Ironman Louisville – Going to the well once more

My finish: 9:55:58 and 36th overall

I had no real intention of racing at Ironman Louisville this year. In fact, the only reason that I even paid attention to the race date was that one of my clients (Jean) was racing in it.

“Do you want to road trip with us to Louisville,” Jean casually asked one day. She was road tripping with her boyfriend, Ken, and friend / training partner, Adrianne. Ken was to be Jean’s “race bitch” during the weekend while Adrianne was racing.

“Let me think about it,” I replied.

Photo: David, Adrianne, Ken and Jean at beginning of road trip. Note that four of us and four bikes were able to fit into Ken’s Saab wagon.

With a quick email to the race director with reference to my pro card credentials and my race resume attached, I received an invite to race. The single biggest benefit (in my mind) of having a triathlon pro card is that I can sign up for triathlons at the last minute in spite of them being filled up months in advance.

“OK, I’m going,” I replied back to Jean.

Photo: The Ohio River where we swam

This was the inaugural year for the race. There’s something sexy about racing in the first of anything. It can also be somewhat risky in that there’s no basis of comparison to say whether it’s a well run race (or not). Looking back at the weekend, I can’t really think of anything that went wrong from a race management perspective even looking through my lens as a race director. It was a very well run event!

Photo: David on race morning with a cheer sign – Princess is my Dalmatian

I approached the race with a much different attitude than I had approached Quelle Challenge in June and Vineman three weeks prior. At Quelle, I wanted a PR (I did). At Vineman, I wanted the course record and a win (I earned a win but not the course record). At Louisville, I wanted to finish without embarrassing myself too badly. With lowered expectations, I felt almost no anxiety on race weekend – I had already hit my goals for the year and having been through two Ironman races already, I “knew the drill.”

Photo: Adrianne and Jean on race morning – there were signs from Jean’s family lining the entire hallway

On Saturday morning, I woke up with the realization that I would be doing an Ironman race in one day. As much as I tried to casually play off my relaxed state, the reality was that I would be doing 140.6 miles which is still a long distance even when not mentally geared for an all out effort. So, yes, I did worry because a too casual attitude might result in a DNF or a very long walk into the evening. Time to focus!

Photo: Race morning – as my friend Bevan would say, “Smack it!”

On race morning, we were greeted by dozens of signs decorating the hallway. Jean’s family had creatively managed to come up with funny and unique messages for all of us.

Photo: Body marking – note the pirate flag tattoo on my right arm…Yarrr!

The swim course and swim start format had been changed a few days before the event to accommodate the rapidly flowing Ohio River. From my perspective, it was still the same as I started at the front with all the other pro athletes. The biggest difference was that I was starting in a group of 40 or 50 rather than 2,100 – everyone else would enter the water in a continuous time trial start behind us. The water was uncomfortably warm (86F) even without a wet suit. At the start, I immediately fell to the back of the pro field – my only goal at that point was not to finish dead last as a pro. I ended up towing 3 other pros for about 2 miles of the swim only to be passed in the last 1/4 mile as we approached the swim finish. When I exited the swim in just over an hour, I shrugged and thought, “It is what it is.”

Photo: David coming out of the transition tent to start the bike

Temperatures in Louisville had been at record highs (104F) in the days leading up to the event. Even with a relatively cooler forecast of only 90F, temperatures were still hot.

Throughout the bike, my legs felt “flat” and I could not seem to generate much power. I also noticed that I was riding primarily in my 13/14 gears in the back versus the 11/12 gears that I maintained in Vineman. I had no idea on my pace or heart rate as I opted to race without any electronic devices or even a watch for that matter. In the beginning, I was passed by a more riders than I passed, which was discouraging . If only my legs were fresh….shrugs….it is what it is.

The bike course was a lollipop shape with an out section, two loops of the lollipop then a return. I rode by myself for most of the out section and first loop. At the start of my second loop, I began overtaking a continuous stream of athletes on their first loop. Passing others made me feel better so I picked up the pace. A few times I was forced to cross the double line to avoid riders who cut over in front of me.

Photo: David finishing

Because I was not wearing a watch, I had no idea how well I did on the bike. When I started the run, I saw a clock time of 6:22 – more than 30 minutes slower than when I started the run at Roth. “Oh, well,” I thought, “I’ll just blast out a super fast marathon or blow up trying as I have nothing to lose.”

Early in the run I realized I was too dehydrated coming off the bike to be able to sustain the pace I needed for a sub 3 hour marathon so I decided to shift over to conservation mode by slowing down and consuming as much fluid as I could stomach at each of the aid stations.

The run was a very social event for me. I had a chance to hug both Jean and Adrianne when I passed them going in opposite directions on the out and back run course. I ran alongside another pro, AJ Johnson, who had also raced at Roth, on several occasions then also ran a few miles with Philip Baetcke from Reston. Every time I passed Kevin Kunkel, he had a big cheesy smile on his face – he looked like he was having fun. I heard a few “Hey, Dave’s” from other runners on the course but could not always place names with faces in passing.

Photo: Jean, David and Adrianne after finishing

As her coach and friend, I am very proud of Jean’s results for her first Ironman. She looked great (and smiled) every time I saw her. Adrianne won her age group by 12 minutes – she also had a big smile on her face every time I saw her.

Was I happy with my results? Happy might be too strong a word. I am satisfied. I “went to the well once more” to see how deep it would go. Not quite as deep as I had hoped, but I finished the race in a respectable time without any real issues. As I write this two weeks after the event, I’ve also noticed that my physical recovery has been relatively quick. The soreness went away in only a few days.

What’s next for me this year? I honestly don’t know. I had originally planned to race in the Patriots 1/2 Ironman on September 8, but my body is telling me “no”…plus I’m in the middle of trying to organize races on three success weekends – Reston, SavageMan and Smallwood – so my focus is elsewhere. Common sense says I should call it a successful season and just take it easy for a while, but when have I ever followed the norm?

Cheers,
David

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David B. Glover
Experiential Writer, Elite Athlete, Coach and Race Director
Author of Full Time and Sub-Nine
Personal Web: www.davidglover.net
Business Web: www.enduranceworks.net

©2007 David B. Glover