IM Wrap-Up Pics

Waiting in line for the swim start. The line stretched for more than a mile. nice face, huh? I didn't get to jump off the dock to start the swim until 45 minutes after the official start time.

This is the end of the 2.4 mile swim, the final bouy, and then we swam to the steps to exit the water.

Swim complete-woohoo! Now off to transition to the changing tent to get ready for the bike! During the run from the swim exit to transition, I saw my Aunt Lisa and Rose cheering me on and again as I exited on my bike! Colin actually took these pics but somehow I didn't see him!

Final push to the finish of 112 miles of rolling, hilly, gorgeous country side and horse farms galore! Only downside was that is was in full sun with no shade and temps topped out at 94 degrees. Lisa and Rose were out on the course when I hit 70 miles, what a boost to have them cheering! I got to see the whole crew when they took this pic! At the end of the ride I was completely covered in a thick layer of salt. During the bike ride I actually had a headache within the first two hours. I worked hard to drink even more and loosened my ponytail a little thinking maybe that would ease the headache.

This is what the end of a tough 26.2 mile run looks like! I was beyond happy to see the finish line. It was a double out and back run course and we literally ran right up to the finish line at mile 13ish and had to turn right to do the out and back loop again. It was not a scenic run in the least, pretty much torture to run in my dehydrated state! I got to run with several people along the way, chatting some and helping each other through small stretches of the run. A huge upside was getting to see Colin, my cousins Rose and Julia, and my Aunt Lisa all throughout the run. They were fabulous!

Sporting my hard earned medal and chatting about the day at the finish line... :)

I was so much more fatigued after this Ironman than my first one and I think it was because it was so much hotter. Literally felt better to squat then to stand upright! This is me talking to my sister Kellee on my cell, she had been following the race and talking to Colin all day. :) I had to sit on a curb and drink some water before I could walk back to the hotel... Last IM I felt fine to walk around, stand and talk and it was no big deal to get my gear and get to the hotel. This time Colin got me to the hotel and then went out to pick up my bike and all my gear for me, what a keeper!

Julia, Lisa, Me not being able to stand up anymore, and Rose! Julia has done a sprint tri previously, Lisa has run LOTS of marathons including Boston 5 times and counting, Rose is an amazing runner and marathoner with a PR of something like 3:24.

Safely back home again the day after the race, proudly wearing my finishers hat and a t-shirt that says "Ironman Louisville." It was fun but I never plan to do this HOT Ironman race again! Goodbye Louisville! Hello to future IM cities like Tempe, Arizona or Madison, Wisconsin and definitely would go back to Panama City Beach, Florida!

Next up Syracuse 70.2 Triathlon on Sep. 19 and then Marine Corps Marathon on Oct. 31.

Ironman Louisville Preview....Post One

Well, I finished the IM in some seriously hot weather conditions. It was a dig deep kind of day that took lots of prayer, and I was so thankful to cross the finish line. There's really nothing like the sight of the finish line after a seemingly never ending race day! I knew I would be slower then my first IM but I ended up an hour and 45 minutes slower. Try that for your ego!!!! But truly it was the best I could do, it was a completely different race course and city, and the biggest difference was the weather. I will gradually go through the swim-bike-run that took me 15:00:54 in future posts. But first a preview...

HIGH POINTS:

The Finish Line!!!!!!!!!!!!

Colin-my husband there cheering me on, not to mention he went and picked up all my gear and bike post-race, and listened to me about everything all through the weekend...

Aunt Lisa and Cousins Rose and Julia-drove 2 hours to meet for dinner the night before and cheered me all through the entire long race day! They rocked! Took lots of pics too!

Ohio River proved to be easy water to swim in, brown and murky, but not stinky.

Fun rolling hills on the bike course!

Met a few people to chat with briefly along the run course!

Pulled myself through the run by cheering on the other runners in the later darker miles of the course and then got called "Skirt Girl" and asked "How I could be so perky?" by those same runners. :)

LOW POINTS:

That this thing was in AUGUST!!!! In Kentucky!!!!!

That it was 94 degrees and the bike course was in FULL SUN!!!!

An aid station on the bike course ran out of water (just didn't get replenished quickly enough...) so I went without for 12 miles or so, not fun. (I had half a bottle of warm gatorade on my bike, better then nothing.)

Had a headache for the first hour or two of the bike, it was hot out there. Kept drinking gatorade and pushing to get better hydrated.

Cried at mile 5.86 of the run because I felt so bad, dehydration bad feeling in my head, not really muscles. Another runner coming back on the other side of the road said, "It's okay, we ALL feel like that, keep going!!!" So I sucked it up, quit my crying, and kept going!

Run course was a double out and back straight shot with no turns, very boring, and we had to do it TWICE! AND at mile 14 we had to run right up to the finish line but instead of going down the chute to the end, we turned left and went back out for the second boring out and back loop. You could see and hear the screaming crowd and the people finishing. good times.

HYDRATION and NUTRITION:

Bike-Drank 4 aero bottles of water, 2 sports drink bottles, 5 hours worth of Hammer Perpetuem (900 calories), 4 mini Clif bars (100 calories each), 2 Clif Shot Blocks packages (200 calories each), half a banana from an aid station.

Run-Drank Nuun (3 tablets worth spaced out, needed more), straight water, sports drink (not sure how much, drank it at the aid stations as needed.), 4 GU gel packs (100 calories each).

[Aid stations had lots of food and choices but I just can't eat on the run which is why I try to really take it all in on the bike.]

WEIGHT CHANGES:

Friday: weighed in at athlete check-in 4 lbs heavier than my normal which was a result of minimal workouts for the two previous taper weeks, not a big deal. Body water was at 50 percent which was good. (anything from 45 to 60 is good.)

Sunday Race Day: CALORIE BURN was 13,020, craziness!!!!!

Tuesday: a full day after the race I weighed 9 pounds LESS than I did at the athlete weigh-in!

Wednesday: back to my normal weight, not the extra 4 lbs. I had at the athlete weigh-in but at what I've been weighing all summer.

RECOVERY:

Feel better than after a marathon, not sure why??? Quads were a little sore Mon-Tues but not Wednesday, left hamstring is a still a little tight. Overall, I feel pretty good. I did NOT feel so great at the finish line, tired and hard to stand up then!

Monday-drove the 9.5 hours home.

Tuesday-3 mile walk plus a 1 mile jog. (hadn't planned to run but was in a hurry to get back and it didn't hurt.)

Wednesday-very easy 1.5 hour slow paced bike ride.

Thursday-went out to bike 30 miles with my friend but felt so great that I biked 5o miles instead! Would not have done it if I didn't feel good, no soreness during or after and pace was decent. (15.8, not bad for a few days after IM)

the rest of the week? lake swim on Friday and a short run on Saturday.

Why am I recovering so well??? I think because it was sooooooo incredibly hot at the IM that I couldn't go all out like I had trained up for and now I've still got some in the tank. Too bad I can't go try again for faster in an upcoming IM but they fill up a year in advance and my husband would flat out leave me! ha! Not really, but he definitely would not be in favor! I mean, I'm definitely doing MORE of these things, I'm hooked and want to get faster, but I won't being doing one in the fall! :)

COMING SOON: Maybe some short posts and more pictures, one about the swim, one about the bike, and a final one about the run. Trying to keep it shorter. But of course this one is completely long. Sorry.