May 9, 2012

When is a PR not a PR?

This post is born from a discussion that I had with a couple of the guys after the race on Saturday, “When is a PR not really a PR?”.  If you read my race report from Tri 4 the Kids (and if you haven’t you can read it here) you can see that the swim was “swift” to say the least.  A downstream swim with a quick current and a wetsuit is tailor-made for an inflated swim time. For 1.1 miles I averaged 0:50/100 yds which is ridiculous! I couldn’t swim that fast in a lake or ocean if you tied me off to a dolphin, which begs the question “Can you claim a PR for a race that has an abnormal leg?”. I say no because it isn’t an effort that can be replicated on another course of the same distance. Others however have made the argument that in every race there is some variation (i.e. long bike, short run, flat bike vs hilly bike, etc.) so the assisted swim is just another race quirk. Weather is another factor that will influence PR’s since heat, wind and humidity all decrease performance. For example West Point Lake Olympic this year was ~10 minutes faster across the board for everyone due to the cooler temps and low humidity (the short swim didn’t hurt either).

What do you think? Can you claim a PR on a “quirky” course for a particular distance or do you only consider courses with “traditional” variables a PR? Leave your opinions in the comments.

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May 7, 2012

Tri 4 the Kids Race Report

I signed up for this race about 6 weeks ago when I realized that there was no way I was going to be able to get into good enough shape to race Gulf Coast on May 12th. In 2010 I did the first edition of the Tri 4 the Kids and knew that it was a good local race and also benefited a great cause.

What I didn’t realize was that after a great performance at West Point Lake last week (which you can read about here) I didn’t have the burning desire to race again so soon. One of my biggest problems as an athlete is that I tend to “rest on my laurels” after a good race and it takes awhile for the desire to train and race comes back. As a result, Friday before the race I was in a grumpy mood most of the day. I honestly didn’t want to race on Saturday and seriously entertained the thought of just sleeping in and staying home. Grudgingly, I packed my bag and got everything ready the night before secretly thinking that when the alarm went off the next I could always just hit the off button.

The alarm went off at 5:30am on Saturday morning and I rolled out of bed, got dressed and headed up to Rome still not really in the “mood” to race. I arrived at the race site, parked and made my way over the check in to pick up my race packet. After setting up transition and chatting with a few other athletes it was time to load up and head over to the swim start.

The Swim-The swim at this event is a bit longer than the standard 1.5k (0.93 miles) Olympic swim coming in at 1.1 miles. Ordinarily most athletes would balk at a longer swim, however this one is in the Etowah River and has a current that makes the swim at Augusta look like standing water. In 2010 I did the swim in ~14 minutes so I knew it was going to be fast, what I didn’t know is that there were several submerged trees along the way and I would manage to hit every one of them. I was #103 which meant that I was the 3rd person in the water for the Time Trial start. I was glad to be out front and with the current I didn’t think anyone would catch me. When it was time to go I hopped in the water and immediately began swimming (quickly!) downstream. There was a submerged tree sticking out of the water under the first bridge that you could see from the start dock. The race officials told us to go to the right of the tree which was easier said than done in that current. I started out swimming toward the right side of the bridge in hopes I could compensate against the current and clear the tree. Unfortunately this was not the case and I picked my head up just in time so as to not slam head first into a very large limb. The current was so strong that I was actually pinned against the tree and could move backward at all, so I slid down to the end and went around continuing downstream. I felt like crap on the swim and knew that the signals I was getting from my body so far weren’t good. I was concentrating on my stroke when I heard someone yell “Tree!” and again picked my head up just in time not to go head first into the trunk. About this time the kayak beside me capsized so I swam over to make sure that the guy paddling was OK. I was thinking “This guy is supposed to be keeping ME safe during the swim and here I am making sure HE is alright”. He was able to hold on to the kayak and float downstream to calmer water, I am sure that the 66* water was cold without a wetsuit.  After bashing into no less than 3 more trees it was finally time to get out of the water. Swim Time: 13:54 10th OA

T1-Wetsuit strippers made this an easy transition-1:38 4th OA

Bike-Once I hit the bike I started to feel a little better and quickly got up to race wattage. My HR was elevated again (just like last week) even though I didn’t swim nearly as hard. The guy who started in front of me was in sight and I quickly passed him for (what I thought) was 1st on the road (it turned out there was a relay team ahead of me). The hills started coming and they didn’t stop the entire ride. There were a couple of challenging hills that I had to drop down into my small ring and spin up right before the turn around. I never felt like my legs came around during the ride and the fact that my Normalized Power was 245 watts (7 watts lower than last week) confirmed this. Around Mile 20 I was passed by an athlete who started behind me and I tried to stay on his wheel (legally of course) for the last 4 miles of the bike. He was just leaving transition as I was coming in so I knew that if I could get into my run rhythm like last week I could catch him. Bike: 1:08:50 (21.8mph) 245 w Normalized Power, 4th OA.

T2-Fast as lightning-0:38

Run-As I ran out of transition my legs felt like I was wearing cement shoes. It was hard to get my cadence up and get into a groove. My HR showed that I was at around 163bpm (11 beats below my LT) but my breathing was labored and I felt like I was running about as fast as I could. It was getting hot and the humidity was up as well. I hit the first mile at 6:49 min/mile and I knew that there was no way I was holding that for 5 more miles. I backed off and found a pace which was comfortable (somewhere around a 7:15-7:30 pace) and settled in to survive the run. I hit the turn around at the Rome Braves stadium and saw the 1st place guy coming out of the parking lot and knew that I probably didn’t have any shot of catching him now. As I turned for home I saw Brian and Mike entering the parking lot and looking strong so I figured they would catch me at some point. As the run course went back under a bridge I was (incorrectly) directed to turn left, go up a steep hill and then run along Riverside Parkway toward the finish. Since this was the course we had run in 2010 I didn’t think anything of it at the time. As it turns out the run was changed and it was supposed to be an out and back on the path along the river so when Mike and Brian caught me at around Mile 5.5 we had no idea where to go. In 2010 we looped behind a shopping center and picked the path back up and followed it to the finish. I was turning right to do this when a lady (who we aren’t sure if she was affiliated with the race) told us to go straight. We ran up to a large intersection and Brian was lucky enough to make the light. Mike and I waited through a light cycle when a police officer pulled up and let us cross. We turned toward the Forum and still weren’t sure we were on the right track until we saw the finish line banner. The guy who was in 1st place came up from behind the finish line to cross. He had gone off course and ended up two blocks over from the finish line. Run Time: 48:54 (7:50 min/mile) 10th OA.

Post Race: After we crossed the finish line we made the race officials aware that things on the run course were not right. After speaking with them we realized that we should have never taken the left at the 4 mile mark but instead continued on the path back toward the start. I don’t fault them for this since it is our responsibility as athletes to know the course and it can (and does) happen at other races. The results were adjusted and the guy who had been in 1st place the entire run ended up winning the race (and rightfully so). I was 5th Overall and 1st Masters in a time of 2:13:52 which was only a minute faster than last week in spite of an 8 minute faster swim! I think a combination of digging deep last week at West Point, not being recovered from that effort, not being mentally engaged, and the heat and humidity prevented me from having a good race. I would do this race again and pay better attention to the course maps beforehand.

Thanks for reading, Train Safe!

P.S. Be sure to check back later this week for my article “When is a PR, not a PR?”

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May 3, 2012

West Point Lake Olympic Race Report

West Point Lake is one of my favorite races and one that I try to do every year. I missed last year’s edition since it was only 2 weeks before Ironman CDA so I was anxious to get back out there and race. Georgia Multisports made a great decision moving the race from its traditional June date to the last weekend in April.

Pre-Race-I had to work on Saturday night before but luckily I was able to leave a few hours early so I could go home and get some sleep. I slept surprisingly well for the night before a race and was ready to go at 3:45am when the alarm clock went off. I had pre-loaded quite a bit of my gear the night before (I had to go to work right after the race as well so I packed clean clothes and food for the day), so I basically had to put my bike on the car and go. I had half of a Coke (don’t judge, I prefer my caffeine cold) and an organic blueberry pop tart on the way down for breakfast. It is such an easy drive from my house down to the race site and I was able to get there in about 90 minutes, pick up my race packet and start getting things ready to go.  The swim at West Point is a Time Trial start and the athletes are seeded based on their anticipated swim time, somehow I ended up with bib #23.  After setting up transition and getting on my wetsuit it was time to go swim!

The Swim-I have made the swim a focus the past couple of years and it has really started to pay off in races. Last year I had PR swims in all of my races and I felt like coming into this race I was even stronger than last year. Throw in cooler water temps and a wetsuit and I went in expecting to crush the swim (for me anyway) and come out in around 24-25 minutes. I hit the water and immediately found my stroke and felt strong, it seemed like no time until I passed the first buoy. After swimming past two more buoys it was a right turn to the East right into the rising sun. In years past there haven’t been enough buoys between the first turn and the final turn into the finish, this year there were at least 3 which made sighting much easier. I had zero problems with navigation and stayed right on the buoy line the entire time. The next turn buoy seemed to come up faster than normal, but I just attributed that to the fact that I was swimming faster than usual. After making the turn toward the shore and the swim exit I knew that I was having a great swim and that it was going to be a good day all around. I exited the water and looked down to see 21:30 on my Garmin, either the swim course was short (it was) or I had just had the swim of my life. At the time I went with the swim of my life….it just made me happy!  Time: 21:30  10/43AG

T1-Overjoyed by my fast swim I was in and out of transition in a flash. No issues getting the wetsuit off or getting the bike helmet or shoes on. 1:26 6th (tied)/43 AG

Bike-I knew that the cooler temps would allow for the bike to be a hammerfest and predictably it was just that. My goal wattage for the race was 250 watts Normalized Power which I knew would leave me with the legs for a decent run.  I immediately caught two people ahead of me within the first mile or two and after that I was mostly on my own for the first half of the bike. My HR was hovering around the 160-163 bpm area (my bike LT is 164) so I was pushing a little harder than I intended even though my wattage was spot on. I was able to let my HR recover going downhill and after that it regulated in the mid to upper 150′s which is where I wanted to race.  I hit the turn around in the park and felt good going into the long climb back to the main road, it also gave me a chance to see who was behind me and how far behind me they were. There was a pack of 8-10 guys who were about a half mile behind me coming out of the turn around several of which were in my Age Group and I really wanted to hold them off going into the run. My body however had other ideas and my left calf knotted up horribly around the 20 mile mark to the point where I had to pedal with one leg and stretch at the same time. I knew I had to take it easy going back into transition or there would be no run at all much less a good run. This allowed the group behind me to catch up and we all hit T2 together. Coming into the park I tried to get my foot out of my shoe and my right calf knotted up so I stuck my foot back in the shoe and did the stop and get off dismount at the line.  Now I was a little worried that my calves were going to prevent me from having a good run. This ended up being my slowest bike split ever at this race which is kind of a shame. I was right around 22mph until the calf cramps hit.  Time: 1:09:20 (21.5 mph) 8/43 AG.

T2-Due to the calf cramps I didn’t get out of my shoes before the line so I had to “ice skate” to my rack on my bike cleats. Once I hit the race I was able to get in and out quickly. 0:48 2nd/43 AG.

Run-I was really nervous coming out of transition that my calves were going to do me in on the run. After the first 100 yards or so I knew that this was not going to be the case and I got into my race pace/race cadence. My legs felt great and I knew that I was about to have a great run as long as I didn’t try to go to hard from the beginning. I started picking people off from the get go and by the second mile I had dusted everyone in that little pack that had come into transition with me off the bike. I hit the dam and was in a sort of no-man’s land, in sight of but around 1/4-1/2 mile back from the elite guys and around the same distance ahead of the guys behind me. I was ticking the miles off at around a 6:45 pace when I hit the turn around and started back over the dam. I knew that if I could keep this pace up I would have a huge PR run so I put my head down and let it fly for the last 5k. I chose to power walk the short, steep hill at mile 4.5 to keep the HR down and to guard against the calves cramping again. Once I made the turn back on the main road I didn’t see any of the Olympic guys ahead of me, only Sprint racers were left. I used them as carrots to continue to push all the way to the finish line. When I hit the 1 mile to go station I looked at my watch and knew I could come in under 2:15 if I kept up my current pace.  I crossed the finish line with a new run PR and a new overall PR. Time-42:06 (6:47 min/mile) 5th/43 AG.

Total Time-2:14:50 5th/43 AG, 23rd Overall/232 Total

The M40-44 AG was the largest Age Group with 43 (not counting the overall or masters winners), the next largest AG was M35-39 with 26.

Overall I couldn’t be happier with this race as a whole. The swim would have been a PR even if it had been 1.5k (I estimate it was around 200m short), the bike was a little disappointing because of the cramps, and the run was by far the best run I have ever had in a race. This is a 9 minute PR for me over my old 2:23 that I had at St. Anthony’s in 2007 which I directly attribute to the weather. It seemed like everyone I spoke to after the race PR’d by about the same amount and other than the swim being a little short the course was exactly the same (the bike according to my Garmin and Joule was actually ~.3 long) as in other years so the weather was the only variable.

Once again Jim Rainey and his staff at Georgia Multisports did a great job putting this race on and  moving it to April was a stroke of genius! Now if we could just convince him to move Rock N Rollman to a cooler time of the year……

Thanks for reading, Train Safe!

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April 19, 2012

Product Review: IN Extreme Energy Recovery Drink

I recently started using the I.N. Extreme Energy Recovery Drink from Ignite Naturals (www.ignitenaturals.com) post workout. In the past I have used or tried just about every recovery drink on the market and haven’t really noticed a difference. With the Extreme Energy I actually notice when I DON’T use it post workout. My body seems to take longer to recover and I have much more soreness post workout.  

What I love about Extreme Energy and all of the Ignite Naturals products is that they are all natural, no processed sugars, no artificial sweeteners, and no hormone infused ingredients. Due to the lack of sugar or artificial sweeteners the taste takes a little getting used to at first (natural cocoa vs “chocolate milk”) but isn’t an issue after a sip or two. You can add a banana or coconut water to the powder mix in order to boost the carbohydrates and/or electrolytes (and give it a little more taste). Extreme Energy uses a mix of antioxidants, proteins and amino acids to combat free radicals found in the muscles after exercise.

Here are the particulars if you are a label reader:

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Overall I think that this is a great product and the fact that it is all natural is just a bonus. Give Extreme Energy a try and see if it helps you the way that it has helped me in recovering post workout.

 

 

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January 12, 2012

New Sponsor

I am happy to annouce my partnership with Ignite Naturals (www.ignitenaturals.com) for the 2012 season. Their entire product line is formulated with 100% all natural products, no artificial ingrediants, no stimulants. I will personally be using the Reload energy gels during my racing and training this year. The Reload gels are fig based and are a direct source of ATP for the working muscles.

I am looking forward to a great 2012 season! Thanks Ignite for your support.

 

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October 10, 2011

A Different Kind of Finish Line

There are few experiences in life that are more powerful than the finish line of an Ironman triathlon. The loud music, cheering fans, and Mike Reilly calling out each finishers name over the PA with those magical words “(Insert Name Here), you are an IRONMAN!” are enough to send chills down your spine.

A few weeks ago I was fortunate enough to witness another Finish Line that was a lot more emotional and certainly held more meaning for its participants. The Atlanta Breast Cancer Two Day Walk finished at the Georgia Aquarium/World Of Coke area across from Centennial Olympic Park. My wife Kate had decided to walk this year in honor of her mother who is fighting a second round of breast cancer. The walk consisted of a 20 mile leg on Day 1 and a 10 mile leg on Day 2 around the downtown Atlanta area. Kate sent me a text saying that they would be finished between 11-11:30 am on Sunday so the kids and I went down to meet her at the finish line.  We set up shop on the sidewalk in front of the Aquarium and watched as the stream of walkers began to filter into the finish area. There were women (and a few men) of all shapes and sizes, some ladies who either had recently finished treatment or were still going through treatment and had lost all of their hair, there were groups walking with signs “In Honor Of” survivors and entirely too many walking with signs “In Memory Of” those that had passed. The most heart wrenching moment was the father/son team that were walking In Memory Of the Mother/Wife that they had lost to this horrible disease. As they approached the finish they stopped and hugged each other and broke down in tears, it was all I could do to keep from crying myself.  A little while later Team Breasta Fiesta came around the corner and the kids took off to meet their Mommy, after a short reunion Kate and her teammates walked arm in arm under the finishing banner.  When we met her on the other side she looked at me and said “this is my Ironman, I want to do this walk every year until they find a cure.” Her 8 person team was able to raise $10,000 and the entire event raised over $600,000 toward Breast Cancer research and awareness. The great thing is that all of that money stays local and goes to programs that benefit Breast Cancer patients in and around the Metro Atlanta area. You can visit the It’s The Journey website here for a complete list of where all of the money goes. Next year the goal for Team Breasta Fiesta is to get a team of 30 walkers and raise $30,000 toward curing this horrible disease. If you are so inclined you can donate to Kate’s page here and you can sign up to walk with Breasta Fiesta here.

Thanks for reading. Go hug your Grandmother, Mom, Wife, Aunt, Sister, Cousin, or Daughter.

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September 9, 2011

Ironman Louisville Race Report

I have written and rewritten this race report several times over the last two weeks. On the whole I had a pretty decent day and I am very happy with my swim and bike segments of the race, unfortunately my run once again did me in and was a sufferfest .

Let me begin by saying that anyone who choses to do two Ironman races in one year (much less 9 weeks apart) is a complete and total moron and should be flogged repeatedly for stupidity. If that person happens to be around or over the 40-year-old mark (like yours truly) then the punishment is doubled. I can honestly say I don’t think that I have ever done anything harder in my life than the 9 week time frame between Coeur d’Alene and Louisville. I think that it is going to be a couple of months at least before I am fully recovered from both races.

Pre-Race-The pre race for Louisville began two days after CDA when I signed up for the race. I  knew that my fitness wasn’t the issue at CDA so I sought out the council of our Registered Sports Dietician Ilana Katz. Ilana and I went through my diet and changed a lot of things around, eliminating most of the sugar and other “bad for you” things while adding in more good fats and carbs, it was “Extreme Makeover: Diet Edition”. Almost immediately I felt better, I had more energy and I felt like I was recovering faster after each workout. We also had a very detailed plan for my diet the week prior to the race and we tweaked the race day nutrition a bit adding in a few more calories in the bottles and a potato to munch on for some solid food. All in all I felt very confident in my everyday and race day nutrition going into the race.

We set off for Kentucky on Thursday afternoon and due to traffic in Chattanooga ended up going I-75 through Knoxville and Lexington instead of through Nashville and Bowling Green. Just inside the Kentucky line we stopped at a rest area and had a picnic for dinner which allowed me to control the food that I was putting into my body. When traveling to a race (or traveling in general) this is the way to go, fast food is nasty in general and you never know what you are putting into your body. It would be sad to see all of those hours of training go down the tubes due to food poisoning from a dirty fast food kitchen.

On Friday I went into town and hit registration and packet pick up, talked with a couple of my athletes who were doing the race, and went back out to the house to rest. Saturday was more of the same, a quick bike ride with Mark Klafter, short run off the bike (I felt great!) and then bike and gear bag check in and back home.

Race Day-I woke up at 4:30am and had a bowl of oatmeal with flax-seed and half a cup of coffee.  My Dad dropped me off at Transition and it was time to put my food on the bike, drop off the special needs bags and do any other last-minute things before the swim. By the time I had walked up to Tumbleweeds the line was LONG (really long) so I found the end and waited.

Swim-(1:08:26, 1:44/100m)-I was toward the end of a very long line to get into the water so I didn’t actually start swimming until about 7:40am. The race was stopped for a few minutes when a fellow athlete had to be pulled from the water (we found out later that he had passed away. Prayers for his family) so there was a large gap between the front and rear half of the race. Once we got the green light to go I hopped in and quickly found my stroke. The swim felt amazing the entire time and I never felt like I was pushing the pace . I honestly thought it was going to be slower than CDA since it was a non-wetsuit swim so I was very happy to see 1:08 on my watch when I climbed up the stairs out of the water. A big thanks to my fellow swimmers in Lane 7 at Westminster and Coach Tracy Palmer at The Sport Factory Masters for pushing me and making me a better swimmer this year.  I have exceeded expectations in the swim at every race this year thanks to you.

T1-Since I didn’t change completely like CDA this was significantly faster as well. Add to that a sweet rack spot at the end and I was in and out in a flash. 5:21

Bike-I know this bike course like the back of my hand having raced it twice (IMLOU ’07, Cardinal Harbor ’09) and having lived in the area during high school. I had a plan for each section of the course and I was determined to stick to it and conserve energy for the run. The first segment was River Road out to US 42 which is flat as a pancake, the goal was to get the HR down from the swim and to settle into my target wattage for the day. It was cooler than normal (and much cooler than last year) so the ride out was really enjoyable. My HR came down quickly and at my target wattage of 180 watts I was cruising at ~21mph. I started my nutrition which consisted of 350 cal/hr of Carbo Pro and GU Brew Blueberry Pomegranete mixed into two 1 1/2 hour water bottles. The plan was to drink every 15 minutes, supplement with water from the course and switch the bottles out at Special Needs for the second lap. The  next segment was US 42 to the out and back on KY1694 (which includes a large hill and a rough bridge) back to US 42. There is a pretty good climb right as you turn onto 42 from River Road and this is where my chain got stuck between my cassette and spokes the last time I raced here and cost me ~30 minutes on the side of the road. I was happy to be passed this section without incident! The rest of the way out to 1694 is rolling hills and I felt very strong going out. Several times I wanted to push the pace a little, but held back because I knew the backside of the course was hilly and we would have a slight headwind coming back toward Louisville.  The out and back on 1694 wasn’t as bad as I remembered and I made it through without dropping a water bottle. I turned back onto 42 still feeling strong and ready to see my family when I passed my old house on 393. The temperature was still low as was the humidity and I was really enjoying being on my bike. I crested the hill on 393 and saw my family and all of the Barkwood Drive crew at the end of the road waiting on me so I waved as I passed. Lilly was getting a drink out of the cooler and missed me as I rode past. At this point I was around 32 miles into the bike and right on target with my wattage and HR. The next “landmark” on the trip is good old Oldham County High School. It is always a bit surreal to ride past my alma mater, I wouldn’t have never guessed that 21 years after graduation I would be riding by on a bike. After hanging a left on 146 the course goes into downtown LaGrange which was packed to the gills as usual, a new touch this year were barriers to keep people from randomly walking out in front of you as you passed through town. The big crowd around the courthouse and the square is always a nice lift as the race passes through town. The next segment is the toughest in my opinion since you pass through town and out into a more sparsely populated part of the course. There are a couple of nasty little hills on Old Ballard School Road and on Old Sligo Road which really zap the legs at this point in the ride. Adding insult to injury was the headwind that we had to fight going westbound on 42 back toward 393 and the second loop through La Grange. During this part of the ride I really had to concentrate on putting my head down and holding wattage through the wind, I was very glad to turn back onto 393 and start the second loop. I passed the family for a second time, this time Aaron was “busy” over by the woods so I missed seeing him. I stopped at Special Needs and grabbed my two extra bottles and my potato and hit the road. My legs still felt really good and I was still enjoying my bike ride, the temperature was starting to come up a bit but it was still very comfortable. La Grange was loud and crazy on the second loop which gave me another much-needed boost. After passing the 70 mile mark I came up on one of my teammates Mark Klafter, he was going through a rough patch so I gave him some words of encouragement and peddled on down the road. I was not looking forward to riding back to town on 42 with the headwind and surprisingly it wasn’t as strong (or at least didn’t feel as strong) the second time through. I stopped at the Mile 85 aid station for a bathroom break and took on 2 bottles of cold water (I am really glad I stopped as this was the LAST aid station until mile 106!). The break was good and I knew that I could come in under 6 hours if I pushed it a little on the way back, I resisted though and stayed within my wattage range all the way back to transition. It was really hard not to hammer a little bit on River Road coming back in since I felt so good! I hit transition feeling good, right on target wattage wise (goal was 180watts Normalized Power, actual was 179 watts Normalized Power) and happy to be off the bike. Total Time: 6:08:39/18.23 mph

T2-My legs felt surprisingly good getting off the bike. I handed my bike off to a volunteer to rack and grabbed my gear bag. All I had to do in T2 was take off my helmet and bike shoes and put on my visor and running shoes. The only other thing I did was stop for sunscreen so I have no idea why all that took me 7:13.

Run-And here is where everything went south (a recurring theme). I ran out of transition with the usual “jello legs” that come with just getting off the bike but otherwise feeling pretty good. As I rounded the corner to go up the bridge my right hamstring completely knotted up and I was forced to stop and massage it out. I walked the first aid station and tried to give it a chance to loosen up and it did a little. After that it was run a little, hamstring knot up, walk it out, run a little, hamstring knot up, rinse and repeat. This lasted pretty much the entire first lap which sucked. As I started the second lap of the run I got a bit of a second wind and was able to jog (not really run) for a bit without the hammy acting up. I resigned myself to just doing the best that I could and getting to the finish line however long it took. The run course at Louisville is fairly flat, the only real hills are the bridge at the beginning and a small hill under the Watterson Expressway at the other end of the loop. The last time I did the race in ’07 we ran down 3rd to Southern Parkway and back into town, and then looped around the block and back out. This year there was an offset of a block where we ran past the gate of Churchill Downs (which would have been fine except for the crackheads and package stores that we ran past in the process) and then reconnected with Southern Parkway a bit further out. I don’t understand why the race organizers decided to do this, the area around Churchill Downs is not the best area of Louisville and definitely not something I would want to showcase to out-of-town participants (not to mention the possibility of getting mugged for the later finishers). As I passed this part of the course a second time I was glad it was still daylight and I was ready to be done with the race. I was wearing my KSWISS Blades for the run which would have been fine had I actually been running, for walking they just don’t have enough padding on the soles and my feet felt like they were on fire.  I hit mile 23 and remarked to the guy I was run/walk (slogging?) with that normally I could run 3 miles in ~18-19 minutes, but tonight I was happy with that time for 1 mile.  It was nice to see the finish line and the big crowd there at 4th street live. Out of all the Ironman races that I have done or watched, Louisville has the best finish line by far. I ran down the chute and across the line to finish my 4th Ironman overall, 2nd of the summer, and last one for the forseeable future. My run split was 6:17:50, 14:25 min/mile so I have the dubious honor of having a run split slower than my bike split.

Total Race Time: 13:47:29, about 7 minutes slower than CDA.

I knew going into the race that the run was going to be an issue, the entire time I was training for Louisville I felt like garbage on my runs. I never had that “pop” on any of my runs and the few long runs I did left me trashed the day after.

I have said to many of you in person or on Facebook that I am retired from the Ironman distance and I mean that 100%. My kids are at the ages where they are playing sports and are involved in things that I need to be a part of as a Dad. They are only going to be little once and I don’t want to wake up one day and realize I missed time with them out chasing Ironman. Who knows, when I retire in 16 years I might be back out there giving it another go. By that time maybe most of my Age Group will have artificial hips and knees and I will be able to outrun them.

I haven’t really decided what I am going to go after in 2012, I will probably do at least one 70.3 early and maybe one late as well depending on if my son plays football again next year. My schedule will consist of primarily short,  local races and maybe a few new events like an XTERRA or adventure race. It is definitely time to start the next chapter in my triathlon life and I am looking forward to it!

Thanks for reading, train safe!

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