My day at LOU

Triathlon Forum
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LOU was a pretty good time all around. My day unraveled a bit during the run, but it eventually came back to me.

Swim… Like most others, I really liked the TT start. That is about it as far as the swim goes. I didn’t much care for swimming in the river b/c of the current and debris. It was a tuff swim upstream. No wetsuits might deter some, but it didn’t really bother me. 1:18

Bike… Very nice bike course and I had a pretty good day on the bike by my standards. My feet started getting a little sore at about mile 85 or so, but no real deal breakers. The long down hill and flat section back into town is a real godsend. 6:03

Run… When I came off the bike, it was really heating up and the sun was high in the sky. I was feeling quite warm and flushed and stuck to my original plan of water in and water on at each aid station. I also used sponges/ice in the hat to help keep cool. I was moving along and, just like that, I could not take anything in. No water, Gatorade, anything. My stomach felt like it was in a big knot. Running made me queasy. Drinking made me vomit.

Is this what everyone calls GI issues? That sucked and I’m not sure what I did wrong to make it happen. I bumped into another STer that was having a tough go of it and we decided to run / walk to each of the cones in the center of the road. Run 20 feet, walk 20 feet. We decided to double up on the run part, run 40 feet, walk 20. That didn’t last long though… neither of us could handle it.

Somewhere around mile 16, everything opened up and let loose. I must have done that footstrike/fart… footstrike/fart thing for a good mile straight! I ran the last 8 dancing with the devil and drinking coke (though not always flat… WTC must not have caught that thread). I figure I lost about 1:30 on the run with that little episode, but I did meet a few people along the way. 5:30

I had a great time out there and smiled all day, even through the rough parts. I’m sitting here in my office and it all seems like it might never have happened… except reliving all the funny/bad moments out there here on this forum.

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Did you have time to stop at an internet cafe, hack peoples photobucket accounts and maliciously post pictures that dont belong to you???
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yes, and still beat your time :slight_smile:

quit whining dude, your g/f isn’t that good looking anyway… i might have just dun you a favor if she leaves ya:) get over it.

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actually, you were over an hour slower than my slowest time ever, sorry to rain on your parade. p.s. Your photography sucks.

5

Good honest race report. Can relate to the stomach problems from last IM I did Coure d 'Alene…
Tough when its hot.

6

I didin’t notice much debris maybe couple of twigs(at least I think thats what they were they didn’t say “Hidey Ho Children” (mr hanky) one long limb but wasn’t too bad.
Current was Sweet some going out… If you angled out into the open river instead of down the bouy line on way back the current was faster…
Only took me 7 minutes longer to swim from the turn to the finish (1.575 miles est) than it took to get to the first turn (.825 mile est)twice the distance.
and I’m a slow swimmer… going out stayed to right until next to last bouy angled over then angled out to the open channel away from shore.
I was out there with maybe 10 people and the kayaks and support boats was so cool never been in an ironman where the swim was so empty (I’ve done 24) even less crowded than hawaii way less crowded and it’s probably the least crowded of the others if you line up right.