morning I got to transition when it opened, got my bike and gear set up, and then headed over to the swim start. IMLOU is a little unusual in that you have about a mile walk to the swim start and then line up prior to entering the water two-by-two. The good news is that the start tends to be less of a beating than other races, and they get everyone in pretty quickly. I felt really comfortable in the water – IMLOU is a non-wetsuit race due to the water temps, and I quickly got into a good rhythm. We swim upstream for a bit and then turn around and head downstream. Usually the river is dam controlled, but someone must have left the dam open that morning because the times were smokin’! I wound up with a swim time 4 minutes faster than any wetsuit IM swim I’ve done and 14 minutes faster than last year. I was ok with that. On the bike, my game plan was to ride steady watts the first half and take it up a bit higher in the second if I felt good. It was a lot of fun to see both Rob Truckenmiller and Fred Soller from the all3sports.com team when I was out there – we passed each other a few times, and all finished the bike in similar times. I hit my watts plan and was solid on nutrition, but the temps really started to climb in the second half of the bike. I was starting to feel somewhat barbequed by the time we got to T2, and really took some time to cool down. When I got on the run, I was definitely having trouble keeping my temperature down. I really don’t run well in hot weather at all, and we were in the 90’s but that point. I ran the first 10 or 11 miles and then walked the rest of the first half of the course with some periodic running the second half. I had a chance to walk and talk for a bit with one of my other all3sports teammates, Melissa Early – being part of team really makes a big difference for endurance races. I also saw a number of other friends out there. Some of them had amazing days, some had slower days, but all were moving with smiles. By the time I got up to mile 19 or 20, the air temp was starting to come down and I ran it in from there. IMLOU has a great finish on Fourth Street, and it’s really magical when you turn the corner, see the lights, and hear everyone being called in across the line. While my finish time was about an hour off my goal, EVERYONE is happy when they cross that Ironman finish line and get that medal around their neck!

As always, a huge thanks to everyone at all3sports for everything – I tend to have a lot of adventures with gear, and they are always great about saving me from myself as well as making sure their athletes have the best of everything. . . . And I did get Taco Punk the day after the race!