2018 IM Louisville

The amazing finish at IM Louisville - it really was spectacular!

IM Louisville 2018

10/14/2018

It was a hard day at the office.  The weather was brutal but it was the mind that tripped me up.

 I knew going in that it was going to be moderately cold with some rain possible.  I didn’t expect the morning downpour and the very chilly temperatures would last all day.  [A special shout-out to sherpas, volunteers and spectators. We train for this, but you do it out of the goodness of your heart and you had to really want to be out there. Your presence was so appreciated!!] I filled my gear bags with warm clothes and lots of layers plus I wore my wetsuit down to the start.  These things helped, but I was still cold and would do a few things differently if I were to encounter this type of weather again.

Morning of race – Transition opens:  I made a leisurely trip down to transition. I am usually there right when it opens, but with the cold, I didn’t see any reason to spend extra time being out in the elements.  We left our room at 5:30 am and grabbed coffee on the 15-minute walk down to transition.  Once there, I borrowed a pump and checked the pressure on my tires.  I went a little lower than normal because of the rain and wet roads. I filled up my bottles with water to mix with my nutrition and then realized that I didn’t have all my solid nutrition to put on my bike.  I ran out to Michael who was outside the transition area and asked him to run back to the room and grab my 2 Uncrustables and bag of peanut butter M&M’s from the freezer.  We agreed to meet back in 30 minutes (It was 6 am so this meant 6:30 still plenty of time before transition closed at 7).  When I got back to my bike, Natalee [Tri-sister from Portland] was prepping her bike next to mine.  We walked to check on our gear bags that were left in transition the day before when checking in our bikes.  The gear bags had been rained on and most everything on top was wet.  The next step would be to turn in our special needs bags, but I had to wait for Michael because the most of the nutrition that he was grabbing needed to go into these bags (we get them at the ½ way point on both the bike and run).  I had done everything I could so I went to wait at our meeting spot.  6:30 came and went and I didn’t have a phone to check on his status.  At 6:45, I borrowed a phone from a stranger waiting near me.  Michael was almost there and I was so relieved when I finally saw him.  I added the nutrition to my bike and special needs bags and got everything turned in with 10 minutes to spare.  I found Natalee and her family and we headed the 1 mile to the swim start that was suppose to happen at 7:35 am.

Once at the swim start, we lined up according to our expected swim time.  Natalee and I got in the 1:20 – 1:30 line.  We made friends with the people around us and were joined by more of our Tri-family who made the wait fun and kept our mind off what was about to happen.  At 7:30, we learned by way of the telephone game that the swim had been shortened and would start ½ hour later.  We sent Liz to confirm what we were hearing.  It was confirmed.  We digested the news and I have to admit that I was relieved because the day before during the practice swim, I encountered a very strong current that kept me in the same spot for what felt like forever.  This had me a little freaked out but I had confidence in my swim ability.  My coach, John, found us and gave us a little pep talk.  It was good to see his calm instead of our nervous energy.  At 8 we heard the pro men cannon go off and then the pro women and finally the age groupers.  It would be what felt like forever before we began to move.

Swim:  The swim was shortened to .9 miles to eliminate the upriver portion of the swim.  The current was too strong making it impossible.  They also held the race for an additional 30 minutes because the rain made it difficult to see the swimmers in the water.  Because the swim was going to go so fast they slowed down how fast they put the swimmers in the water so that the transition area and bike didn’t get bunched up.  All this was ok but it left us standing around getting cold or colder. 

The current was crazy strong making the swim times fast.  It was also a cluster out there.  The buoys were constantly moving and we didn’t know what side of them that we were suppose to be on.  I did my best to stay between the kayaks and sight off the last red buoy. We were told at the practice swim the day before that we needed to start swimming in before the red buoy or we would over shoot the swim exit.  I probably swam in a little early because I got stuck on the wrong side of the stairs and thank goodness for the amazing volunteers who worked the swim exit that got us up those stairs.  It took less than 20 minutes but there was a lot of mental stress with the swim.

I have to give a shout out to the wetsuit stripers.  They are a lifesaver when your fingers are numb.  I don’t think I have ever gotten my wetsuit off so fast!

Time: 17:22

T1: Running into transition was a long cold run in just a swimsuit.  I grabbed my bike gear bag and headed into the changing tent.  My first step into the tent was into a deep sand hole – so much for having clean feet.  The tent was packed and I had a complete change to do.  I put on my tri kit top, thermal base layer and my down running vest on top.  On bottom, I wore bike shorts and compression socks.  Out to get my bike and get this thing started.

Time: 14:29 (I laugh that this almost took as long as the swim!)

Bike:  It felt like we had to walk forever to get to the mount line (For the non-Tri people – this is the spot we can actually get on our bikes) - wet cement and bike shoes complicated this.  I was sure that I was going to fall and break something.  I made it safely to the mount line and was greeted by the best Tri-sisters ever who made the trip out to support.  [Thank you Sara, Candy, Liz and Debbie – you guys are awesome!].  Once on my bike, I quickly realized my power meter was not working.  The rain must not have agreed with it.  This meant I would have to pace on feel so I headed out at a cautious pace not just because I never ride in the rain but also because I new this first part was flat and I could potentially go out too fast. The course was a lollipop course meaning that there was an out, 2 loops and back in.  The loops were the challenge and where the relentless rolling hills were.

Check out the standing water on the road. We were wet!

 My compression socks were the first to soak through and my toes were very cold until they just went numb.  I didn’t feel like drinking much so I was very thankful for all the solid food that I packed and tried to make sure that I ate something every 10 miles.  I had to make a bathroom stop at mile 30 and getting off my bike was a trick.  I didn’t realize how cold and stiff I was.  I was very thankful for the help given at this pit stop.  Going through La Grange was a huge moral boost. I saw Michael and hearing all the cheers was like powering up on a video game.  The loops were through horse country and beautiful - lots of fenced pastures and big houses.  The smells of fires in the fireplace were my favorite smell and I enjoyed the signs with math problems that gave my brain something other than the race to think about.  While racing it didn’t click with me how many people were abandoning the race but looking back on it there were lots of people loitering around at the aid stations and it turns out there were something like 400 people who abandoned for one reason or another during this leg of the race.  For me, as the bike progressed, I got more comfortable with the wet roads and handling my bike and just got use to the cold.  I did get a headache from my cold ears and would definitely make sure my ears were covered at these temperatures next time. All that being said, I was thankful to finish the second loop and be heading back to transition.  The last 5 miles were the hardest because the road was the roughest and I was just done.

 Time: 7:12:58

T2:  I thankfully gave up my bike and grabbed by run gear bag to get changed for run.  I wish that I had put a towel in this bag because I had nothing clean to stand on to change my sock and shorts.  It was quite a trick getting my feet clean and dry and ready to run.  I decided not to change my top layers because I was warm and I didn’t want to mess with it.  Time to finish this thing!

Time: 12:13

Run:  Heading out onto the run, I saw Liz and Natalee’s family and learned that she was in front of me.  I got my running legs and started my run plan of run 1 mile and walk for 1 minute. I saw John and Michael and felt like I could do this – my feet and ankles were hurting (not usual and figured it had to do with the cold bike ride).  Once I hit the 2ndaid station, I realized that my plan would need to be adjusted so that I could walk through the aid stations.  New plan – run between aid stations and walk from first garbage can to last garbage can of each aid station.  The negotiations had started in my head and I was loosing.  The aid stations were great and they had my favorite Kettle and Fire bone broth and I really enjoyed the grapes.  Yes, the aid stations were my favorite part of the run!  Just past mile 6, Natalee ran by me and I was so glad to see her.  I would have loved to catch up and run with her but I knew our pace was similar and to catch I would have to run faster and not walk the aid stations. I tried for about a mile and then went back to my run/walk the aid stations plan and that is when the dark cloud came in and tried to convince me that I should just walk and that I had nothing to prove.  At mile 13, I saw Michael.  I told him that I was done and he told me to keep running.  I tried but at mile 16, I was just ready to stop. I saw Natalee again around the 20-mile mark and we hugged.  I really needed that!  I walked for most of the next few miles until I finally convinced myself that I needed to get back to the run/walk plan if I was going to get this thing done. I found my legs again and my will to compete and finish.  The last 4 miles felt like the first 4 miles.  Coming around the corner and knowing that the finish line was just a few blocks away was amazing.  I slowed down so that there was plenty of room between myself and the other finishers so that I wouldn’t have anyone messing up my finisher pictures.  I did my best to enjoy the finish but I was just so happy to be done.  It was a long day at the office and I was ready to punch the clock.

Time: 5:00:45

Sara and Candy were at the finish line with my medal and hugs and I was so glad to see them. They pointed me to Michael and John and then over to Natalee who had waited for me.  I was so thankful for all of their support all day long. It kept me going and looking forward to the next time that I would see them.  

This race was not what I had expected.  I was here for a little bit of redemption after the bike malfunction last year at Whistler.  Training had gone well and I was ready for the miles.  I wasn’t ready for the weather and I forgot to be thankful for every mile especially the ones on the run course.  This race solidified why I love this sport – my tri-family and that there is always something to work on and improve. Looking forward to the 2019 race season!

Overall time: 12:57:45