2014 IRONMAN Louisville Race Report

 Finish Line: 4th Street Live! 11:28 pm

5,375 feet of elevation gain on the bike.

That is what I anticipated all summer. My previous IRONMAN finish in Florida last November had only 991 feet of elevation gain by comparison. A flat bike. That would not be the case on August 24, 2014 in Louisville, KY. Thankfully, the bike leg turned out to be the most enjoyable part, though I had feared it the most. 

I had a compact crank installed on my bike the week of the race. I had not tested it on a long ride, but it turned out to be the key to an enjoyable 112 mile bike ride. On one of the most difficult climbs of the race, I overheard a fellow triathlete I was (slowly) passing say to himself (so I could hear): "What?" How are you passing me? Oh. You have a compact crank." He was grinding out the hill with a standard crank. I felt so lucky! That, however, would not be the case at the start of the swim.

There's nothing quite like the moment you begin a 140.6 mile triathlon, because the moment you jump off the dock into the water, you realize that you will not stop for the next 16+ hours. Living in the moment is a necessity, and there's plenty to do, so the feeling doesn't last long, and usually I just say: "Here we go!"

SWIM 2.4 MILES

It always takes me about 20 minutes to settle down into a comfortable breathing rhythm when I start swimming, but there were a couple of instances when I feared not finishing at the very start. The current of the river stunned me and the swinging arms and kicking legs of faster swimmers didn't help! It felt like there was no escape, and that was pretty much the case for about the first 1/2 mile of the swim. The beginning of the Ohio River swim, unlike the Gulf of Mexico, is very narrow because Towhead Island is only a 100 or so feet from the shoreline where 2300 athletes were previously lined up on a concrete river walk.

Upstream Swim for .7 miles

Till you get to the end of the island the swim was a test of survival symbolized by one kayak pilot asking me if I was okay when I thought I was swimming well. Great! I'm still not calmed down, I'm fighting this current, and now a kayak pilot tells the next pilot upstream standing on his vessel to watch out for me! Not encouraging.

The second symbol of my survival 14 minutes into this suffer fest occurred when I saw Laura on the shoreline looking for me. I was next to the island so there was virtually no chance. I raised my right arm waving at her and calling out her name. Guess what the swimmer behind me thought? Yep. This guy is calling for help.

Exiting the Ohio River

So, she called to the nearest pilot, "Hey, this guy needs help!" Paranoia has officially set in at this point. Time to swim-or fight-which was pretty much the same thing at that point. Thankfully, by now, the end of the island was at hand, and the twenty minutes I need to calm down have passed and my main problem is how slow I'm swimming compared to a great practice swim I had only a week earlier. Not a good time to realize I needed lower expectations.

It took me an hour to swim the 7/10 of a mile to the red turnaround buoy. That's only 1/3 of the swim, but thankfully the last 2/3 were downstream. That was definitely a plus, but didn't seem to help me as much as it did others. In fact, a difficult aspect of swimming downstream was that it carried me to the wrong side of the yellow buoys. After 2 or 3 course corrections I foolishly asked one pilot, "Are these things moving?" To which he replied, of course, "No." I knew that, but what would this swim be without another negative feeling? Swallowing my pride, I finish the swim in 1:53:39. 29 minutes slower than my 2.4 mile practice swim in the Tennessee River a week earlier of 1:24:42. Oh, well, on to the bike!

BIKE 112 MILES

Total Elevation: 5,375 ft. of Gain

The dreaded IMLOU bike turned out to be the most enjoyable part of the race. I'm thankful it did, because the marathon was hard enough without a difficult bike beforehand. I felt great on the bike except for one portion during the second loop after Ballard School Rd. and Old Sligo. It's called L' Esprit Parkway. It's a wide, smooth portion of road, but the headwind and hill at the end made it tough. Nevertheless, this was a very small factor and didn't last long. Really, it was a testament to how much I enjoyed the rest of the course.

Some peculiar aspects of the ride were a dead deer carcass in the right hand ditch that we passed twice since this is a double loop course. Also, my Cat Eye Bike computer that I used to gauge my pace (so that I would not need to look at my watch except when I wanted to) lost signal at the same point twice going up a hill near a factory. It came back both times, but shortened the distance accuracy by 2 miles. I could just look at my watch for the true miles, so no problem there. Finally, on that same hill were massive ant mounds! Some of the largest I've ever seen! Scary. They were 2 to 3 feet tall and wide. 

About mile 2 on River Rd

I made one major stop on the bike course at special needs around mile 65. And I dismounted once to walk up a hill when I did not switch my chain ring in time. It was on the second loop on Ballard School Rd. and I had already made the hill with no problem once, but rather than force it and perhaps break a chain foolishly, I just got off and walked the hill with others. It probably gave me a decent muscle stretch anyway. I also had to stop once more on the hardest hill during the second loop. I finished the bike in 8:02:59 which is a 13.9 mph average. I was hoping to average 14 mph, so it was near perfect. The compact crank that I had installed made all the difference.

At the end of the bike, my son Brett, came running on the sidewalk toward me shouting, "Daddy! Daddy!" I also got to pick him up at the start of the marathon after T2. It was great! Laura captured this picture and it is priceless to me. She also walked with me from T1 the 3/4 miles to the swim start, waited for me after my two hour swim, and brought my daughter Alex, son Brett and my Mom to T2 at the start of the marathon which was a big boost. I am so thankful she was there for me. The race would not the be same without her!

Also my Mom is always a tremendous and faithful helper with our children, so Laura and I were able to have dinner together (and run back to the hotel during a lightning storm!), because Mom takes care of her grandchildren. Thanks Mom!

RUN 26.2 MILES

My son Brett and me

The first 7 miles of the 26.2 mile suffer-fest part 2 felt good, but mile 8 began the walk-run shuffle for the final 19 miles. I got a boost and a high five from Jennifer Bell at the halfway point. I can't wait till she competes her first IRONMAN next year!

I managed to average 13:45 min./mile pace which I was pleased with. A 6h 00m 17s marathon. There were times during the marathon that I knew I'd be cutting it close. And I finished at 11:28 pm. which was only 32 minutes before the cutoff.

As painful as it was, I knew that if I just kept going that I would make it. By mile 18, or so, I was definitely thinking only about the next mile. I would say to myself at the 20 mile marker, "All I care about is mile 21..." When I got to mile 21, "All I care about is mile 22..." As each mile ticks off past 20, you know that you're going to make it and the pressure begins to lessen. But the 10 miles in the middle are pretty tense.

I managed to stay out of the water sprinklers on the run which I knew if they got my feet wet would cause misery and blisters which others voiced they had in post race conversations. It's not worth the cool down. I had learned this from my previous marathon experiences that water in your shoes is no fun. 

The finish line at IRONMAN Louisville, Kentucky is second to none, and is one of the first things you hear about concerning the race. The second thing you hear about is either the heat and humidity or how the bike course is no joke. 91 degrees with 56% humidity was certainly nothing to laugh at.  

2014 was the last year that IMLOU will be held in August. Next year's race is scheduled for October, so it will not be the same with temp, humidity, nor daylight hours, so that will be interesting to hear about from those who participate in it then and/or have done it in both conditions.

My next 140.6 will probably be IRONMAN Chattanooga, but I'm not sure it will be in 2015. I am looking forward to running this fall, winter and spring. But, of course, IM Texas is in May, so maybe my running season will be a little short this year... We'll just have to see how it goes.

Thanks for reading!

And thanks to all my FACEBOOK friends who encouraged me before and after my race! 

Elated After I Finished!

Because I'm Happy...

Laura & me at 11:30pm