JT's IMLou - Don't Do What I Did!!
IM Lou Race Report
Don’t do what I did!
Cliff Note Version – Accomplished main goal as our Slugger Nation charity team raised over $27,000 for Wounded Warriors before we hit Lou…. As for the race on a very hot humid day – had a very good swim for me – PR of 1:08. Had a PR Bike of 6:08 and that was riding pretty conservatively due to the heat. But also didn’t execute my nutrition plan well on the bike and didn’t drink enough. Run – Fine for the first 14 miles, then the stomach shut down due to dehydration 
and had to slow down and join the "Walking Wounded" and try every trick in the book to get the stomach back. Rallied at the end for a light run in, but at least avoided the glow stick and didn’t end up in medical finished in 13:45 (90 minutes slower than IMWI the year before)…. Read more to learn what went right and what not to do in IMLou….
Pre-Race
Arrived on Thursday afternoon from Boulder and with the other members of Slugger Nation charity team, went to registration. Since we had raised a fair amount of money, we were granted IM VIP status. On Friday, went for one loop of the bike course (about 30 miles) very easy and drove the rest of the course. Hillier than I expected, but not a concern. Saturday did practice swim in Ohio River. Decided that the water temperature was too high for a wet suit and stuck with the plan for swimskin (turns out if you did wear optional wetsuit, that meant going to the back of the line on the time trial swim start)
Got a nice surprise Saturday afternoon as my brother (fellow ENer) Bruce, had flown down from Chicago to help me in the race. Great to have him for the support.
Race Day
Up a little before 4am and had Core Diet breakfast of applesauce, protein drink, bagel with peanut butter and a banana. Also started sipping on a bottle of Infinit. Grabbed gear and ready to go…
Swim
Since we were IM VIP’s, we got to go into the restaurant at the start line with the pro’s.. If not familiar with IM Lou, they have a time-trial swim start. Everybody lines up on the dock and park behind that, starting at 5:30am. With our VIP status, it also meant that we were the first ones to get into the water, right at 7am after they did My Old Kentucky Home.
So right at 7am, we jump in off the dock and there is nothing but open water in front. 
Per what I’d read from John Withrow’s report and discussion with others, I headed straight to the left side of the channel heading up river. Basically had no contact with anyone for the first 20 minutes, till other faster swimmers starting coming up.
Around the buoy, and it was downstream to the swim exit. Stayed in box and kept my stroke and breathing under control. Had less contact in this swim than any of the other IM’s and frankly than most of the triathlons I’ve ever done…. Got to the swim finish and started running toward T1 and firing up the crowd….
T1
Knew this would be a little slow since wanted to put on Desoto Cool Wings and race kit. Also grabbed my flask with Powergels, but made my first nutrition mistake as missed grabbing my salt pills. 
Found my bike easy (was right next to the pros with the VIP status) and hit the road…
Bike
Since I knew it was going to be hot, I planned to ride pretty conservatively. Started off and did much of the first hour 20 watts under my goal and kept my heart rate low. But what I didn’t do in retrospect was drink enough of the Infinit I had. My plan was to finish 2 bottles by the 3nd aid station at mile 35. I’d only finished one by this point, but did stop to refill it and take a pee. From there, rode conservatively to special needs at mile 65 and picked up two new bottles from the small lunch box cooler in my special needs bag. I’d frozen the Infinit the day before and they were now perfect – slushy cold in the insulated camelback bottles (One would stay cold till mile 105) Also picked up a new gel flask as had consumed 5 Vanilla Powergels in the first 65 miles.
Rode the rest of the course conservatively, also grabbing a water bottle at each aid station, taking a few big drinks and getting the cool wings and body wet.
Finished the bike in a PR of 6:08, but also did this with a TSS of 266 and looking at power file post race, was right about where I wanted to be, since by now it was over 90 degrees and humid, so was trying to save for the run.
But I’d only had about 6 bottles of Infinit and water, which was at least 2 bottles less than I had planned (and probably about 4 less than I really needed 
) At least I did have all 10 powergels, but of course I also missed my salt pills at special needs (Note to self for future races – need to tape them to something so they don’t get lost in the T1 and special needs bags!!!!)
T2
Was uneventful, but in the tent, even with fans going, you really realized how hot it was. Got some sweat in my mouth and it was really salty...(not good) Putting on my socks and shoes, noticed that the bodyglide went on more like butter than glide. Finally also grabbed my salt pills and fired one down with a Zantac to keep heartburn at bay….Also grabbed my bottle of Infinit out of another small cooler – it was also icy cold.. (Highly recommend this strategy for hot races – much easier to drink)
Run
Since I knew it was 90+ degrees, and following EN protocol, started off the run really slow. Also started taking small drinks from my bottle right away. First miles were good. At each aid station, I was using the sponges on my head and body, as well as putting ice water on my cool wings. At each stop, I’d also grab a cup of ice and put some it down my arm coolers, chew some and also hold some in my hands, trying to keep the core body temperature down.
Fired down my bottle of Infinit in the first 45 minutes, took another salt pill and refilled it with water and more Infinit. Kept up with the ice and took my Powergel at 45 minutes.
At roughly mile 9, hit the porta potty for a pee (had pee’d twice on the bike) and then shortly after, felt that the stomach was not the best. Took a little longer thru an aid station, and decided to switch to flat coke (was about finished with the second bottle of Infinit) and ice in the running bottle. Chugged along a little slower (still trying to keep core temperature down), but by mile 14, the stomach reverted to full shut down mode, and I knew it was time to walk some.
I think it was about this point that I realized that I was probably pretty dehydrated and started to try every trick to get the stomach going again. Another salt pill, and more flat coke. Still hit the sponges and ice at each station, but was really having to focus to even keep walking (in the bright sun) as felt a little dizzy a few times. Knew I had to get the core temperature down and get some fluids in the body – so kept the walking up (was not going to stop for anything 
) and fired down 1 bottle of flat coke and ice, followed by 2 more bottles of Infinit and finally another bottle of flat coke. By this point, it was about mile 24 and my brother had come out to help bring me home.
Walked about another mile and then picked up a slow run (ok, maybe the Ironman shuffle – but at this point, it didn’t really matter) and ticked off the last mile or so… Saw friends before the finish, zipped up the jersey and then ran across the line to finish IM#3.
At least felt good that while I screwed up and didn’t drink enough on the bike, I’d recognized what I needed to do to correct it and finish. Also made it thru without a glow stick and didn’t have to hit medical afterwards – small wins, but will take them. First race in Tri career that went really bad – bound to happen once I guess….
Also had a triathlon first after the race while wearing my finishers medal and still in my EN kit, I walked in the hotel where I was meeting people, and standing on the landing above the restaurant/bar, looking for friends, all of sudden someone started clapping and the next thing, the whole place was clapping – after the race I had, I was happy to take it and bowed/waved to the crowd.
So moral of this race – when you read that Patrick says that 1 bottle an hour is not enough on the bike for a hot IM Lou – make sure do what you need!!
On to Mont Tremblant next year!!!
Comments
Wetsuit optional this year? What was the water temp? I think it was 86 the 2 years I did IMLOU.
Congrats JT! I was on the course as a spectator. It was hot, hot, hot. I was hot just walking around. I can only image the hot breeze on the bike course. I left Louisville at 7:00 PM and headed back for Chicago. It was 91 degrees!
I have first hand experience with IM nutrition shut down. You suffered through with a great finishing time. Given the conditions, all the folks who finished the race were superior athletes.
Don't worry, I'll be at IMMT so the temperature will be perfect for a race!
IMMT will treat you well next year if the temps re the same as this year.
JT - That's typical ... no self-pity, just keep moving forward. After what you went thru a couple of years ago, a little heat and walking iin an IM is nothing, right?
Besides, you got to feel what it's like to lead out a race during those first minutes of the swim.
Just keep up the hard work and good spirits!