Below is a breakdown of how I plan on going sub-11, with a contingency of up to 13 hours total if the day doesnt go as planned.  The goal of any Ironman is to finish.  I am humble enough to understand that regardless of my training, ambition, desire or preparation, there are things on raceday that you cant prepare for, and in a race that takes half a rotation of the earth to complete … that list gets pretty long!  Weather, mechanical, GI, road conditions, who knows what pitfalls await for me to battle through next Sunday.  Im once again grateful that I approach the start line healthy and have been blessed to be able to compete in such an amazing event and feel lucky to have the opportunity to accomplish this goal for a second time.

IMKY 2009 Spectator Guide

In the days leading up to most races, I doubt. I am nervous, set my expectations low, don’t think I did nearly enough to prepare for the event. Come a day or two before the race though, I compartmentalize those fears, focus on what it will take to achieve my goals in the race and on game day, I execute. Nine times out of ten, I blow my expectations away and cant believe I was able to accomplish so much.

Muncie was a little different. I came into the race bloodthirsty … craving a savage beat down of the course. Not just wanting to PR, but to break the 5 hour barrier. Wanting to avenge the 3 hour thunderstorm from the previous year and lay down a huge bike split on dry roads. For weeks, I had the confidence that my training was going to take me across that finish line to glory.

The swim was largely uneventful for me. It ended up being wet suit legal at 77F, but I had no intentions of wearing one so I didn’t even pack it. Turns out EVERYONE else brought theirs and I was one of about 3 people in my wave that wasn’t wearing one. Being a strong swimmer, I wasn’t concerned and just wanted to do at least as good as last years time. I weaved efficiently through the pack, did a fair job sighting, passed people in the two waves ahead of me and got out of the water feeling great about my shot at a sub 5 hour race.

My heart rate was racing well above Lactate Threshold and into the 170s, but it didnt matter. The flattest, most well protected part of the course was just ahead and I wanted to crush that section so I didnt let my silly heart rate monitor slow me down averaging 23.3mph over this 5 mile section! Right about when we were to pull a u-turn and head out onto the main highway for the remainder of the race, I did some quick math and something wasnt adding up. For where I was at in the race, I somehow couldnt account for 5 minutes. I felt great in the swim, my transition was blistering but both my Garmin and my bike computer told the same story. At that point, the only conclusion was that I swam 5 minutes slower than I had planned?!

That did not sit well with me and my hopes for revenge against this course were slipping away. I told myself that I would just have to make it up on the bike then. This of course is the point in the story where many a well intentioned triathlon goes to pot because the athlete wastes his legs and saves nothing for the run.

I essentially began to ignore my heart rate monitor all together and was just racing on feel. I felt like I could keep this pace up for another 2 hours, so I just went with it. Try as I might, the deliciously flat bike course had some nasty winds again that day, bringing with it a thunderstorm for the second year in a row. I forced myself to keep the pace up hoping that at the mile 28 turnaround, I would be treated to a tail wind.

Oddly enough, I was treated to said tail wind. My average speed of 21.8 at that point started climbing again, and climbing and climbing as the tail wind persisted. I was ecstatic and was even able to drop the heart rate into the 150s for a bit.

Thats when the rain started. For the second year in a row, the skies above Northeast Indiana decided to open up around and unload wind, rain, thunder and lightning. At this point I only 30 minutes or so remaining and I knew I was on pace for a good bike split. This just motivated me even more to return to mother earth and get off those slick roads. As I powered home, the finish line strangely appeared at mile 54.6? Looking at my race data from last year, my Garmin reports the exact same number: 54.6. I swear that course is short. I wasnt complaining as I ended up shaving 10 minutes off of last years time and more importantly rebuilding my spirits after the terrible swim that I put in. I blasted through another record setting transition and headed out to see what was left in my legs.

And there they were. The legs were right where I needed them to be. During the bike and now into the run, even though my heart rate was a little high, I was relying less and less on that data and more on how I actually felt. I felt like I could keep going at a 7:30 pace all day. I found a few people to pace off of and headed off into the downpour for the next 13.1 miles.

I went sockless with my Zoot racing flats for the first time in a race (yes I train with them) and even decided to leave my fuel belt behind and just pick up gels along the way. In hindsight that was a gamble and goes against the ‘nothing new on race day’ rule, but as was a theme for the day, I was out for blood and all about speed.

I set my goals up of being able to make the turn at 50 minutes on the out and back course and trying to put down a 1:40 minute half marathon, but my legs kept telling me to keep the pace up. Even when the hills came, my legs were there. I decided not to change up the formula and when I hit the halfway mark at 49:00 flat, I knew this was going to a great race. I found a new, faster pacer around mile 7 and followed them through to mile 10 where I took the duty of pulling him along for a few miles until he fell off. I found a new one with about 2 miles to go that was running a little bit faster than I wanted to go, but at this point, it was time to start emptying the tank. I caught her over the next mile and with 1.1 to go realized I was going to smash my goal time by almost 15 minutes. The thoughts of moonwalking across the finish line escaped me as I crested the hill which revealed the finishing chute and I blasted ahead to record a 4:45:26 dropping 17 minutes off of my 2008 time.

Sometimes you can be your own harshest critic, and other times you can be your own biggest fan. Perhaps even both at the same time: being critical enough to demand success but being smart enough to be humble in the success you are able to achieve. While I am proud of my efforts, I always know there is an unseen x-factor in any race which keeps me from injury, accident, stomach issues, cramping, equipment failure, any number of which can take my goals and replace them with reality. I am truly grateful for the success I achieved through Gods grace alone. Onward to IMKY and the sub 11 hour Ironman.

Protestant Cay

While I might be a bit undertrained, I have to keep my eye on the prize later in the year to race Ironman Louisville again which is definitely my A race of the year. I wont be able to do Short Course Nationals again because they are the week before IMKY, but Im thinking about replacing that with Long Course Nationals in Oklahoma City about 3 weeks after. This is one of the rare championship races in triathlon where you can qualify with a time rather than finishing ahead of a certain amount of other competitors. They typically qualify only by placing because the finish time between courses can be vastly different from one race to the next due to the layout of transitions, topography of the bike course, effect of wind and weather conditions. 5:05 is the qualifying time for my age group and my personal best is 5:02 which I set last year in Muncie (during a torrential thunderstorm mind you), so I just need to do that again this year. Not sure about it though because it would be another trip just to show up like last year because I was so wasted from Ironman still and the competition is so good.

These are good problems to have friends. I continued to be amazed at what feats God grants our bodies to perform and am thankful everyday that I can choose to spend my free time swimming, biking and running … and be competitive at that!

Going from zero endurance athletic training to a full Ironman in two years is rather ambitious and not really for someone who enjoys such pleasantries as good food, friends, family, relationships or free time. I was lucky that I was in a position in my life that I could devote the time and energy into doing something great for myself and getting to help raise money for Team In Training and mentor some new triathletes on their own entry to the sport. Some much needed and well deserved R&R was taken since USAT nationals at the end of September; just getting over the punishment I had put my body through, and then actually enjoying not trying to fit in 2 or more hours of exercise each day.

2007 would mark my initial entrance into triathlon and endurance sports; familiarizing myself with the equipment, lingo, protocols while devouring as much knowledge as possible. I needed to prove to myself that I could complete a triathlon, that I could run more than 10 miles, that I could build swimming stamina, that I could ride for hours on end and hopefully I would enjoy it along the way. By the end of August of that year I was hooked. I had competed in 4 triathlons, entered a 5th and plopped down $500 to enter Ironman Louisville for 2008.

While 2007 was the year of Can I? 2008 transposed that question into a statement: I Can! … a declarative one at that. This year was all about going long; the Papa Johns 10 miler, the Derby Mini-Marathon, the Muncie half Ironman and Ironman Louisville. I upped the ante on my distance training, tore through the Triathletes Training Bible, dug deep into online resources and forums to learn as much as I could to develop a training plan for my entire season. Quite frankly, for being completely self coached (though I did use Training Plans from BeginnerTriathlete.com) I was amazed at my progression throughout the year. I broke a PR in every race I entered, made incredible gains with my running and established a rock solid nutrition strategy.

Ironman Louisville was my A priority race for the season and with Nationals occurring just 3 weeks after, I had no serious expectations. I was going to put in the best effort that my body would let me and I wanted to do well, but I wasnt aiming for a top 16 spot in my age group which would have qualified me for the World Triathlon Championships.

The water in Hagg Lake was considerably warmer on race day than it was the day before when I was doing my practice swim despite the overcast sky and temperatures in the mid 60s. I was a bit more nervous that I would normally be just because I was at the National Championships. I had a feeling that I was a small fish in a big pond, that even though I qualified to get here, the competition was going to eat me alive. I milled around watching the first few waves go off, cheering the first few people out of the water on, trying to calm my nerves. When they called up the M30-34 age group, I walked out onto the pier grabbed a spot right in the middle and reminded myself to race my own race and be proud I was at the starting line to begin with.

The swim was fairly uneventful. Our wave was small enough and the waves spaced out enough that you had plenty of room to yourself and weren’t getting clawed, punched, elbowed, grabbed, kicked like normally. The water was very clear, calm and the scenery of the evergreen mountains all around you made for a fantastic backdrop. I did my best to try to find someone to draft off of, but still havent mastered that art so I gave up on my few failed attempts and settled into my normal comfortable race pace and turned in a decent swim time for me.

The transition from swim to bike was tough. The swim exit was at the base of a very steep boat ramp which made for a rough start to T1. I was moving hastily, though I knew there was a big hill right out of transition so I needed to relax my escalating heart rate. I had a great spot in transition near the bike out in a straight line from the entry to the exit. I worked the bottom half of my wetsuit off and used my free leg to pin down the rest of the suit which was hanging on my left leg. Since the entire transition area was on a hill and I was in a hurry and wet and … well yea, I slipped and fell on my butt. I got some snickers and words of encouragement by the others around me, but what an embarrassing start to the bike leg. I picked myself, only after taking the time to pull the rest of the wetsuit completely off. I finished the rest of my transition routine and headed out to take on the bike course.

By far the toughest bike course I have raced. I dont know what everyone was worried about the Ironman Louisville bike course for! The Portland course blew it away with 2,000ft of climbing over a 24.8 course, which would extrapolate to 9,000ft over a 112 mile course. There was nothing flat about it whatsoever, you were either going 40 mph downhill or 8 mph uphill.

With a body still recovering somewhat not even a full 3 weeks after Ironman, I started to really underestimate how much I was still suffering from that. My cardio never really held me back as I averaged a pretty comfortable 163 bpm … about 8 beats below what I normally average in an Olympic distance race. It was all in the legs. I just didnt feel the strength in them at all making the climbs fairly difficult. Combine the fact that there were ALOT of them, and the last time I spent on my tri bike I had the Zipp 808s wheels I rented for Ironman and now I was back on my crappy stock wheels which might have been a mental block more than anything.

I had scouted the two loop course the day before and knew what I was getting myself into, but that didnt make it any easier. Since this race was more for experience I told myself very early on to enjoy it more than anything! It was certainly the most scenic course I have been on rolling through the hills in central Oregon around this lake and the weather was great. I would blast down the hills as fast as I could and by the second lap, tried to negative split the best I could though I knew I would need to save something in the legs for the run which would cover the same punishing terrain. I tied for the 5th fastest T2 split in my age group and 17th fastest overall! Couldnt be more pleased about that. The good position in the bike rack, running sockless and without a fluid belt made a big difference.

Once again the hills did me in on the run. Going up the hills I was almost slowed to a walk in some sections, while running down the hills I literally couldnt move my legs fast enough to keep up. The aid stations were a little lacking as there were only 2 or 3 people at each one, nobody was handing out gels, you had to get your own, and they were only on one side of the road so essentially you had to cut through oncoming runners to grab something on the way back.

Looking back at the times that my competitors put in, Im really astonished at how well they did. The hills that made me suffer and put 7 extra minutes on my personal best at this distance, allowed everyone else to run 10Ks in the low 30′s and do sub hour bike splits. It was the scoop of ice cream on the humble pie that was USAT Nationals 2008.

I was really honored to participate, but if I want to toy around with the idea of representing Team USA anytime soon Ive got some serious work to do. The best part about this experience was to really help level set my expectations and identify some key weaknesses in my fitness, specifically hills. I can hold my own seemingly on the flats, but climbing and I need to become close friends, or rather closer enemies.

I met up with Kenny and Jackie, fellow Team In Training alumni, right before the race started and we all went in the water together. After learning that our old coach was working the swim start, I had a good feeling this was going to be a truly epic day. We exchanged pre-race jitters, said a prayer and then began the 2.4 mile start of our journey.It was a long swim and the first time I had done the entire distance. Normally Ironman events start with all 2000 athletes treading water, anxiously waiting for the sound of a cannon. At that point the ‘washing machine’ starts up and the first 15 minutes becomes a frenzy of elbows and kicks to the head. Unique to Ironman Louisville only, the time trial start (one athlete at a time) significantly thinned the pack out from the start and made it easy to navigate around other swimmers.

I kept an easy consistent effort and focused more on a good breathing and sighting rhythm to conserve energy for the day ahead. I made it to the turnaround and headed back with the current expecting to pick up the pace a little bit. I stayed as close to the buoys as I could, but thought I was lost a few times because so many people were swimming way off course out in the middle of the river. About halfway through I started to get really hungry which surprised me a bit, but in hindsight didn’t feel that it impacted me over the course of the day. I continued my cruise until about two buoys to go and I could see transition, the crowds, and could hear the announcers and the music playing. I then started to wake up my legs; I even threw some backstroke, butterfly and breaststroke in there so I could say Ive done a 3800 meter IM!

Coming out of the water was like being born. The lights, the noise, people grabbing at you, yelling your name … it was really disorienting. I took a few slow steps onto solid ground, checked the time clock and broke into a trot towards T1. I saw my mom and dad who were working the changing tents, grabbed my bags and ran through my to do list for the transition to the bike. It was really helpful to have everything printed out in the specific order that I wanted to use each item. My dad was helping me and I had him read me the list, everything checked out OK, gave my momma a kiss and headed to pick up my bike.

The bike segment exceeded my expectations by almost 45 minutes. Renting Zipp 808 race wheels and getting lots of practice on the course played a large part of that. The other part was purely luck that my knee felt great and my saddle didnt hurt which normally cause me to stop a few times on long rides. I kept the cadence extra high, around 95 – 100 rpms and tried my best to let anyone who wanted to pass me go by. There were a few times where I got into a little bit of a game with people, but overall I did pretty good with convincing myself to slow down and ride my own race. Starting within the first 1/3 of the field and having a good swim time allowed me to have an open road ahead of me. The first lap through Lagrange was fairly wide open. Very little bike, or vehicular traffic allowed me to take things nice and easy.

The second lap was not as much fun. It started to heat up, the rest of the field was just now making their way into Lagrange and the roads got very congested. It was passable, but instead of just 1 or 2 wide in the road, we had 3 or 4 wide, plus cars which were trying to get through. At one point, some guys pulling a boat ended up stuck on the course trying to get out of everyones way, but they got swallowed up by impatient cyclists (me included) who sped around passing on both sides. Other than a few minor occasions, the traffic control was very good for a race of this size spread out over such a large area. I kept right on top (and maybe a little ahead) of my nutrition. I packed enough fluids for 6 hours, was drinking my 1 hour bottles in 45 minutes so I did get concerned I would run out before the end of the bike segment. I was getting a little hungry early on picked up some PowerBars to help. Once I finished a bottle of Infinit, I would pickup either water or Gatorade to ensure I was getting enough fluids as the heat really started to intensify in the 4th and 5th hour of the ride. I would take Endurolytes (salt tabs) every time I just took water by itself to ensure my sodium was staying at a high level. This part of the race was by far the most fun and I started to think … whats the big deal about Ironman anyways!

As I got back to downtown Louisville, I was on pace for another speedy transition from bike to run. I dumped everything out of my run gear bag, got my myself all done up and ready to head out and then I decided to check my list to make sure I had everything. It was only then that I noticed I hadnt touched the Body Glide. Running my first marathon without any extra protection on my feet was going to be an absolute disaster, so I had to take my shoes and socks back off, apply the Body Glide to my feet and then head back out. That certainly added to my slow transition time. That and going blind for a few moments from the sun screen people who blasted me in the eyes.

The sufferfest truly began on the run. I knew it would as the rest of the day had just gone too well. It was hot, my pace for the first half mile was waaay to fast and I had to really restrain myself to slow down. I started climbing the bridge, hit the aid station at mile one and decided to play it safe and take my first bathroom break of the day. Did the best I could with the light available in the Port-O-Let to see how well hydrated I was (aka look at the color of your pee, lighter the better) … turns out I was falling behind, so I opted for water or Gatorade at every stop no matter what. I carried 2x 2 hour bottles of Infinit with me and 15 salt tabs as my primary source of nutrition but with the heat, and the onset of dehydration I knew I was going to be taking a little bit of everything from the aid stations.

The first of the 13.1 mile laps was hard primarily because of the lack of shade. Getting my stomach to calm down was a bit of an issue as well. I started feeling a little sloshy in my attempt to catch up on fluids so I had to switch to only water every other stop. Then I started into a rotation of Infinit and water, Gatorade and water, water and salt tabs. This seemed to be providing me the right amount of fluids and calories. I kept cool with ice sponges, ice cubes down the front of the jersey and ice water over the head. This made for some squishy shoes!At the end of the first lap I was feeling OK. Stopped by special needs to pick up two more bottles of Infinit but ignored the dry socks, V8 and granola bars … none of that sounded appealing at the time. Heading for lap two you come right up to the finish chute and then bust a right turn at the last moment followed by an audible ‘awwwww’ from the crowd as you go.

We got a little break from the direct sun for the second lap, but it was every bit as hot. The walk breaks started to get longer and longer as the day ran on. My brother found me at a few points on the course to give me some encouragement along the way. This was a big help, somehow I always seemed to be running when he found me … didnt catch me during any of those walk breaks! I started to get a bit delirious at times, getting a bit confused and irritated at the volunteers shoving everything in your face as you passed through the aid stations. I realized about mile 15 this was my ‘come to Jesus moment’ that I had heard about. I knew my body was starting to revolt and my mind would have to carry me in the rest of the way. I moved to two Gatorades at each stop to make sure I was getting hydrated. My mood immediately improved by the next mile. A few bathroom breaks would confirm a dip in my hydration coinciding with my mood swing. As mile 16 clicked by, this was the first time I realized that I was going to become an Ironman. I started to pick the pace up a little bit attempting to finish really strong and was quickly greeted with 2 miles of reminders that I still had 10 miles left to go.

The ice bath, nutrition, hydration rotation continued as I willed my way through the next few miles. As I made the turn for home with 6 miles left I realized that I was going to smash my goal time even though the walk breaks were getting increasingly longer. As I approached the last time check with about 1.8 miles to go I realized the quicker I got to the finish, the quicker I could stop all this nonsense so I decided now was the time to drop the hammer. I dropped the pace from the 10:15 / mile Ironman shuffle to a 8:30 / mile drive for home. I was just as surprised by everyone around me the amount of energy I was able to muster up for this last stretch. The crowd was taken back when they learned I was on my second lap blazing a trail to the finish and they started to really get behind me. As I ran faster, they cheered louder and louder so I ran faster and faster! This continued until I could see the final two turns toward the finish. I left everything I could out on the course and soaked up every ounce of this journey. The finish chute was like walking up to the Pearly Gates, and by that point in the race I couldnt have told you the difference. Thousands of screaming fans pouring their energy in, begging you to cross that finish line. The icing on the cake was my mom and dad were finish liner catchers which made crossing into Ironman glory that much more special.

This is all beyond what I had hoped and dreamed for over a year ago when I walked up and put my name and $500 down for a date with destiny. Ive learned alot about life: setting goals, prioritizing, hard work, creating a balance.? It required a lot of trial and error, it required operating outside of my comfort zone, it required flying by the seat of my pants (sometimes).

Many people would think that life is passing you by being two dozen days away from 30 and single. I used this as a catalyst for success. This is a unique opportunity that I have which most married people with kids dont have the luxury of even attempting. Demands with the family are too much to find an additional 15 – 20 hours a week away from home. God bless the people who are Ironman athletes with families … I have no clue how you do it. As for me, this is a chance I may not get again to do something amazing and hopefully inspiring to others. Through Team In Training, the many new friendships Ive formed around the multisport community and the lasting personal choices I have made on how to take care of myself have been more than worth going it alone.

LOUISVILLE, KY – The US Department of Wildlife and Fisheries has recenty reported the Ohio River is now home to a dangerous non-indiginous species of piranha.? It is believed that the piranha were dumped out of someone's home aquarium and rapidly reproduced in the warm waters of the Ohio River during the summer months.

CINCINNATI (AP) — Health officials in Cincinnati say people should avoid swimming in parts of the Ohio River where an outbreak of pond scum is making the water appear greener than usual.?

Add to this the comments from a poster on the Beginner Triathlete Forums who works for the Louisville Water Company:?

I just got the low down on the algae bloom up river from the lab guy here at work. He says this bloom is about 15 miles long and 8 feet deep and is of the toxic variety, not good. The good news is that it should not reach here until late next week, unless we get a huge amount of rain to push it down here faster.

Good times.]]>

Ive dodged personal, professional, mechanical and medical complications along the way, but through the support of friends and family I am confident in my goals for success on raceday. On August 31st at 7AM in downtown Louisville I will be treading in the murky waters of the Ohio river with 2000 other athletes staring at a 140.6 mile, 17 hour test of physical and mental endurance … the Ironman triathlon. I have been training for this day for over a year now, a challenge I knew I was destined for after I got my first taste of multisport in my first tri last May. ?It starts down at the Great Lawn for a 2.4 mile swim in the river, heads out 112 miles for a two loop bike course around La Grange and then back downtown for a full 26.2 mile marathon.

I hope you can make it out some time during the day to cheer me and the rest of the athletes on. I volunteered at the finish line last year and was amazed at the energy of the event and how well the city came out to support the race. Labor day is on Monday so stay up late and head down to the finish at 4th Street Live. During the day you can head out to La Grange for the Ironman Festival on the bike leg of the event, or if youre heading to the football game come down to the finish line at 4th Street afterwards to check it out.

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