Ironman Louisville - TriathlonFull Ironman

No doubt about it, my swimming sucks. This was my first IM, and I was more than a little nervous about the swim. My plan was to just take it slow and steady, and stay as relaxed as possible. I definately delivered on the slow part.

For a first IM, I thought this was a pretty low-stress swim course. The line was LONG, but once it started moving, it moved pretty quick. When I got in the water, I had a lot of room, and only got bumped a few times by all the people swimming past me.

After making the turn and heading downstream, I ran into someone treading water, and ended up with a charlie-horse style calf cramp. First time I've had any kind of cramp while swimming, and it started to throw me into a bit of a panic. I worked at it for a minute or so, and it subsided enough to keep going. By the time I got to T1, the residual pain in my calf was barely noticable.

I know it was a slow swim, but, for me, it was better than I expected. It did not seem like I was out as long as I was, and I felt relaxed and conffident the whole way.

Maybe starting with the Master's group sooner than 3-weeks before the race would be a good idea.

I did not rush transitions at all. No issues.

First IM, so my whole plan was pace off HRM, and keep things nice and comfortable. Kept HR in the 140's, with some excursions on some of the hills. Drank a mix of gatorade and water from the aid stations. I thought it was a great ride.....very scenic. A fair number of people on the course, but nothing compare to some of the big oly/sprint races.

Thills were more than I was expecting. Not much hill training in Houston.

I used a 12-17 cassette, and was glad I did.

Learn how to pee on the bike. I think I wasted 5-10 minutes stopping and waiting in line at some of the aid stations.

No rushing....made sure I body glided every possible rub spot.

I was very worried about the run. I week before the race I injured my right foot was couldn't hardly put any weight on it for several days. I was worried about having to DNS, but by Wed before the race, it stated to feel better. I had no idea if it would hold up or not. So....my plan was to start slow, and try to deal with any issues that came up.

My foot held up for the whole race. The pace was very comfortable, and I felt like I had quite a bit left at the finish line.

Nothing.....but if I knew the foot was going to hold up, I would have pushed the run quite a bit harder.

Walked around a little and grabbed some pizza in the convention center.


First IM. Great course and experience for the rookie IM! Not knowing what to expect, I wanted a nice steady race rather than an all out effort. That was the plan...and it actually worked. I felt pretty good for just about the whole race. My goal was to finish, with a target of 14-hours, both of which happened.

My wife and parents came to Louisville for the race. All three were impressed with the event, the volunteers, and the organization. By dad wore my BT shirt on race day, thinking it would make him easy to spot. He said he had about 25 people come up to him through out the day. He says his new nickname is "BT Guy". That made his day!