Ironman Louisville Swim 2018

The days before the race, other athletes would ask how many Ironman’s I’d done. I still don’t know how to quickly answer this without explaining I’ve finished one and had to pull out of another during the bike portion because I crashed my bike 4 days before and tried racing unknowingly with a stress fracture in my pelvic. Doesn’t really roll off the tongue. My go to answer became to avoid a direct answer… “I did this race two years ago.”

I never thought I’d do repeat races, at least until I’d experienced a variety of venues. However, Louisville was the most convenient, worked towards my strengths and was late enough in the season that I thought my body would be ready. There was some comfort in knowing the course.

I know better than to expect certain times for the swim because water conditions can play a big role. I was still curious to see how I’d improved in this area at least compared to rest of the field. There were talks that the swim might be cancelled due to the strong currents. They closed the dam the day before, but it wasn’t enough.

The pros got into the water to warm up and the current was stronger than them. The pulled them out of the water and changed the course to only be downstream. This cut the swim from 2.4 miles to 0.9 miles. I wasn’t thrilled about this, but it didn’t really phase me and I rolled with it. I adjusted my swim plan to “SWIM HARD” the whole time. It was going to be a short warmup to a long day.

Temperatures were in the 40s and it had been raining since I woke up. A theme for the day. By the time I made it to the dock my feet were completely numb. I was excited to get into the water, so I could get some feeling back because the water felt warmer than the cold wet pavement. This was probably the most fun I’ve ever had swimming during a race. It felt like chaos and I felt in control. We were told to stay to the outside of all the buoys. The kayakers made sure we swam around the outside of the first one. Then it was a free for all with swimmers on all sides with kayakers just struggling to keep us in a mostly tight straight line while they were trying not to get carried away by the Ohio river.

I could tell I was swimming FAST. We were all swimming fast, but I was passing a lot of swimmers. I wasn’t expecting this since it was a self-seeded start. Maybe they were swimming easier but I was trying to get warmed up and my body primed for the ride. After what felt like only a couple minutes, we were starting to near the exit ramp. The kayakers started turning us but not early enough. I started pulling hard with my right arm to make sure I didn’t get pushed past the ramp. I heard of other swimmers that missed it and struggled for minutes trying to swim upstream only a few yards. I hopped up the stairs and started my run to T1. This was the happiest I’ve ever been post swim by far. I saw Bill and asked my time. He told me, and I was shocked and laughed. It was an excellent way to start the day. I swam 0.9 miles at a 1:00min/100m pace. This is faster than I can swim an all-out 25m sprint in the pool.

0.9mi Swim – 14:20, 5^th AG

The main concern about the race the days before was debating what to wear on the bike. I probably drove Katie bonkers with indecisiveness. She was kind enough to expediate ship me her aero top to go over my tri top. Standing on the docks I can honestly say I still had not decided what I was going to wear. I had shoved extra layers in my bike bag that morning. At some point while running into T1 I made the decision. Put on all the layers. Needless to say, this wasted extra time trying to put on additional layers while wet and cold. I struggled for probably a solid minute with my tri top rolled up over above my boobs with two volunteers trying to help pull it down. Then the tri top. Then my wind jacket. Gloves plus wool socks. Finally made it out of the tent and to my bike. I stared at my bike for a couple seconds convinced someone had messed with my bottle or maybe this wasn’t my bike. I had put a green bottle on my aero bars and this bottle was blue. Oh yea, it changes colors when it’s cold. Then the awkward hobble/run with my bike to the bike start line while struggling to keep my bike upright. Why can’t I run properly without my bike trying to go every direction and falling over?! Seriously, there is so much room for improvement in T1.

T1 – 10:33