IMLOU 2010 RR
IM Louisville 2010 Race Report
I drove to Louisville which is about 10.5 hrs. My wife Brittany who has been to every Ironman with me accompanied me. We left Wednesday afternoon stayed somewhere in Illinois and arrived Thursday around noon. I checked in at the race site/packet pickup. I was through registration within 15 minutes. Definitely a PR I was prepared for 2 hours of standing in line. What a nice surprise. We met some awesome people from Endurance Nation for the team dinner that night as well.
Readers Digest version of my race, I swam a 1:10, rode 5:47, and ran a 3:45 122nd overall 23rd in 30-34 not a PR time wise but a definite placing PR. I heard temps were around 96 degrees. It was crazy stupid supa hot, so I had to adjust my time goals it turned out working out really well, I had a great day.
Swim- I would estimate I was one of the first 200 in the water. The swim is in the Ohio River , 1 loop water temp was 84 degrees so no wetsuit. I found open water pretty quick got comfortable and started counting strokes. Contact with the others was minimal and the swim was definitely the most relaxing Ironman swim I’ve ever had. With a wetsuit I’m pretty consistent around 1:04 without 1:10 so 10% slower. No big deal.
T1 went pretty quick got dressed had a volunteer to myself he packed up all my swim stuff so it made things all the quicker. When I was running out I saw one guy who still had his speedsuit on (doh) I told him and he went running back into the tent.
Bike
The first section of River Road is fairly flat up until around mile 16. I sat pretty comfortable on about 182 watts. Some guys went flying by but for the most part pretty uneventful. There is a small out and back section on the course once I made the turn I realized where I was in relation to a lot of people. The course is a lollopped shaped with a loop you ride twice it is roughly 35 miles. The hills started and I settled in. Originally I had planned and rehearsed to ride about 192 watts after the first 1.5 hours and increase power a little each hour. I made an on the fly decision to back down a few watts due to the extreme heat and ended with a normalized power of 186 watts. I had a good time on the bike course got passed a lot going up hills. Endurance Nation has pretty solid guidance on how to climb, I take this one step further by telling the guys out of the saddle hammering how strong they are looking and to, “go get ‘em man!”. The second loop the bike and car traffic definitely increased by this time the temp was easily 90 degrees. I was getting that glazed over I’ve been on the bike riding steady 3.5 hours feeling. I took in a little caffeine at special needs it definitely seemed to help with alertness which was good because more riding skill was definitely needed to dodge other cyclists as well as cars. I finished fairly strong. It was definitely hot on the second loop.
Here is the bike data
Entire workout (175 watts):
Duration: 5:49:40
Work: 3672 kJ
TSS: 269.4 (intensity factor 0.68)
Norm Power: 186
VI: 1.06
Pw:HR: 1.5%
Pa:HR: -3.48%
Distance: 114.005 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 456 175 watts
Heart Rate: 119 167 156 bpm
Cadence: 34 201 93 rpm
Speed: 2.2 125.6 19.6 mph
Pace 0:29 26:49 3:04 min/mi
T2 not much to say I went pee, changed shorts, shoes, put on a hat and headed out on the run.
Run
I had planned to run the first 6 miles around 8:20 pace and bump up to 7:50 pace. Wicked Smart Endurance Nation Guy Matt Samojeden had done some great analysis about the effect of heat on Ironman run pacing. Summarized it effects optimal pacing a ton.
I was able to run pretty steadily around 8:20/mile, I passed a ton of people going from 55th in the 30-34 to 23rd. The first loop was a pretty lonely affair, and the run at IM Louisville is definitely mind numbing. I was able to take in decent amounts of water at each aid station. I kept cool, by putting glasses of ice in my hat every mile. I did hit a rough patch around mile 22, I pretty much sucked it up for a couple more miles after some extended walking through an aid station. The second lap, I had a little more company on the course which I definitely prefer. I did manage to run the entire marathon and only slowed down a little so I was fairly happy with my execution. Up until mile 18 I was hanging around an 8:20 pace.
The Ironman finish line definitely makes the experience special. IM Louisville finishes at 4th street which is a large pedestrian mall with a glass ceiling. It is simply awesome. Once the finish line was in sight I definitely started feeling better. I was able to put a nice kick in, I finished with no others in my view front or back and definitely got to enjoy the experience. I’ve crossed the finish line at various Ironman races 5x now and the feeling never really wears off or gets old. I was able to stay out of the med tent but definitely was unable to make it back to the finish line to help cheer for the last finishers. I had a tough time getting my core temperature down after racing almost 11 hours in the heat. This day will definitely hold up as one of the harder days condition wise though I would still prefer Louisville’s conditions to 2006 Ironman Wisconsin, I’ve got a score to settle in Madison.
Entire workout (8.59 min/mi):
Duration: 3:44:44 (3:47:06)
Work: n/a
rTSS: 228.4 (0.732)
NGP: 8:08 (197.7 m/min)
VI: n/a
Pw:HR: n/a
Pa:HR: n/a
Distance: 26.167 mi
Elevation Gain: 5401 ft
Elevation Loss: 5230 ft
Grade: 0.1 % (170 ft)
Min Max Avg
Speed: 2:14 0:00 8:33 min/mi
Altitude: 341 660 461 ft
I saw Coach Patrick from Endurance Nation as he was camped out at mile 18 4x and was definitely putting out great moojo as well as the other EN athletes who always give some of the best on course mojo. Justin Herrick from Des Moines was at every turn albeit about 2 miles in front of me. Justin went 10:08, ended up 2nd in the 18-24, executed like a ninja and snagged a slot to Kona! Legit. Thanks to my wife Brittany who always gives good kisses and cheers supa loud on the course and has to put up with me through the training and tapering. Also definitely huge props to Rich, Patrick, and the finest triathlon team on the planet Endurance Nation guidance and wisdom is priceless.
Comments
Way to go Dan! That was a really great result on a very tough day. You really hung in there on the run; just kept ticking off those miles as I checked in from my daughter's soccer game and other errands..
It was nice to meet you at the Madison camp in July and I hope you can make it back up there next weekend to spectate!!
Solid as a rock, and smart with every pedal stroke and run step! Great race! Congratulations.
I luv your guidance to the hammer heads on the bike!! Way to fan the flames!
Matt
Dan - What to say other than well done race. Two signs of a quality athlete are the ability to perform well in adverse conditions, and the ability to consistently produce good results; you've done both!
It was fun to see you on the run headed back to Fourth Street Live. You looked so strong and happy to be headed home. Thanks for posting your TSS for both bike and run, too. It helps me calibrate how much effort to expend over the day. Hope to race with you again soon.
Dooood! You rocked that course - and the run! You were flying! Thanks for your encouraging words on the run course! I feel like I saw you about 10 times, but I may have been hallucinating. Are your legs about 6 ft long? I think that was you...
Next time don't run so hard ya can't get a dang beer - defeats the purpose!!