Ironman Louisville Race Report - Run

I ran in my bike shoes down the side of the transition area. I had been needing to pee for about 20 miles. I yelled my race number to the volunteers. I ran towards the volunteer who had my bag except it was not my bag. It was close but no cigar. She asked me my name and it did not match the bag. She started to apologize profusely. I just pointed to the number written on my arm and said, “Don’t worry about it – It’s not a big deal.” The exchange took only a few more seconds and I was in the changing tent.

This would be another full Monty change. I was going to ditch my cycling jersey and shorts and don another unitard. I had found in my training during the hot humid Southern Mississippi summer that my regular running shorts would get saturated – soaking wet. Then I could / would start to develop some chaffing issues. So it would be another unitard that has tight, but not really compression, legs. I pulled off my cycling jersey with the pockets still full of gels, bars and tire changing equipment. The shirt weighed a ton! Next the shoes and shorts came off. I put the unitard on all the way and then socks and running shoes. But as I ran to exit the tent I pulled the unitard back off of my upper body. I wanted to get a layer of sun screen on my arms and neck – but even more important I still needed to pee!

Just out of the water.

I ran out of the tent and the volunteer pointed me to the left to exit the transition. I pointed and ran right straight to the port-a-loo’s. No lines again and I was in and out in a flash – although it felt like several minutes. As I exited the port-a-loo there was another volunteer pointing me towards the transition exit – I told her I needed to grab my watch from my bike. I ran the 10 or 15 rows to my bike and unhooked my GPS watch. I finally ran towards the exit that all of the volunteers had been pointing me too. I had my GPS watch in my hand and asked yet another volunteer to buckle it on my right hand (I still was going to be wearing my Heart Rate monitor on my left arm). Yes I was double watching it today!

I crossed the timing mat at the transition exit and hit the lap button. I had thought that I had set the watch up for ‘multi-sport’ mode but it was still on cycling mode. It would take me a minute or two to fix the settings (while running) and get it to display the correct running mode. I had set the watch up to help facilitate the run / walk plan. The watch was divided into 4 segments to show the current lap (so I could easily see how long I had been walking), the average pace for the run, the total distance for the run, and finally the total time for the run. I also still had the heart rate monitor displaying the elapsed time for the race as well as my heart rate. Some might say information overload – But I tried to use all of the information to execute my plan.

T2: 6:55

Start of the bike.

Enjoying a pop tart.

Hard climb up a hill.

I started the run with my legs obviously feeling tired but nothing major. The crowd at the transition exit was huge and I ran what felt like a comfortable pace. I looked at my heart rate and it was dead in the middle of my ‘Long Slow Distance’ training run paces. I felt like I could push much harder but I was dedicated to the plan! The run started us out towards downtown and then up and across a bridge. I was chatting with another runner and we talked about some goal times for the day – he wanted somewhere in the 11’s. I was still hoping for something around 12. We were running the same pace as we turned back across the bridge.

Leaving the bridge.

Then my watch beeped to indicate a mile had been run. Actually since I had to restart this segment on the watch I had ran about 1.35 miles. I shut the run down and started a fast walk. Someone behind me asked me what my strategy was and I explained the whole save the legs for later in the race by walking one minute per mile. I then took off again. The timing of my walks was way off of the locations of the aid stations. I thought about resetting the distance on the watch to better sync with the water stops but I thought that it might confuse me a little later in the race – I can get a little loopy when I have depleted my glycogen stores. So I walked a minute the first mile and then walked a few second for the first aid station. I took some Gatorade and a gel. Back to the run. I was going to work the plan without exception for the first 5 miles and then evaluate how I was feeling. While my body was a ‘little’ tired I was feeling good. It was still early in the run but the walk breaks were fantastic. I remember several long runs in the heat of the day where you get up high in mileage and you HAVE TO STOP. I would feel defected – almost broken. It is always hard to get going again. With this run / walk method it felt like I was in so much more control. The watch would beep – I felt good enough that I could keep running – but it was time for a fast walking break. I felt like I could do this all day. It never got unmanageable. I was also running in the same pack of people. They would pull away from me during the walk portion but I would just about catch back up to them. I was running faster than they were when I was running.

At about the mile 10 or 11 mark I was starting to pass more people (since it was 2 loops these people could have been twice the distance of me but looking at the athletes it did not appear that way). People were starting to suffer while I still felt pretty good. I came up on my special needs back and decided to take it – once again I did not really know what to put in the bag. I ended up putting another one of those super energy drink cans (I still have never had one), some cookies, a clean, dry pair of socks in a zip lock bag and a small bottle of ibuprofen. I really did not need to change my socks – I had feared that they would be soaking wet like they get in Mississippi. Anyway, shortly after the bag pickup there was a park bench and I sat down to change my socks. I guess I am a little cheap and I did not want to throw away a good pair of running socks so I put the dirties in the zip lock bag and stuffed then in my back pocket. I also put the bottle of ibuprofen in the pocket. I left the energy drink on the park bench and threw the cookies away. This quick change cost just a couple of minutes. The clean dry socks actually did not feel as good as the ones that I had been wearing but this would prove to not be an issue.

Speed Graph of the run.

The bottle of pills in my back pocket sounded like a metronome. Click, click, click. It was keeping rhythm for me. Every time I would pass someone they would look at me. One person asked me it the sound was driving me nuts – it was driving them nuts! I said not really – it was actually kind of keeping me on pace. We were not running next to each other for very long so it would not bug them much. I had been watching my average pace slowly creep up the entire run. I hated to see it climb from an unsustainable low 8 minute per mile to just over 9 minutes per mile. I tried, with my mind, more than my body to keep the pace in the high 8’s but I was not willing to risk 10’s of minutes at the end of the run to obtain this mid race goal.

Amount of walk time.

Finishing the first loop was a tease. You got within about 100 yards of the finishing shoot and had to make a sharp right to start the final leg of this Ironman. It was nice to know that there were only about 11 or 12 miles left. It was daunting to realize that there were still 11 or 12 miles left. I have never run a marathon – in fact I think my longest run this year was 18 miles – I ran that once about a month before the race. I am a runner at heart and I did run countless 12 – 15 mile runs and bricks but never anything over 18 this year (in years past I have ran 20 – 22 mile runs on occasion – just being stupid). But the run walk was still working for me. At about mile 20 I realized that all of my goals were going to be met for this race – if I stayed on target. 10k is still a long ways to go when you have more than 10 hours on your feet. But this is where I thought about breaking 4 hours in this Ironman marathon. This should not be happening – this was not in the plan – this should not be possible. I tried to pick the pace up a little and it wasn’t picking up. The only other alternative was to lengthen the run segments (there was no way that I was going to decrease the walk). I was now running about a mile and half between breaks. This was working – my legs were tired but they were still falling one right in front of the other. I tried - I really did - to run the entire last five miles but I could not will myself to do it. I think this was more mental fatigue than physical fatigue. I walked again at the 5k mark and also took a small walk with 2 miles to go. I was doing the math in my head and if I could just finish the run with 9 minute miles I could get the sub-4hour done. It was not going to happen – too little – too late. I came up upon the second loop / finishers shoot again. The volunteer made sure that I knew that I needed to be on my second loop before going straight. I assured him that I was finishing this race – I had the miles! The shoot was lined with so many people. It was a spectacle. I was relieved more than excited about finishing, however, I allowed myself to embrace the moment. As I neared the finish I pumped my arm in the air to mark the event. I was now an Ironman – I barely heard Mike Reilly but I knew he said it. I crossed the finish line and stumbled a little bit and the volunteers, the catchers, held me up, threw a solar blanket across me and put the finisher’s medal around my neck. They were so supportive – they made you feel like a million bucks.

RUN: 4:02:40 (9:15/mile)

TOTAL TIME: 11:19:14

After finishing I was a bit lost. I never saw Jodie and went through the paces of getting my finishers shirt, hat and picture taken. I saw Jodie at the end of the shoot and she was snapping some pictures. I was so glad to see her. I really wanted to share this with her. To err on the side of caution she wanted me to be checked out at the medial tent. I was feeling fine but why not. If they thought that I needed an IV or something then I would take it. It turns out that I was just fine – no problems. The DR did suggest sitting down for a few minutes and maybe getting a massage. No complaints here!

I went and got a massage, there was no waiting and then grabbed a piece of pizza. I was really not hungry at all. Although I was not bloated I felt like I had been eating all day. After the pizza I wanted a bagel with jelly. This let me know how tender my mouth was, I presume from all of the salt and sugars. I had to throw the bagel away – it felt like sand paper. This Ironman has been an awesome experience.

I started this blog exactly one year ago today. At that time I wrote that I had never swum 2.4 miles, biked 112 miles, or ran 26.2 miles – much less in one day. Now I can say that I have achieved all of those distances and I am an IRONMAN.

I would like to thank the many friends, family, and bloggers who have offered advice and encouragement over this past year. The since of community has been wonderful and I appreciate all of you!

Now I finally get to take that 140.6 sticker off of my night stand and put it on my car.

Ironman Louisville - Race Report - BIKE

Okay, I was just out of the water with a pretty good time - not super fast but within my goal time (it was a faster pace than my ½ ironman in New Orleans). I changed clothes completely in the tent. It was crowded – not standing room only or anything but there was a lot of people in all forms of undress. I ran out of the tent, got sun screened and got to my bike. As I was putting all of my junk in my cycling jersey pockets (pounds of pop tarts, a few gels and my flat kit) I turned my GPS watch on – I had it mounted in-between my aero bars. I had debated with myself a lot over the past week about what electronic devices to take. I was really worried about the GPS giving out late in the run – the battery is only supposed to be about 10 hours. This would be cutting it close. So I ended up wearing my regular heart rate monitor for the entire race and I turned off the heart rate function on the GPS to maybe help save the battery.

So I was running out of transition with a black cookies and cream pop tart literally rammed in my mouth. My mouth was so full that I couldn’t really shut it. I imagined black coal dust being blowing out of my gaping mouth as I ran. In training the nutritionally void but highly available carbohydrates of the pop tarts worked well. What I did not remember was that I always stopped on the bike and ate the pop tarts. Eating solid food is not nearly as easy to do when in a race situation. Anyway, I started the bike ride feeling fresh with black teeth grinning through a huge smile – the swim was over and the bike had begun.

Driving the bike course with Jim the day before was so valuable. In races it is always difficult not know what to expect – what turns you can take fast – where you need to be careful, etc. I knew that there was a large hill once you got out of Louisville and I was ready for it. There were no doubts in my mind – I was going to drop down in my lowest gear possible and just spin up the hill. Trying to keep my heart rate in range on these hills was going to be difficult. There were so many steep hills – steep by anyone’s standards but especially steep by my South Mississippi standards. There was one dog leg on the out section that you only had to do once – this was probably the most challenging portion of the bike. I really wished that I had a video camera on my bike. It was a very fast and winding decent then straight up the other side of the hollow. You zipped past bikes laboring up one side and then you got to see bikes going at break neck speeds while you were climbing at single digit speeds. The road was simply beautiful. I do remember seeing a medical tent at the bottom of the decent with back boards and such – I really hope that they were not needed. I think Ryan, from caught on the run, yelled at me as he flew down the road. I just saw a white flash. Ryan was successful this race in getting a much coveted Kona slot!

After this dog leg was complete it was a relief to know that it did not have to be done again. I was continuing to take fluids and each aid station and knew that I would have to pee soon. Going into La Grange there was a huge aid station with facilities. There would be no peeing on the bike. I pulled into the parking lot and they had a bike rack. I racked my bike and flew into the port-o-loo. There was no waiting. After my business, which seemed to take forever, I grabbed about 4 gels and water from the volunteers. The pop tarts were not going to be successful for this day. I did manage to cram down another one, a maple and brown sugar one, but I was not going to be able to maintain the 2 an hour plan that I had hoped for. The crowd support was building in the town and I flew through it at a decent pace. It was a lot of fun seeing so many people. I knew from Jim that it would be short lived and then back into the country side. At the next turn we would be only on what is best described as a two-way one lane road. There was a sign as you turned telling you so slow down and be cautious. I remember reading the sign, scrubbing off what speed I had, and then starting one of the steepest climbs on the race. I had to drop down in low-low gear again and stand in the saddle to complete the short but steep climb. At the next turn I saw Missy and her crew cheering and having a great time. They looked like they were having so much fun! It put a big smile on my face. Back on a main road I knew that the first loop was nearing completion and I was feeling good. I had been working my plan – keeping my heart rate in check and even on the climbs my heart rate was never getting completely out of whack. It maybe got in the ‘yellow zone’ a few times but never up into the ‘RED zone’. This is a good thing. I was riding conservatively and I did not want my run to suffer – okay, the heck with the run – I did not want to suffer!

The second loop through La Grange went well – I was alternating water and Gatorade at each aid station and this is when I decided to ditch my 3 pounds of pop tarts. I was not eating them anyway and they were just dead, nutritionally void, weight. I was winging my nutrition at this point but I was feeling good – I was really hoping that this would not come back and bite me in the end. I know that a poor nutrition plan can and will sink anyone’s day – no matter what a Hoss they might be! Every time I looked at my time I would add ten minutes to the clock and take another gel. I was not getting hungry, I had already peed, and I was continuing to take fluids. This might just work out – if the temperature had been hotter I might have been in trouble – but not today.

They had the special needs (special foods) pick up during the loop. I had debated a lot about what to put in these bags. I did not really have any foods that I just had to have or any ‘special’ nutrition or anything. I went to the grocery store the day before and walked up and down the aisles looking for something, anything. I bought an energy drink – one of those crank or monster or whatever they are – I have never drunk one of these ever. But I felt if I was having a tough day then this might be helpful – yes, you should never try anything new on race day, but... I also threw in an extra tube and CO2 cartridges just in case I flatted early. That was really not a bad idea – I saw tons of flats on the course and there were rumors that some disgruntled citizen had placed some upholstery tacks on the road. I was fortunate that I did not have any mechanical issues – no flats for me! And I was feeling good enough that I did not pick up the special needs bag. I’m glad I did not need it!

During the second loop I happened to cross paths with Jim. He was looking great and riding his race. We chatted for a few minutes and then I was off. I was wrapping up the loop and headed back to town. There was a large gap between the last two aid stations – something like 20 miles - so I chugged some water and grabbed another Gatorade. I was starting to need to pee again but there was a line at the port-a-loos and I was not willing to wait. It was time to call upon the Iron Bladder. The ride back into town, I knew that there was only one long climb, was comforting. I got passed but a guy with 8 miles to go who joked that he only had 8 miles left in him on the bike. He was ready to get of the bike. I joked back at him - that in 9 miles he would wish that he was back on the bike. This last section was the only section that I was able to really just sit in the zone and churn out the miles. Everything else had been so up and down that it was hard to get in a rhythm. You were either climbing or descending but flat level ground seemed few and far between.

The decision to wear the full, long-distance, bike shorts was a good one. Although not without discomfort it could have been much worse. This is where the climbing and paid off – I was out of the saddle enough to relieve any built up pressure and such.

I flew towards T2, hit the lap button on my GPS and started to run with my bike to the bike racks – a volunteer grabbed my bike from me – they would be re-raking the bike. I was not expecting that – my GPS watch that I wanted for the run was still attached!

BIKE TIME: 5:48:00


UP NEXT - THE RUN

Ironman Louisville - Race Report - SWIM

Welcome to Louisville -

Taking the bike to check in -

The beautiful Ohio River -

Perfect pre-race temperatures -

Transition -

Jim and I just before the race - notice the deer in headlights look!

I was not feeling well the night before so I took a slug of NyQuil. This helped me sleep. The walk to the transition area before the race was solemn. A large procession was moving and no one was talking. I tried to crack a joke about the silence and – yes it was met with silence. I was also very nervous at this pre-dawn hour.

I handed over my special needs bags and put my helmet on my bike. I filled the helmet with tons of pop-tarts, gels, a tube and CO2 cartridges. I was looking around to see if Jim had checked in yet and felt something hit me in the head. Was it raining? Nope, I ran my fingers through my hair and it was a large pile of poop. Way to start the day.

With an hour before the start of the race the line for the bathrooms was as long as the first-come-first-serve starting line. I met up with Jim and we talked a bit about how nervous (I mean scared) we were. They soon lined us up and we marched down to the swim start. I was freezing wearing next to nothing waiting for the swim start. I dipped my hand in the water and it was warm and this relieved me to some extent. I told Jim about the bird poop and a guy next to us said that it meant good luck – that it would be the worst thing that would happen today. What a good way to look at it. I had a roll of antacids in my pocket along with a gel. I ate about half of the antacid and took the gel 10 minutes before the swim start. The pros took off and someone had a huge lead within seconds – I mean a lead like 100 meters instantly. Once the pros were on their way the rest of the field started. I have been in time trial starts before but not like this one. In the past they have started the field at 3 to 5 second intervals. This time it was run and jump into the water as fast as you can. Instantly there were hundreds of swimmers in the water. I started my heart rate monitor and I jumped in feet first with my hands on my goggles. When I hit the water my feet went up and I kind of did a flip under water. I was a little afraid that someone would land on me. Once I righted myself the race was on and all fears subsided. It was game on and I felt great. No fear!

I quickly jumped into my steady state swim and cruised. I grabbed on to a girls hip and tried to use her for the draft. I held this draft for a good bit while we were swimming against the current. It was slower than I wanted to go – slower than my cruise speed but when I tried to pass I was not much faster – the draft was evident - getting out of the draft was obvious. The portion against the current was much longer than I had though. I knew that it was but I had not really factored that into the race plan. It was probably more like 1400 yards against the current and not the 700 that I thought that it was. The current was not strong but it was still a current. With about 200 yards before we rounded the island I entered bizarro world - there were swimmers standing in the river. The slit had built up to about knee deep at some points. There were fallen trees and stuff under the water (I hit one with my foot). I had been trying to pee for about 10 minutes while I was swimming with little success. This shallow water gave me a great opportunity. I probably lost a minute but I was relieved to say the least. I rounded the buoy wide so that I could get further out into the river with the hope that the current would be stronger. I was soon out by myself. I could see a long line of swimmers hugging the buoy line. They looked like a row of ants. In retrospect I probably should have been in this line – maybe a bit of draft and I would not have had to sight as much. On the other hand I really enjoyed not having to fight the churn. I was just swimming my own race. I was trying to stay in the moment and not look forward to the bike or the run. I was just saying over and over in my mind – STROKE – GLIDE – STROKE – GLIDE. Sighting off of the downtown buildings and the bridges was easy even though I constantly had to make adjustments. I am sure that I was zigzagging back and forth. I think the current was pushing me further and further into the center of the river and I was constantly having to correct.

Actually during the swim I was pretty bored. It was like I was water jogging – just a long slow distance swim. Not for this race or this distance but now that I am getting comfortable with the swim I should start trying to push the pace. A little bored but before I knew it I was rounding the last buoy and climbing out of the water. It felt really good. Not tired or defeated or spent. It was a pretty good trek to the transition area and I was able to sprint it. I was passing lots of athletes. I grabbed my RUN BAG and hit the changing tent. I had debated over and over if I wanted to change or not. I decided to do the full Monty and completely change. I put on my long distance bike shorts and a short sleeved jersey. It was hard putting shorts and jersey on a wet body but it was worth it. I ran out to get my bike but stopped for some sun screen on my neck. My ears got a big dollop also. I filled my jersey pockets with about 4 packages of pop-tarts, several gels and my pack of tubes / CO2 cartridges. I put my aero helmet on and immediate thought about the sun screen on my ears – not really needed.

I ran with my shoes on out of transition; rammed a pop-tart into my mouth and then stopped and mounted the bike. There would be no flying mount of any kind.


SWIM TIME: 1:15:22

T1: 6:17

Exiting the water- I'm in the blue unitard.


UP NEXT - THE BIKE

I am an IRONMAN !!!

I worked the plan and the plan worked!

TOTAL SWIM 2.4 miles
1:15:22 1:59/100m

T1: SWIM-TO-BIKE
6:17

TOTAL BIKE 112 miles
5:48:00 19.31 mph

T2: BIKE-TO-RUN
7:00

TOTAL RUN 26.2 miles
4:02:35

TOTAL 11:19:14

T - minus 19 hours

I met super fast blogger Ryan at an iAmTRI get together on Friday night just before the ‘welcome’ dinner. He is going to tear the race up!

The dinner was fun - I met up with Jim and we enjoyed the show – quite a bit of Ford advertisements – no big deal.

I got up and had breakfast at the hotel and then jogged down to the practice swim. The water looked fine. The buoys were already set up for the race – it really did not look that bad – sure I couldn’t see the entire course - but I had none of the fears like I did at New Orleans. Now that swim looked far!

They allowed for us to swim upstream towards one of the bridges and then back to the start. It was about 700 yards (maybe meters - I don't know what they said). I timed the out and back to get an idea of the current. It took me 15:43 to go out and only 10:04 to come back. That is a pretty big difference. Assuming 4200 yards and assumming that the against the current is only 700 yards for the race (for easy math) then 5 sections with the current at 10 minutes a section and 1 section against the current for 16 minutes - then the total swim time is 1:06. That seems pretty quick to me. I'll know tomorrow.

Less than 19 hours to go – pretty excited here in Louisville!

Ironman Louisville Eve Eve

Thanks for all of the kind words. I will be pulling into Louisville later this morning. I am excited about the upcoming events!

I hope to see many of you when I get there!

Heading out - this is not a drill

I heard about a study where they took ordinary people and put them on a stage in front of 10,000 people. They measured their brain waves and asked them how they felt. The emotions and feelings ranged from sheer terror, to panic, to fear, to despair. They did the same experiment with Bruce Springsteen. They measured his brain waves and asked him how he felt. He said that he felt overwhelming excitement. He had almost a euphoric feeling because he was about to perform in front of so many people.

When they analyzed the brain waves and compared the terrified and panicked people with Bruce Springsteen they found that the brain patterns were the same. The only difference was how the people categorized the emotion.

I don’t know if any of that is true but right now I am feeling all of the emotions – excitement, fear, etc.

I’m leaving town today (Thursday). I am staying somewhere a little more than half way and will arrive in Louisville Friday morning.

2008 IMKY - bike video preview

Simplystu #71: Louisville Iron Distance Route Preview

I had touble embeding the video - here is the link - it's an hour long -

Louisville Iron Distance Route Preview

Two flat tires and a microphone...

I set my old road bike up on the indoor cycling trainer. I purchased a trainer recently that hooks up to a computer and allows you to ride on different types of road courses. It even comes with DVD's that go faster or slower depending on how fast your are pedaling. I downloaded the 112 mile bike course from this years 2008 Louisville Ironman so that I can practice the race before I get there. You can download the .crs files from GPS devices like garmin, etc.

So I hooked my old road bike up to the trainer. I pumped up the tires to the normal 120 PSI and then tightened the trainer to the back tire. This worked fine for a few days but the bike was so slow. I felt very weak and disheartened. I had to drop into the smallest chain ring to just ride on level ground and had to stand up on the pedals to go up any amount of incline.

Day two the back tire was flat. Not only was the tire flat but there was a cut in the tire (Rufus?). I removed the bike from the trainer and changed the tire (patched the tube). Today I went for a ride on the trainer in the morning - it was 30 something degrees outside and I wanted to stay in. About 30 minutes into the ride something starts to feel funny - no not my soft tissue - but the bike is getting squirrelly. The back tire is flat again.

Fortunately I have some spare tires (both old and new). I pulled the bike off of the trainer again and changed the tire. I put in a fresh (previously patched) tube in and another tire on the rim. This time I tried to be a little smarter. I only pumped the tire up to 100 PSI and then mounted the bike back on the trainer. I adjusted everything and then picked another course to tackle. The bike performed so much better. The speeds were much more realistic and I had a lot of fun setting new bench marks. I will beat these records later this week.

With the new road bike, I headed out for the 1:30 Sunday group ride. The temperature was still in the upper forties / lower fifties. I dressed warm. I was running late and really had to make time to get the the trail head. I think this was one of my fastest times ever - about 16 minutes. The new bike is easily the most comfortable bike that I have ever ridden - soft tissue, once again stays soft while riding - but not when you need it. Also, the bike feels fast. It wants you to ride it hard. It feels like my triathlon bike but more forgiving.

Did a fun 35 miles with the group and called it a day. Total mileage was about 55 miles today (inside / outside).

FYI - pop tarts are a great mid-ride fuel...

Where's my Girl Dog!

So I tried to get back in the groove after my week out of town. Not easy to do. Rode the bike in on Monday morning and just took it easy. Monday is usually not as hard due to the longer sessions over the weekend. With only Sunday being an exercise day an easy day was not necessary - but back to the routine.

Went for a campus run with Vic and Chad at lunch. Vic was running pretty strong and it was a fun pace. Chad, on the other hand, was limping along. Something with his quad. He probably should not be running at all. After the 30 minute run I hit the weight room. Just pull-ups, chin ups and abs. These are my favorite exercises. You get better by being stronger or lighter - a win-win. Saw Jim in the locker room. (He is also signed up the the Louisville Ironman.) He asked me if I wanted to run the stadium on Tuesday. I told him about the "Dot Race" and I think we may have another participate. As far as running: Jim = FAST. He will definitely start after me.

Sam called me on Monday night and told me about his Tuesday morning interval sessions. Sam is a triathlete extraordinaire. He just got back from the Age Group Nationals and he placed in the top 1/3 of his age group. That's really good - you have to have won or placed in the top 10% of your age group in prior races just to qualify - triathlons: Sam = FAST.

Morning sessions for Sam are early. He said that they meet at 5:30 AM at the trace trail head. That means I have to drive to work and leave the house at 5:15AM.

We are having a little get together on Tuesday - A beer tasting - at my house. I only bring this up because I purchased my mystery beer over the weekend. Well, I have to go back to the store - if you get my drift.

Anyway, I set the alarm on my watch for 5:00AM. The alarm woke me up. All I could think was 'Where's my girl dog!' This an old saying for when you are startled out of bed and a little confused.

I got to the trace at 5:35AM and did not see Sam and crew. Went for a 1 mile jog looking around - no one in site. Ran back to the truck to grab head phones and just go for a run. Got about 1/2 mile out and saw Sam and Steve. Ran back to the truck and dropped off the head phones and got ready for the intervals (12 x 1/4 mile @ 1:21 pace with 1:30 rest interval). This was going to be tough. I ran the first 4 intervals with Sam and Steve. It was taxing to saw the least. After the forth I had to take a break, not because of spirit, I had to literally run to the restroom. I hate pooing on the trace! I missed 2 intervals (about 4 1/2 minutes -if your keeping track) and joined them for 6 - 12. They were able to keep the pace. I slowly started to fall behind, progressively worse, as the intervals continued.

Finished strong but tired. The "Dot Race" will suffer today!

FYI - With my audience increasing (something like 4) please feel feel to leave comments!

Pushing the envelope and way out of the comfort zone.

After debating with myself all day today - I finally pulled the trigger and registered for Ironman Louisville (KY) 2009. You have to register a year in advance - these races fill up quickly. Looking over the stats for the 2008 race there were around 3000 people who registered and 2000 people who started the race. Another 200 people started but did not finish the race. From registration to finishing only about 2/3 compelted their goal. My friend Jim was one of these people that did not finish. I have great respect for Jim and his fitness level. He got caught up in a tragic bout of dehydration after 70 miles on the bike. He felt much better after several IV's at a near by fire station. This is not encouraging.

As of today I have never swam 2.4 miles, biked 112 miles or ran a marathon (26.2 miles.) This will be a challenge and a goal for 2009. Pushing the envelope and way out of the comfort zone.