IRONMAN LOUISVILLE - Kentucky 2016

IRONMAN LOUISVILLE

KENTUCKY 2016

You know its time to quit when you don't have the energy to write a decent race report. I took quite a few photos though so, like many of my assignments in school, I'm going to pad this report with graphics.

We arrived in Louisville late Thursday night. I woke up early on Friday morning and went sight seeing. 

It wasn't long before the sidewalks started filling up with determined looking athletes. 

Everyone walked right past these ladies. I came back after the race but they were gone. No donuts for me :(

After breakfast we went to the IM village to register. While everyone was listening diligently to the race briefing we went and registered - no lines!

I rented a bike - best decision ever. 

Later we stopped in at this old school bike store to get some supplies. There was this "cellar" of bikes which was pretty cool. 

After lunch I took a walk to the downtown finish area. There were loads of cool buildings, museums and art galleries, as well as some interesting people.....

....like these two guys. 

The finish line was set up right in the middle of the downtown restaurant area, only 140.6 miles from the starting line :)

THE RACE

On Saturday the temperature dropped dramatically, and it was windy as hell. Sunday morning was just as cold (47 F / 8 C) but without the wind; which is good because we had to line up fairly early for the swim . 

Us in the mile long line. We got in line at about 6:15 and only got into the water 2 hours later. 

That was my only complaint for the day.

THE SWIM

Jeff and I hung together for about half of the swim as Jamie ploughed through the rest of the field. It went by quickly and uneventfully. 1h08min - an IM PB swim for me

THE BIKE

The bike course had plenty of ups and downs, but no epic climbs, and not too much wind. In 10 minutes we were out of the city and in the countryside.  Maybe if I focused more on the road and less on the surroundings my time would have been better. An acceptable 6h20min

I was cold for the whole ride and it felt great getting off the bike and letting the sun warm my body. 

THE RUN

After blowing up in almost every run in the past I decided to take it really easy at the start. I had some stomach issues and made some pit stops, but otherwise I kept the old man shuffle all the way to the end. 5 hours flat, not my best but definitely not my worst. All added up - 12h50min 

Jamie crushed the whole race - 11h15min. Unreal first time. Jeff came in 11h30, an amazing time considering his shoulder is screwed and his bike was stuck in one gear for a large portion of the ride. 

Jamie, me, Aaron,Jeff, Maggie and Ron after the race (and a hot shower). We stuck around at the finish and had something to eat. We watched the last people coming in - heartbreak for those who just missed the cut. 

I went for a long walk the morning after at about 5:30 am. I walked through the IM village and saw about 30 people lined up for the merchandise tent (if you look closely you can see them on the lawn)

The river looks so clean and blue in this pic; its anything but that

This was my 6th and final Ironman. I'm done, for real this time. It's been fun. Something I never thought I would do once, let alone 6 times. I still don't quite understand my motivation. I think Jeff had a lot to do with it. 

Thanks you psychopath!

The journey actually began 11 years ago in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. Some friends and I were walking to a bar/club up the street from where I lived . We saw these freaks dressed in Lycra stumbling along Beach Road, looking like the survivors of some jazzercise war. I asked one of these Lycra zombies what he was doing. He explained to me what an Ironman is: "Its a 4km swim,...followed by........."

That's where he lost me..

My response was something like : "That's not possible, and even if it is who in their right mind would want to do that? Whats the point?"

THE END