Ironman Louisville Race Report 2013

Times: 01:04:07	05:52:05 03:42:33 10:46:41

So I can’t start the story off without beginning and ending with my poor foot. When I got in the car to drive to Lou my foot was fine.. when I got out of the car it hurt really bad and progressively got worse over the next few days. The day before I was a little grumpy and got upset a couple of times because I didn’t think I would be able to do the race.

John came in on Friday night and was super helpful and encouraging. I was starting to get upset and worried about if I could run and if I should even do the race since it was hurting more and more just to walk around. John kept telling me that adrenaline would get me through and once I got started I would barely notice it.

We came up with a perfect plan of attack for Sunday morning to try to hit the front-ish of the line. John drove Ted and I to transition.. we were first in line for the compressor, got everything done in ten minutes, then John and Rich drove us to the swim start so we nabbed a good spot in line for us and Rick. It was really nice getting down there early. Totally worth losing a couple minutes of sleep! I thought being in the line was relaxing and I wasn’t in a hurry for things to start.

 

 

The Swim- We had been talking all week (half joking, half serious) about how we were going to work together on the swim and Rick had generously offered to pull us down the river. Right after jumping in, we all got separated and I started swimming nice and steady. The plan for me at this race both years is always to go a little harder on the upstream part and then cruise the downstream.

In 2011 I got a fantastic draft that carried me through about half the swim and led to what was, at the time, my PR IM swim split. This year, even though I started farther back, I wasn’t ever able to find a good drafting candidate. A couple of times folks passed me but they were moving way too fast.

 

This is probably the best I have ever felt during an IM swim. I experimented with resting my swim a little more than usual and I felt great.

The Bike-  I knew my whole race would hinge on not getting too far behind on the bike. In 2011 my ubiquitous shoulder issues led me to sitting up for several hours of the bike. This year I had a plan and a mindset of aiming for progress not perfection.

Overall, the bike was relatively uneventful. I kept an eye on my power, but wasn’t overly tied to it. I went more by feel than anything else and tried to keep the emotion out of it. I started out a little lower than target after the swim and allowed myself to build into race power instead of forcing it.

Matt and Greg at Podium Multisport made an adjustment to my bars and had to put on some special hardware to move them farther apart. I think that really helped keep my shoulder pain under control Also, I have been getting a lot of chiropractic care from Josh Glass at Georgia Sports Chiropractice which is keeping everything more under control. Finally, I made it a point to basically not ride outside for more than an hour at all in the two weeks leading up to the race which helps keep the inflammation down so I feel better for longer on race day.

I had a couple of minor mishaps… the whole top came off my aero bottle so anything I put in there instantly bumped out and drenched me. Also, I dropped my full bottle of EFS liquid shot right out of my hand early in the ride on a big hill. That was my whole plan for fueling so I literally jumped off the bike and sprinted backwards down the road to save it before it rolled in a ditch.

It was dangerously crowded on the second lollipop with riders coming out on their first loops and mixing with second loop riders. I also almost died when a rider drifted in front of me too soon after passing. I feel blessed for avoiding going down there!

The bike was overall uneventful. I was amazed to feel that I actually felt really good the second loop and picked up my efforts a bit for the last thirty miles.  I did still end up sitting up a lot on the way back as that torn up section of River Road is just too much for me to bear! The difference was though, I wasn’t upset about it and it was by far the best I’ve ever felt on an Ironman ride. I didn’t push it as hard as usual and it felt just like a training day. To be honest, I was almost worried as I felt a little bored at times. An Ironman has never felt like that to me before

I purposely avoided knowing my exact time as it helps me be more mentally positive. Overall, my average power was 13 watts higher than in 2011 and 3 watts higher than Texas. At Texas though, I was already cramping up and basically done for the day at mile 100.

Overall, I am not where I want to be and it’s a bit frustrating to know that my power is better for my size than my bike splits show. Although the flip side of that is I could be the most efficient rider in the world and have my power be worse and maybe that would be harder to overcome.

What I do- Never look at speed or even time. Those two metrics are irrelevant whether you have a power meter or not. Even watching miles tick off is like watching grass grow. They all will lead to emotional decision making. Hydration is key when it’s hot. If you don’t drink enough you can throw all your time goals out the window.

What I did different that was good- Put all my cals into one big bottle of EFS liquid shot. That was a lot easier than juggling multiple flasks. Completely rested my shoulder by riding indoors or very short in the two weeks prior to the IM. Went more by feel with power and didn’t stare at my Garmin the whole time. Avoided looking at total time.  At each aid station grabbed two bottles instead of one. Sprayed down my shoulder and whole body with ice water to keep cool

What I did different that was bad- wore socks on the bike. I have never done that before and it was the WORST mistake. I was soaking myself at every aid station and with the missing lid on my aero bottle my feet were basically sitting in water (and perform) the entire time which made them ready to get super torn up on the run

The Run

Getting off the bike, I could definitely feel my foot running through transition. I jogged it easy and tried to be efficient getting my stuff together.

Right after I left transition, I got passed by the eventual second place finisher (I think) in my age group. I decided to stick with her for awhile and probably really annoyed her running right on her shoulder. Sorry, you were just such a good pacer! Her pace was just a teeny bit harder than I wanted to go.. not aerobically but my right calf was telling me that it might decide to cramp at some point so I backed off after about five miles of running right behind her.

That darn calf! I am going to get serious about strengthening it before next time. It is the weakest link in the whole chain at this point and bothers me to various degrees in any race longer than Olympic.

Other than that, I felt okay.. not amazing, but okay.  I didn’t feel panicked but knew there were at least two girls ahead of me running super strong in my age group. It was pretty darn hot once you got out of town. In town it felt great and there was the added boost of spectators. Out of town, it was  blazing and lonely. I entertained myself by trying to count the girls in front of me at the turnarounds. It didn’t mean anything because of the time trial start, but it passed the time. I ended up walking about four aid stations to try and ‘reset’ my calf before it totally cramped up. I felt comfortable enough except for that.

It was a HUGE boost getting back to town and seeing the rocking ATC/Podium cheer party. Everyone really outdid themselves this time! I had asked John to tell me if he could where I was and he said he thought I was in 5^th. 5^th was a good number. It meant top three was in sight but certainly not guaranteed which made me push as hard as I dared with my calf and foot.

I didn’t see a ton of ATCers on the run but I saw Daria (who looked great), Alexandra (who was right behind me!), Ted, Rick, Jimmy, Paul, and Chris Nassar.

With the fear of cramping I felt like the smartest decision was to remain conservative until mile 22. Mile 22 came and I took off pretty hard. The only thing on my mind was the time trial start and how I had to push it if I was to have any shot of top 3. For me with needing to make up time after the bike, it always has come down to a close call on the run, whatever my goal may be that day.

Louisville is an awesome finish and passing the ATC folks on the final stretch was awesome! Of course, immediately crossing the line I could barely walk on my foot and my calf was immobile as well. For positives, my run fitness is feeling fantastic right now and I know I can run faster if I can get my chassis to support it.

What I did that was different- I didn’t even try to fool myself that I would need a bunch of extra crap for the bike and run. No special needs for the run. No food to carry.. just good old perform, coke, and chicken broth. It’s just a waste of money for me to put anything other than shoes, socks and compression sleeves in my bag.  Lost about 5-7 lbs. This made a huge difference in efficiency. Now I just need to stay at that weight and build muscular endurance at the faster speeds my engine will now support

Afterwards had a great time cheering everyone in. ATC represented well, in cheering and in racing, and it was great to see everyone’s hard training shine through. This is only a glimpse of what IM FL, Roth, and Chattanooga will be like!

Turns out there were only two kona slots in my age group, but I had a feeling it would all work out. Truth was, it wouldn’t work out well to go this year, but I wanted to be able to compete. Anyways, I got the chance to roll it down to fourth in my AG, and it was a really neat experience. Anyways, she was only three minutes behind me, and truth be told, if I didn’t have the unfair advantage of the ATC cheering squad she definitely would have beat me anyways!  😀

Onto the bad news… I ran through my foot pain without Too much pain but ended up at Dr Julians for an x-ray a few days later. It’s some sort of freak infection or a stress fracture, they aren’t sure which yet. I had to get carried around the house for a few days, but it’s feeling much better so I’m hoping for the infection diagnosis.