IM Louisville 2012 Race Report
Sunday Race Day
03:30am:
Awoke at 3:30am. Out of bed for some breakfast and coffee. I had an adjoining room with my parents at our hotel so it was decided the night before that I would make my breakfast in their room so as not to wake my 3 year old daughter. My father was up and just getting started with making breakfast. I had my typical Pre-Ironman breakfast of 3 eggs, ham, toast, 2 cups of coffee, a bottle of boost with high protein and 2 salt stick tablets. After breakfast was over I finished topping off my drink bottles along with a sipping bottle of EFS for the morning before the race started. I also packed my skin suit and a 5 hour energy to take prior to the swim start.
04:30am:
Walked down to the hotel lobby just outside to meet up with the other PR MultiSport Team members that were there doing the race along with some family members to make the walk from the Galt House to transition.
04:45am:
Made the walk to transition and found there was quite a lineup waiting to get into transition. After the transition opened our group made our way through transition assuring everything was all good with our equipment. After that we made our way to the swim start. Body marked and jumped in line. Found a great spot near the front of the line near the port-potties. Of course by this time it was time to jump in line for that so I did. There was a nice big group of us on our team waiting together in line so I was happy that helped pass the time waiting and kept the anxious nerves at bay.
06:45am:
The line moved up as the pro race was about to start. We were now inside the pier ramp and we staged there until after the pro race started at 06:50. Took the 5 hour energy drink that I had with me. They moved us up once again to prepare for the Age Group start. This time we were now along the water probably less than 30 seconds to the front of the race. Time to get this started.
07:00am:
Swim:
Age group start! Got into the water about 30-40 seconds after the canon fired. As I started my swim I kept the pace very controlled to begin with. My plan was to start calm and conservative for the first 10-15 min. until I warmed up and then start to push the pace. There was mostly clear water at all times. I never felt like I was swimming in a pack at any time, which was good for me to stay calm and relaxed. Everything seemed to be going as planned at the turn. Felt good. No pacing problems or cramping issues. Felt like I was on pace. As I got closer to the finish it seemed like it took forever to get to the last bridge. I felt like I was swimming fast for me but that bridge just wouldn’t get any closer. I knew from the practice swim the day before that I could swim the last bit from the bridge in about 11-12 min. so I was anxious to get to that point to assess how the swim was going. At some point I was nudged by a swimmer and it caused me to flinch a little bit which for some reason caused a foot cramp. I tried to swim through it and let it relax but I was unable to keep swimming so I was forced to tread water to work it out. Probably 30 seconds worth of treading water and I was on my way again. A few minutes later it hit again. This time the modified swim I was doing to attempt to work out the cramp caused another cramp in my other leg quad. This was starting to become frustrating. More treading water. Now after starting back up I felt like I should only ease it in to the finish to avoid more cramping. I felt that easy swimming was better than treading water. Finally after getting to the bridge I looked at my watch quick and I was a bit alarmed that it was already about an hour. I was hoping to swim about 1:03-1:05. I started to pick up the pace again as the cramps seemed to be resolved for now. They never returned. Out of the water and a quick look at my watch had me worried……1:10 something.
Swim Time: 1:10:28.
T1:
In to transition. Legs felt ok but just after leaving the water they were still feeling like they were teetering on a cramp so I didn’t push my pace to much until I got into the changing area. Grabbed a volunteer heading into the tent to help me. I must say, this volunteer was great!! I never really looked at him in the face to see who it was cause I was more focused on getting changed and not forgetting anything in my T1 bag. I remember thinking to myself though, while I was changing, that this volunteer clearly was a triathlete, because everything was laid out so perfectly and IN ORDER of how I would put it on. Very organized. Come to find out it was a friend of mine from high school, Jeff, that helped me. He never said anything to me that it was him and I didn’t take that as rude at all, more just that he didn’t want to distract me from what I was doing. For that I am appreciative. I just kinda felt bad that I didn’t recognize him at the time. Many thanks though Jeff for some great help in T1!!
T1 Time: 4:47
Bike:
Ok so now I’m a bit concerned. My swim time was a bit slow and I didn’t feel like I transitioned as fast as I had hoped due to the cramping in my leg and having to walk a bit through T1 but I told myself before the race not to get concerned too much with the swim time because it wasn’t going to make or break my day. I forced myself to try to stay calm about it and not blow myself up in the first 10 miles of the bike trying to make up time foolishly. I had a plan to stay pretty conservative for the first 30-40 miles of the bike and then crank it up. The pace seemed very easy on the flat River Road for the first 10 miles. I turned the corner and remember seeing that my average was about 23 mph. Happy as I was, I knew that it was about to get hilly so I just wanted to remain calm and try to maintain a steady pace. Arrived at the turn to head out to the out and back section with a 21.8 mph average showing. Got through this section fine. I knew I would probably see the average go down a bit through here so I was happy to see a 21.7 mph avg. still. Now out to the loop and really get this race going. I was still a bit antsy to start pushing the pace but tried to remain patient. Turned the corner at the start of the loop feeling very good. I was anxious to get to LaGrange for several reasons. First, I knew I would get to see my family at that point which is always a spirit booster. Second, I knew this would be somewhere between 35-40 miles into the bike and I could start pushing the pace a little more. Arriving to LaGrange I easily found my family which was great. It kind of kick started my pace a little bit to get the pace on the bike going. Then there is a section for a few miles that is good to take in some nutrition and pee if needed because of the flatter sections and there are a few longer downhill sections. I was able to pee so I knew that so far I was well hydrated. Stuck to my nutrition plan without fail. It really didn’t feel all that warm yet out there either so it seemed pretty easy to take in fluids and calories also. Made my way through the loop and turned to head back toward the start of the second loop. This is the road that also takes you back into Louisville. It’s about 10 miles back to the start of the loop and about a total of 30-33 miles to get back to T2 on the 2nd loop. At this point I can feel a slight headwind. Normally there is a tailwind on this road which is great when heading back into Louisville because it helps bring up the average mph. Unfortunately it seemed that would not be the case today. Made it back to the start of the 2nd loop and then around to my special needs bag. Changed out bottles and put more calories on my bike and was off again. About a 30 second stop maybe. No problems. Off again to LaGrange and saw my family once again. Pee’d in the same area again after LaGrange so I felt good that I was staying hydrated. Again a big spirit booster going through the LaGrange section as now I was starting to feel the heat rising and the fatigue starting to set in. I was now anxious to work hard and push back to Louisville. The frustrating part was I was seeing my average mph hovering around the 21.3-21.4 range. I was hoping for about 22 mph for the day as a goal and was hoping that with a tailwind the last 30 miles that I might get close to that. After making the turn for that 30 miles back to Louisville I realized that wasn’t going to happen. The headwind was too much for that. I constantly reminded myself to work hard and push myself, but to stay controlled enough not to blow myself up. As the miles went by, I could definitely feel that the heat and the headwind were taking their toll. My average was slipping, now down to about 21.2. I turned for the last 10 flat miles to T2 and was sooo ready to get off that bike. I was fatigued enough at this point to start to be concerned how I was going to be able to run a marathon at the pace that I needed to, to have a shot at a Kona spot. Before I got back to T2 I pee’d again one last time so I didn’t have to do it when I got off the bike. Sorry for the TMI, but it helps me remember for future reference. I was frustrated that my bike split was probably going to be the same as last year’s bike split. I felt that the Kona dream was slipping away. I made it back to T2 somewhat deflated, both physically and mentally. My stomach felt bloated and my legs and body were tired. It was hot and I wasn’t sure I had the energy for a marathon. I was just hoping that when I saw Kerin that she would update me on my AG place and that somehow everyone was having the same difficulty today. Off the bike with no issues. No flats, no cramps, no nutrition problems other than a little bloated feeling in my stomach. Clean bike ride.
Bike Time: 5:19:23
(Nutrition: 4 bottles EFS Drink, 3.5 flasks of EFS Liquid Shot, 1 Bonk Breaker Bar, 3 bottles of water, 3-4 salt stick tablets per hour)
T2:
Off the bike, handed it to a volunteer. Jogged through transition. Found my bag, grabbed a volunteer and did a quick change and out of T2. No cramps. Still have some stomach issues. Felt very bloated.
T2 Time: 3:27
Run:
Out of transition and running. Saw Kerin right away and at that point she didn’t have any updates for me. I gave her my best smiley face and thumbs up as I ran by but I was feeling like poo. My stomach continued to feel very bloated and my energy felt low. After getting out on the streets and away from the crowd I stopped and walked. I had hoped that this bloated feeling would be short lived and that by walking a bit it would flush itself out quicker. That’s worked for me in the past. After about 45 seconds of walking I gave it another shot. Felt a little better so I ran again. Up and over the bridge which is very cool and back out on the streets again. Found my Dad and Kerin under the 3rd street city building underpass and got my first update from Kerin. Not good. Bad news. I was in 23rd place in my age group off the bike. My hopes that everyone was having “that kind of day” was not so. Again, felt very deflated with that news. Plus feeling like crap at that moment didn’t help. My thoughts now were just to put my head down and stick to the plan. My coach Zach told me before the race not to freak out at any point if something doesn’t go right or as planned but to stick to the plan. So that’s what I did. I had plenty of calories and salt stick tablets to last me on the run so I was in good shape as far as that was concerned. I told myself to keep being faithful to my nutrition plan no matter what, and I did. I wanted to get into a pace that I could run the entire first loop of the marathon. So I found that pace and kept moving forward. I saw a lot of people withering out there on the run. I soon found myself running faster than most that I could see ahead of me. There were some pretty big packs of guys running together so when I’d pass someone early on it usually was a group of people which gave me hope. My pace got a little faster as the miles went on and the bloated feeling subsided for the most part where I felt “normal” now running. At each aid station I would grab as much ice cold water or sponges and shower myself. I wanted to shock my system at every aid station with ice cold water so that I could rid myself of that lethargic feeling that you get with the heat. I took cola at most every aid station with at least a sip of water. I also mixed in some Perform drink just to change things up a bit occasionally. Add some different sugars possibly. This seemed to work. I also took a shot of EFS liquid shot every half hour and 1-2 salt stick tablets every half hour depending on how I was feeling and if I felt a twinge here or there of cramping. No real issues with cramping at this point. I made my way through the first loop feeling better than when I started. Not great, but better. I found Kerin again as I made the turn to go around the 4th street block and got another update. At this point I didn’t know what to expect but I knew that the first loop didn’t feel superfast but I also was glad to have at least been running the majority of the time as I saw a lot of walkers out there. Kerin’s update……”You’re now in 12th”. Wow. That’s pretty good. I regained a certain amount of hope of a Kona spot being possible. If I had made up 11 spots in the first loop, that meant that people were really withering out there. I could have a shot at this if I kept my pace. I wasn’t feeling great but I felt like I could continue running at least for a while yet. As I came around the block to head back out on the 2nd loop Kerin had crossed over to see me again and this time she says….”ok, now you’re in 7th place”. I’m sure my eyes probably grew to the size of my race wheels. Instantly I was energized. This WAS going to happen. I instantly knew in my heart that I was GOING to maintain my pace for the rest of the marathon. I also knew that the 2nd half of the marathon is when it can get really ugly for some. I felt good that it seemed that people were really fading in this heat afterall, and I now had confidence that if I kept my pace I would move up. I figured that they would most likely give out 6 Kona spots in my age group this year with my age group being the largest, so I just needed to move up at least one more spot. I think I was actually smiling for much of the first few miles after hearing that news from Kerin. I just kept telling myself…”just maintain this pace”. “You don’t need to go any faster, just maintain”. I pushed through the next 6 miles to the turnaround. At the turnaround I was feeling pretty good and I decided that I was going to go as hard as I could from there until the finish line. I didn’t want to have any regrets and I knew that I had mentally envisioned this moment many times during my training of being at this point……at the turnaround with a 10k to go and a Kona spot in my grasp. I went for it and ran hard back to town. The miles ticked away and I soon found myself at mile 24. 2 miles to go and I was going to enjoy every last moment of this day. It was going to happen! Mile 25 and I began to smile. I couldn’t control it. I ditched everything in my pockets and splashed through the last aid station and enjoyed the last half mile to the finish. I looked through the crowds and found my dad and my daughter Peyton along the road. I heard my daughter yelling “daddy!!” and it almost brought tears to my eyes. I saw my mom along the finishing crowd. As I ran up to the finishing line I saw Kerin where she normally stands to wait for me at the finish line. Ironically enough, she wasn’t paying attention as I was coming in and she had her head turned away from me watching someone else that had just crossed the finish line and was down on one knee proposing to his girlfriend. I startled her as I tapped her on the shoulder and gave her a kiss. Too funny, it’s usually me that misses her at the finish line. I felt great walking through the finish area. Kerin followed alongside until I could get over to where she was. I was trying to read her facial expression to see if she already knew my place but she wasn’t giving anything away. After I got out of the finish area the rest of my family regrouped and we walked down a block to the convention center to sit and wait for some of my other team members to finish. While we were waiting, Kerin was getting updates from Zach my coach regarding where I was at in my age group. Because of the time trial start there was a period of about 40 minutes that I had to wait after I finished to assure that there wasn’t anyone else out there on the course still coming in that could change my standing. After about 40 min. and some checking and double checking from Zach, Kerin told me that I had finished 5th in my age group. A podium finish and I was very confident that I had claimed a Kona Spot. I wasn’t going to completely celebrate the Kona finish until I saw it in writing the next morning but I slept very well that night. The next morning I found that there were only 5 spots given to my age group and I had claimed the last spot. The wait was over. The hard work for the last several years had paid off. I was going to Kona.
Run Time: 3:24:34
Final Finish Time: 10:02:39.
AG Place: 5th
Overall Place: 31st
After thoughts****:
First and foremost I must give all the honor and glory to God. He is my strength, my courage and my safety. He has blessed me countless times with opportunities and successes that I alone could not achieve. He has instilled in me the dedication and desire to be the best that I can be. He has brought me through many dark hours in both training and in races that has got me to this point.
Zach Ruble is a Freaking Genius! The best decision that I ever made 3 years ago was coaching up with Zach. He knows exactly what it takes to take someone from average racing to top tier racing. I’ve found myself at a level that I really never imagined I could be. His coaching style is far from a “canned” triathlon plan. It’s individualized and catered to each person’s needs, desires and trigger points. He finds what works best for each person in their training and racing and uses that to develop ones strengths and resolve their weaknesses. My success with this Kona dream was crafted, directed and encouraged by Big Zach. Thanks Buddy.
My wife Kerin. The greatest IM wife one could ask for. Thanks for your tolerance of the long hours away, grouchy moments and extremely tired evenings. You allowed me the time that I needed to chase this dream and encouraged me the entire way. Although I’m sure that many times you would have rather I chose another hobby to invest a smaller amount of time into, you’ve always been my biggest fan and for that I am so deeply grateful. It is you that I can’t wait to see when I’ve crossed the finish line. It’s you that I want to impress.
Jerry. My best friend. I’m starting to sound like a broken record, but man….I couldn’t have done this without you. We’ve been to the “edge of darkness” (I think you know what I mean when I say that) together and it’s made us tough as nails. Those 4 hour hammer sessions would not be as valuable without company. Those brick runs afterwards would have been just plain unsafe without having the other person there to call 911 if one of us passed out from the dizziness. Ha Ha. Seriously, I’ve become a serious biker because I’ve trained with the best for the last 3 years solid. You’re as elite as they come buddy. You will race Kona soon. Until then, will you please meet me at the bottom of the Palani Dr. hill and run with me up that hill during the marathon this year in Kona?
More Keys to Successful IM Louisville:
-
The use of First Endurance OptygenHP faithfully during this training season. -
The use of First Endurance EFS Liquid Shot as the primary source of calories on the bike and run. -
The training partners from the PR MultiSport Endurance Team this year! -
The Key Sessions on the bike that were prescribed by my coach Zach on the Computrainer. -
The 3 x 50 + mile run weeks leading up to IM Louisville. -
Sticking to the nutrition plan and being patient on the bike so I could keep running in the marathon. -
A wicked fast new bike from Specialized and wheelset from HED and 316 Bikes. -
And of course a perfect Retul Fit on my bike!