not gonna lie, am likely signing up for this race for my first IM and this thread is giving me some doubt

If it had been the day before, it would have been a beautiful race. Life happens. Take your chances. Louisville is a really fun city to explore afterward too.

But, but, but IM promised this on the IM Lou home page:

A late-season race featuring idyllic fall temperatures

I've had an interesting four Ironmans thus far and every one was unique from a conditions perspective, and as I recall people complained to some degree or another about them:

- first one was IMNC 2016, the one and only attempted 140.6 down there (not counting the previous Beach to Battleship) about two weeks after Hurricane Matthew - WTC cut the bike course in half - lots of complaints, but it was the right thing to do given the devastation in the outer counties on the original bike course. The race itself was on a perfect, if somewhat windy day. The hate and discontent on this forum and at the site was a little embarrassing considering what the folks who live there were going through. I thought WTC handled it very well in giving us a pretty good discount on a future race in North America, which led to,
-IMMT 2017 - rained the days before the race and given the downhills, I was pretty worried about a repeat of the 2016 rainy conditions. Day turned out to be perfect, if a little warm by the time I hit the second bike loop (the valley heat effect) and then rather chilly by the time I finished the race. The hills were tough on a flatlander like me, but the weather was about perfect. Come to think of it, there weren't any complaints I heard about that race. Unlike,

--IMMD 2017 - I figured that I would definitely rock the flatlands of the Eastern Shore after the mountains of Quebec. By early October, the winds and temperatures would die down and I would have a great time of it. Yeah right. Temperatures in the upper 80s/low 90s, high humidity and of course the East Coast version of the Kona winds. My two time KQ pal DNF'ed after the bike leg and my dreams of a good run went out the window about 85 miles into the bike - I finished, but not with any great élan. I literally think IMMD is the race everyone loves to hate - from the relatively removed location to the poor luck with weather in '15 and '16 - to the unseasonable heat of '17 - I was pleasantly surprised to see the race continue to run. When I get over the PTSD from the run, I may consider doing it again. And finally, the subject of this thread,

--IMLOU 18 - aka Nordicman - yeah it was about as warm and sunny as a Welsh summer, but as noted elsewhere, this weather was in the cards from several weeks out. I stopped at a Nike outlet in Ohio on the way out and stocked up on some extra layers for the bike and packed a light bike rain coat. I don't tend to get super chilled but I figured it would be better to be over prepared than underprepared. Heck, they even had a fair assortment of stuff at the Village on day two when our group arrived. Bottom line, yes, the conditions sucked, but it's not like the cold/wet front moved in overnight. I am sure if it hadn't rained incessantly, there would have been complaints about how folks spent so much money on cold weather gear they ended up not using. I was glad with what I came with and frankly, found the run temp ideal if a little soggy.

At the end of the day, all athletes have to race in the same arena with the same conditions - it's how you prepare for them and adapt to the day that helps make the difference. I doubt anyone who was heading to Kona from a cold climate didn't consider some form of heat adaptation and/or attire to prepare the conditions on the Big Island. Heading to Kentucky in October, all you have to do is ask anyone who lives there and they'll tell you it's possible to get all four seasons in a day...be prepared.

2017 was good as long as you were fast enough to be off the bike before the 45mph crosswind gusts hit. Though the immediate temp drop from 80 to 60 made for great running weather.

2018 was fairly miserable all day, especially during the bike.