IM Louisville Debbie Williams Race Report - Yes, I an THE last official finisher
This is really LOOOOONG!!! But an Ironman (for me) is a really looooong day!! Many of you here are very fast - I am a committed back of the packer - very few can say that they made the Ironman produced video!!! While that certainly wasn't my plan - it's kinda kewl!!
Sorry this is a bit late – mini-roller coaster vacation @ Cedar Point post-IM – long solo drive home – work to catch up on… My husband moved out of our house while I was off doing the IM (surprise!). AND my son got married on Saturday 9/6! (they changed their wedding date so I could do the IM)
IM Louisville 2014 – why? In a nutshell - 2012 I finished IM Louisville in 17:15, while I received a finisher shirt, cap & medal – I was “unofficial” as I exceeded the time limit. IM Louisville has been unfinished business. I’d kinda heard rumblings about some future changes with IM Louisville (the date has been changed to October). In January, I decided that 2014 was going to be THE YEAR to get back into shape & get this business taken care of… my daughter Elisha Wyrsch (my UBER SHERPA) decided that she would train & race IM Louisville with me. We joined up with Endurance Nation in March & followed this training plan. While we did some cycling together, much of our training was solo – mainly due to different work schedules (plus I can’t keep with her cycling or running).
Road trip - took 2 days to drive to Louisville arriving late Thursday evening - missed EN dinner gathering. Friday we checked into Louisville Downtown Marriott – it’s about a block from the finish line & about 5 blocks from the host hotel Galt House. I appreciated being AWAY from the hustle & bustle of the Galt House (where I’d stayed in 2012). Finally got to meet a bunch of FaceBook friends Friday at a Happy Hour. I’ve enjoyed training with this group who all were looking for their best race day – some had done an IM, some had a DNF & some were first timers – based on our training, it seemed like we all would be on the run about the same time (at the end of the day - we all finished within about 45 minutes of each other!) Saturday was a busy day! The Ohio River practice swim was terrifying… jumping in at the swim exit, foundering upstream, it was like swimming in an Endless Pool!!! Several days of thunderstorms made the current very strong!! Fortunately the upstream locks are closed race day & there’s not a lot of current – upstream or downstream. This year we elected to skip Saturday’s Underpants Run (a 1 mile fund raiser run – done in UNDERWARE!) I just thought this was one too many activities to add to an already busy day. We did get fantastic massages! The gal who did my massage used some physio tape on my neck which DID seem to help avoid some of the neck stiffness problems I’ve had in the past.
Back to the hotel, transition bags were packed, bikes unloaded out of the car (argh!! Elisha’s bike had a flat!!!), fixed the flat and headed over to The Great Lawn to rack bikes & turn in transition bags. WHEW!! It was crazy stupid humid down on the river front! We planned for early dinner and beat the rush @ Spaghetti Factory. Another set of thunderstorms rolled through the area – raining for the next 10 hours!! Fortunately we’d put most everything in our transition bags that should be DRY (shoes, socks, jersey, shorts) in large zip-lock bags. Back to the room to chill and set the alarm clock for 3AM (multiple alarms!!) – of course the night before a big race is TOSS & TURN!!
Race Day Plan called for me to put water & nutrition on the bikes and inflate tires – while I did this, Elisha headed off in foggy darkness down the a mile long path to line up for the time trial swim start. First in line, first to start swim & maximum use of race clock. Yes, we were about #20 in the line & yes, we sat on the sidewalk for almost 3 hours. IM Louisville is unique in that there is a chip time and RACE CLOCK – regardless of your start time, you must finish by RACE CLOCK time of 16:59:59 – results note your chip time as finish time (as long as you finish by 16:59:59). The swim starts by athletes jumping off 2 docks into the Ohio River – everyone has 2H 20min to complete the swim based on chip time. This year I’ve been working hard on improving my swim & turned in a 20min PR (which ultimately made the difference at the end of the day!). I took some lessons with Geoff Glasser & then joined up with his Sunday Masters group. Highly recommend!! Since we were so close to the front, we got to hear the bugler play "My Old Kentucky Home" and call to the line. Into the water 40 seconds after BOOM of the cannon. The up stream channel & Ohio River are wide enough to find “open water” and avoid most body contact. The water is muddy and yes, there are floating sticks & other debris. This is a non-wet suit swim & I chose to swim in my swim suit so that I’d start out the bike in dry shorts. Out of the water in 1:42.
Amazing volunteers helped change me into cycling garb. T1 13:37 wow I musta done something else there!! That’s a looong transition (even though the transition area is pretty long!)
Bike – the bike course is absolutely beautiful – initially along the Ohio River and then into rolling horse country – in & out of a couple steep limestone ravines. Temps continued to rise as the sun peaked out from the early morning overcast skies – eventually the temps climbed to the mid 90s plus humidity – heat index temp of 105-107 was reported. On my tri bike I used a front bottle with a straw & supplemented with course provided Perform – stopping at each aid station to refill the water bottle or get a fresh Perform. In retrospect, I should have taken an extra water bottle & refilled my front bottle while rolling to reduce frequency of stops. I followed my nutrition plan of Salt Tabs, Gu, Honey Stinger Waffles, Perform & all worked out quite well – learning from some training ride errors. Per my Garmin I had 7 min of non-moving time for the 112 miles (that included one pee stop). 5400’ of climbing take their toll!! Up/down, up/down LOTS & LOTS of shifting!! No long sustained climbs. Nobody ever claimed it was an easy bike. IM Louisville DOES offer a beautiful bike course! A tad slower than what I'd predicted, average HR was spot on - tried to keep the mind set of "just riding along" 8:01 bike with 10:39 transition. Now it was time for the run.
Run – 26.2 miles - this is where in 2012 a tired body turned into a stiff neck & severe listing/leaning nightmare - I did not want to repeat this experience in 2014. The first thing I noticed on the run was that it was VERY VERY HOT!! Downtown streets & buildings certainly didn’t help with air flow. Lots of ice on my head, down my top & shorts. With the multi-use bandana I’d wipe off my arms, legs, face & then drape over my neck… I was able to stick with my run plan of run 4 min/walk 1 min to the turnaround (about mile 6) – coming back into Downtown was more of a run 2 min/walk 2 minutes. But I also recognized that I really was having a lot of trouble getting my core body temp down. Aid stations every mile offered water, Perform, Gu, pretzels, CHICKEN BROTH, Perform, Water (in that order – after you hear volunteers saying it enough times – you GET the order!!). At the turn around for the second loop I kinda had a melt down – literally! Ears ringing, stars flashing, dizzy… MUST SIT DOWN - so I plopped down on the curb next to some spectators (the thought was if I am in trouble there’s someone right here to help & maybe they might have some water). Of course the Police comes up & asks if I need medical – no I’m OK! I do a mental check list, Salt Tabs – check, water – check, Gu – check… I am sooo hot!!! So I ask this guy – who I’m sitting next to if he’d fan me with the sign he was holding – and THAT was the ticket! I don’t know how long I was there or how long he fanned me – but it was enough to get cooled back down enough to move forward.
The second lap of the run went much slower – every try at running brought my core temp back up – so I backed it off to a brisk walk – I peeled my tri top down to my hips – yeah basically running in my sports bra!! And this reduction of fabric was the ticket to keep me cooler!! The run is an out & back so I got to see my FaceBook friends and ELISHA several times!! Elisha was doing amazing – even with HUGE silver dollar size blisters on the bottom of both feet she continued to move forward (our mantra was “just keep moving forward&rdquo
. She found other athletes to pair up with to get through the “run”. About 23 miles into the run I started doing the math calculations to get to the Finish line by midnight – (well as best as you can with a very tired body & fried brain!). The numbers weren’t very promising. I did a little more running (well trotting & it probably wasn’t very pretty)… tried to hang with or keep in sight other athletes… Keep moving forward.
So the other mental gymnastics going on at this point - I signed up for First Time Finisher Guarantee EN program - I've completed all the required tasks (well, I'd do everything on the check list ANYWAY!) - CRAP!!! EN isn't gonna refund my IM Louisville entry fee - they'll pay the entry for another IM - I've gotta train for and DO ANOTHER ONE OF THESE FLIPPIN RACES!!! Pick up your feet and GET THIS THING DONE!!
With 2 miles to go (just an easy little run!) finishing by midnight was gonna be RIGHT DOWN TO THE WIRE.
1 mile to go – aid station – grabbed a water & took off running (probably @ a 14 min/mile pace) but it was what I could do at the time!
.6 mile to go – aid station – didn’t stop. A group of spectators started running beside me – cheering me on – calling out time splits. And then there’s the final right turn onto Fourth Street, around the puddle in the corner (you'll see the puddle in the You Tube video) – just up the street - one block in darkness and city street lights – so close – yet so far away - the final block BRIGHT LIGHTS & CROWDS! This is about where it became time to “dig deep” – I remember someone with a camera & microphone – someone mumbling I think she’s gonna make it (and me thinking OF COURSE I AM GONNA MAKE IT!!).
After nearly 17 hours of “moving forward” it came down to a couple hundred steps!! And into the light & the roar of the crowd!! Finish line in sight – I am totally zoned into crossing the line!!! Fourth Street Live is a covered restaurant/bar corridor and is packed with cheering spectators – sound reverberating off the walls & roof!!! The energy – the vibrations – the noise is unbelievable! I looked up to the Jumbotron screen 16:59:57!!! Three more steps! I crossed the finish line @ 16:59:58 with momentum!! ONE SECOND to spare!!
My first words to volunteer catcher at the Finish line was “I made it” her comment was “You most certainly did.” Through the finish line area – Finisher Shirt, medal & cap. Until I saw the race day video the following morning at the athletes breakfast, I didn’t even realize that Nina Kraft & Chris McDonald (womens & mens pro winners) ran the finish chute with me!! What a Finish Line photo bomb! On the Livestream video you can hear the announcer say – here’s one more… Athletes only Athletes only (allowed in the finish line chute) multiple times… YET my name was never called out “Debbie Williams you are an Ironman” Hmmmm does this mean I have to go back & do it again?? THANK YOU for all those cheering!!! It gave me that extra dig deep burst to move just a little faster. If you were watching at home - sorry for the heart attack!
My IM/Indiana friend met me at the end of the Finish area - time to find Elisha… where’s Elisha?? She finished 16:35 and had been waiting for me to come in… At 18, this was her 3rd Open Water swim!! Her first solo century!! Her first marathon!!! AND Her first TRIATHLON!! (as she says – go big or go home) Turns out she was in Medical – but that story is for her to tell.
Final recap – what a day!!! I pretty much followed my race plan. Swim was right on what I’d been doing in the pool (I know with continued work I can get faster). I have a new swim stroke/techniques with swim times that have continued to improve over the months. I think I could have gone faster on the bike – but a faster bike could have compromised the run. I got a tri bike in March, got “fitted” and committed to ride IT as my only bike. Bike was awesome! Perfect gearing, reasonably comfortable saddle (Adamo). Heat?? Nearly all of my training was IN the AZ heat often finishing in 100+ temps – the humidity was really hard on me especially during the run. My fitness level showed a significant improvement over the months of training – my first timed 5K in February was 46:46. Ironically almost every run I’ve done the last couple years has finished with a sprint to the end of the driveway, the car or some other “spot” – visioning a sprint to the finish I never EVER planned a FINISH that I got!!
Other comments – this time I elected to train with the group/on-line coaching program Endurance Nation. Recommend! Was financially affordable for me. I had a weekly roadmap which built from half IM into full IM program and was tweaked to accommodate Sunday Masters Swimming. It was very brain free way to train. I did Computrainer sessions 2X/week the last 3 months of training – these WERE my short week day rides. I would repeat the focus & intensity of this training – just wish there was some place closer than a 45 minute drive away – Travis & I had a lot of fun at 5:30AM @ Tucson Endurance Center (plus I was able to tack on a run after nearly every session).
What’s next? Immediately after the finish my thought was “and I’m thinking about doing another one of these?!!? You MUST be kidding!!” I’m already signed up to volunteer at IMAZ with the planned intent of registering for IMAZ 2015 the following morning… Right now I’m not quite ready to pull the trigger, but no doubt, by then… well you know the rest of the story! Elisha’s life/work/school schedules most likely won’t accommodate her training for another Ironman in the near future – so I need to seek out another group to stay accountable with. I am hoping to join up with a running group & improve on my run (now that I finally have some decent base fitness).
Having the opportunity to train for and do an Ironman with my daughter was AMAZING!!
Sooo – who else can submit a professional video with their race report??? Here’s the You Tube link – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxTG4YTOCWQ you will have to wait until the very end – but it’s pretty exciting!!
For the Finish line LIVESTREAM go to http://new.livestream.com/ironman/events/3317317 around 9:01:44 - there was so much going on that my NAME wasn’t even called out!!!
Debbie Williams
Green Valley
Comments
I saw you on the video...very cool - you're famous now!
Your report brought tears to my eyes. How proud you must be! You executed beautifully and adjusted on the fly to successfully meet your goal. Wow! What an "what an ironman!"
There are some really fast peeps that admire BoPs like you — they are in awe of your ability to go for so long, compared to the shorter times that they do. Eg Matt Anacona who is sub 10 IM finisher.
BTW, I'm not fast myself.
+1 on that. As I get older, and am out there longer and longer, it's the mental drain that's most wearing.