Ladies & Gents, what a day!! It was hot, humid, a bit windy during the bike and overall, a great day to do an Ironman. Swim: The swim for Ironman Louisville takes place in the Ohio river and unlike other Ironman events, it is not a mass water start. Basically there's a long line of people and everyone jumps in single file; the channel between the mainland and a small island that the swim is started in is narrow so the idea is that people won't get bunched up too much. I took the swim out easy on purpose and didn't exert myself a whole lot throughout it as I wanted to get a good rhythm going to start what I knew was going to be a long day. I got out of the water in 1:21:36 and felt great! Bike: The Louisville bike course is definitely best described as "rolling". On Sunday, aside from the rolling hills, the heat and wind made things challenging - with temp's getting into the 33 degree celsius range and feeling more like 38, the wind was more like a fan blowing heat off of a fire and onto everyone throughout the 180km (112 mile) bike course. I made a conscious decision to take it a bit easier on the first half of the bike course and try to pick things up in the second half; this worked out well and I felt strong throughout the entire ride averaging 28.92 km's /hr. Total bike time: 6:13:54 Run: The run course is relatively flat but the heat was once again relentless. The wind we had on the bike was no where to be found as a sign of relief on the run; heat came from everywhere... my feet especially felt it on the black asphalt. Every mile there was a marker telling you how far you've gone (on the run); I remember thinking to myself jokingly at the 1 mile mark... "hmm, only 25.2 miles to go!". Total run time: 4:55:23 Overall: It was not an easy day and I wouldn't have it any other way; crossing the finish line of an Ironman is an incredible feeling!! I was 97 out of 260 in my age group and 585 out of 1975 athletes for a total time of 12:51:15. For now, it's time to rest / heal up!! - Graham - |
