Race Report: IMKY.

A few weeks ago a lady I work with came back after a leave of absence (She is from the South, and in her seventies, so she tells it like it is). We were catching up, and eventually got on the topic of the Ironman race I was going to do in a few weeks. "You are STUPID and CRAZY boy, you are going to do a race in Louisville in August"!!! She continued the onslaught, "You know when you are cookin', and you are bakin' something in the oven, and you go to open the oven door and get hit by that blast of hot air, that is Louisville in August".
So that is how the day started at 5:30 a.m. The door opened in the hotel lobby and there was the blast of hot air. I made my way down to the transition area, dropped off my special needs bag, and started the 20 min walk to the swim start. IMKY has a first come first serve line up procedure for the swim start, which, being a strong swimmer I am not a fan of. With 2400 people registered for the event, I was about 2300 in the line. The start gun went off at 7, and I hit the water at about 7:45. I thought the swim would be worse than it was, but it opened up enough so I could find a groove.
Swim Time: 58:57
Rank: 6th in my age group (30-34) Not sure overall yet
Goal:go under an hour

The bike course starts off pretty flat for about 12 miles, so it was easy to get into a steady rhythm, almost too easy (which I would pay for later). There is an out and back that covers some of the bigger/longer climbs. I told myself before the big to not get into my big ring until mile 80, but I felt soooo good that I dropped the hammer, when I came off the out and back and entered into the 2 loop portion I felt like there was no way I could get through 112 miles. The headwind was strong and the heat was building ( I heard after the race that the heat index was 98). So I basically shut it down for 40 miles, worked the uphills and coasted on the downhills. When I hit mile 80 I felt great. There was a tailwind too. So for the rest of the 32 miles I coasted at 20+ mph
Bike Time:5:47:37
Rank: 35th in my age group
Goal: Go under 6 hours

As I started the run, I couldn't get over how great my legs felt. I was moving along with minimal effort, I thought to myself how easy this seemed (big mistake). The race course was flat, sunny and hot. Over time the elements just took its toll on me. At the half way point I lost the contents of my stomach, and from that point it was a run to an aid station, walk the aid station, run to the next aid station. The heat was relentless, the course looked like a charity walk. Not many runners, people on the side of the road, and the constant scream of ambulance sirens. It looked as though there were about 500 DNF's. I was able to battle through the cramping for the last mile, finish with a smile and hit the IV as soon as I could.

Run time:4:17:36
Rank: 32nd in my age group
Goal: Go under 4 hrs

Overall: 11:20 Not bad for a first attempt. It was my first time swimming 2.4 miles straight, 112 miles and running 26, so I can't complain.