I was reading triathlete and fellow DC Tri Club member CourtneyFulton’s Ironman Louisville race report yesterday, and it got me thinking about the blog I started all those months ago when I first decided to sign up for Louisville. Of course, I never updated that blog but thought I would give my own race report on my first Ironman – if for no other reason than to have a written account of the experience, so I can look back years from now when the memory has started to go and reflect on one of the most exciting days of my life.
First, let me give a little background on my journey to get to race day since I did such a bad job maintaining this blog over the months. When I first decided to sign up for Ironman Louisville (Swim 2.4 miles, Bike 112 miles, Run 26.2 miles) back in January, I had never done a triathlon of any distance before. Although I did a fair amount of running to stay in shape, I didn’t really considered myself a runner meaning someone who competes in races on any kind of regular basis. Yes, I had done a few races including the Marine Corps Marathon back in 2009 with a time of 4:29:15, my greatest achievement to that point in my running/triathlon career. So when I registered for the Ironman, I had little idea of what I was getting into and no idea what I could expect from it. I was signing up as a challenge to myself, and my only goal was to finish.
As I reflect over the last nine months, I can tell you I have learned a lot, met a lot of great people, and frankly gotten totally hooked on triathlons. Since I started training for Ironman Louisville, I completed a number of running races including the National Marathon where I got my time down to 3:33:46 and a number of Olympic distance triathlons (Swim 1.5k, Bike 40k, Run 10k) including the DC Triathlon where I had a finishing time of 50:49 (Not my best time, but a great race). I also met a lot of great people (Elaine, Jeff, Jen, Sara, Gary, Jason, Brent) and trained with some awesome folks who also were doing Ironman Louisville (Dave, Art, Hilary). I probably wouldn’t have been able to finish this race if it hadn’t been for them and their help along the way. Oh, and then there was the support of family and existing friends which was invaluable. Just to name a few, Dad, Pam, Bob, Susan, David, Amie, Shanna, Doug, and most importantly my wife Kara.
That’s enough background, now on to the actual race report. I will start with the day we left the house and headed to Louisville, Ky. The race was on Sunday August 28, and we left home the preceding Tuesday. We drove; it was only eight hours and cheaper than flying (not to mention carrying my bike with us). The day we left, the East Coast was hit with a 5.8 earthquake while we were on the road. We later learned there was no damage where we lived, but the news did cause a little unexpected stress at the time as we contemplated whether we should turn around and go back home or keep going. We decided to keep going, and eventually got in touch with our neighbor who was watching the house for us – she told us everything was okay. Earthquakes wouldn’t be the only natural disaster we would have to worry about. A Hurricane named Irene was making her way up the East Coast that week, threatening to hit the Washington DC area where we live but also NC were my in-laws live. They tell you when you do an Ironman, you have to prepare for the unexpected but this was getting ridiculous. As much as Irene sucked, it did have one positive effect. Despite making the weather on the East Coast horrible, it did help create perfect weather for race day in Louisville. Instead of having temperatures in the high 90’s or low 100’s like the year before, our temperatures were in the mid-80’s.
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| The swim portion of the race. |
So back to Tuesday. We arrived in Louisville that night, and over the next few days, I met with friends and family, did some light training, mapped the course, and did everything I could to avoid stressing out. The Saturday before the race, the nerves were getting pretty high – mainly because I was worrying about finishing the swim within the allotted time. Ironman Louisville has a time trial start which is unique for an Ironman race. You have 2 hours and 20 minutes from the time the last person is in the water to complete the 2.4 mile swim. The way it works is you get in line (first come first serve) and when the race starts, people jump in the water two at a time every few seconds. It takes about 30 minutes to get everyone in, so the sooner you get in the water the more extra time you have on top of the allotted 2 hours and 20 minutes to finish the swim portion. The swim is my weakest part of the race (I am a slow swimmer), and because the water temperature was so warm I couldn’t wear a wetsuit (which basically means you swim even slower). I was concerned that if I was one of the last people in the water, I wouldn’t be able to finish in time. Saturday morning, we were given the opportunity to do a practice swim in the Ohio River which was really a good thing. Louisville’s swim course is 900 meters upriver between an island and the river bank, 400 meters straight upriver to a turn, then downriver the rest of the way. The current really helps on the long portion of the race and once I saw how much during the practice swim, I started to feel much more confident about finishing in time. Later that day, I took my bike to be racked and dropped off my race bags. Unlike most triathlons, the bike and run gear goes in different bags to be stored in the transition area. During the race, a volunteer brings you the bag for the next leg of the race when you get to transition and enter a big tent to change. It’s pretty cool, almost like you are waited on in transition.
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| Me, Dave and Art waiting in line for the swim to start. |
As Saturday night approached, the nerves returned full force. I wanted to go to bed early and get a good night sleep, but that just wasn’t going to happen. I basically lay in bed tossing and turning all night getting very little actual sleep. As much as I tried, I just couldn’t turn off my mind. Finally 3:30 a.m. arrived, and it was time to get out of bed and get ready. My wife who didn’t get much sleep either (I think she was almost as nervous as I was) got up with me. After getting dressed, we headed down to the hotel lobby to meet Dave and Art (who I had trained with for this race) and walked over to transition. Once in the lobby, we were greeted by Dave and his wife who were staying in the same hotel as us. Art had not arrived but he was staying at a hotel down the street. We waited about 30 minutes but finally decided to head over without him (not to worry – Art met us over there in plenty of time.) After a quick stop at transition just to check on our bikes, we headed over to the swim start area a little less than a mile away. A fair number of people were already waiting in line when we arrived at swim start, although we had more people in line behind us than in front of us. After watching the sun come up as we waited in line, start time approached.
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| The swim start line |
First the pro’s start, then the National Anthem and the Kentucky Derby call to post (with the bugle) was performed. Finally, after standing in line, several bathroom breaks, and a last-minute banana and Gu pack, it was 7:00 a.m. and time for the race to start. It didn’t take us very long to get in the water; we were in by 7:10ish. It was actually one of my smoothest starts for a swim. Normally, I will get short of breath after the initial jump, but today I was calm and my breathing was steady. As I swam, people would periodically come up behind me and bump into my legs or back as they passed me. Having people bump or grab onto you while you swim is a pain, but nothing like it would have been if it was a mass start swim (think 2,500 people all jumping in the water at the same time). I knew the harder part of swim was the upriver part, and once I got around the island it would be downhill from there so to speak. Besides having the current with you for most of the race, this race offers plenty of sightlines (such as three huge bridges) so you always know where you are. Keeping track of your progress can be challenging in open water swims, but here it was no problem at all. There was also a small portion where you could actually walk a bit in the water. I saw others doing this so I stopped and walked a couple feet just to get my barring. I felt good for most the swim but my right calf started cramping towards the end of the course, so I had to turn on my back and float a bit while I rubbed it out. Finally I was out of the water with a time of 2:13:06. At this point, I knew I was going to finish this race, and you could tell because I had a big smile.
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| Coming out of the water with a big smile. |
As I ran to T1 from the river, my family was there on the sidelines cheering me on and high-fiving me and with that I felt a new burst of energy. Once in the tent, I pulled my bike stuff out of my bag, put on some sunscreen, changed into my tri shorts and a cycle jersey, sipped some water, and headed out to my bike. Along the way, I decided to stop by the port-a-potty and go to the bathroom before hitting the road. Most races the bathroom isn’t a huge issue for me, but with this race I decided it was better to stop and go now then having to go somewhere along the road.
Again as I mounted my bike and began to ride out, there was my family cheering me on and giving me more energy to get the job done. The first 10 miles of the bike course is very flat so it’s easy to push yourself too hard starting out. I wanted to pace myself and my leg where it had cramped up in the water was still feeling a little tender, so I didn’t want to push too hard. I soon came upon two riders and had to decide if I wanted to pass them or not. In triathlons, you aren’t allowed to draft behind other bike riders, and the rules say you have to pass someone within 20 seconds or back off. Since this was my first Ironman, I wasn’t sure how closely they watched these things and was a bit concerned if I passed the first person but not the second one I could end up too close to the second rider and be in danger of getting a drafting penalty. As the race went on, I realized that the rules weren’t really enforced any more than any other race, at least not for us non-pro's this far back. If I was behind another rider for a few seconds, I wasn’t going to get penalized. This early in the race though, I thought I would play it safe. Eventually, I decided to pass both riders and went on my merry way.
The bike course in Louisville is very hilly and to make it even worse, there is very little shade on the course. As I mentioned before, the temperature thankfully was only in the mid-80’s instead of the upper 90’s. By this point in the day, the sun was out full force and even in the 80’s, it was getting pretty hot. I knew the key to this portion of the race was to stay hydrated. I made sure to keep drinking Gatorade throughout the course, and I switched out my water at every aid station. One portion of the course is an out-and-back that takes you down a very steep hill and over a small bridge. In the course briefing, they even warn you to be very careful on this leg of the race. By the time I arrived, there apparently had already been a four-bike crash. As I rode by, one guy was being put on a stretcher with a neck brace. As you can imagine, I made sure to be careful.
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| Waving to my family as I ride by. |
About half-way through the course you get to a town called La Grange where spectators are shuttled to via bus to cheer athletes on. You actually ride through this area twice, and both times my family was there cheering me on. The first time through I was feeling fine, but on the second loop I was beginning to feel it a bit so having them there giving me incentive was nice. Just after the second pass through La Grange, I could get my special needs bag – another feature unique to Ironman races. The bag contains the mid-race supplies I had packed and dropped off that morning. My bag contained some aspirin, a Coke and a Kit Kat bar. I took the aspirin, ate half the Kit Kat, and drank the Coke for an extra boost of energy. One of the volunteers also was nice enough to get me some ice that I used to cool my Gatorade back down. I had been switching out my water bottles, but I really did not like the Powerade they served on the course so I had been sticking with my Gatorade which by this point had gotten quite warm.
With a new burst of energy, I was on the road once again. On the first loop of the course, I was riding with many of the faster riders who were on their second loop with their expensive race bikes and fancy wheels that make a very unique noise as they go by, but on the second go-around for me it was much quieter with fewer people on the road. This is the stretch where you have to try and stay focused. At this point, I basically was ready to get off the bike with nothing to distract me from the aches and pains in my neck and butt. Finally, I made my way to the final 10 miles - the same flat 10 miles I started on. I knew I was home free but the break between aid stations is a bit long in the final 20 mile-ish stretch. As I rolled into the transition area, my neck was really tired and my butt was really sore. I completed the bike in 7:04:50. I got off my bike and handed it off to a volunteer to rack. At this point, I noticed my family was not around (turns out they miscalculated the time a bit and showed up late) but figured they would be around soon. I grabbed my run bag and headed into the tent to prepare for the last leg of the race, the run. I was tired but overall was still feeling pretty good. However, I was concerned about dehydration so I began to drink lots of water, Coke, and ate some cashews I had in my bag for salt. I believe this was my biggest mistake of the race.
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| Running while trying to deal with cramps. |
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| At the half-way point. |
After changing and resting for a few minutes, I made my way out of the tent and began to run. Still no sign of the family, but at this point I just wanted to get going and get the run done. The first part of the run takes you out and back over a bridge into Indiana which is about a mile when all is said and done. At this point, the sun is still shining fiercely and it hits you pretty hard on that bridge. My legs were feeling pretty strong all things considered, but my stomach started cramping. This is something I’ve never really dealt with in a race before; yeah, I’ve experienced cramps before but usually in my shoulder or someplace like that, and can run through them. These were strong cramps in my stomach, and I was afraid I had put too many liquids and too much food in it during transition. I started to walk to see if I could get the cramps to stop, and at the first aid station I tried to drink some Powerade which was really gross. Trying to run again was still a no go, the cramps weren’t letting up. I knew I had plenty of time to finish the race, but I really didn’t want to walk 26.2 miles. Running was always my strongest event in triathlons, and I was damned if I was going to be foiled on the part of the race where I should be strongest. As I approached the second aid station, I started getting that cotton mouth feeling which told me I was getting dehydrated but I didn’t want to dump a ton of liquids on my stomach either. I decided to take a cup of cold water and sip it while I walked. This actually seemed to work as the cramps began to let up. I started to run again, but by the time I got to the next aid station the cramps had returned. So I repeated the process of grabbing a cup of cold water and sipping it while walking and then began to run again. It certainly wasn’t an optimal solution, but it was better than walking the whole thing.
Once off the bridge, the run course basically is two big loops; you actually run right past the finish line when you complete the first loop. As I got to the end of the first loop, my family had caught up with me and was cheering me on. This plus seeing the finish line gave me another burst of energy, but the cramps had started returning with more frequency. Sipping cold water while walking kept the cramps at bay less and less. By this time, the sun had started to go down so heat was becoming less and less of an issue but had been replaced by general fatigue coupled with the cramps. I knew even if I walked the rest of the way I would still be able to get to the finish line in plenty of time before the midnight cutoff, so the decision I had to make was to push it to get a better time or take it easy to make sure I finish. As the race went on, I saw more and more athletes who had crashed and burned and were laying on the side of the road not able to move under their own power. I did not want that happening to me.
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| My Mdot tat combines my love of comics and tri's. |
When I got back to the hotel, I went on Facebook to see how everyone who wasn’t there in-person had been following my progress on Ironman Live and been cheering me on. It was really awesome to see all the comments and posts from everyone. I also tried to eat some solid food but that just wasn’t going to happen. It was a day or so before I was able to eat normally again, but I didn’t care. The next day, my wife treated me to an hour and a half deep tissue massage then I went for my M-dot tattoo. I also hit up the Ironman store and bought all the cool Ironman paraphernalia I wasn’t willing to buy until I knew I had finished the race.
I rested for two days but unlike when I finished my first marathon where I felt like I was done and didn’t want to do this anymore, I felt more energetic than ever like a tremendous mental weight had been lifted. If I could do an Ironman, I can do anything. By day three, I was already in the pool training for my next race which was the Nation's Triathlon two weeks away and by the following weekend, I was doing a 100-mile Century ride and feeling pretty good.
As I mentioned at the beginning of this race report, my goal when I started was to finish an Ironman. Now that I have, I want to actually start winning some of these races. I have set a new goal for myself: within the next two years, I want to qualify for the Ironman Championship race in Kona, HI. I know it won’t be an easy road and will require lots of hard work and dedication (especially when it comes to the swim), even more than it took to complete Louisville, but I will give it all I have and hopefully within the next two years I will be writing one of these race reports for Kona.
