IM Louisville - The Tragedy of Old Sligo
This was written for the lowest common denominator of triathlon knowledge in my larger audience so I apologize to all you Ninjas in advance for the elementary parts.
Goals
· Finish the Race
· Enjoy the Entire Experience
Time Expectation Actual
Swim 1:40 1:49
Bike 6:30 7:10
Run 5:30 6:53
Total Transition :15 :21
Total Race 13:55 16:15
I woke up at 2:30 to take in two bottles of Ensure (500 calories). At 3:50am I woke up before the alarm was scheduled for 4:00am and I was up for good. Whoa, it’s gonna be a long day. In the next 45 minutes, I drank two diet Cokes (race morning ritual) and one more Ensure (250 calories).
Left the hotel around 4:45 and headed to the transition area where my bike and gear were. I arrived at transition, already buzzing with activity, and headed to my bike. I quickly aired up my tires; turned on my GPS tracker (MyAthleteLive), filled my aero bottle with water, and racked my nutrition (750 calories of Infinit). Then it was time to make the mile-ish walk from transition to the swim start.
SWIM – Actual 1:49, Expectation 1:40
The Louisville 2.4mile swim is in the Ohio River. It heads up river on the inside of Towhead Island. You swim past the island to the turnaround buoy and head down river 1.7ish miles to the swim exit.
I didn’t preview the swim start in the days leading up to the race, so the walk out to the start felt really long probably because I didn’t know where I was going and we were all walking in the dark. Finally, up ahead I saw lights. We rounded a corner and a bevy of volunteers were yelling for body marking. It was 5:15am. Completed body marking with no incident and headed off to find the end of this crazy swim line. Louisville is unique in Ironman because it is a time trial swim start (participants go in the water one by one) instead of a mass start. This is one of the key reasons I chose Louisville. I am not a strong swimmer and I didn’t want to deal with the mental and physical distress of a chaotic start with 2800 other people. The down side is the line to jump in the water is first come, first serve. I was mildly surprised at the length of the swim line. There were probably 500 people already in line 15 minutes after the line opened. I sat down to wait for the 7am start. I tried to focus on my pre-race swim thoughts – try to get to the first dock, jump in the water, make sure your goggles are set, get out of the way so no one jumps on your head, SWIM, focus on your stroke, don’t go out too fast, BREATH OUT FULLY, you know this is going to be a LONG swim, you WILL get bored and feel like this thing will never end, don’t get stressed out if someone bumps you/kicks you/swims over you, stay close to the buoys so you don’t swim any farther than necessary.
Finally, around sunrise, the line started to move. I heard the cannon go off and knew I was just minutes away from hitting the water. The line moved swiftly and smoothly. We approached the swim start and it was great to see so many people yelling and screaming. As I approached the dock, the volunteers directed me to the left side which meant I was headed to the second, farthest dock. DARN IT. Of course I did as I was told because that’s what my momma taught me, but I was not happy; I definitely don’t need the swim to be any longer. I jumped in the water and was off.
I got into a good rhythm right away, what a total relief! I breathe to my left so I could see the kayakers and the island and that was very comforting. I was very surprised to see a guy hanging on the first or second kayaker I went by. The entire portion of the swim on the inside of the island was smooth and non-eventful. I got slightly bumped a few times as faster swimmers passed by but generally was swimming in open water. As soon as I passed the end of the island, the environment changed dramatically. The wind was stronger, more chop in the water, and I felt at times like I was swimming in place. I wondered if I would ever get to the turnaround buoy. I think it took as long to get from the start to the end of the island (.5 mile) as it took to get from the end of the island to the buoy (.3 mile). But I finally made it to that big red buoy and was on my way home. The rest of the swim was desperately boring and my hands started shriveling up but that’s what happens when you spend nearly two hours in the water. Finally, I could see the swim exit in the distance. The spectators looked tiny but I knew at that moment I was going to get out water. I started to cry right in the middle of the water. Then I thought, “Geez, get it together, you have an entire day left!” I was absolutely elated when I exited that water and I think I floated all the way to transition.
Overall, I was very pleased with the swim. It was close to my expected. I clearly need to improve my swimming and will focus on that in the off season.
T1
I felt great out of the water; didn’t feel tired at all. I grabbed my bag and ran into the tent. I sat down and immediately wished I had a towel in my bag to wipe the sand and grass off my feet. I used my socks to wipe my feet and put on my socks/bike shoes. I put on my headband, helmet, and sunglasses, and wrestled on my arm coolers. I sprayed on sunscreen, grabbed my race belt and ran out to my bike.
BIKE – Actual Time 7:10, Expectation 6:30
The Louisville bike course contains rolling hills the entire 112 miles. You head east along the river. It contains one out and back section with two screaming downhills and two crazy climbs. You then complete two loops through Oldham County, KY and head back to town along the river.
I use a powermeter to monitor my effort on the bike. My goal was to average 125 watts and I ended up averaging 123 watts. My FTP (Functional Threshold Power – basically the highest power I can maintain for a 40 min time trial) going into the race was 195 watts so I was targeting a very conservative 65% of max. I wanted to be so conservative because I know I don’t have a super strong run and I really wanted to make sure I had enough to run the entire marathon. The bike was really fun from start to finish even though it isn’t the ideal course for me. My body composition and desired cadence is really perfect for a long flat, grinding course but I like riding hills because it is really easy to control your watts and effort. My plan was to take in 237 calories of Infinit per hour mixed as a 3 hour concentrated batch in one 24 oz bottle. I drank water from my aero bottle every 5 minutes, drank Infinit with a water chaser every 15 minutes and took a salt pill every 30 minutes. I didn’t take anything from the course except water. The aid stations were definitely an area of concern going into the race. I was worried about how to take a bottle and fill my aero bottle all while moving. I was really concerned I would wreck myself or someone else. At the first aid station, I decided that caution was the better part of valor on this day and came to a complete stop. I took a bottle and filled my aero bottle then took another and drank as much water as I could and dumped the rest on my cool sleeves, my back, and my head. I repeated that strategy for the remaining aid stations. I estimate I lost 2-3 minutes per aid station by stopping for a total of 30 minutes of down time. In the future, I will replace my aero bottle with a bottle holder on my aero bars and hopefully keep trucking along through the aid stations. I executed my nutrition strategy perfectly and felt great the entire bike.
The corner of 393/146 was busy with people and my friends and family were there so it was great to ride through there and see them twice. LaGrange was crazy cool with all the people and action going on there. The entire first loop really flew by without incident. It was very busy b/c some of the super-fast guys were flying by as they were already on their second loops. At the bike special needs, I stopped and picked up my second bottle of Infinit (750 cal). The second loop turn from Ballard School to Old Sligo was when the day turned for me. This portion of the course is a fast downhill to a very sharp right hand turn (less than 90 degrees). Once you make the turn, it is an immediate uphill. As I traversed this part of the course the first loop, I thought to myself, “What a perfect place to drop a chain?” (foreshadowing) As I made the turn on loop two, I saw a larger guy in front of me quickly spin his pedals and start to weeble wobble. He dropped his chain and he was going down. The whole entire thing was slow motion as I tried to figure out which way he was going to fall and how to avoid him. I analyzed to no avail as there was really no way to miss him. I clipped his downed wheels and over I went. I am trying to wrest my left leg out of the pedal while falling and torqued my knee. That same knee took the first full force of my body hitting the ground. My shoulder then slammed into the pavement as I worked hard to make sure I didn’t whiplash my head into the ground. I sharp pain ran through my shoulder. Thankfully, that pain was fleeting and subsided as I dusted myself off and surveyed the damage. The bike looked pretty good but then I noticed my chain had dropped and was stuck. I started pulling on the chain but I couldn’t get it free. I yelled down to the volunteer at the turn to call for bike support but I knew the chances of a timely arrival were slim. Finally, the cop from the turn walked up and offered to help. He started pulling on the chain so hard I was afraid he would break it. I calculated that if he didn’t pull it out I would need support, and if he broke the chain I would need bike support, and the remaining option was that he could release the chain. I figured those were good enough odds to let him continue and finally the chain broke free. After wasting 18 minutes on the side of the road, I was back up and off to the bike finish. The last 30 miles of the bike were my fastest miles of the day. The last 30 are a net downhill, but the conservative approach and successful nutrition strategy meant I had enough in the tank to really take advantage so I was extremely pleased when I saw my numbers later. Officially, I averaged 15.6mph on the bike, but if I adjust for stopped time in transition and chain incident I would have finished around 6:30 for an average of 17.23mph. I was very pleased with the bike leg because I still felt strong at the end. I rolled into to transition elated to have another leg done.
T2
I grabbed my bag, ran to the tent, and sat down. I took off my helmet, sunglasses, and headband and again wished I had a towel; this time to wipe my face which was crusted with salt. I changed my socks and put on my running shoes. I put on my hat and stood up. Whoa! My left knee had started to swell slightly and was tightening up. I thought it was just from sitting too long in transition and I headed out the run course.
RUN – Actual Time 6:53, Expectation 5:30
The run at Louisville is basically a two loop out and back and very flat. This was another reason I picked Louisville. I do not like to run hills.
My plan for the run was to again be very conservative. I wanted to run the entire marathon. This was my first marathon, so I really didn’t know quite what to expect on final 13.1. I planned to run the first 6 miles at 12:30 pace, pick it up to 12 min miles for the next 12 miles and see what I had left after mile 18.
I needed to get my heart rate down at the start of the run so I walked the first 15 minutes then I took off. I was clocking my 12:30’s and felt great. I walked the aid stations (every mile), taking in water, coke, and oranges and I ran that way for the next 4 miles. Cardio wise I felt fantastic but my knee was getting stiffer and stiffer as each mile went by. Finally, around mile 6, I knew I was going to have to slow it down as my left knee was getting very stiff. I was overcompensating to drag my left leg which was putting pressure on my right leg and that knee started to twinge. I dropped my pace down to 14:30s and shuffled along for the next 8-9 miles. My dad jumped in at mile 13 and he shuffled along with me for the remainder of the race. About mile 15, I started running 2 cones and walking 1 cone and that helped me manage the knee pain and stiffness. I also decided at that point to deviate from my water/coke/orange aid station strategy and take in some chicken broth. Chicken broth is the magic elixir for many but not for me. Fifteen minutes later I was fighting some serious nausea. This slowed me down even further and caused a port-a-potty stop. After more coke/water/orange at the next station, the nausea began to subside. I fought through with the run/walk strategy for several more miles but finally around 18-19, I knew it was time to walk it in b/c I was really beginning to fear permanent damage to one or both legs/knees from the jacked up way I was shuffling along. It was dark by this time, and it was a long, slow 6 miles but I never considered stopping. Honestly, I felt great other than my legs wouldn’t bend at the knees.
The finish line at Louisville is really breathtaking especially at that time of the night. It is lit up, music playing and the crowd is raucous. I high fived spectators all the way down the chute and was totally elated to cross the finish line.
I met my main goals of completing the race and enjoying the day but I am very disappointed that the run turned out the way it did. I know that it was really out of my control and that I did the best I could on the day but I can’t help to think what could have been if I would have been a few seconds faster or a few seconds slower to get to Ballard School and Old Sligo.
I am sorry I couldn’t participate in the team dinner. I had 15 friends and family here and that was full time gig. It was awesome to see all the EN jerseys out on the course. Everyone was executing like Ninjas on the run and I didn’t see anyone walking. I felt really horrible for the team when I finally had to start walking on the back half of the run. I almost grabbed a friend’s t-shirt to cover up my jersey so I wouldn’t be a bad reflection on the team. But then I figured all publicity is good publicity and kept chugging along.
I executed the right way and that was reflected in how great I felt the entire run. I had a 5:30 run in me and I really believe I could have dropped it that day. In the offseason, I will work on my swimming and keep chipping away at that run time. This past offseason, I took 20 minutes of my half marathon time from Oct to April. Another offseason like that and I may be getting into legit runner territory. This team is amazing and I want to thank everyone for their knowledge and willingness to share. I am sure I would not be an Ironman today without EN.
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Comments
Lori, it was a pleasure to hang with you in the swim line. Such a bummer about the chain, glad the situation wasn't more serious! I hear you about the bike aid stations. Going into it, I wasn't sure how I was gonna grab bottles & fill my AeroDrink with my limited handling...um..."skills." But it wasn't too bad. I just made sure no one was on my tail and slowed WAY down so I could easily take a bottle and have enough time to fill. The run sounded gruelling...but congrats on your 1st marathon! I always save the Coke until the last quarter as I've found it really picks me up when I need it most. The consensus is still out on the chicken broth though....
Congrats! you had a plan for execution and as patrick said at 4 keys on Saturday, something is always going to go wrong, you had a bike crash and still finished the effort & became an Ironman! You have NOTHING to be ashamed of in your execution. you had a plan, a big monkey wrench got thrown in and you had to make sub-optimal adjustments, but still finished the race. many others would have quit.
YOU ARE AN IRONMAN!
refilling the aero bottles on the fly takes practice, at one point i was holding the bottle that was upside down on filling my aero bottle with my chin as i needed both hands for riding & gear shifting.... like anything else in IM, practice!
As Scott said, you had a plan and executed it. When you were hit with multiple challenges and some very significant (bike crash) , you modified your plan and keep on getting it done! You were an Ironman before you crossed the finish! When Mike Riley announces your name that just made it official.
Great race report, thank you for sharing!
How did you and your friends/family like the MyAthleteLive? We are thinking of using it for IMWI.
Wow, way to gut it out! Very nice job and you've got so much to be proud of! Some would have let the crash ruin their day, but you just took it in stride. I'm very impressed.
Oh, and I did a walk/run strategy, so I was out there walking. You must have been ahead of me ;-)
Congrats.
Nice to have a fellow Kansan on the team.
Do NOT worry about not running as much as you want
EN: is NOT about the running. it IS about perserverance, adjustments, positivity, not stopping and finishing. YOU wore the colors well.
I really admire your ability to keep your cool and soldier on during the marathon!! Damn that is hardcore!
Congrats Ironman!!
p.s. and great to meet you and see you on the course!!
You did absolutely fantastic considering the unexpected adversity of a bike crash! Congratulations on becoming an Ironman!
I saw you with your parents on the run course. Great to have support! You finished like a champion and made EN proud!
It certainly is. Way to overcome the crash, not give up, and execute your plan.