Ironman Louisville - TriathlonFull Ironman

After the cannon went off, I was in the water in 15 minutes. When I jumped into the water, someone jumped in right on top of me and hit my calf with their foot or knee or something. Instantly I felt a knot in my calf. It worked itself out after about 100m and then I settled in and just swam.

Sighting was spot on as I went from buoy to buoy. Made the turn after Towhead Island and swam back to the swim exit. When I got out I was a little surprised with my swim time as I thought I had a little better swim than that. Oh well no worries.

Push a little harder on the swim.

I took my time in transitions as I wanted to do a full change since my only race time goals were to finish before midnight.

Next time, move faster and not do a full change.

I Thought I had paced the bike bike pretty well for the first 40 miles. I was averaging 18.7 mph and everything felt very easy. None of the hills were bad at all since it's very similar to where I do most of my riding around my house. I was spinning up all the hills and my HR was right where I wanted it to be.

At mile 48 I started to get some cramps in my legs and couldn't figure out why. My nutrition to that point was exactly as I had trained with. I did most of my long training rides during the heat of the mid day to get prepared for this race, and I paced well below what I have done on training rides over the same distance and elevation.

After My legs started to cramp up, I picked up a tack in my tire (Awesome). I stopped at bike special needs to use the bathroom and I was on my way.

Two of the next three aid stations I hit I ejected my water bottle out of my torpedo mount within a mile of the aid station. So after I was already starting to cramp I did 30 of the last 45 miles of the bike with no water. I started to cramp up even more. My stomach became unsettled and the last 10 miles of the bike were terrible. Some dry heaves, bad cramping, and a head wind made for the most terrible 10 miles on a bike I've ever had.

Change my nutrition and hydration plan. Slow the pace even a little more on the first lap.
Don't ride over a tack.

As soon as I got off of the bike and handed it to a volunteer I knew I was in big trouble. My feet were hurting as I started to walk to the changing tent and my calfs and quads were cramping real bad.

I sat down in the changing tent to change. I got all set to go with the exception of my shoes. I sat there for about 5 minutes debating whether or not I wanted to put them on and go out on the run course or if my day was done. Finally got my shoes on and headed out.

I tried to run out of transition but my legs cramped up really bad. Stopped to stretch them out a little bit but they were cramping up with every step. I decide to try and just walk to the first aid station on the bridge, get some food and liquid in and try to run again.

I had some coke and fruit at the aid station, I hit it again after the turn around on the bridge and was happy that I was finally able to get in some calories.

After mile 2 my legs stopped cramping and i thought I would try to run again. After less than a minute of running the cramps came back. I kept up the walking until about mile 6 taking in chicken broth and cola at every aid station. My legs started to feel better and I was able to start running without cramping.

I actually ran for a mile but had to start walking again, this time because my feet were killing me. I walked to run special needs and changed socks. when I took off my shoes I noticed my feet were soaking wet and huge blisters were forming on the balls of my feet.

I assume my foot issues were due to getting my feet soaking wet from trying to cool myself off with water and ice. I've never had issues with my feet or these shoes during training runs.

I pretty much walked the rest of the course, jogging a little bit here and there, until I heard the finish line. I started to run again and felt no pain crossing the finish line.



Not get my feet soaked causing foot problems. Not start the run already cramping really badly. Actually be able to run the marathon like I planned.

Walked back to the hotel with my wife after watching some more people cross the finish line.


Hydration and nutrition.


Again, my goal going into this race was to finish before midnight and I did. I'm happy with finishing my first Ironman, but unhappy with my overall performance.