Thanks & Next Years Goals

Thank you to everyone who donated to help me raise money for MS and to everyone for their support and encouragement, especially Steph, Katie and Lizzie, I love you guys.

Thanks to Auntie Barb for providing the inspiration and being the 'one'. Thoughts of you and how you face your daily challenges with determination and grace are what propelled me to the finish line.

I will be back next year and will be asking you to help me again raise money for MS. The goal for next year will be $10,000 and a 12:30 Ironman Louisville finish.

Ironman Louisville Race Report

This was my first Ironman after many years of Olympic and sprint distances, a couple of half’s and more recently 2 marathons a year.

Pre-Race

We arrived in Louisville late on the Tuesday after spending 4 extra hours on a detour through rural Ohio after the flooding had shut down a 20 mile section of I75. All in all from Toronto is made for a 10 hour trip into a 14 hour ordeal. We arrived in the middle of a blistering heat wave, it was over 100 the day we arrived and the temperature would rise each afternoon to the same level, as well it was very humid. On Wednesday morning we did a tour of the bike route, I didn’t think it was too bad and was expecting bigger hills after reading all the postings from people that had ridden the course. There didn’t seem to e anything steeper that 6% or so although there were a couple of longer climbs, like on the Highway 1694 out and back. Lot’s of rollers and it would definitely be a bit of a grind on the second loop through LaGrange. Wednesday afternoon I went for a 30 minute run and the word that described the condition best is steamy. It was hot and I was sweating plenty. It took me a good hour in the air con to get cooled off.

Thursday morning we went down to the practice swim and watched as the first 50 or so people entered the water and immediately began to float with the current down the river! It seemed to be quite an effort for many of them just to swim back to where they had entered the water. The river was warm, 84 degrees about and not as polluted as I thought it would be, although there was lot’s of wood of various shapes and sizes floating along. I heard one guy say that he thought he saw a telephone pole! Most people were swimming without wetsuits as it was almost certain to be a non wetsuit race. I got in the water and decided to swim up to the buoy they had placed near the first bridge. The current was there, but the closer we got to the buoy, the stronger the current. I was swimming with 2 other guys and the closer we got to the buoy the stronger the current. It was a real effort to get around it from 10 feet away. We sailed back in literally 5 minutes after taking 20 minutes to get up there. I overshot the exit and had to swim against the current to get back to the stairs.
I registered early, on Thursday, it was very organized and the volunteer explained everything in detail. I was out of there in 15 minutes. Thursday afternoon I went out and ride the 1694 out and back section. Again it was hot, hot, hot. It is a flat followed by a long downhill and then a long climb to the turnaround. There was a few other riders out as well. On Friday I did another 30 minute run, trying to get accustomed to being in the oven like conditions.

Saturday I packed up all the transition bags and took the bike down to check in. Again the volunteers were great and each entering athlete was paired up with a volunteer to assist them in getting the bike racked and the bags stowed away properly. Had a good look at the transition layout.

Race Morning

Sunday morning I woke up at 4:30 and had a breakfast of Vector cereal, a couple of bananas and a bottle of Gatorade. We left for the race at 5:15 and it was already bustling when we arrived. Quickly filled the water bottles on the bike and installed the gels, checked the tires and off to the swim start.

Swim (1:1:46) Position 860

We had to walk down to the revised swim start after the swim was changed due to the current. It took about 20 mins to walk down. It was very quiet and dark and there was a long line of people making their way down. Quickly checked all remaining clothes, made sure I had my goggles and ear plugs and joined the line up for the swim start. As you can imagine it was a long line of approx 2000 people. I was in line by about 5:50am and soon everyone started sitting down to wait for the start. About 6:50 the pro’s stated and soon the lime began to move. Eventually, by about 7:20 we got up to the front. The start was in a marina and one of the local boat owners was shaking everyone’s hand and wishing us good luck, he told us that if we decide to pack it in right away, his boat was the 5th one down and to swim over for a beer! I crossed over the timing mat and heard, go, go, go. I jumped in the water and started swimming. We swam initially in the channel between Towhead Island and the mainland. The water felt warm and there didn’t seem to be much of a current. I was assuming that we were going to just round the top of the island before heading home, but I was wrong on that one. Should have paid more attention to the course layout, we had to swim quite a way further up river before finally turning for home. It took me 30 minutes to make it to the turn. The swim back was good, the current was there, but nowhere near the strength it was on Thursday. I felt good on the swim, body roll from side to side was good, breathing was under control and I felt I stayed very aerobic throughout. It was a beautiful site to finally see the exit and then the waiting volunteers with outstretched hands to help us up the stairs and out of the water.

T1

It was a bit of a hike to the transition, but a volunteer was already waiting for me with my T1 bag when I arrived. Quickly changed into tri shorts and top for the bike and headed off.

Bike (6:58:32) Position 1204

They bike went well for me. I was slowed down by over-hydrating and having to stop and pee 4 times! I find it difficult to stay in the aero position with a full tank and so paid the time price. Volunteers were great, each time I stopped someone was there in a second asking how they could help, they actually held my bike and re-fuelled me with fresh water and Gatorade bottles while I was in the porta. Talk about valet service, outstanding! The next challenge came along just pat the 100mi marker. The hills were done and I was really looking forward to the downhill/flat last stretch back to the transition area. About a minute after coming onto fresh black pavement my rear tire blew out, Problem #1. The pavement was clear and brand new so I can only attribute it to the increase in pressure due to the increase in temperature in the fresh pavement? OK, no problem, I can change a flat with the best. Had the wheel off, tube out and new one in in no time. I used a CO2 cartridge to re-inflate it and I decided to just top it off a bit more and blew the new tube. Problem #2. Now I’m screwed, I only had one spare tube. The friendly police officer that was watching all this now suggested that he call for a support vehicle. Knowing that could take 15 mins or more I turned and asked the first guy that past us if he could spare a tube. My fellow competitor came to the rescue and immediately stopped and offered me one of his tubes. What a life saver, couldn’t thank him enough. I promise you all, the first time I get to return the favour, I will. Put in the 2nd tube and finally got going. Time wasted 12 minutes at least.

T2

Got back to transition without anything else happening. Bike catchers grabbed the bike and again a volunteer was waiting with my transition bag. I had descried to change both top and shorts, afterwards thought it was a waste of time and will bike/run in the same gear next time.

Run (4:27:43) Position 699

I felt like burned toast after that ride and didn’t think I was going to have a good run. I was well hydrated, but the hills had taken a toll on the legs and I’m sure that 3:30pm was the hottest part of the day. We did a short out and back along the river road before getting a bit of shade as we ran under the highway before turning up 3rd Street. Again the volunteers and aid stations well awesome. Lot’s of people and lot’s of drink/food, plus sponges, ice and water sprays. My goal was to make it to half way by 6:00pm and I just ran from one aid station to the next. I was making sure that I got at least a full cup of water and a full cup of Gatorade down at each one. At the special needs I picked up my special foods bag and took out film canister I had with 3 Tylenol and 3 Vivarin. Took the Tylenol and one of the Vivarin. It was definitely a bit of a mind bender having to go up and down the course and wow what a treat to see the finish line at the halfway point, do you think we could have gotten any closer!? I actually asked a guy I was running beside if I missed the turn for the 2nd lap! I started eating some pretzels and fig newtons at mile 15 and switched to coke for the final leg home. All the time I was doing the mental math and trying to figure out if I could get in under 13:00. The final turn and 100 yard dash to the finish was indescribable. I was so happy to be finished, for the entire run I had been waiting for the cramps to start or my stomach to shut down and I just couldn’t believe it that I was finished and was able to run as well as I did. I know my name was called out, but I didn’t hear it, the crowd noise was amazing. Finish time was 13:02:24 Position 699.

All in all, it was an amazing and incredible experience for me and my family. I think Steve Meckfessel and his crew did a first class job and I will be there again next year at the start line with a goal of 12:30!

Mission Accomplished!

Wow, what a great experience! I can't beliece I did that. Finish time was 13:02, despite having to stop at mile 100 to repair a flat. Will get back with all the details later.

Saturday!

Well...day before race day has arrived. At noon today we have to drop off the bike and all the gear bags to the tranisition area. Then we'll have an early dinner, pasta of course and rest up for the big day tomorrw.

Last night's welcome dinner was great and very motivational. The mayor of Louisville welcomed everyone as well as the president of Ironman. They introduced many vip's, including the oldest and youngest competitors, 18 and 77!! As well as the 20 or so people who's birthday is on Sunday! There was live music with a Nashville singer and buffet style food.

Pic's from Friday's Swim Practice

Ironman Hits Town!

Yesterday was athlete check in and we made sure to get it done early. We walked right in and it only took about 10 minutes. They are very well organized and they explain everything in detail to you. Part of the check in is a weigh in at the medical station, if you end up in the medical tent the first thing they’ll do is weigh you to see how dehydrated you are by comparing your weight to your check in weight. After the check in we went through the expo and took a look at all the tri-goodies for sale! Received an excellent goody bag, actually an IM knapsack and including a Ironman cap and t-shirt.

In the afternoon we took a drive to a section of the bike course where the longest hills are and a rode that section. It was very hot and windy, but it felt good to get an hour in one the bike. Numerous other people out riding as well.
This morning was the first practice swim and Steph and I went down at 8:00am. It is sponsored by Gatorade and they provide a gear bag check and lot’s of freebies. We watched at the first 50 people hit the water and immediately started drifting backwards! The current was strong due to all the flooding in Ohio and the volume of water coming down the Ohio. They had to send a bunch of kayakers after the wayward swimmers. They had set up a one mile practice course and it was a tough swim against the current to the turnaround buoy. The closer we got to the buoy, the stronger the current, most people gave up and turned around before they made it. I was swimming with 2 other guy’s and we just kept swimming like mad until we made it around it, finally. The swim back took about half as long and you had to be careful not to overshoot the exit and end up down the river with the other swimmers!
As a result they have decided to change the swim. We will start about a mile up river, swim through a sheltered area and then out into the river and back with the current to the original exit point. The swim entry will be first come first served and they will allow one person per second into the water. The swim cut-off time will be 2:20hr after the last swimmer enters the water. Effectively giving the slowest swimmers extra time to finish. Hopefully it will mean a fast swim for me, maybe out of the water in 1:10!

The transition areas and tents are all in place and it is easy to see how the flow in and out will work. There are cyclists and runners all over the downtown area and the hotel lobbies are filled with people with bikes. Ironman has certainly hit town!

Arrived!

We have arrived in Louisville, after a 14 hour trip. What was supposed to be a 9 hour or so trip ended up being an ordeal. We were sent off Highway 75, just after Dayton, Ohio due to flooding.

We watched the thermometer steadily rise as we travelled south. By the time we got to Louisville, it was still 87 at 8:00pm. I needed a shower after unloading the van!
It's going to be a hot one!

Race Hydration/Nutrition Plan

I've been working on my race nutrition plan and have come up with the following.
I'm aiming for 400 calories per hour and about 1000mg to 1200mg of sodium.

4:30am - 5:00am - Breakfast
2 Bananas or 1 Bagel
Vector Cereal – 2 cups
16oz Gatorade
1 electrolyte capsule

5:30am - 7:00am - Race starts
Sip 16oz Gatorade/Water

6:45am
1 Gel with 8 oz Water

7:00am - 8:30am Swim
Ingest as little Ohio River Water as possible

8:30am - Transition One
8 -12 oz Water

8:30am - 3:30pm - Bike
First :30 minutes water only
1 to 1.5 bottles Gatorade each hour
On the Hour, 1 gel chased with water
On the hour, one or two electrolyte capsules
Last half hour - water only
PowerBar every :90mins, @ 1:30, 3:00, 4:30, 6:00

12:00pm - Bike Special Needs Bag
2 Tylenol

3:30pm/4:00pm - Transition Two
8 - 12 oz Water
4 Tylenol & 1 Imodium

4:00pm to 9:00pm – Marathon
One electrolyte capsule per hour
Minimum 8oz to 12oz each aid station

6:00pm/6:30pm Marathon Special Needs
2 Tylenol & 1 Imodium
Mars Bar
Salty Snacks

7:00pm to Finish Marathon
Switch to Coke at mile 16 and continue to finish
Gatorade/Water/Coke & Pretzels

"When your attitude about the race changes, take in some fuel."
(Translation: Feeling sorry for yourself or angry at the wind is a sign of low blood sugar. Eat!)

"When you feel good, eat."
(Translation: When you feel good during the race don’t hammer, take advantage of this time to get more fuel onboard.

Holy Crap, I've Got a Lot to Do!!

Wow, time is flying and it's hard to believe that the IM is just around the corner. I have so much to do to get ready to go. I have checklists of my checklists of things to do and to pack and I check Louisville weather daily to see if the heat wave has broken. Not yet, it was still 100 plus yesterday, hopefully it will before race day!

Louisville Course Info

From Scott P, who went down and did some Louisville recon. He sent this to me a couple of weeks ago and I forgot to post! But, here ya go. Thanks Scott, for allowing me to publish this!

Hello, fellow Louisvillers-

I took a few days and went down to Louisville last weekend. I thought I'd write a bit about my impressions of the courses and whatnot, so I could remind myself later and so you guys can hear about what we found.

Hotels: The Galt House and the Mariott are both in great locations and look like nice joints. I'm staying in a new extended stay hotel right across the river. I'll have to drive to the TA on race morning, but saved about $100 each night. If you can swing it, staying downtown is the way to go because traffic in downtown was a touch screwy and will be worse before and during the race.

Bike shops: Only saw one downtown: The Bike Courier. If you need your fixie chain tightened, or a new messenger bag or radio, this is your place. Do not, under any circumstances, let them build your tri bike. I don't know of other shops.

The River: The river is very warm. There are online rumblings about if this will be a wetsuit swim-- my fingertip thermometer says there is no way we will be under 74 degrees or whatever, but there is no official info. Personally, I'm going to be doing some open water swims without mine. The current looks very mild, and they say they'll use locks to pretty much shut it down on race day. We'll see. I'm totally freaked about the current, frankly.

The Bike Course: I should mention that we had some serious and un-fixable mechanical issues. The lock ring on my cassette came loose, which, of course, needs the special lock-ring tool. There are no bike shops or anything that would resemble retail bike support on the route, so we had to stop a lot as it kept coming loose. Lauren got a flat. All these stops probably affected my outlook on the course. Also, if you're going down to ride the course yourself, it is basically on county highways so there is a scary amount of traffic.

Overall, I really enjoyed the course. It is quite hilly, with just under 7000 feet of total elevation gain on the whole thing. Grades tended to be in the 4-6% range-- like a highway onramp or a good bridge. The hills are rarely steep or long, but it's not a rhythm course. I found that I could stay in a good groove by staying focused on cadence and HR through the rollers and shifting a lot. I stood up for a couple of hills, but mostly because my butt was sore, not because I had to crank. The long descents are not broken by turns or stops, which means you can really let 'er rip (there is one notable exception-- the turn from Ballard Rd. to Old Sligo Rd.). There is a ton of time waiting to be made up on the downhills of this course.

The official profile looks smoother than the course really is-- you're pretty much always going a little up or down, but overall it's not as bad as I thought. The last 30 miles appears downhill, but it's so full of rollers that it was hard to tell, unfortunately. There is one huge descent back to the river, and then it's totally flat (and shady!!) for the last 10 or so-- that will be nice. Road surfaces were good to excellent, with some chip-seal that will be sticky as it heats up.

The heat, humidity, and sun are relentless and took a lot out of me. It was 90 when we rode, and will probably be a touch warmer for the race. Much of the course is shady, but the long stretch back southwest down rte. 42 is totally unshaded and it's going to be tough for a while. Once I got caught up on hydration, I felt much better. I used every gear in my 11-23 cassette, and will probably go to a 12-25 for the race. Hot, sultry, steamy, hot, wet, humid, oven, very hot-- these are words I would use to describe our ride.

The Run Course: The run is basically a two-loop out and back. It's just about pancake flat, with one underpass and a slight hill at the turnaround, which actually felt pretty good after so much flat. The course is really nice-- lots of trees and shade, big old houses, nice people that weren't yet tired of the stream of ironman practicers flowing by their houses. The turnaround near the finish will be tough for me, since you basically run down the finishing chute before peeling off to the right for another 12 miles. I dunno, maybe it will be motivating. The finish area is really cool-- Louisville has covered an entire city block with a glass roof, and there are tons of bars and restaurants right there-- lots of great spectating and some serious speakers for booming out our names as we finish. The Galt House and Marriott are both within a block of the finish.

Whew! that was a lot longer than I meant it to be. Oh well, I hope you got some good info. Overall, the most important factor in this race is almost certain to be the heat, I think.

It’s all over but the crying!!

Well that’s it folks…for the hard training at least. I completed my final week of hard training on Sunday and it’s taper time from now to race day on the 26th. Last week was a 20 hour week ending with a 180k ride on Saturday and a 32k un on Sunday. It felt really good to get that run in, a real confidence booster for IM Lou. I switched my Garmin over to miles and jut concentrated on getting from one mile to the next, imaging what it will be like on the 26th. Aid stations are spaced approximately every mile at the IM and a common strategy is to view the whole thing as 26 one mile repeats and do your best to keep running from one station to the next.

Training volume is reduced by 30% this week and another 30% next week to allow the body to fully recover from and adapt to the training. Often people feel over tired and lethargic during this period, I know I sure do today Wanted to watch the 2006 IM on NBC on Sunday for some inspiration, and only got to see the last half hour, it was advertised to start at 4:00 and actually started at 2:30pm, dang!

The Athlete’s Guide was released on the Internet on Friday and I am now finding myself thinking about all the logistics of the event, special needs bags, pre-race breakfast, nutrition/hydration strategies, course details, final bike set-up, etc., etc. Checklists are great for keeping track of all the details, I’ve got lots!