Ironman Louisville - Triathlon

I took a line to the right and had a great clean line for the entire way up the channel. Made contact a few times but nothing major at all. Coming up the channel, I figured I was having a good swim just from the number of people that I was passing. The only downfall to that was that I was trying to find someone to draft off of but i just couldn't. Once we got to the end of the island, I got a little confused. I expected the turn to be right there. It was actually about 100m further out than I thought. I had to stop and get my bearings for a second. Once I made the turn, It was pretty smooth sailing. I kinda zoned out and fell into a good rhythm. When I got towards the first bridge, I noticed that I had drifted out further right into the river than I really wanted to. I had to come back to the left which I think cost me some time overall. Once I got close to transition I heard the music and got pretty excited. Hit the stairs and up into T1.

Sight just a little better. Lost a little time through bad navigation.

Slow!!! I was deliberate here but I had no idea I was moving this slow. Whoops.

Headed out onto River Rd., I was feeling good. The temps were down and I was pretty excited about my swim time. Once on the road, I started drinking water immediately. I was doing a few higher cadence sets and then would settle into my race cadence. I did think pretty much the whole way out on River Rd. After 15 minutes, I started into my nutrition plan. Gu Chomps on the 15 and 45 minute mark and half a Bonk Breaker on the 30. Everything was going pretty much to plan. I was watching my power and taking it easy as best I could. I went through the finger and when I started the first climb, I got a little excited on the power but caught myself and backed off. I was mentally telling myself that since I started early and had a pretty solid swim that some very strong bikers were going to start going by and not to even think about chasing them. Once I made the right turn to start the first loop, I was getting mentally prepared for a few decent rollers. When I got to the bottom of them, I immediately went into my little ring and just tried to spin as much as I could. Nothing much of note going through to LaGrange, I was just eating and drinking and mentally taking note of where I was and where the crowds were to know what to look forward to on the second loop.

So here is where things start to get interesting on the bike. I started to get some strange pains on the inside back of my left knee. It would only come for about one or two pedal strokes and then go away for 10 minutes or so. This went on for about an hour. About the same time, I started feeling a little nauseous. I backed off on the calories for about 15 minutes and started feeling better, then the second I had another chomp, it came back. i drank some water and waited and the nausea went away. So, plan B to get calories in was to try the bonk breaker. I ate a quarter of one and everything seemed fine, so I just kept up on the bonk breakers. This created another issue. I was running out of bars faster than I planed. To add to that, every time I went through an aid station, I grabbed a stupid peanut bar. This seriously went on from about mile 60 until the end of the bike. I did some rough math on the fly and took on some gels to keep my calorie intake up. I was eventually able to start eating chomps again. I think I was able to hit my calorie target for most of the ride.

Other than dealing with all the nutrition, I was feeling pretty good through the whole first lap. Right when I made the left turn to start the second lap, I some people that I knew from Atlanta which was a good boost. Overall, for the first part of the second loop, I was feeling good. I made it back to LaGrange and was able to see my wife. This was a huge boost. Really, it was the highlight of the ride.

The rest of the ride, was mostly uneventful. Towards about mile 90, I started to get the feeling of some cramps in my quads. This only lasted for about 10 minutes and then went away. The worst part of my ride was River Rd. back into T2. MY shoulders were starting to get sore from being in aero and that was translating to a headache. I knew that I didn't have far left, so I basically just sucked it up and kept going. I saw Katie heading into T2 which was great.

Looking at my power file post ride, it was not nearly as smooth of a ride as I would have liked. VI of 1.12. Too many power spikes which probably wore me down a little more than I liked which showed up on the run.

This was my lowest part of the race mentally. I had to sit there for a second and compose myself mentally for the marathon.

Coming out of the tent, I felt better. I saw my wife immediately which picked up my spirits. I was feeling pretty god through the first 8 miles or so. I had a decent pace going. I was on my nutrition plan. I had my watch set to beep every 25 minutes for a gel and then I was grabbing perform and coke at every aid station. After about mile 8 is where I starting feeling the cramps coming on. My left leg would start to cramp then i would have to slow down, I would run for a bit, and then have to slow down. The slow downs eventually turned into walks. All I was thinking here was just to keep moving forward. When I was having to walk, I was looking at my watch and not letting the pace just completely drop. I was trying to avoid the 15-20 min mile. I know those are killers. I would start running just as soon as I could. I don't know why I didn't start taking chicken broth at the aid stations here. I just wasn't thinking about it for some reason. Once I hit mile 13 right in front of the ATC and Podium tent, my left leg just completely locked up. I had to stop. My wife also happened to be right there. She walked with me once I was able. We talked for a bit and she got me running again. It was about this time that I realized that salt would be a good thing. I came around to special needs and realized that at the very last minute, I had an extra bag of salt and vinegar chips and I threw them in. I grabbed them from my bag and went to town. From there I was able to continue my run when I can walk when the cramps come strategy. This time, at every aid station, I started grabbing chicken broth. I started feeling better and better as the miles ticked off. I was running more and walking less. By the time I got to mile 18, I was feeling pretty great. Every person that I passed lifted me up even more and that was A LOT of people. There is no way you could have told me that the last 8 miles of the marathon would be my favorite. Everything hurt, but those were the best most, fun and memorable miles that I have ever run. The last mile, I went by the Podium and ATC tent again and everyone was going crazy. When I made the right turn on 4th ST and moved over to the left for the finisher's chute, the crowd went absolutely crazy. I heard my name and the word Ironman. It was actually surreal. Just hard to put into words.

I am going to look into some salt for long course hot races. Cramped again in the heat. Also, the ride contributed to the cramps as well.

I went through the finishers chute, grabbed my hat and shirt, got a picture and went and found my wife. Other than my legs being in pain, I didn't really feel too bad. I talked to my coach for a few minutes, and then walked and got a massage and some food. I never felt nauseous or light headed. I went back to the hotel, grabbed a shower and then headed back to the finish line to cheer on the other finishers and have a cold beer!


My goal time was 12:30 so I beat that by a little. Nothing I can complain about beating my goal in my first IM.


Great race! The volunteers are amazing. I would highly recommend.