IM LOU was my first Ironman. I have been doing tri for about four years but this was my first year of training seriously/uninterruptedly. I got an awesome night’s sleep before the race. My wife couldn’t be there until the day off b/c of a family wedding (we forgot to put it on the calendar when we scheduled the ironman!). So my buddy spent the night to keep my mind off the race and to take some pics for me. I drank 4 ensures (1000 cals) at 2:30 am when I took a leak. I got back to bed and slept in until 5. Headed down to the race site after reapplying suntan lotion and checking ST.
I was pretty excited about the new swim start. I went to the back of the line after I inflated my tires and clipped my shoes into my pedals. The people standing by me in line from Chicago were super nice and hilarious. They really made the time fly and I never felt nervous for a minute. I took Newbz advice and adopted a fourth race of TTT attitude: super chill and lethargic.
I swam the most strategic line possible and never got the opportunity to draft for more than a couple strokes b/c my swim plan was so different than most. Took it super easy along the island as I warmed up. Put in a harder burst with high turnover and no glide from the island to the turn around in the strong current. After the turn around I switched to a very long glide almost with a catch-up stroke. Came out of the water having had my easiest long swim of the year in around 1:12 with my HR around 138! Mission number one accomplished.
Here is a shot of the bachelor for all the ladies:
The bike was really nice. I had rode it a month ago (thanks Patrick for letting me use your basement as a base again). This time I took it quite easy. I ended up riding about 10 watts under my goal for each section b/c I really didn’t want to have a long day on the run. Peed frequently on the bike. My infinit worked great. Thanks to Ernie for helping me get my bike tuned, to Mike ( a ST lurker) for helping me get my bike super clean and for the latex tubes, to Vern (www.fittechbylamere.com) for my super comfortable and aero position, to Brian for my aero helmet, and to indytririp for helping me get my bike frame and front wheel. I really couldn’t have done this race without you guys!
The bike was my easiest long ride of the year and I increased the pace each quarter passing a ton of people in the last 20 miles. Shut it down the last 5 to prepare for the run. Finished feeling awesome in 6:01 and ready to run my 3:45 marathon. here is a shot from when I first saw my wife. She got up at a ridiculous hour and drove straight from cleveland to Louisville, picked up my buddy, and came out to lagrange to see me.
The first four miles of the marathon were great and I was taking it quite easy setting myself up for a fast 10k at the end. However, my stomach started feeling quite bloated and I was getting sick to my stomach. This is an example of when the brain isn’t functioning but I really couldn’t figure out what was wrong with me. It is so obvious looking back but in the situation I wasn’t thinking clearly. I have always finished races quite dehydrated despite drinking much more than anyone but colossalquads. It never occured to me that I could drink too much but I did. I tried to quit at the halfway point of the marathon. I saw my buddy Vern and he said, “looking great.” I told him I was quitting and he wouldn’t let me. He walked and jogged for a mile with me in his sandals and basically told me there was no way I was allowed to quit. I walked that entire quarter of the marthon! I was at a very low point. It finally occurred to me to stop eating/drinking to get my stomach to settle. At the turn around I felt decent so I started to run two minutes walk one. With several miles to go I decided to try to run it in. With about 5k to go I realized I could still get in under 13 hours if I ran fast. I didn’t start at 7:00 so the clocks didn’t accurately reflect my race time. I basically ran the last 5k at 6:30 pace to finish right around 12:53 or so.
I was really disappointed in my run. I knew what I was capable of and I had a lot in my legs but my stomach just wasn’t there. Hopefully I will be able to nail my nutrition next time. I was trying so hard not to have a goal time b/c everyone told me not to for my first race. I was able to have no goals for time on the swim or bike but I really wanted to run solid and I didn’t do that. I went to the med tent and weighed myself and I had actually gained a pound! Everything made sense after that. Because of all the struggles I have had with dehydration I thought overhydration on a warm day was impossible to me. This actually gives me a lot of hope because it shows that I have the ability to stay hydrated in the heat.
After I left the med tent with my mom and my wife i went back to the room and took a shower and then got my feet up for an hour. After that the nausea subsided and I was able to go back out and catch the last hour of finishers. It was truly magical.
All in all this was a fantastic race. I couldn’t have picked a better venue. The swim was really cool, the transtion area seemed like it was designed just for the race, the course was pretty and challenging and pretty much eliminated drafting, and the run covered some great architecture and scenery. I like the out and back b/c you get to know your fellow racers and encourage each other. I loved the finish on 4th street live.
Thanks for reading,
Dan
www.aiatriathlon.com
