Ok so slowly but surely I'm getting back into the habit of getting up early to run. Up at 5:20 and out the door at 5:30 this morning. Not nearly as exciting as Tuesday's run in the snow showers. Unless you count screetching to a halt to avoid getting run over by the Lakewood security truck as it zoomed through a left turn in front of me. Not sure where he was going at 5:40am but he seemed to be in a hurry.
It was a pretty nice morning to run. Temps around 40 degrees, cloudy skies and not much wind. There was a bit of fog in the air which for some reason just makes everything seem so calm at that hour. I did see a few other souls out today too. One runner and five walkers. None of which were out in the snow Tuesday. Slackers! haha
Really feeling good right now. Not sure if it's the strength work or just better consistancy and frequency of running. I know I feel the same way during the first couple weeks of cycling class when I get out for a run. Pace is improving a bit at a steady heart rate which is always a good sign base training is going well.
Run Stats: 6 miles, 49:12 (8:10/mi), avg HR 152
Going to attempt another swim today at noon and hope my shoulder doesn't bother me. Couer d'Alene training starts the first week of December and opens with two swims each week of 3000 meters each. So I need to build back up to that distance in the next couple weeks. Plus tonights conditioning workout will probably be upper body stuff so a sore shoulder won't be pleasant to deal with doing a bazillion pushups!
***
Ok yeah shoulder still bothering me. Strange thing is it's now sore in the back side of the rotator cuff area now. Tuesday it was hurting in the front side. Just hurts to lift my left arm up and out of the water. So I bailed after 800. Save it for tonights workout...
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Snow Showers
I had the first run of the year in the snow this morning. Uh yeah, snow! Heading out the door at 5:30am and into fat wet snow flakes was actually pretty fun. It was still very dark out and it was snowing so hard that the silhouette of the snow showers in the street lights seemed surreal as I ran through the thousands of snow flakes lit by the orange glow.
Fortunately the ground temperature was still warm and the streets and sidewalks were only wet and not slick. The snow was accumulating on the grass and parked cars, but the streets were still clear. Only thing to watch out for were the big puddles! I only stepped in a couple of those as I splashed along. Wet shoes reminded me ever so briefly of those warm morning runs last summer when the humidity sucked all the sweat out of me and made my shoes squishy. The cold north wind and snow flakes hitting me in the face quickly chased those thoughts away.
It was a very enjoyable run and well worth getting out of bed for. I have a feeling that this will be the first of many runs in the snow this year. At least it won't be boring! I felt really good too. The strength work might be paying off already?!
Run Stats: 6 miles, 50:05 (8:18/mi), 151 avg HR
Noon Swim just to find/keep what little form I have at this time of year. Actually felt fairly decent and managed to keep each 500 under 8:30. However left shoulder (rotator cuff?) is a bit painful. Not sure where that's coming from. Perhaps all the different upper body exercises are causing some problems. Hopeful that will work itself out in the next couple weeks.
To finish up the day a full on leg workout with Roberto and the gang at ITS.
Fortunately the ground temperature was still warm and the streets and sidewalks were only wet and not slick. The snow was accumulating on the grass and parked cars, but the streets were still clear. Only thing to watch out for were the big puddles! I only stepped in a couple of those as I splashed along. Wet shoes reminded me ever so briefly of those warm morning runs last summer when the humidity sucked all the sweat out of me and made my shoes squishy. The cold north wind and snow flakes hitting me in the face quickly chased those thoughts away.
It was a very enjoyable run and well worth getting out of bed for. I have a feeling that this will be the first of many runs in the snow this year. At least it won't be boring! I felt really good too. The strength work might be paying off already?!
Run Stats: 6 miles, 50:05 (8:18/mi), 151 avg HR
Noon Swim just to find/keep what little form I have at this time of year. Actually felt fairly decent and managed to keep each 500 under 8:30. However left shoulder (rotator cuff?) is a bit painful. Not sure where that's coming from. Perhaps all the different upper body exercises are causing some problems. Hopeful that will work itself out in the next couple weeks.
To finish up the day a full on leg workout with Roberto and the gang at ITS.
- Warmup: jump rope, spiderman crawls, stretching
- Kinetic bands-bag kicks (standing and prone) several sets
- Station 1 - single leg squats - 3 sets of 10 holding 25 lb plate
- Station 2 - weighted sled then tire down and back no rest between - 2 sets
- Station 3 - lateral hurdle step over / squat under holding 25 lb plate
- Station 4 - squats w/barbell overhead - 2 sets of 10
- Station 5 - dumbbell squats - 3 sets of 10 - 30 lb dumbbell
- Station 6 - back/hamstring extention - 2 sets of 10 holding 20 lb medicine ball
- Cool down - 2 x 25 yard sprints, stretching
Friday, November 13, 2009
More Upper Body Work
Roberto put us through another tough upper body workout Thursday night. And while I don't feel any soreness sneaking up on me yet, I do feel the fatigue in my shoulders today. I'll do my best to recall the workout. But first the day started with an early morning 6 mile run. Kind of tough to get out of bed but felt good once I was moving. Nice crisp morning with lots of stars in the sky. The soreness in my legs from Tuesday's workout worked itself out after about a mile. But the first 100 steps were pretty painful! Also managed to get in a short 1700 yard swim at the gym over lunch just to try and keep some swim form. Nothing too tough.
Ok now the evening workout...
Warmup:
- Squat, thrust, jump with medicine ball (30 sec)
- Squat, thrust, pushup, jump with medicine ball (30 sec)
- Front fold with rotation holding medicine ball above head (5 clockwise, 5 counter)
- Pushup, one hand on ball other on floor switch each rep (5 reps)
- Pushup, feet on medicine ball (approx 5 reps)
- Pushup, one foot on ball other foot in air (5 each foot)
Box jumps:
- 4 boxes, varying heights, 30 seconds two feet, quick hops
- Same as above, single foot, running form
Ok now the tough stuff...
7 stations setup:
- Station #1: Inverted pushup. Feet on table form 90* lower top of head to floor and push back up. (10 reps)
- Station #2: Power clean twist with barbell (5 reps per side)
- Station #3: Roll out ab extentions on short barbell (10 reps)
- Station #4: Rope climb with 10 pull ups
- Station #5: Squat, thrust, row, row, power clean, shoulder press (8 reps w/25 lb dumbell)
- Station #6: Sledgehammer truck tire (50 reps)
- Station #7: Weighted pushup (yes more pushups) 10, immediatly follow with 10 jump pushups
Grab 15 pound dumbell, hold straight above head and jog approx 100 yards. Hold dumbell out in front of chest and jog back.
Abs (holding 15 lb dumbell)
- trunck twist
- sit up
- bicycle
- single leg raise, weight to foot
- plank, raise opp. hand and foot, alternate every 5 seconds
Stretch and go home! Awesome workout. Felt great when done if not worn out.
Ok now the evening workout...
Warmup:
- Squat, thrust, jump with medicine ball (30 sec)
- Squat, thrust, pushup, jump with medicine ball (30 sec)
- Front fold with rotation holding medicine ball above head (5 clockwise, 5 counter)
- Pushup, one hand on ball other on floor switch each rep (5 reps)
- Pushup, feet on medicine ball (approx 5 reps)
- Pushup, one foot on ball other foot in air (5 each foot)
Box jumps:
- 4 boxes, varying heights, 30 seconds two feet, quick hops
- Same as above, single foot, running form
Ok now the tough stuff...
7 stations setup:
- Station #1: Inverted pushup. Feet on table form 90* lower top of head to floor and push back up. (10 reps)
- Station #2: Power clean twist with barbell (5 reps per side)
- Station #3: Roll out ab extentions on short barbell (10 reps)
- Station #4: Rope climb with 10 pull ups
- Station #5: Squat, thrust, row, row, power clean, shoulder press (8 reps w/25 lb dumbell)
- Station #6: Sledgehammer truck tire (50 reps)
- Station #7: Weighted pushup (yes more pushups) 10, immediatly follow with 10 jump pushups
Grab 15 pound dumbell, hold straight above head and jog approx 100 yards. Hold dumbell out in front of chest and jog back.
Abs (holding 15 lb dumbell)
- trunck twist
- sit up
- bicycle
- single leg raise, weight to foot
- plank, raise opp. hand and foot, alternate every 5 seconds
Stretch and go home! Awesome workout. Felt great when done if not worn out.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Strength and Power Training
Ok so we are getting to that time of year again where I gotta get back in shape for KMA cycling class which starts up again in January. I believe this will be year number 5 for this class?! Wow really? So for the next few weeks its back to the trainer for aerobic workouts to get those cycling muscles used to firing again. The key will be to hit these workouts twice a week on a consistant basis. I DO NOT want to go into the first class without a good aerobic base. Class number 1 will be either a functional threshold test or max heart rate test and I don't want to be the one who throws up this year!
In addition to these trainer workouts, I've also signed on to work with Roberto Parker, a former college and NFL strength and conditioning coach, to build more strength and power. If there is one thing I lack as an athlete, it is strength. I can swim, bike and run all day, but can't lift much weight to save my life! A group of us from the cycling class, plus KMA coach Greg, have signed up for a November and December schedule that should have us whipped into shape by the time we get going in Greg's class January 4th.
We meet on Tuesday and Thursday nights for about 75 minutes. So far the 3 workouts we've had have all been great. Tuesday's seem to be geared towards working the legs and Thursday is for upper body and core. Roberto has us doing all sorts of different exercises ranging from plyometric hops over boxes, to lunges even pushing tires across a cement floor! It's freaking awesome...
Last Thursday we did more push-ups and pull-ups then I've done in my life I think. I was sore for 5 days after that. This past Tuesday for our second leg day, we did 10 sets of lateral box jumps and my upper glutes on the outside are very sore. Basically worked muscles triathletes/runners just don't use going straight ahead all the time.
I'll try to summerize each days workout (as best I can remember, its funny how the mind seems to forget little things when you're smashing yourself!) to serve as a way to reproduce the workout later for myself or anyone else who wants to give it a try.
Workout #3 - Tuesday Nov. 10th: (workout #1 was similar so I won't recall it here)
Warm Up:
> Jump Rope: 10 jumps each foot, same backwards. 10 jumps each foot side to side, and backwards. Both feet with 2 turns of rope per jump.
> Medicine Ball: squat, thrust, leap across floor. Lunges coming back w/ball held above head.
> Kinetic Bands: side shuffle (feet wider than hips!)
> Kinetic Bands: faster shuffle (imagine defensive slide for basketball)
> Kinetic Bands: bear crawl (forwards down, backwards back)
Box Jumps: 5 boxes all different heights.
> With Kinetic Bands on, 20 seconds on 20 seconds off, lateral box jumps, one foot on box, other on floor to right or left of box. Quickly as possible, hop from one side of box to the other.
> Without bands, same protocol...
Now the hard(er) stuff... Mainset 5 stations
> Station 1 - single leg squat. one foot on box behind you and holding a weight plate 10 per leg.
> Station 2 - tire sled. push stack of two tires across concrete floor, down and back. Very Tough!
> Station 3 - punching back kicks, 10 each leg, side kick, outside cresent kick. Then laying on side, hip off ground, bicycle kick, 30 each leg.
>Station 4: dumbbell held on each shoulder, elbows pointing to front, 10-15 squats.
> Station 5: Back extension holding 15-25 pound ball. Legs at 90* with spotter pressing down on feet. Forces you to pull yourself up with hammies and glutes. Good exercise!
> 20 split jump squats with dumbbell, 10 split jump squats without.
Stretch and go home!
Oh man I'm still sore in my upper outside glutes. Calves are a bit tight to from that workout. Everyone out of breath and sweating buckets at the end.
In addition to these trainer workouts, I've also signed on to work with Roberto Parker, a former college and NFL strength and conditioning coach, to build more strength and power. If there is one thing I lack as an athlete, it is strength. I can swim, bike and run all day, but can't lift much weight to save my life! A group of us from the cycling class, plus KMA coach Greg, have signed up for a November and December schedule that should have us whipped into shape by the time we get going in Greg's class January 4th.
We meet on Tuesday and Thursday nights for about 75 minutes. So far the 3 workouts we've had have all been great. Tuesday's seem to be geared towards working the legs and Thursday is for upper body and core. Roberto has us doing all sorts of different exercises ranging from plyometric hops over boxes, to lunges even pushing tires across a cement floor! It's freaking awesome...
Last Thursday we did more push-ups and pull-ups then I've done in my life I think. I was sore for 5 days after that. This past Tuesday for our second leg day, we did 10 sets of lateral box jumps and my upper glutes on the outside are very sore. Basically worked muscles triathletes/runners just don't use going straight ahead all the time.
I'll try to summerize each days workout (as best I can remember, its funny how the mind seems to forget little things when you're smashing yourself!) to serve as a way to reproduce the workout later for myself or anyone else who wants to give it a try.
Workout #3 - Tuesday Nov. 10th: (workout #1 was similar so I won't recall it here)
Warm Up:
> Jump Rope: 10 jumps each foot, same backwards. 10 jumps each foot side to side, and backwards. Both feet with 2 turns of rope per jump.
> Medicine Ball: squat, thrust, leap across floor. Lunges coming back w/ball held above head.
> Kinetic Bands: side shuffle (feet wider than hips!)
> Kinetic Bands: faster shuffle (imagine defensive slide for basketball)
> Kinetic Bands: bear crawl (forwards down, backwards back)
Box Jumps: 5 boxes all different heights.
> With Kinetic Bands on, 20 seconds on 20 seconds off, lateral box jumps, one foot on box, other on floor to right or left of box. Quickly as possible, hop from one side of box to the other.
> Without bands, same protocol...
Now the hard(er) stuff... Mainset 5 stations
> Station 1 - single leg squat. one foot on box behind you and holding a weight plate 10 per leg.
> Station 2 - tire sled. push stack of two tires across concrete floor, down and back. Very Tough!
> Station 3 - punching back kicks, 10 each leg, side kick, outside cresent kick. Then laying on side, hip off ground, bicycle kick, 30 each leg.
>Station 4: dumbbell held on each shoulder, elbows pointing to front, 10-15 squats.
> Station 5: Back extension holding 15-25 pound ball. Legs at 90* with spotter pressing down on feet. Forces you to pull yourself up with hammies and glutes. Good exercise!
> 20 split jump squats with dumbbell, 10 split jump squats without.
Stretch and go home!
Oh man I'm still sore in my upper outside glutes. Calves are a bit tight to from that workout. Everyone out of breath and sweating buckets at the end.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Back At It
Apparently we are back to training...
At least that's how it felt during Sunday mornings group run. The first weekend of the month calls for a run through hilly Lake Jacomo and is always a tough run. But coming back from a month of low run volume made this run brutal. I think everyone in the group was feeling the hills but we still hammered it back from the turn around dropping 15 seconds plus off the pace on the trip back.
Out 6 miles to the turn around in about 8:38 pace and then finished the run at 8:25 per mile average. My heart rate was vey hight the entire run and I guess that's not surprising considering we're just getting back into the swing of things.
The problem is that this time of year is reserved for easy base mileage and this run was anything but easy. Not that it wasn't fun because it was. Just a beautiful fall morning to be out. Nice and cool, about 45*F and sunny with fog on the lake.
*Note* Don't dare mention how beautiful the sunrise is while running with a bunch of smart a$$ guys. You are just asking for abuse!
So this week I'm going easy every single run... Last nights (Tuesday) short 4miles felt just blah and I had no energy in my legs at all. Of course some of that might be from walking and standing while watching the high school golf tournament on Monday. So rather than push the pace I just cruised along at a sluggish 8:40 pace.
It does feel good to start back to training though.
At least that's how it felt during Sunday mornings group run. The first weekend of the month calls for a run through hilly Lake Jacomo and is always a tough run. But coming back from a month of low run volume made this run brutal. I think everyone in the group was feeling the hills but we still hammered it back from the turn around dropping 15 seconds plus off the pace on the trip back.
Out 6 miles to the turn around in about 8:38 pace and then finished the run at 8:25 per mile average. My heart rate was vey hight the entire run and I guess that's not surprising considering we're just getting back into the swing of things.
The problem is that this time of year is reserved for easy base mileage and this run was anything but easy. Not that it wasn't fun because it was. Just a beautiful fall morning to be out. Nice and cool, about 45*F and sunny with fog on the lake.
*Note* Don't dare mention how beautiful the sunrise is while running with a bunch of smart a$$ guys. You are just asking for abuse!
- Run Stats: 12.11 miles, 1:42:01 (8:25/mi), 160 avg HR
So this week I'm going easy every single run... Last nights (Tuesday) short 4miles felt just blah and I had no energy in my legs at all. Of course some of that might be from walking and standing while watching the high school golf tournament on Monday. So rather than push the pace I just cruised along at a sluggish 8:40 pace.
It does feel good to start back to training though.
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Ironman Louisville Race Report
Ironman number two is now in the books and a pretty decent season of training and racing is behind me. As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, I’ve hooked up with a good group of guys to train with and pushing myself to stay with these guys has really made me a better triathlete. Not to mention it’s been great getting to know these guys better and creating some good friendships. The proof has come in the result of personal records (PR’s) in all the races I finished this year. From the Trolley Run to the Olympic distance KC Tri, Ironman Kansas 70.3 and Ironman Louisville.
Ok the Ironman Louisville race report…
Part 1: The Pre-Race
With now being in a better room in the hotel (see previous post), I was actually able to get a pretty decent night sleep on Saturday night. I felt rested and ready to go when the alarm went off at 4:45. There really wasn’t much need for the alarm as I was awake at 4:00 listening to showers kicking on all around us as other athletes began their days.
So 4:45 the girls and I are up and dressed with a plan of leaving at 5:15 to head to transition to put the nutrition on the bike and meet Jared and Troy for the walk up to the swim start. After a quick bagel with PB and some Gatorade we are out the door.
The walk to transition is about 10 minutes and there is a steady stream of athletes and families. Lots of nervous energy now as it’s getting real. We arrive at transition and it’s packed with bikes and bright overhead lights as the sun isn’t nearly up yet. I quickly find my bike and load up all the nutrition I’ll need: 2 power bars, 2 Gatorade’s, 4 GU gels, 1 flask with Hammer Gel and a zip lock of Enduralite salt tabs. I clip my Garmin on and power it up to sync then power it back off. Pump up tires and I’m ready to go.
That blur under the clock is me getting ready to jump in.
I’ll have to say I really prefer this swim start compared to the mass swim start at the other Ironman races. I hardly got touched the entire swim. It might have been different being further back in line. That was the very reason I wanted to get into the water towards the front to avoid having to swim over people in front of me. Or worse, get swam over by faster swimmers coming up from behind. I felt like I was sighting well and thought I’d come out with a decent swim time. The only issue I had during the entire swim was a girl swimming along side me about halfway through. We kept swimming into each other and finally I stopped and let her go past then ducked to the right as she crossed in front of me. I think she was the one swimming crooked! At any rate, when I kicked to get going again my left hamstring caught and pain shot all the way down my leg. Luckily it didn’t cause me any problems during the swim but I wondered how it would feel once on the bike.
The rest of the swim was uneventful and I exited and took a quick look at my watch… 1:12 and change?!?! Not at all happy with that as I really worked hard on my swim all year and was sure I’d go under 1:05. Oh well no time to worry about it I hurried up the stairs and then up the hill and around the corner to transition from the swim to the bike.
Transition has to be the most exciting part of these races. People are lining the route to the tents and it’s just constant screaming. It’s very cool. Then a volunteer yells out your number as you enter so another volunteer can grab your swim to bike gear bag. It’s my job to find the right row to run down and grab my bag and head into the changing tent. Inside I strip off the speed suit as yet another volunteer dumps out the bag on the ground and starts handing me my stuff. Heart rate strap, socks, shoes, jersey, bib number belt, helmet… Done! Let’s go! It didn’t go quite as smoothly as it did in Wisconsin but not terrible. I was able to keep T1 under 5 minutes from entry to bike exit so not too bad.
I see Andrea and Kelsey as I cross the bike mount line and jump on the bike and get a quick “let’s go!” or something. I also see Jason and Brian from KC who came down to cheer us on. They are also there yelling. Again not quite sure what was being yelled as it’s all a blur at that point. It is very motivating though to see family and also guys you’ve done some racing and training with over the summer yelling for you.
Off on the bike... see you in 5 hours and 36 minutes!
Part 3: The Bike
My plan for the day was to just cruise along for the first 40 miles and then try to keep a steady cadence and pace. I wanted to be able to run a good marathon and the only way that was going to happen was to be conservative on the bike. And based on my initial thoughts of the bike course re-con we did I didn’t want to blow up in the first 20 miles. Funny thing is, the first hill we hit about 10 miles in looked brutal in the car but I just flew right up it and kept my heart rate completely in check. The goal was to stay sub 145 as much as possible and for the most part I did.
The Louisville bike course is similar to Wisconsin in that you ride out about 24 miles and do two 30 mile loops then come back 24 miles to the finish. There is also a short out and back section you ride once about 18 miles into the ride. It’s a big long downhill then uphill to the turnaround then back up that first hill to the highway. Hang a right and head out to La Grange for the loop. 112 miles is a long way so you really have to break it up into segments. In the case of Louisville, segment one is to complete the out and back hills. Again flew down the first hill and then up hill to the turn around then nice and easy coming back up the longer steeper hill back to the main highway. Segment two is to get to La Grange. There would be massive crowds there cheering us on and that is always a great boost.
The weather was almost perfect… Mostly sunny and cool with a bit of a north east wind. I was a bit concerned with my hydration as I wasn’t sweating a bit. Although other bodily functions were telling me I had plenty of fluids. I noticed nobody else was sweating either so I continued to stick with my schedule of 6-8 ounces of Gatorade every 20 minutes and a gel every 45.
Made it to La Grange and my average pace was continuing to climb towards 20 mph. I was staying in control so was feeling good about my pace and not worrying too much about blowing up on the run. La Grange was pretty cool with huge crowds lining a good mile of the course through town. Again saw Jason and Brian yelling and screaming as I passed. We had been climbing slowly and steadily out to this point and now the rollers really started. Just up and down. Nothing really terrible but just constant shifting. Beautiful country though with all the thoroughbred race horse “estates” all along this stretch.
Okay, next segment, finish loop one and get back to La Grange… I’m still feeling good and this section goes by pretty fast. Actually the whole bike leg went by pretty fast. Still big crowds in La Grange on the second loop. Next segment is to get back around to the turn for La Grange, except I get to head for the finish this time!!
I start to notice several athletes changing tires now between mile 75 and 80. I’m thinking maybe pinch flats from hitting some of the little pot holes along the course so I keep a sharp eye out for those. I found out later some nice person had scattered tacks along the road as to otherwise ruin someone’s bike split and perhaps chance to get to Kona after a year of training. Nice. All because of traffic delays for one day? A day that brings in who knows how much money to their city? At any rate the last 24 miles are slightly downhill with just a couple climbs. The last 8 miles or so are completely flat and really fast.
I pass a guy that I’d been going back and forth with for the last 10 miles and I ask him “are you ready to run?” He say’s running is not his strength but he’s ready to get off the bike. Yeah a very common desire after 112 miles. I’ve continued to watch my average and I’m up over 19.8 now so I’m thinking I may be about 20 since my Garmin took a couple miles to sync up. I’m still feeling good as I stayed on top of my nutrition the whole time…
Ah yes the end of the bike...
Same protocol as T1, I start taking stuff off as the volunteer dumps out the bag. This time I change into tri shorts for the run, new socks and running shoes. Attach the Garmin to the wrist strap, grab the running hat, different sunglasses, 3 GU’s and my Hammer Gel flask and I’m out the door. I’m feeling good as I run around the tents and out the run exit. Again lots of people yelling encouragement as we head out onto the run course.
Part 4: The Run
The Louisville marathon course is a VERY flat 2 loop out and back with one short segment that goes out on a bridge over the river and back in the first mile. This bridge is the only hill on the whole course. Historically this is where my hamstrings cramp up, the first downhill early in the run. No problems at all this time and I felt smooth. I saw Jason and Brian again here and they said Jared was just ahead of me. Andrea and Kelsey said the same thing that I had about 20 minutes to make up. Unless Jared cracked or I had a great day there was no way I was going to catch him.
Leaving T2 and the beginning of the marathon
My goal for the first 10 miles of the marathon was sub 150 heart rate which would hopefully be sub 9 minute pace. And it was. I was able to hold about 8:45 through the first several miles and felt pretty good. I saw Jared coming back from the turn around but had no idea how far behind I was at that point. He was pretty shocked to see me I think at that point. Neither one of us knew the time gap between our starts so we had no clue how the other was doing. Other than being 8 hours in and already well into the marathon.
Mentally this was a tough course being so flat and zero turns to speak of. Plus the finish of loop one is a block from the finish and you can actually see the finish line!! But no, you make a quick right turn a block from the finish and then another right and head back out to the turn around. Ouch!!
There it is! The Finish Line!
The marathon didn’t turn out the way I’d hoped. I didn’t kill it on the bike so thought I’d have plenty for the run. I think I made a tactical error in trying to slow myself down the first 10 miles and ran so inefficiently that I just wore out my quads and hip flexors. By the time I needed to pick up the pace, it was becoming difficult just to pick up my feet! I also wore the wrong shoes taking my Asics Speed Star shoes and not the Kayano’s I normally wore for long runs. My feet were killing me as well. Hey, I’m not making any excuses here if that’s how it sounds. I made some errors on the run is all and it cost me the sub 4 hour marathon I was shooting for. All marathons have the wall to get through usually around mile 18. In the Ironman for me it turned out to be about 16. From 16 to about 21 it was basically run as much as possible and walk the aid stations. I segment the marathon just like the bike and stay in the current mile and not look too far ahead. Just get to the next mile is all I’m looking for. So that was my focus from 16 on, just get 17, get 17, get 17 and so on.
Once I got to 24 I really thought I’d be able to pick it up but my legs just wouldn’t go. I ran it in but it was painful and slow. I was disappointed I wouldn’t break 4 hours, but I’d still break 4:10 and be a good 15 minutes faster than my marathon time in Wisconsin.
This time through downtown though there will be no right turn. But instead two blocks straight down the finish shoot with crowds cheering loudly. As I near the finish line I hold up 2 fingers as in Ironman finish number 2. I see Andrea and Kelsey hanging over the fence about 20 feet from the finish line (NICE SPOT!!) and give a high five as I pass by. Now I’m really pumped up that I made it through all the pain in the last 10 miles to finish this thing and I hold up both hands in the number 2 salute as Mike Reilly calls out my name chuckling that I’m throwing out the double peace sign to everyone… yeah I made Mike Reilly laugh.. Classic!
That's Ironman Finish Number Two!!
Ok the Ironman Louisville race report…
Part 1: The Pre-Race
With now being in a better room in the hotel (see previous post), I was actually able to get a pretty decent night sleep on Saturday night. I felt rested and ready to go when the alarm went off at 4:45. There really wasn’t much need for the alarm as I was awake at 4:00 listening to showers kicking on all around us as other athletes began their days.
So 4:45 the girls and I are up and dressed with a plan of leaving at 5:15 to head to transition to put the nutrition on the bike and meet Jared and Troy for the walk up to the swim start. After a quick bagel with PB and some Gatorade we are out the door.
The walk to transition is about 10 minutes and there is a steady stream of athletes and families. Lots of nervous energy now as it’s getting real. We arrive at transition and it’s packed with bikes and bright overhead lights as the sun isn’t nearly up yet. I quickly find my bike and load up all the nutrition I’ll need: 2 power bars, 2 Gatorade’s, 4 GU gels, 1 flask with Hammer Gel and a zip lock of Enduralite salt tabs. I clip my Garmin on and power it up to sync then power it back off. Pump up tires and I’m ready to go.
Lots and lots of bikes ready to roll... I'm in there somewhere!
I’d planned to walk up to the swim start with Troy and Jared but they still had some setup to do and I was just too fired up to stand still so I told them we were going to get going and I’d see them at the start. That was the last time I saw either until the marathon…
The swim start in Louisville is about 9/10 of a mile from transition so Andrea and Kelsey and I headed on up again still dark and actually a bit chilly. The entrance to the parking lot for the swim start is full of volunteers all holding up magic markers ready to mark our arms with our bib number and our calf with our age. Body marked, we continue over to the entrance to the swim and put on the speed suit and the timing chip around the ankle. Give the morning cloths bag to a volunteer and wait around for Jared and Troy.
Part 2: The Swim
Ironman Louisville is different than all the other Ironman races in that it is a time trial swim start. One swimmer at a time goes in the water a second a part as opposed to 2400 people all treading water and starting together. We waited around to see if we’d see Jared and Troy but there were so many people milling around it was impossible to find them. I decided to go ahead and get in line and get this thing going. Gave a kiss and hug to the family and started down the ramp to the dock. I was pretty close the start of the line with maybe only 100 athletes or so ahead of me. This year the race organizers decided to split the line into two separate lines once we got to the dock. I got in the left line and got all set for the age group start. The canon went off and the pros started their race. 10 minutes later the horn sounded and everyone in line began jogging down the dock and jumping off one by one. The crowds on the hill looking down on the start were just screaming and yelling as we went by and it was quite the rush. I plunged into the Ohio about a minute after the horn and quickly found my form. I felt great passing quite a few swimmers before the left turn out into the main channel.
That blur under the clock is me getting ready to jump in.
I’ll have to say I really prefer this swim start compared to the mass swim start at the other Ironman races. I hardly got touched the entire swim. It might have been different being further back in line. That was the very reason I wanted to get into the water towards the front to avoid having to swim over people in front of me. Or worse, get swam over by faster swimmers coming up from behind. I felt like I was sighting well and thought I’d come out with a decent swim time. The only issue I had during the entire swim was a girl swimming along side me about halfway through. We kept swimming into each other and finally I stopped and let her go past then ducked to the right as she crossed in front of me. I think she was the one swimming crooked! At any rate, when I kicked to get going again my left hamstring caught and pain shot all the way down my leg. Luckily it didn’t cause me any problems during the swim but I wondered how it would feel once on the bike.
The rest of the swim was uneventful and I exited and took a quick look at my watch… 1:12 and change?!?! Not at all happy with that as I really worked hard on my swim all year and was sure I’d go under 1:05. Oh well no time to worry about it I hurried up the stairs and then up the hill and around the corner to transition from the swim to the bike.
Transition has to be the most exciting part of these races. People are lining the route to the tents and it’s just constant screaming. It’s very cool. Then a volunteer yells out your number as you enter so another volunteer can grab your swim to bike gear bag. It’s my job to find the right row to run down and grab my bag and head into the changing tent. Inside I strip off the speed suit as yet another volunteer dumps out the bag on the ground and starts handing me my stuff. Heart rate strap, socks, shoes, jersey, bib number belt, helmet… Done! Let’s go! It didn’t go quite as smoothly as it did in Wisconsin but not terrible. I was able to keep T1 under 5 minutes from entry to bike exit so not too bad.
I see Andrea and Kelsey as I cross the bike mount line and jump on the bike and get a quick “let’s go!” or something. I also see Jason and Brian from KC who came down to cheer us on. They are also there yelling. Again not quite sure what was being yelled as it’s all a blur at that point. It is very motivating though to see family and also guys you’ve done some racing and training with over the summer yelling for you.
Off on the bike... see you in 5 hours and 36 minutes!
Part 3: The Bike
My plan for the day was to just cruise along for the first 40 miles and then try to keep a steady cadence and pace. I wanted to be able to run a good marathon and the only way that was going to happen was to be conservative on the bike. And based on my initial thoughts of the bike course re-con we did I didn’t want to blow up in the first 20 miles. Funny thing is, the first hill we hit about 10 miles in looked brutal in the car but I just flew right up it and kept my heart rate completely in check. The goal was to stay sub 145 as much as possible and for the most part I did.
The Louisville bike course is similar to Wisconsin in that you ride out about 24 miles and do two 30 mile loops then come back 24 miles to the finish. There is also a short out and back section you ride once about 18 miles into the ride. It’s a big long downhill then uphill to the turnaround then back up that first hill to the highway. Hang a right and head out to La Grange for the loop. 112 miles is a long way so you really have to break it up into segments. In the case of Louisville, segment one is to complete the out and back hills. Again flew down the first hill and then up hill to the turn around then nice and easy coming back up the longer steeper hill back to the main highway. Segment two is to get to La Grange. There would be massive crowds there cheering us on and that is always a great boost.
The weather was almost perfect… Mostly sunny and cool with a bit of a north east wind. I was a bit concerned with my hydration as I wasn’t sweating a bit. Although other bodily functions were telling me I had plenty of fluids. I noticed nobody else was sweating either so I continued to stick with my schedule of 6-8 ounces of Gatorade every 20 minutes and a gel every 45.
Made it to La Grange and my average pace was continuing to climb towards 20 mph. I was staying in control so was feeling good about my pace and not worrying too much about blowing up on the run. La Grange was pretty cool with huge crowds lining a good mile of the course through town. Again saw Jason and Brian yelling and screaming as I passed. We had been climbing slowly and steadily out to this point and now the rollers really started. Just up and down. Nothing really terrible but just constant shifting. Beautiful country though with all the thoroughbred race horse “estates” all along this stretch.
Okay, next segment, finish loop one and get back to La Grange… I’m still feeling good and this section goes by pretty fast. Actually the whole bike leg went by pretty fast. Still big crowds in La Grange on the second loop. Next segment is to get back around to the turn for La Grange, except I get to head for the finish this time!!
I start to notice several athletes changing tires now between mile 75 and 80. I’m thinking maybe pinch flats from hitting some of the little pot holes along the course so I keep a sharp eye out for those. I found out later some nice person had scattered tacks along the road as to otherwise ruin someone’s bike split and perhaps chance to get to Kona after a year of training. Nice. All because of traffic delays for one day? A day that brings in who knows how much money to their city? At any rate the last 24 miles are slightly downhill with just a couple climbs. The last 8 miles or so are completely flat and really fast.
I pass a guy that I’d been going back and forth with for the last 10 miles and I ask him “are you ready to run?” He say’s running is not his strength but he’s ready to get off the bike. Yeah a very common desire after 112 miles. I’ve continued to watch my average and I’m up over 19.8 now so I’m thinking I may be about 20 since my Garmin took a couple miles to sync up. I’m still feeling good as I stayed on top of my nutrition the whole time…
- 6-8 ounces of Gatorade every 20 minutes
- 1 Gel every 45 minutes
- 1 Power Bar at 2 hours and another at 4 hours
- Water at each aid station, as much as I could drink then toss the bottle
Ah yes the end of the bike...
Same protocol as T1, I start taking stuff off as the volunteer dumps out the bag. This time I change into tri shorts for the run, new socks and running shoes. Attach the Garmin to the wrist strap, grab the running hat, different sunglasses, 3 GU’s and my Hammer Gel flask and I’m out the door. I’m feeling good as I run around the tents and out the run exit. Again lots of people yelling encouragement as we head out onto the run course.
Part 4: The Run
The Louisville marathon course is a VERY flat 2 loop out and back with one short segment that goes out on a bridge over the river and back in the first mile. This bridge is the only hill on the whole course. Historically this is where my hamstrings cramp up, the first downhill early in the run. No problems at all this time and I felt smooth. I saw Jason and Brian again here and they said Jared was just ahead of me. Andrea and Kelsey said the same thing that I had about 20 minutes to make up. Unless Jared cracked or I had a great day there was no way I was going to catch him.
Leaving T2 and the beginning of the marathon
My goal for the first 10 miles of the marathon was sub 150 heart rate which would hopefully be sub 9 minute pace. And it was. I was able to hold about 8:45 through the first several miles and felt pretty good. I saw Jared coming back from the turn around but had no idea how far behind I was at that point. He was pretty shocked to see me I think at that point. Neither one of us knew the time gap between our starts so we had no clue how the other was doing. Other than being 8 hours in and already well into the marathon.
Mentally this was a tough course being so flat and zero turns to speak of. Plus the finish of loop one is a block from the finish and you can actually see the finish line!! But no, you make a quick right turn a block from the finish and then another right and head back out to the turn around. Ouch!!
There it is! The Finish Line!
The marathon didn’t turn out the way I’d hoped. I didn’t kill it on the bike so thought I’d have plenty for the run. I think I made a tactical error in trying to slow myself down the first 10 miles and ran so inefficiently that I just wore out my quads and hip flexors. By the time I needed to pick up the pace, it was becoming difficult just to pick up my feet! I also wore the wrong shoes taking my Asics Speed Star shoes and not the Kayano’s I normally wore for long runs. My feet were killing me as well. Hey, I’m not making any excuses here if that’s how it sounds. I made some errors on the run is all and it cost me the sub 4 hour marathon I was shooting for. All marathons have the wall to get through usually around mile 18. In the Ironman for me it turned out to be about 16. From 16 to about 21 it was basically run as much as possible and walk the aid stations. I segment the marathon just like the bike and stay in the current mile and not look too far ahead. Just get to the next mile is all I’m looking for. So that was my focus from 16 on, just get 17, get 17, get 17 and so on.
Once I got to 24 I really thought I’d be able to pick it up but my legs just wouldn’t go. I ran it in but it was painful and slow. I was disappointed I wouldn’t break 4 hours, but I’d still break 4:10 and be a good 15 minutes faster than my marathon time in Wisconsin.
This time through downtown though there will be no right turn. But instead two blocks straight down the finish shoot with crowds cheering loudly. As I near the finish line I hold up 2 fingers as in Ironman finish number 2. I see Andrea and Kelsey hanging over the fence about 20 feet from the finish line (NICE SPOT!!) and give a high five as I pass by. Now I’m really pumped up that I made it through all the pain in the last 10 miles to finish this thing and I hold up both hands in the number 2 salute as Mike Reilly calls out my name chuckling that I’m throwing out the double peace sign to everyone… yeah I made Mike Reilly laugh.. Classic!
That's Ironman Finish Number Two!!
I cross the finish line arms raised and yell “THAT’S NUMBER TWO!!!” Then my legs realize we are finished and they have had enough. Thankfully there’s a volunteer there to steady my balance and I’m done!
Swim Time: 1:12:35
Bike Time: 5:36:29
Run Time: 4:07:18
Total Time: 11:06:53
46 / 397 M40-44 age group
328 / 2345 Overall
Part 5: Post Race
The volunteers where awesome the entire day and the guy at the finish walked with us a couple blocks down to the post race area for food, medical if needed and our dry cloths bags from that morning. I had heard they had so many volunteers there was one for every athlete in the race. That’s pretty awesome support.
So great race and I really enjoyed the city and the race venue. Not sure when we’ll be back but I’m sure at some point we will return especially since it’s within 8 hours of KC.
Next up is Coeur d’Alene in 2010 and I’m already planning what I’ll do different there!
Friday, September 4, 2009
Ironman Louisville Race Report Part 1 and 2
Part 1: Checking In
Okay, Ironman Louisville, this was after all the A race on the schedule and every workout; swim, bike, run, strength training, yoga, race, you name it, was geared towards finishing the second Ironman with the best time possible. And yet somehow still enjoy the day even though pain and suffering were guaranteed!
I travelled to Louisville by myself on Thursday of race weekend and got settled into the host hotel that afternoon. Andrea and Kelsey were flying down on Friday night as to avoid two extra days of missed school for Kelsey. This worked out well and I actually made such good time driving down that I was able to make it to athlete check in before it closed down for the day. At each of these events they weigh you to get a baseline should you have issues on race day. This time they even checked your body fat and percentage of hydration. How they get all this from the fancy scale you stand on I don’t know. But I’m sure it comes in handy should you need medical assistance after or during the race.
Next stop is the line to verify your info and sign all the waivers saying that if you keel over it’s your own fault. Then on to the actual check in where they put an Ironman wrist band on you that you wear all weekend. This band gets you into the transition areas and the welcome dinner on Friday night. They also give you your race packet with all the bib numbers, a swim cap and gear bag stickers. The last stop is the goody bag pickup. Here you get a nice canvas bag with the race logo on it and all your gear bags are inside.
By now the hotel is just bursting with athletes checking in, rolling $5000.00 bikes (or more!) with them waiting to get into the elevators and haul all their gear to their rooms. Pretty amazing that all of these people have gone through the same summer of training I have all with the same goal in mind. Finish an Ironman. Honestly it gives you a great sense of pride when you look at some of these super fit people and think I’ve gone through just as much as they have to get to this point. Man I’m ready to race NOW!!
So I’m all set and waiting for Jared and his family to arrive and possibly get in a short bike/run workout. Well turns out Jared’s van broke down about 15 miles outside of Louisville and had to be towed into town. Not the way you want to start your Ironman weekend. So I decided to skip the workout and just go grab some dinner and come back and relax.
All was good until I turned out the light Thursday night to get some sleep. Without going into great detail lets just say there was a bit of room changing needed due to the room being next to a construction site. Noise all night and sleep don’t mix. Friday morning I decided that I’d check with the front desk and see if I could get moved across the hall to a quieter room. But first I walked down to the swim finish to meet Jared and Troy at the Gatorade practice swim and test out swimming in the Ohio River. Actually swimming in the river was more like being in a big lake. The Ohio wasn’t really too dirty but still felt a little grimy after climbing out. There was a bit of a current that would be with us during the race so I thought I should have a pretty decent swim time.
After the swim I went back to the room and cleaned up and checked on moving rooms. The hotel staff was awesome and really made a great effort to move me across the hall into a much quieter room and actually a little bigger suite. It turned out to be a great move to get that room switched.
Part 2: Getting my $%&# Together
Saturday morning I met Jared and Troy again for a 15 minute swim in the river then Jared and I jogged up to find the swim start and get an idea of where to be for race morning… less then 24 hours away now!! Then off to breakfast with Andrea and Kelsey before coming back and organizing all the gear for the race. And of course we had to visit the Ironman store and expo and buy some M-Dot stuff from the event!
So Kelsey and I are lining out all the gear and placing it on top of each gear bag to get ready to take down to transition when there is a knock on the door. Seems the lock on the room next to us has broken and the maid is stuck inside the room. There are a couple maintenance guys, the house keeping manager, a security guy or two all trying to figure out how to get this maid out of the room next door. Well to make a long story short, they cut a 2 foot hole in the coat closet wall in our room into the next room to get a guy in there to take the lock apart. They end up taking a saws-all and cut the whole lock off the door. The maid crawled through the hole back into our room to get out.
And while all this is going on in the living room of our room I’m trying to make sure I don’t forget something in my gear bags! I must have checked the bags and my list 3 or 4 times. Thankfully this wasn’t my first time and I’d made a good list and was able to get everything in the correct bags! It all worked out and we even got a free nights stay out of the deal.
In most sprint or olympic distance triathlons, each athlete has a transition area next to their bike where all the gear is set out ready for the next section. So you'll have your bike on the rack and under the bike will be your helmet, bike shoes, etc for the bike leg. Then running shoes and whatever else you want for the run when you come in from the bike. Even with a half-ironman or 70.3 distance race everything you need is by your bike.
At the Ironman events the only thing you can have on the rack is your bike. You then have a gear bag that has all your bike gear in it. And another gear bag with your running gear. Each bag is labeled with your number and name so when you come into transition a volunteer will yell out your number as you come through and another volunteer will grab your bag and hand it to you as you head for the changing tent. It's all very well organized and the volunteers are simply awesome. When you see gear bags for over 2300 athletes layed out on the ground in neat rows all in order, it's pretty amazing nothing gets lost!
Gear all packed up, the three of us head down to the swim finish and the transition area to check in the bike and both the "swim to bike" gear bag and "bike to run" gear bag. One of the volunteers walks me to my bike rack space and I rack the bike and get a general idea of where I'm at in relation to the changing tent. With over 2000 bikes here on race day it gets pretty crazy trying to find you bike. We then go backwards through the transition area through the changing tents and over to where the gear bags will be. We place the gear bags on the ground in the row I'll be in so I can find my gear the next day. It always helps to have an idea of a few things before the race such as where the swim exit is and where it comes into transition. Also where the bike exit is and the bike in and run out is. Otherwise you’ll lose tons of time trying to find your way out of transition on race day.
Gear all checked in, I head back to the room to put my feet up and rest a bit while the girls go check out some local attractions like the Louisville Slugger factory. Later Jared, Troy and I drive the bike course and discover that it looks really hilly. Even hillier than we thought it would be. A 6 hour bike might be a tall order come Sunday. I get back to the hotel a little stressed about the whole event now and just hoping to make it through the bike and get to the marathon.
We made a great decision Saturday night to not even think about going out for dinner and just ordered room service so we could avoid all the stress of getting into a place to eat. Next to switching rooms this was the best choice we made all weekend. Now it was just a matter of getting a decent nights sleep and be ready to roll Sunday morning.
Part 3: The Race…
Coming Soon
Okay, Ironman Louisville, this was after all the A race on the schedule and every workout; swim, bike, run, strength training, yoga, race, you name it, was geared towards finishing the second Ironman with the best time possible. And yet somehow still enjoy the day even though pain and suffering were guaranteed!
I travelled to Louisville by myself on Thursday of race weekend and got settled into the host hotel that afternoon. Andrea and Kelsey were flying down on Friday night as to avoid two extra days of missed school for Kelsey. This worked out well and I actually made such good time driving down that I was able to make it to athlete check in before it closed down for the day. At each of these events they weigh you to get a baseline should you have issues on race day. This time they even checked your body fat and percentage of hydration. How they get all this from the fancy scale you stand on I don’t know. But I’m sure it comes in handy should you need medical assistance after or during the race.
Next stop is the line to verify your info and sign all the waivers saying that if you keel over it’s your own fault. Then on to the actual check in where they put an Ironman wrist band on you that you wear all weekend. This band gets you into the transition areas and the welcome dinner on Friday night. They also give you your race packet with all the bib numbers, a swim cap and gear bag stickers. The last stop is the goody bag pickup. Here you get a nice canvas bag with the race logo on it and all your gear bags are inside.
By now the hotel is just bursting with athletes checking in, rolling $5000.00 bikes (or more!) with them waiting to get into the elevators and haul all their gear to their rooms. Pretty amazing that all of these people have gone through the same summer of training I have all with the same goal in mind. Finish an Ironman. Honestly it gives you a great sense of pride when you look at some of these super fit people and think I’ve gone through just as much as they have to get to this point. Man I’m ready to race NOW!!
So I’m all set and waiting for Jared and his family to arrive and possibly get in a short bike/run workout. Well turns out Jared’s van broke down about 15 miles outside of Louisville and had to be towed into town. Not the way you want to start your Ironman weekend. So I decided to skip the workout and just go grab some dinner and come back and relax.
All was good until I turned out the light Thursday night to get some sleep. Without going into great detail lets just say there was a bit of room changing needed due to the room being next to a construction site. Noise all night and sleep don’t mix. Friday morning I decided that I’d check with the front desk and see if I could get moved across the hall to a quieter room. But first I walked down to the swim finish to meet Jared and Troy at the Gatorade practice swim and test out swimming in the Ohio River. Actually swimming in the river was more like being in a big lake. The Ohio wasn’t really too dirty but still felt a little grimy after climbing out. There was a bit of a current that would be with us during the race so I thought I should have a pretty decent swim time.
After the swim I went back to the room and cleaned up and checked on moving rooms. The hotel staff was awesome and really made a great effort to move me across the hall into a much quieter room and actually a little bigger suite. It turned out to be a great move to get that room switched.
Part 2: Getting my $%&# Together
Saturday morning I met Jared and Troy again for a 15 minute swim in the river then Jared and I jogged up to find the swim start and get an idea of where to be for race morning… less then 24 hours away now!! Then off to breakfast with Andrea and Kelsey before coming back and organizing all the gear for the race. And of course we had to visit the Ironman store and expo and buy some M-Dot stuff from the event!
So Kelsey and I are lining out all the gear and placing it on top of each gear bag to get ready to take down to transition when there is a knock on the door. Seems the lock on the room next to us has broken and the maid is stuck inside the room. There are a couple maintenance guys, the house keeping manager, a security guy or two all trying to figure out how to get this maid out of the room next door. Well to make a long story short, they cut a 2 foot hole in the coat closet wall in our room into the next room to get a guy in there to take the lock apart. They end up taking a saws-all and cut the whole lock off the door. The maid crawled through the hole back into our room to get out.
And while all this is going on in the living room of our room I’m trying to make sure I don’t forget something in my gear bags! I must have checked the bags and my list 3 or 4 times. Thankfully this wasn’t my first time and I’d made a good list and was able to get everything in the correct bags! It all worked out and we even got a free nights stay out of the deal.
In most sprint or olympic distance triathlons, each athlete has a transition area next to their bike where all the gear is set out ready for the next section. So you'll have your bike on the rack and under the bike will be your helmet, bike shoes, etc for the bike leg. Then running shoes and whatever else you want for the run when you come in from the bike. Even with a half-ironman or 70.3 distance race everything you need is by your bike.
At the Ironman events the only thing you can have on the rack is your bike. You then have a gear bag that has all your bike gear in it. And another gear bag with your running gear. Each bag is labeled with your number and name so when you come into transition a volunteer will yell out your number as you come through and another volunteer will grab your bag and hand it to you as you head for the changing tent. It's all very well organized and the volunteers are simply awesome. When you see gear bags for over 2300 athletes layed out on the ground in neat rows all in order, it's pretty amazing nothing gets lost!
Gear all packed up, the three of us head down to the swim finish and the transition area to check in the bike and both the "swim to bike" gear bag and "bike to run" gear bag. One of the volunteers walks me to my bike rack space and I rack the bike and get a general idea of where I'm at in relation to the changing tent. With over 2000 bikes here on race day it gets pretty crazy trying to find you bike. We then go backwards through the transition area through the changing tents and over to where the gear bags will be. We place the gear bags on the ground in the row I'll be in so I can find my gear the next day. It always helps to have an idea of a few things before the race such as where the swim exit is and where it comes into transition. Also where the bike exit is and the bike in and run out is. Otherwise you’ll lose tons of time trying to find your way out of transition on race day.
Gear all checked in, I head back to the room to put my feet up and rest a bit while the girls go check out some local attractions like the Louisville Slugger factory. Later Jared, Troy and I drive the bike course and discover that it looks really hilly. Even hillier than we thought it would be. A 6 hour bike might be a tall order come Sunday. I get back to the hotel a little stressed about the whole event now and just hoping to make it through the bike and get to the marathon.
We made a great decision Saturday night to not even think about going out for dinner and just ordered room service so we could avoid all the stress of getting into a place to eat. Next to switching rooms this was the best choice we made all weekend. Now it was just a matter of getting a decent nights sleep and be ready to roll Sunday morning.
Part 3: The Race…
Coming Soon
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