Posted on
Sep 29, 2009 by laurah
I find much value in integrating variety into my Hershey’s Tour de Pink Training. So on August 30, 2009 I completed my longest training workout to date: Ironman Louisville 2009. For those of you who are not familiar with it, the Ironman is a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike and 26.2 mile run. I love endurance sports so the Ironman is a perfect challenge for me. I entered this challenge without any expectations. I wanted to finish, have a respectable time, but beyond those goals, I had no plan. This strategy quickly deteriorated as my training progressed, and I realized that I was competitive in my age group.
One day, just for fun, I looked at the 2008 Ironman Louisville Kona qualifying times. Female 25-29 age group qualifying times were under 11 hours and 53 minutes. My target time, based on my training was 11 hours and 50 minutes! At that moment, I realized I was competitive for a Kona slot. For those of you who (most of the world) who are unfamiliar with the importance of Kona Ironman, it is the Ironman world championships. The Ironman of Ironmans! So, I adjusted my ambitions from simple completion of an Ironman finish to a clear outlined set of prioritized goals:
1. Don’t die
2. Finish the Ironman
3. Run the entire marathon
4. Finish the swim in 1 hour in 30 minutes
5. Run the marathon in under 4 hours
6. Finish the bike in under 6 hours
7. Finish in under 11 hours and 50 minutes
8. Qualify for Kona
I woke up on August 30, 2009 with those goals in mind.
The Swim:
I love the smell of neoprene in the morning. It smells like…victory!
Ironman Louisville is unique in that it is Ironman's only time trialed swim start. Instead of seeding the start based on swim times, they do it on a first come first served basis. So I got up early and ate coffee and vitamins (breakfast of Ironmen!), grabbed my special needs bags and took off at 5am. I arrived at transition at 5:30am….The swim line was already growing. I made the walk to the swim start, only to find a line of humans stretching as far as the eye could see.
Boom!
There is magic in an Ironman swim start. The amount of adrenaline released with the start cannon is palpable, 2000 plus bodies surging into the water...except in a time trial start. The only thing the cannon did was scare the hell out of everyone standing in line. From my position I wouldn't touch the water for another 5 minutes. Another advantage of a mass start is drafting, where the first 500 meters are pretty much a sprint but eventually the pace drops and packs of swimmers form, no packs here.
I wouldn't say I had a crappy swim but I would say that swimming is obviously not my strongest event. By the time I got into the water there was at least a thousand people ahead of me forming a wall of bodies to swim through…actually it was more like a human blender of arms and legs. There was not an open line for the first 3/4 of a mile, I was doing the swim equivalent of bobbing and weaving to get ahead, think frogger on the water. I'll say that this bobbing and weaving cost me 4 minutes in the swim. There were times during the swim where I "sat up" to wait for an opening instead of totally hammering the swimmer in front, I'm a humanitarian. After clearing the crowds and turning the corner to swim back toward Louisville, I was all alone - nobody to around to work with (draft off). The final 1.5 miles of the swim was very uneventful. I could see the police boat that I assumed was where the final mark was, so I picked a building in the skyline and aimed for that, instead of swimming from buoy to buoy.
Swim time: 1:27:01
T1:
So, I get out of the water and I am bombarded by screaming friends and family. I marvel at the speed at which I fly past other racers toward the transition tents. I honestly thought I would be a lot more disoriented. The Ironman announcer booms, “Athlete 411, Laurah Turner Jones from Indianapolis, a two time breast cancer survivor!” The crowd erupts in cheers and applause as I run over the timing mat.
The nice thing about being somewhat fast for an Ironman is that I arrive at the changing tents relatively empty. This time was no different. I had 5 guys (oh so dreamy) waiting on me. Putting my TYR Sayonara speed skin, swim cap and green TYR goggles back into my transition bag. Another guy helping me put on my aero helmet (bright white ready for advertisers) and even drying off my Oakleys I received at last year’s Tour de Pink. Out of the tent, count three racks from the end, find bike, unhook my pimped out green Cervelo P2, and I'm off for 112 miles of nearly perfect execution.
Time: 4:30. Nice and fast. No messing around.
The Bike:
Whoosh, Whoosh, Pop, Pop, Whoosh.
It is amazing how quiet and loud the world becomes while racing. The first 8 miles of the course is pure flat and fast...my type of course. 23...24 mph.... I know it is flat so I hammer it to take advantage of my strengths.
The Whoosh is the sound you hear as I pass you at nearly 28 mph. The Pop is the sound I hear when you’re changing your gears to catch me. Louisville is a very challenging course. Not a ton of huge, long steep climbs but there is no rhythm to be had. You are going up...or you are going down.
First loop all alone.
There are many differences between riding in the Hershey’s Tour de Pink (TdP) and the Ironman. The main is the competition….which leads to a whole other set of problems. During TdP we have an amazing SAG crew, delicious Hershey candy to sustain us and the height of all cycling luxury - port-o-potties at each SAG Stop! That’s right race fans, there is nothing worse than the internal argument you make with your body when you realize you have to relieve yourself during a race…I started this discussion with my bladder on the 2nd loop of Ironman. Fortunately I was able to make my kidneys to hold out….for now….
As I turned the corner to start lap 2 I could feel, I almost needed to stop to let the peloton through. Within half a mile I had 30 guys forming an echelon behind me. That was pretty much the story of the 2nd lap. Lots of, "On your left" and so forth. I get to mile 80 and I'm just sort of feeling OK with my performance so far. I'm upset that the lap traffic has altered my rhythm and strategy. Now instead of "going" at mile 80 I am fighting with lap traffic to move over and stay off my wheel (drafting). Mile 90 the road was clear, and I was able to accelerate and fly home.
So with that, nothing spectacular or over the top. Just a solid bike ride, maintained nutrition and hydration and prepare myself for a marathon.
Total Calories: 600
Nutrition
13 bottles of .75 liters of water (yes that is 2.6 gallons of water but some of that was for...well...pee removal)
3 caramels
3 Cliff bars
Time: 5:58:00
Speed: 18.4 mph (slower than I wanted but not horrid)