Leading up to this race, I wasn’t as nervous as I thought I
would be for such an event. This was in
fact my 2nd full IM, in the last 12 months. It was definitely a different feeling
altogether without my family and such a large group of training partners
participating in this race. And, after
having come back from a broken neck last year to race IM Florida, this was a
chance to go hard and fast and uh, qualify for Kona? J
Expectations were tapered however, when I severely sprained
an ankle 6 weeks out from the race and had to take 4 weeks off of running
completely, easing back into it when I returned. In addition, I couldn’t seem to get my nutrition dialed in over
the past 2 months and had switched from Skratch Labs to Cliff Bars,
Uncrustables, and Gatorade with CarboPro.
This seemed to be working better, and I’ve only had GI issues in one
race, and that was St. Anthony’s in 2010.
All in all, however, I felt very optimistic for a good race at
Louisville. The weather had cooled in
recent weeks, and I had spent a good time on some long rides and swims.
Fellow team member and 4-time full Ironman finisher, Rob
Truckenmiller and I set out for Louisville on Thursday afternoon. During the lengthy and delayed by a torrential
downpour drive, we had already encountered a couple of “interesting” folks on
the roads. The experience was already
creating memories. That day was Rob’s
Birthday so we decided to head out and enjoy the downtown area. We were fortunate to meet some Amy Layo and
John Southey from Atlanta and had a great evening at a couple of the local
establishments, Ri Ra and Gameroom?
I had originally booked a room at the Sheraton for the 4
nights, but we decided to move to the Hampton Inn and be closer to 4th
Street the next morning. Good choice,
and I highly recommend staying at The Galt House, Marriott, Hilton, or the
Hampton for ease of access to everything.
From there we were able to walk over to the registration and expo at the
Galt House and stand in the hour long line to get registered, and then on to
the 30-minute line at the Ironman Store.
Luckily, we were able to get time on the massage table to loosen up the
muscles and reduce the swelling in the ankle.
That night, we took it easy and grabbed a terrific burger at a place
called Sidebar at Whiskey Row, and were in bed by 10pm.
Saturday morning we got up at 7:30 and headed off to the
swim practice. The swim lasted 10
minutes and there was indeed a current.
I need all the help I can get in the swim, so this was very
refreshing…pun intended, provided that I could use it to my advantage. After the swim, we headed out for a
45-minute pre-race brick to prime the legs.
I was starting to feel the nerves at this point and the heat was
cranking up. So much for the cooler
temperatures! We went back to the Galt
House to get a few more things for the race, including pre done tubes with
extenders. Then it was off to finish
packing the transition and special needs bags and to bike drop. My pre-race meal is typically pizza and so
we decided to play it low-key and order a couple of large pies from Papa Johns
and eat in the lobby area of the hotel, while watching some football. It was lights out at 9:30, but since I don’t
typically go to bed until 12:30, I tossed and turned while Truck snored. I checked the alarm over and over, I read a
number of pages in a book, and I finally drifted off around midnight. UGH!
RACE MORNING:
We were up and going at 4:30am. Even before 5am, the Hampton Inn had the necessary ingredients
necessary to make my Peanut Butter, Banana, and Honey sandwich. It tasted great and it was off to transition
to set up nutrition and the bike. After
spending a little over 20 minutes waiting in line to get some air for the Zipps
and setting up the bike, Truck and I walked the mile to the swim start. We hooked up with some folks we knew in line
and it waited with nervous energy. It
was nice to see the Dynamo gang at the start, including my swim coach, Maria
Thrash.
SWIM:
We only had to wait about 5 minutes after the gun to jump
into the water. You start the swim with
a ½ mile upstream crawl in traffic around an island out into the main portion
of the river before, turning at the buoy and heading downstream. My goal for the swim was to go out smooth
and controlled and set myself up for a good day. I had projected 1:15 for the swim. It was tough sledding in the first 1800 meters and I had to stop
a couple of times to relieve myself.
This isn’t usually a problem for me, but for some reason I had to
completely stop in order to handle the business. I didn’t really press myself too much and swam a little too wide
into the middle of the river (2.6 vs. 2.4 miles), but overall I felt
comfortable coming out of the water.
BIKE:
The transition took some time as I was trying to warm up the
ankle and get changed into my bib shorts and tri-top. I try to opt for comfort and the extra minute or two isn’t a
problem for me. Once I changed, lubed
up, had the volunteers coat me in sunscreen, it was off on the bike I
went. Coach wanted me to maintain 185
watts for the ride and advised me not to start off to fast.
Part of the problem with being a slow swimmer is the traffic
that forms ahead on the bike course.
This was a great course with rolling hills and some great scenery. Since I put the time in the saddle during
training I started to pick people off one by one, without really working that
hard. About the time of the second loop
heading into LaGrange, it got to be hot, my feet were rubbing in the shoes, and
I had dropped a couple of Cliff Bars.
There is great fan support and I refocused my efforts, catching up to
Truckenmiller. We rode together for a
while; I dropped him around mile 80, picking up Jeff Caplan for a little
bit. Having these guys around helped
with some of the monotony of the bike, and eventually from mile 90 to the
homestretch I lost both of them and was alone for a deserted stretch. Unfortunately, I had eaten my Uncrutstable
and dropped 2 Cliff Bars, so I needed to take some nutrition off the
course. I had used Perform in the past
so I drank a bottle and a couple of GUs.
I did a great job of drinking a bottle of water every hour to stay
hydrated. They seemed to be ok…for
now. I eased off the throttle a little
bit as well the last 10 miles and really spun out the legs, priming them for
the run. My goal for the course was
6:00 and I did an easy 5:42.
RUN:
I spent a long time in transition (11 minutes) as I changed
into my tri kit and had to wrap the ankle with tape. After I was ready to go with my shoes all tied, I realized I had
forgotten to put on my ankle sleeve…so I had to start over. I had good energy coming out of transition
and felt I could do an easy sub 4 hour run.
The first 4 miles I ran on adrenaline and averaged an 8:00 mile
pace. Then I hit the wall and felt the
heat. Because of the ankle my run
conditioning wasn’t where I wanted it to be, and there was a bit of nagging
soreness as I lumbered on. I ended up
doing the first loop in a little over 2 hours.
The crowd was awesome and when I picked up my gummy bears at Special
Needs, I felt revived. I ran pretty
well until mile 15 and then started cramping…and the death march began. I couldn’t take in enough liquids to stay
hydrated – honestly I didn’t have a good plan for the run not having done but
one long run leading up to the race. I
did the Ironman shuffle until mile 19 where I caught up to Truck, who had
passed me a little before. He was
feeling the effects of the 90 plus temps and no shade as well and we struggled
together until mile 23. I then realized
that I could still do a sub 12 hour Ironman if I could finish the last 5k in
under 25 minutes. So I mustered up the
determination to start a sub 8:00 pace again, and I somehow finished in
11:57. I got my medal and they set me
down on the folding chairs immediately.
I didn’t even get a Finisher Picture before I headed straight to the Med
tent to take in 2 IVs. I was overheated
and in bad shape, but the medical staff and volunteers were incredible and
within an hour, I was ready to go.
