Ironman Wisconsin 2010: The Return!

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Purchased at: September 14, 2009 10:14 AM

Event Confirmation #: 25292215-091409101455

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Ironman Louisville: A Long Cool Summer

My first visit to Louisville will be a highlight for 2009 since this was the location of my second Iron man event. The attention to detail and the logistics are always a challenge when you attend such a huge event, but I always enjoy the energy and all the new things I learn from each Iron man triathlon. Louisville was hosting the Ironman Triathlon for the third time and you could definitely tell as the city was prepped for all the athletes (about 3000). With family and friends, the city was going to deluged with Tri bikes, fuel belts and Lycra for the next few days.

After are long commute to Louisville (and the hotel) we scurried our bikes and luggage to our rooms and eagerly walked over to the Galt House hotel to pick up our athlete packets and shop at the ever-popular Ironman Expo nearby. The location of the Galt House Hotel was right on the Ohio river near the bridge where we would run during the marathon. We eventually found the large room to start our packet process pickup. We still had an hour or so before closing time, the lines were long for each stage of the process: sign this, sign that, move here, move there, etc.

We felt like cattle being rustled on the farm as we went from one station to the next. While waiting, I talked to a fellow tri athlete that was next to me to pass the time:
Me: How many Ironmans have you done?
Triathlete : 12 so far, Louisville, Wisconsin, Lake Placid, Kona...
Me: Wow, you did Kona, did you qualify? (qualify in top ten age group or win lottery)
Triathlete : I didn't qualify for Kona, I won the lottery two times in a row...
Me: (To myself) Why couldn't I be that lucky!

And so it goes with all of the interesting people you meet at all these events, for some, this was their first Ironman (0ver 800) and others were veterans, pros and age groupers like me who were still new to the sport and amazed that there's this must interest in such a difficult challenge. Would all of them become new Ironmans that weekend? No, but they will have at least gave it there best tri and pushed themselves to the limit of what they can do and even learned something about themselves as well.

Now, onto race Ironman race itself. I had planned for a very hot day, as I had watched a friend of mine do the race a few years ago in stifling heat and humidity. This year was going to be a cooler temperature (around 72 for the high) but would the humidity play a factor this time?

The swim for this Ironman was a time trial start, meaning every three seconds two people would jump off a dock into the water to start their swim. The pros start first, then the age groupers, two at a time every three seconds dove off the dock. Therefore with 3000 athletes, the line is over a mile long and there can be up to a 40 minute delay depending on when you start. We arrived about 10 till 7 and looked for the end of the line. We walked and walked, thinking on each turn we'd find the end, but we decided to just sit down and rest and waited for the end of the line to come to us. The starting time begins when your chip crosses the timing mat anyway, so it was no big deal anyway.

Once within site of the docks, the line quickly moved from a snail's pace to a quick jog as we removed our outer clothes and placed them in the swim bag which we would pickup after the race. I quickly spat into my goggles but had no water to wash them out so I grabbed an open water bottle on the ground and rinsed them and put on both my swim cap and goggles and jumped into the warm Ohio river. I quickly established my bilateral breathing every three strokes and sited on the sixth stroke and moved at a relatively steady pace. All other Ironman swim starts are just a mass start of over two thousand athletes with the first twenty minutes like a chaotic mosh pit; which makes it very difficult to establish any type of rhythm. I moved right along, found the first red buoy at around the thirty minute mark and turned and now swam with the current (if there was one?). I finally finished at around 1:42 minutes, feeling a little tired but ready to get on the bike after a not-so-fast transition.

I planned for typical hot and humid day for Louisville, even though weather reports were showing highs of just 72 degrees! Just in case, I made sure my SNB (special needs bags) were stocked with frozen Ensures, along with blue ice inside a small cooler for both the bike and the run. I wasn't taking any chances with the heat because there's nothing worse then drinking warm liquids during a race. The plan had one major flaw...Which I'll talk about later on ;-)

After my swim I quickly ran into the tent to don my bike gear, lather on some sunblock and try to find my Quintana Roo Tri bike among the thousands in the football sized field that was their temporay location for the morning. It wasn't hard to find my bike - there was only a handful of bikes left leaning against the traditional triathlon triangle metal bars (this was because we were the last to start the swim and my swim time). I quickly located my bike, choked down some not-so-tasty calories and ran the bike to the exit, where I jumped on the pedals and shifted into high gear, along with a myriad of many other triathletes.

The course was somewhat familiar as I had drove the course the day before, so as I weaved in through the side streets keeping a relatively fast pace I was somewhat dismayed with the amount of cars on this portion. Didn't anybody know there was an Iron man today? Fortunately they blocked off a lane during one busy section where the cars were lined up bumper to bumper while cops directed traffic. They must have been out of towners, tourists or other uninformed individuals that didn't realize that there was a small race in the Louisville today. I snickered to myself and I thought about all the times cars passed me by and now I was passing them.

I kept my bike cadence around 85 rpm during the first segment of the bike ride- I didn't want to burn my legs as I had to run a marathon after this 112 mile bike ride. The first 22 miles I managed 17 mph (1:17) which was a good steady pace and I felt good as I worked my way up the hills to start the two bike loops. At this point my stomach was feeling somewhat strange, a queasiness that made me uncomfortable, so my speed was slower than normal but this was the first section of the bike race so I wasn't too concerned.

I used Gatorade and the Infinite Nutrition drink so I didn't have to use any gels or goos during the long bike ride. As I neared the location for the SNB (Special Needs Bag) I decided to stop and ingest some different calories to help the stomach. I yelled out my number and grabbed my bag, opened the small cooler - everything was cold, too cold! It was all rock solid! $%@! The temperature wasn't that hot and the bags were in the shade and everything was in coolers with ice! Ooops! What could I do? I threw the bag down in disgust and jumped back on the bike; I had already lost time since this wasn't a scheduled stop. Maybe after the first bike loop the items may be melted after a few hours I thought.

My stomach was still upset but I continued on and managed to increase my bike average a little bit and watch almost everybody pass me(!) at the SNB area on the second loop around 1pm in the afternoon. I stopped again hoping the items had melted somewhat. I was wrong! The Ensures were like tasty ice creams (and you know I like ice cream!) so I tried to squeeze as much out as I could, but I really needed a spoon (why didn't I pack a spoon I thought to myself) to get all of it out of the small, plastic container. Oh well, I was feeling better anyway by that time and decided to put the hammer down as they say.

As I did the second loop, nobody passed me, I did the passing since I saved my energy for the last leg and looking to finish before six hours, the only thing that slowed me down was all of the cars that slowed down to pass other bikers on the course, which was quite frustrating for the most part as it created a serious safety problems for both triathletes and the volunteers directing traffic. The last 45 miles of the bike ride was fast and furious (20.06 avg) as I weaved in and out through cars and bikers and looking forward to getting off the bike.... to start running. Fortunately, this year I was much less pain compared to last year's Iron man in Wisconsin since I had a different (tri) bike, better bike shoes and was in better shape. I rode as fast a horse, eager to start the next, and last part of the race.

I was very much relieved to be off the bike after almost six and half hours and my legs felt a bit like noodles after such a long ride. I quickly changed from bike shoes to running shoes, and started the long marathon run. The weather was warm, but not as humid as expected around 4:30pm but I made sure to hydrate as much as possible. I felt good. I was doing around a 10:30 pace so I kept it slow and steady going through the downtown and then we ventured onto the bridge that overlooked the Ohio river where I had swam several hours before. I was tempted to move the run pace faster but I kept it slow and rested at the aid stations then pushed on. As I ventured out of the downtown there were many athletes that had started their second lap to my dismay. I continued to keep the pace slow and steady for the first loop of the run.

Each mile slowly crept up to me like in a hazy dream.... 4, then 5, there was 6 miles done... just finished a 10k! Only have to do that four more times. As the miles went up, I noticed my pace had started to slow down; my stomach was in pain again. The dreaded stomach stitch again. I took some deep breaths while I ran and the pain eased up after about 15 minutes. I had experienced this before at the half in Kansas in June and after some research learned this was mainly caused by the aero position on the bike; the diaphragm is compressed for such a long time during the bike plus weak abdominal muscles. It can also be caused by gas bubbles from food eaten before the run. I mainly was using liquid calories so that wasn't the problem. During the off season I will have to strengthen my core to prevent this happening on my next triathlon.

The rest of the marathon was flat and due to the cool temperature I decided to skip a few aid stations to increase my pace as my average pace slowed down each aid station, although I stopped at some aid stations for some quick energy and so I wound't become dehydrated. My first 13.1 mile loop I finished in about 2 and half hours so I was at a 11:10 /min pace which was a bit slower than my goal of a sub 11:00 pace but I had hoped to keep it slow the first half and then run a faster split on the second 13.1 mile loop - if I had the energy to do it! The SNB (special needs bags) were at the half way mark so I stopped and drank down two cool (not frozen this time!) high protein Ensures and didn't change my socks and continued on. Of course, like Wisconsin IM, the start of the second loop is where athletes who were done with the second loop continued toward the bright and loud finish, where throngs of people line up along the finish and cheer all the finishers till midnight. It's an amazing experience and I had hope to actually finish during the daylight someday!

The second loop continued on as I waved to my family and other onlookers that cheered me at the start of the second loop. My plan was to finish before dark so I tried to increase my pace, so I did mini intervals on the second loop and stopped at every other aid station to not waste more time. I also felt the beginnings of a small blister on my left pinky toe. It wasn't painful - yet, but seeing that my pace slowed down to a 13 min pace, I pushed past the pain and persevered; the finish was only a short 10k distance! I wanted to finish strong, do a 9 min pace toward the finish but my body was exhausted so my mind fought my body toward the end. The last few minutes were just a blur, the bright lights, the screaming crowd and the ever joyful finish line! I had made it and I was so very grateful!

All of the people in the race, from ages ranging from 18 to 76, had different goals that day. Some were there just to finish, others to beat a previous time or friend; the Iron Man is a race within a race. I saw a blind man in the race, others with disabilities, all come here to push themselves to the edge, to face the challenge and call themselves an Iron man.

Me at Iron Man Louisville