Hey all,
I’m racing IMLOU in just under 10 weeks, and was hoping to get some insight from some STers that have done this race. I am looking to KQ, so any race day tips or course information will go a long way.
Places to eat even?
Nothing to add but am eager to see what other people have to say. This is my first IM and Kona isn’t even a thought at this point… just looking to finish in a respectable (for me) time and (hopefully) enjoy myself. I spent an hour this morning reading race reports online and am getting fired up. 68 days to go (according to the countdown timer on my 920)!
The swim last year was pretty gross, even by IM LOU standards - so don’t swallow the river.
From about mile 15 to mile 90 are steep hills and rollers. You’ll be doing yourself a favor if you don’t try to pound up either of them - you’ll pay for it later. Pushing up a single roller isn’t so bad, but on that loop they never end.
Hey all,
I’m racing IMLOU in just under 10 weeks, and was hoping to get some insight from some STers that have done this race. I am looking to KQ, so any race day tips or course information will go a long way.
Places to eat even?
if you can, try to start toward the front of the swim. i say this b/c it’ll help once you get out of the water and get on the bike. you won’t have to weave though hundreds of cyclists, especially on the out and back (lollipop), which is a treacherous segment.
make sure you’ve put in some hill training.
careful when making passes. lots of cyclists that chose this race to be their first IM. i was swerved into a lot last year, and one of my buddies had a cyclist swerved into him (they both crashed) as he made a pass…
From about mile 15 to mile 90 are steep hills and rollers. You’ll be doing yourself a favor if you don’t try to pound up either of them - you’ll pay for it later. Pushing up a single roller isn’t so bad, but on that loop they never end.
Do you, or anyone else know if any part of the course is safe to ride prior to race day? I am considering doing this race in 2017, but wouldn’t mind doing a ride of it beforehand. I’m about 2 hours north, so while it isn’t that far of a drive, I don’t want to waste a drive.
People train on the course all the time. There is a good place to park by the out and back portion. There is a church there that let athletes park. Some people give donations for that generosity. So you wouldn’t be wasting a trip.
Awesome. Thanks so much.
There is also a fairly active Facebook group where people post all the time of when they will be training there. You may be able to hook up with some other folks as well.
3X Louisville finisher. Sad that I’m not going back this year! Just need a break from the distance.
Swim: wetsuit legal. In all 3 years, the water has been fine, even with last year when they almost cancelled the swim due to algae blooms in the area. No different than the lakes we have around Atlanta. Get there super early, don’t screw around in transition and make the mile walk to the swim. If you get there later, you will be in the back of the line towards the marina. They drop people of a few docks, 3 or 4 at a time. You swim upstream for 600-800 meters, buoy turn and downstream. Last year there was zero current. I’ve never had any contact during the swim.
Bike: Out and back with a couple of short steep hills and then onto the loop you do twice. I think my Garmin said 4,800 feet of climbing. I would call it a fair course. Rollers, hills (nothing long) and flats. Save some effort for the last 15-20 miles coming back into town on River Road, it’s mostly flat and you can make up time there.
Run: Two loops, flat! One hill going under a bridge and that’s it. Last year it was in the middle to high 70s I think. Nothing like when I raced it in August! The only issue is the first loop ends right at the finish line, literally and then you veer off to head out of town, way out of town!!! That was invented by the devil himself!
Finish: Even Mike Reilly ranked it as #3 on his list of finish lines. 4th Street live is booming and people are going nuts! I saw the finish at Nooga last year…what a disappointment!
Volunteers: THE BEST I’VE EVER EXPERIENCED, period. They are awesome. They embrace the athletes and the race.
The City: we fell in love with Louisville. Great town, nice people. FOODIE town for sure. There are little neighborhoods 5-10 drive from downtown with great places to eat. One of the best breakfast places downtown is WildEggs.
Hope this helps! Have a great race!
**People train on the course all the time. There is a good place to park by the out and back portion. There is a church there that let athletes park. Some people give donations for that generosity. So you wouldn’t be wasting a trip. **
The above is good information, but you can basically park at the swim start and do almost the entire course from there. It is a public parking lot near Tumbleweeds Mexican restaurant (the Yellow lot maybe?). The church is actually quite a ways into the ride…10-15 miles (maybe 20?). If you start closer to the transition (such as the swim start), you will be able to experience the railroad track crossing as well as the false flat back to T2. You can just do one loop of the lollipop and cut the ride to approx. 80 miles if you don’t want to do 110 or so.
I raced last year with the goal of sub 10 hrs. My only other IM was Chattanooga 2014 where I went 10:19, for perspective.
Thoughts on Louisville:
Swim:
Was harder than I thought it would be, even though 2/3rds of it is “down current”. I figured I would come in sub 1:00, but I swam a 1:07 and it really threw me off in my pursuit of 9:59. The upstream section is longer than you think it will be, and there was a fair amount of steam/fog coming off the river that made it very challenging to see the turn buoy. I think I lost a bit of time trying to navigate the turnaround last year. The downstream section was uneventful, but I don’t feel as if I got much help from the river. In fairness, I do believe I under-trained the swim, assuming the current would help a bit more. That is on me
Bike:
It was chilly to start the day. I wear a full sleeved kit and no socks, so I opted to have my shoe covers on and then grab gloves in T1. I had arm warmers to grab, but I opted to leave those behind. I was pretty comfortable on the bike and took the gloves off probably 30 miles in. Depending on what you normally ride, these hills can seem easy or hard. For me, I live in NorCal, so I ride mountains fairly regularly, so the hilly sections were opportunities to push past people. There is definitely a lot of congestion on the loop with the biggest up/down section, so be careful. Most challenging thing about this course though was that the last 25-30 miles was into a brutal headwind; it was very tough to keep the speed up going into the wind. Bike time was 5:15
Run:
Dead flat, all on black asphalt, which was warm even though the high was probably only 70-75 degrees last year. It is not terrible scenic, and you will not recognize Churchill Downs when you pass it. The 1/5 mile section around the finish and beginning of the 2nd loop is filled with great support, but beyond that the run course is not much to call home about. Run time was 3:39, but the back half was ugly. I really “went for it” on the first half to get that 9:59, but I couldn’t hold the pace on the 2nd loop.
If I was to do it over again I would not underestimate the swim. I finished with a 10:11, of which I am pleased. At the end of the day I missed my goal because of the swim and trying to play “catch up” after that.
I KQd at lou last year, BDB. Get in the front of the swim so that you atleast have one lap of the bike that is opened up to you. The second lap is going to be a cluster no matter how fast you swim or bike the first lap. My only regret was burning too many matches getting around big groups of people on the bike. Bike is hilly with some rolling, but IMO a fair amount of non-rolling hills. I would suggest running as wide of a gear span as possible.
Outside of that the city is great, the volunteers are awesome, and the race is a blast. Enjoy
second getting to the swim start early. a long line forms and you can sit down and relax for awhile waiting for the official start. most importantly, the out and back section around mile 20 gets pretty congested so best to avoid the crowds and be on the uphill section when the masses are bombing down the hill.
you can ride in your aerobars for most of the bike, but it would be good to practice hills so you are comfortable climbing. make sure to maintain your power on the downhills though.
fun town with many breweries and distilleries for bourbon/whiskey if you enjoy that.
make sure to hangout after the race until midnight. the finishing area is great and you can walk around, grab a few beers and soak it it. a good place to see the action is the walkover bridge above 4th street.
I’ll echo a couple points already mentioned.
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Get in the swim line EARLY. I was at transition when it opened and didn’t dilly-dally, but by the time I made it to the line, it was already several hundred people long. The walk to the swim is longer than you think, and unless you want to run, I recommend having a friend/spouse drive you down then go back, park, and come meet you. Not sure, but I think some people camped out in their spot before transition opened, then took turns going back to transition. The race briefing said no spots can be held, but no one said anything. Being upfront on the swim is a big help when it comes to transition and hitting the out & back on the bike.
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The weather was pretty cool in the morning. I opted to wear a jacket at the bike start and I was cold for the first 30 minutes. For a KQ attempt, I would recommend some kind of arm-warmer or other aero option to keep you warm at the start. Also the first 10 miles is kinda rough asphalt so heads up, watch those bottles.
Otherwise, the bike course is fair. I didn’t ride it prior to the race, but felt comfortable with my split based upon my power pacing goal. The run course is as everyone described.
One last thing, the banquet the night before was terrible. I wish I had skipped it and gotten some real food.
Good luck!
I raced it last year. No KQ threat, but went 10:20. Most of the good input has been covered. The worst bike section is that out and back, which comes around mile 20 if my memory serves - that’s the only real climb / downhill, and there are no shoulders. So with the bidirectional traffic, passing can be sketchy. A few really bad crashes there last year. So I’d also recommend getting on the bike as quickly as possible, to get through that section with as little traffic as possible. For reference, I got in the swim line at 5:55am, was about 1/3 the way back, got in the water at 7:41am, swam 1:08, and got through that out-and-back with little traffic.
On the swim, once you go around the turn buoy past the island to head down river, there were some very divergent paths taken coming back in. Some swam back closer to the island and the barges parked there, some went way out into the middle of the river and swam to the right of the sight buoys. With very little current last year, hugging the island was faster.
Good luck with the KQ.
I enjoy passing on the bike, so I didn’t mind starting the swim a little late. You can get a decent slingshot around people as you pass them. It’s a little sketchy for the first few miles through the park because it can get congested on those narrow/rough roads, but not too bad.
The year I did it (2013 i think) I think there was a pretty good current in the river. I’m not a strong swimmer at all, but swam a 1:05 on very little training. In the practice swim before the race, you swim upstream first and then turn around and come back. Swimming up stream, it barely felt like I was moving. When I turned around to go back, I was at the swim exit in no time.
There is a fun road on the bike that has quite a few rolling hills and slight bends. There is a downhill into a greater than 90 degree turn, and then it goes back up hill. Make sure you are in an appropriate gear before the the turn so that you aren’t completely bogged down coming out of the turn. I’ve spectated at the race a few times, and it’s pretty funny to stand at that corner and watch how many people get it wrong and lose time.
Other than that, I can’t really think of any advice for the course. The out and back really has the only semi tough climbs. Everything else is more of rolling hills that your momentum can carry you most of the way over.
I think I averaged around 200 watts with a 220NP at 165 pounds on a p3c and cycleops 50mm deep carbon wheels and did a 4:55 or so, so it’s not the fastest course ever, but it’s not a slow course by any means either.
I enjoy passing on the bike, so I didn’t mind starting the swim a little late. You can get a decent slingshot around people as you pass them. It’s a little sketchy for the first few miles through the park because it can get congested on those narrow/rough roads, but not too bad.
The year I did it (2013 i think) I think there was a pretty good current in the river. I’m not a strong swimmer at all, but swam a 1:05 on very little training. In the practice swim before the race, you swim upstream first and then turn around and come back. Swimming up stream, it barely felt like I was moving. When I turned around to go back, I was at the swim exit in no time.
There is a fun road on the bike that has quite a few rolling hills and slight bends. There is a downhill into a greater than 90 degree turn, and then it goes back up hill. Make sure you are in an appropriate gear before the the turn so that you aren’t completely bogged down coming out of the turn. I’ve spectated at the race a few times, and it’s pretty funny to stand at that corner and watch how many people get it wrong and lose time.
Other than that, I can’t really think of any advice for the course. The out and back really has the only semi tough climbs. Everything else is more of rolling hills that your momentum can carry you most of the way over.
I think I averaged around 200 watts with a 220NP at 165 pounds on a p3c and cycleops 50mm deep carbon wheels and did a 4:55 or so, so it’s not the fastest course ever, but it’s not a slow course by any means either.
Wind? My goal is sub 5 on the bike and that is my estimated power as well.
Swim wide after the turnaround to get the most effect from the current but be careful not to overshoot and miss the exit.
Do the Jim Bean whiskey tasting (on 4th street).
There is a bar and seating on the walkway over 4th street - great place to watch the midnight finishers.
Take warm clothes / hat to the swim start line up.
Swim:
Was harder than I thought it would be, even though 2/3rds of it is “down current”. I figured I would come in sub 1:00, but I swam a 1:07 and it really threw me off in my pursuit of 9:59. The upstream section is longer than you think it will be, and there was a fair amount of steam/fog coming off the river that made it very challenging to see the turn buoy. I think I lost a bit of time trying to navigate the turnaround last year. The downstream section was uneventful, but I don’t feel as if I got much help from the river. In fairness, I do believe I under-trained the swim, assuming the current would help a bit more. That is on me
If I was to do it over again I would not underestimate the swim. I finished with a 10:11, of which I am pleased. At the end of the day I missed my goal because of the swim and trying to play “catch up” after that.
Low flow on the Ohio will not give you much current, and last year the Corps of Engineers was not letting any water through McAlpine (the dam about 1 mile downstream from swim-out). Water quality will depend on how much it rains in September. Too much rain will result in a lot of debris and crap (literally), but not enough rain would cause a repeat of the algae problems that had last year’s swim in jeopardy just before race day. So here’s hoping it’s “just right.” The upstream leg means this swim will never be as crazy fast as CHOO.