Ironman Louisville - TriathlonFull Ironman


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Louisville, Kentucky
United States
World Triathlon Corporation
88F / 31C
Sunny
Total Time = 14h 04m 37s
Overall Rank = 1051/
Age Group = W 30 - 34
Age Group Rank = 27/53
Pre-race routine:

This is going to be a long one, but I wanted to write it immediatly to remember everything! We got to Ky on Thurs. and checked in our suite, we stayed at the Marriot Townplace Suites, which I highly reccommend! We were across the river from Louisville but it took 5 min. to get to the Galt House & we paid half of what Galt people paid, plus we had a kitchen! Went to athlete check in on Thurs., again really glad we did this, lines were awful on Friday! The goodie bag had a t-shirt, hat & a finisher bumper sticker. Met up w/ the BT'ers for dinner at Spaghetti Warehouse on Thurs. night. Friday am for a practice swim - wow, that was some serious current! People were going backwards. We then drove the bike course & I was so relieved to finally see the course after hearing so many different things! It was hilly but not too bad. Went to the Welcome dinner on Friday (packed my own food) which was fun & again met up w/ all the BT folks, they were great!! REally cool to see all the first timers stand up, but there weren't nearly as many as I thought. Sat. was just bike check in & rest day. We literally laid around the hotel all day. That was the up side to not having anyone else there, we didn't have our own support/spectator crew, but when we needed to lay in bed for 5 hours Sat, no problem! Didn't sleep much Sat night, woke up at 2 am to do a 2 serving bottle of sustained energy.
Event warmup:

Because of the changed swim couse, we had to walk 3/4 of a mile to the swim start, that was our warm up. We got there early (we were probably the 40 - 50th in the water. I didn't want to stand and wait for half an hour after the gun went off. We got to see the pros go off which was really cool!
Swim
  • 1h 11m 33s
  • 4224 yards
  • 01m 41s / 100 yards
Comments:

The swim was hard! Maybe I was taking for grated that as a swimmer it would be easy for me, but I have done plenty of 2.4 mile swims and that was by far the hardest & longest ever!! The water wasn't that gross, we've swam in nastier lakes, I think the warm water was worse than the funk of the water!! The crowds were cool comming out of the water!!
What would you do differently?:

Not swim in 87 degree Ohio river? Nah, wouldn't change a thing!!
Transition 1
  • 05m 40s
Comments:

Great volunteers! Can I have them at every race? Getting out of the water early helped, the tent was still pretty empty! Dumped everything on the ground, slathered up in bodyglide and threw on my glasses, shoes and gloves. The volunteer handed me each thing I needed, then cleaned up my bag after I was done.
What would you do differently?:

Nothing, it was amazing running out of the swim to the crowds then out on the bike with more cheering crowds!!
Bike
  • 7h 14m 23s
  • 112 miles
  • 15.47 mile/hr
Comments:

This was my great challenge, I had not done 112, infact when I started I was at 25 mi. for a long ride and I didn't do enough rididng in training. So, I knew for me the key was to stay positive. If I got negative and let myself fall apart I would struggle. The first kicker was realizing I forgot to put my pretzels on the bike before the swim start so no solid food until my Special Needs bags. Turned out to be just fine, I think I did better on just Perpeteum (my liquid nutrition). I stuck to my plan without fail. I stopped around every 30 miles (3 potty breaks) Squirted 1/4 of my concentrated perp. mix into my aerobottle with water and had that every 15 miles. In general it was great. Hills were good, that is what we trained! Volunteers were great.

The highlight was the LaGrange festival! I cried both times, the streets were LINED with people, the even looked up my number and called out my name. It was incredible - I felt like I was riding the Tour deFrance! The last 10 miles into town was pretty down hill so we could coast in. It was a really nice course & I didn't run into much traffic from cars but it was pretty packed with bikes!!!
What would you do differently?:

Nothing!!!
Transition 2
  • 10m 8s
Comments:

Took my time here to make sure I got everything, changed shorts and again the volunteers were amazing. They were so helpful all day! Stopped to pee (again - wow, I as hydrated!!) and off I went
What would you do differently?:

Speed it up by 5 min. to break 14 hours!! : )
Run
  • 5h 22m 53s
  • 26.2 miles
  • 12m 19s  min/mile
Comments:

Again, I stuck to my plan. Walk aid stations. Water & 1 shot block at each station. I ran b/t every station. My pace might have been really really slow, but I only walked when there was a cup of water in my hand. That was my deal w/ myself to keep drinking water, if I had a cup in my hand I could walk and I threw each cup away at the end of the aid station. My knees hurt, my feet hurt but I kept smiling, I talked to less people than I expected, but by the last 10 miles I was so focused I couldn't really talk. Stopped to pee 5 times - that was a good sign to me that I was hydrating well. Stick to the plan, it works!!! 8 min. mile for last 2 miles, the finish line was amazing!! I cried and had the permagrin!!
What would you do differently?:

Nothing, I was hoping for a 5.5 hr. marathon & I got it, my first marathon ever, longest run past 17 miles!!
Post race
Warm down:

Waited for Paul who was about 20 min. behind me. Matt (mattajw) came across before Paul, got to congratulate him and hang out while we waited for spouses. I ran for the line and got pictures together with Paul. what a cool thing to experience together!! Felt o-k so didn't go to medical. We waited for massages - my first massage ever, aaaah! Paul got some food and we headed for the mile walk to the car. That was the downside of doing the race together w/ no other support there, we had to limp over to transition to pick up our stuff. Got 2 bags of ice on the way home to ice my aching knees!

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Nothing,this was an amazing race for me. This was as fast as I could go on the training I did. I kept a positive attitude, I remembered our family and friends that were lifting us up that day & watching us online and it mad the WORLD of difference! Every timing mat I crossed I would focus on someone different and think about their cheering for us at home! My 'mantra' getting ready for the race was "in perfect time" and i really did finish in perfect time. I didn't try to race someone else's race, I did what I could and it was one of the most amazing things I have ever done!!

Event comments:

Just supurb! The volunteers were great, the organziers were great, really cool finishers medal - great frist time race to do, just train hills!!!


Profile Album


Last updated: 2007-07-17 12:00 AM
Swimming
01:11:33 | 4224 yards | 01m 41s / 100yards
Age Group: 0/53
Overall: 521/
Performance: Average
Suit: no wetsuit
Course: Upstream in protetected waterway, then across the river then downstream
Start type: Dive Plus: Waves
Water temp: 87F / 31C Current: High
200M Perf. Below average Remainder: Below average
Breathing: Average Drafting: Below average
Waves: Navigation: Below average
Rounding: Average
T1
Time: 05:40
Performance: Good
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
Wetsuit stuck? Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: No
Getting up to speed:
Biking
07:14:23 | 112 miles | 15.47 mile/hr
Age Group: 0/53
Overall: 1264/
Performance: Good
Wind: Little
Course: Rollng hills, two loops through LaGrange, very senic
Road: Smooth Dry Cadence:
Turns: Average Cornering: Average
Gear changes: Good Hills: Good
Race pace: Comfortable Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 10:08
Overall: Good
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike
Running with bike Good
Racking bike
Shoe and helmet removal
Running
05:22:53 | 26.2 miles | 12m 19s  min/mile
Age Group: 0/53
Overall: 1051/
Performance: Good
Course: Fairly flat, shaded after first 4 miles. Nice course. Doubled up an out and back course
Keeping cool Average Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 5
Physical exertion [1-5] 5
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Good
Race evaluation [1-5] 5