Louisville IronMan - Race Narrative - What Have I Learned About Training?

Where had I been prepared? Where had I not?

For the swim, I think it would have been better to ask about currents, where they are, how to use them. It wasn’t a lake, so the river currents could move you very quickly off a straight line. I improved about 50-80% on the swim since I started 20 months ago. I think I have another 20-30% to improve over the next 20 months; I'm ready.

For the bike, simply put, bike more hills. I live in a flat, urban environment. I did the first 100 mile ride in Wisconsin. That was an orientation to a 100 mile ride, up and down hills. For the second, I went to southern Wisconsin, but it wasn’t hilly enough. So I never really learned to ride them, nor how to use my equipment and its momentum. I could tell other riders were using strategies about how to use their bikes; I just, pretty much, pedaled. I have a lot of room to improve on the bike. A LOT.

For the run, I wasn’t expecting the exhaustion. I had been expecting pain. Exhaustion creped up on me, and I think I would have managed it better had I noticed the signs. This marathon was completely different from running a regular marathon...the signs of your body slowing are different. They need a different mental plan; I'd like to do this race again someday, to check my hypotheses...

Since I had been up since 3 that morning, it wasn’t surprising that at some point, my body would want to go to sleep, even if I were moving. That’s what it had felt like. In retrospect, I think I would have tried to drink chicken broth sooner, to get some more calories into me of more substance and given myself a more strategic approach to food…knowing when to tolerate a little stomach upset, knowing when to expect it to pay off.

I finished the run strong; I may have had more in me than I thought.

The only regret I'm feeling right now is - why hadn't I done an IronMan sooner? That's a good regret to have.