Thursday, September 11, 2008
Thursday, September 04, 2008
Ironman Louisville - August 31st, 2008
On Friday August 29th I drove 8 hours west from D.C. to the mother's house in Cincinnati, Ohio. I got a good night's sleep there and then drove with my parents 110 miles southwest on Saturday afternoon to Louisville, Kentucky for my big triathlon of the summer. I got checked in for the race, dropped off my bike and bags for transition, and then tried to relax as best I could for the rest of the day. It was amazing seeing the 2,000+ bikes parked in the transition area and at an average of $5,000 each were worth at least $10 million all together. I got some pasta for dinner 
on 4th Street in downtown where they were setting up the finish line for the race the next day. Then went back to the hotel to get some sleep before the big day.The alarm went off at 5:00 a.m. on Sunday morning and I immediately got up and started mentally preparing myself for the impending 2.4 mile 
swim, 112 mile bike, and 26.2 mile run. I walked in the dark down to the transition area where my bike was parked and dropped off water bottles for later in the day and then made the mile walk down to the swim start. The water temperature was reported to be 84 degrees the morning of the race so wetsuits were not allowed. We would be jumping off a short dock 
into the Ohio River, then swimming upstream along the shore, doing a loop around Towhead Island, and then swimming downstream past the starting dock to the transition area at Waterfront Park (see the map). The pros went off together at 6:50 a.m. but the rest of us had a time trial start with a couple going over a timing mat and then jumping off the dock every few seconds. There was a huge line at the start and I got in somwehere in the middle and had to stand around for a while waiting for 7 a.m. to come and then for my turn. I was pretty nervous/anxious standing there, but if I knew the extent of what I would be in for that day, I 
might have been even more so.
swim, 112 mile bike, and 26.2 mile run. I walked in the dark down to the transition area where my bike was parked and dropped off water bottles for later in the day and then made the mile walk down to the swim start. The water temperature was reported to be 84 degrees the morning of the race so wetsuits were not allowed. We would be jumping off a short dock 
into the Ohio River, then swimming upstream along the shore, doing a loop around Towhead Island, and then swimming downstream past the starting dock to the transition area at Waterfront Park (see the map). The pros went off together at 6:50 a.m. but the rest of us had a time trial start with a couple going over a timing mat and then jumping off the dock every few seconds. There was a huge line at the start and I got in somwehere in the middle and had to stand around for a while waiting for 7 a.m. to come and then for my turn. I was pretty nervous/anxious standing there, but if I knew the extent of what I would be in for that day, I 
might have been even more so.Finally around 7:30 a.m. I found myself jumping off the dock into the Ohio River. I really enjoyed not having a mass start as I was able to put my face in the water and start swimming right away and did not get completely clobbered by a mass of overly zealous swimmers. The water was sickly warm and very funny tasting, but it felt good to finally be going again after several days of taking it easy leading up to the race. I made good time swimming the length of Towhead Island 
but the current got much stronger as I passed into the open river. I was still feeling alright as I reached the final buoy before turning downstream. Somewhere not too much longer on the swim down current I started feeling like I didn't want to be swimming anymore, and this feeling kept growing stronger the farther I swam. My stomach was churning, my goggles felt like they were digging into my face, and the feeling of nausea was overwhelming. I couldn't believe what was happening to me but I literally couldn't keep 
going and grabbed onto one of the kayaks lining the row of swimmers. As I took my face out of the water I became aware of how incredibly nauseous I was, but there was nothing to do but put my goggles back on and keep stroking my way down the river... so I put my face back in the water and kept going. Frontstroke was jostling my stomach around too much so I started practicing my breaststroke, backstroke, sidestroke, and every other stroke I could muster to get myself to the end of the miserable swim. I made it a little ways farther before I was holding onto another kayak and burping and throwing up nasty water from the Ohio River. I've got to learn how to not swallow so much water 
when swimming in open water. Oh well for all that mileage I had put in at the indoor pool at Georgetown. I kept paddling my way down the river and finally made it to the swim finish nearly 45 minutes after I had hoped.
I slapped on some sunscreen (although not too well), my helmet, gloves, shoes, and sunglasses and grabbed my bike and headed out. I had started the swim somewhere in the middle of the field but now must have been in the last hundred or so for there were not too many bikes left in the transition area. Whatever. There were still 112 miles on the bike and a marathon left to run, so I hopped on my bike and set out. While it had been a comfortable morning,
but the current got much stronger as I passed into the open river. I was still feeling alright as I reached the final buoy before turning downstream. Somewhere not too much longer on the swim down current I started feeling like I didn't want to be swimming anymore, and this feeling kept growing stronger the farther I swam. My stomach was churning, my goggles felt like they were digging into my face, and the feeling of nausea was overwhelming. I couldn't believe what was happening to me but I literally couldn't keep 
going and grabbed onto one of the kayaks lining the row of swimmers. As I took my face out of the water I became aware of how incredibly nauseous I was, but there was nothing to do but put my goggles back on and keep stroking my way down the river... so I put my face back in the water and kept going. Frontstroke was jostling my stomach around too much so I started practicing my breaststroke, backstroke, sidestroke, and every other stroke I could muster to get myself to the end of the miserable swim. I made it a little ways farther before I was holding onto another kayak and burping and throwing up nasty water from the Ohio River. I've got to learn how to not swallow so much water 
when swimming in open water. Oh well for all that mileage I had put in at the indoor pool at Georgetown. I kept paddling my way down the river and finally made it to the swim finish nearly 45 minutes after I had hoped. I slapped on some sunscreen (although not too well), my helmet, gloves, shoes, and sunglasses and grabbed my bike and headed out. I had started the swim somewhere in the middle of the field but now must have been in the last hundred or so for there were not too many bikes left in the transition area. Whatever. There were still 112 miles on the bike and a marathon left to run, so I hopped on my bike and set out. While it had been a comfortable morning,
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