Ironman Louisville 2010
By Jen Reisdorf
Ironman Louisville was my 5th ironman distance, and the third year in a row to do one. I signed up for the race last year before Redman. I remember about mile 18 of the run at Redman thinking, “why in the world did I sign up for another one of these?!” I stuck to my 36 week training plan starting in January, although I had to tweek it here and there to deal with plantar fasciitis problems in my left foot. I have to admit the motivation was lacking this go round. There were many days I’d procrastinate or re-arrange the weekend workouts to accommodate for my lack of enthusiasm. By May, my foot was toast. I was substituting runs for elliptical workouts and I even tried barefoot running to see if it would strengthen my feet at all. Finally I decided to take a full 3 weeks off from running, so every workout that I was supposed to run, I biked instead. In the last three summers, there has always been a few signature workouts that has defined my ironman training for the year (this is my favorite part of doing an Ironman!). The three that stick in my mind this year are 1) the Holt’s Summit Winery ride…a great route with good friends and great food and drink afterwards! 2) Back to back century rides July 3rd and 4th. This was great preparation for 3) the RAIN ride…”Ride Across Indiana.” I did this ride with fellow CMCer’s Bob and Sherry Grone and JP Palmer and her husband. It was a long day of riding but fun and definitely a confidence booster regarding my bike endurance. The peak of Ironman training is really what doing an Ironman is all about for me. I love the training and the feeling of accomplishing those 6 or 7 hour long workouts! However, this time around I found myself counting down the weeks and long workouts to taper. I was able to ease back into running, albeit a slow shuffle for most runs. My longest run was only 2 hours. This led to apprehension about being able to run 26 miles on race day. I decided to tackle this Ironman a little differently than others in the past. I learned my lesson in IM #2 in Couer D’Alene…start out too hard on the swim and bike and you have nothing left for the run. I ended up walking 24 of the 26 miles. That makes for a long marathon! But I figured I didn’t have anything to lose in Louisville. My game plan was to go all out on the swim and bike and see what was left for the run. If I was having the race of my life, I’d feel good for the run and bust out 26 miles, or worse case scenario, I couldn’t run the whole 26 miles anyway and would do a lot of walking.
Race day came around after a long two week taper. JP, Mackenzie, and I walked down to the bike transition area at 4:30am to pump our tires and drop off our special needs bags. Caroline was our personal assistant and cheerleader. She got up at 3:30am with us to carry our bags, pump, clothes, and shoes! I figured it’d be a little chilly on race morning so I was prepared wearing a long sleeve t-shirt. By the time we got down to the transition area, we were all sweating. I knew it was going to be a long, hot day! After dropping our stuff off and doing the last minute checks on the bikes, we walked another mile to the swim start. When we got there, we realized everyone’s secret…make your family wait in line to save your spot while you do everything with your bike. That way you get to be near the beginning of the swim. The line just kept going and going. As we sat in line, I refused to think about the day ahead. It only made me nervous. Finally the line started moving as race officials asked family to remove themselves from the line. After 90 minutes of waiting, we heard the gun go off for the pros. NOW I started to get nervous! We inched forward, slowly at first. We saw Mackenzie’s family decked out in their bright green CMC spectator shirts. I must say they were easy to spot and all looking good! Then all the sudden the line was moving fast and before you know it we were running down the zig-zag ramps of the boat dock and practically sprinting toward the swim start! Volunteers were yelling “go, go, go!” In my mind, I thought it was going to be similar to the start at Memphis in May…the line inching forward as a swimmer is allowed to start every few seconds. But no! Once at the end of the dock, there were people jumping in 3,4, 5 at a time! Everything happened so fast I forgot to set my watch to time my race. I held my goggles onto my face as I entered the water, but forgot to plug my nose. With a little Ohio River up my sinuses, I surfaced and started swimming. I remember thinking how I was already tired from the unexpected run down the docks! The water was fairly choppy but I was able to find a good rhythm once I made my way over to the far left of the swim course. I had to stop once to empty water from my goggles. Only about 300 yards into the swim, I almost ran over a guy doing the backstroke. I thought, “oh boy, it’s gonna be a long swim for him!” I tried several times to draft someone but the water was too murky to be able to see the feet in front of me! Luckily I didn’t have any kicks to the head or gut! I took the swim one buoy at a time and focused on taking long, relaxed strokes. I remember my stomach growling a lot! At one point, I swam over something. I felt it hit my face, then my stomach, then my legs. I was hoping it was a pair of goggles. I refused to think about what else might be floating in the Ohio River! Finally I got to the swim exit and had to stand on the steps to exit the water for a second. I’m always a little dizzy after swimming that long. I figured I was well hydrated after swallowing what seemed like half the Ohio River! Yuck.
Into transition, I grabbed my bike gear bag and went to the changing tent. There are lots of volunteers helping me sort my stuff, asking what I need, ready to slather sunscreen on me. All day the volunteers and race organization were great. I drank my Ensure and ran to my bike. Out on the course, I realized it was going to be an interesting day when 10 miles into the ride, I was dying of thirst but my stomach already felt bloated and full. The first 20 miles of the bike are flat, then some rolling hills, an out and back, 2 hilly loops, and back to flats. We didn’t drive the out and back the day before and I’m glad we didn’t…the biggest hills were on this part of the course. The course was crowded and the downhills were a bit scary. People were flying down the giant hill while on the other side of the road, racers were spinning their legs on the uphill. On the way back, I witnessed a guy go airborn as he ran off the road on the downhill and landed on his side, skidding down the hill. Hopefully, he didn’t cause a pile up behind him but I couldn’t afford to look back. I had to concentrate on getting up the hill! The course then took us to a town called LaGrange. This was where our CMC cheering section parked themselves for the bike portion of the day. The streets were lined with spectators, and although short-lived, the cheers and enthusiasm for the racers as we rode down the street were amazing! It was a definite energy boost! Then it was back to the rolling hills and heat. I had to force myself to eat. I can’t do goos, so I do solid food…PBJ sandwich, ½ a McD’s cheeseburger. When I pulled out my PBJ, I heard a little boy spectator exclaim as I went by, “she’s eating a sandwich!” I had to crack a smile. The last stretch of the bike, miles 80-100, was a bumpy road…a seam in the road what seemed like every 20 feet. Add the wind and the beginnings of crampy legs, I was starting to lose steam and get a defeated attitude. I hoped my Payday bar would help. Again, I had to force it down. At this point, only water was sounding decent. I’d had enough Gatorade and Powerade that I couldn’t stomach it anymore. But sadly, I hadn’t drank nearly enough of any fluid, as my stomach was not cooperating. The last 10 miles, I couldn’t get into the aero position. It seemed like sitting up was better on the stomach. I entertained thoughts of stopping after the bike. I was already feeling nauseaous and didn’t know how in the world I was going to run 26 miles. Once I got off the bike and around the crowds, adrenaline kicked in and I got new energy. The transition people were once again doting all over me. I think I had three ladies taking my bike stuff from me and helping me put on my run shoes.
The run…ugh. I shuffled out of transition and onto the course. Immediately, side stitches overtook my abdomen…both sides. I’d run a little, walk a little. I got to the first aid station on the out and back across the bridge and they had chicken broth. Yes! I knew chicken broth was very helpful in Couer D’Alene. I never thought lukewarm chicken broth would taste so good on a 90+ degree day! Once off the bridge, the run course was flat, and long. It took me 5 miles to get going. I could only run for about 60 seconds before stopping to walk. The side stitches seemed unbearable. I was getting extremely frustrated, almost to the point of tears. Finally, I remember someone saying at one time, “if you’re feeling bad, wait a little bit, and it’ll pass.” I decided I needed to run through the pain in my stomach and hopefully it would soon go away. It did, to an extent. There was always a subtle pinch in my diaphragm the whole run but it would come and go. I was able to run (shuffle) from aid station to aid station from miles 5 to 13. I’d fill up on water, broth, and /or coke (I found myself “triple fisted” at one aid station!), and douse myself with ice cold sponges every mile. Miles 13-14 were through downtown. Cruelly, the course took us right by the finish chute to go back out for another loop. Caroline and the Rickman family cheerleaders were along the turnaround loop. The streets were lined with lots of spectators that again gave me a boost of adrenaline. I think this stretch was the fastest I ran, and would run, all day! Stan, Mackenzie’s uncle, had the whole corner of spectators chanting “Jen the Vet!” After the turnaround I passed the St. Louis Tri Club tent. They were cheering “Go CMC!” all day! But once headed out to the turnaround, my attitude and mental toughness declined. My foot wasn’t painful but I could feel it tightening up and nausea had set in with a vengeance. Miles 18 to 22 were brutal. The course was lined with orange cones set apart about every 50 yards or so. I would run the length of two cones and walk one. Then it became run one, walk one. Then it was run to the lightpost, walk to the aid station. Then it was “okay, walk the whole mile.” I looked forward to seeing other CMC members on the out and back course. JP offered me a goo and I thought I might throw up just thinking about it! I think the worse feeling was being starved and feeling my stomach growl so much it hurt, but at the same time being nauseous and fighting side stitches. I tried to nibble on a pretzel now and again, but I mostly counted on coke and chicken broth for calories. By mile 20, I could only handle ice. One racer wearing a Mich Ultra jersey cheered me on every time he saw me on the out and back. It’s really cool the people you meet on the course and the encouragement you get from others. His words to me that helped me a ton were “just keep moving!” By mile 24, I could see the lights and crowds of downtown. I really wanted to be able to run once I reached the crowds so I decided to walk at mile 25 to save energy for the run down the chute. When I stopped to walk, a spectator told me I couldn’t walk this close to the finish! As much as I didn’t want to, I resumed my pathetic shuffle for the last mile. It’s amazing what crowds, cheering, lights, and music do to your mind and body after 13+ hours of racing. I felt like I was sprinting down that finish chute! I couldn’t see a thing due to the bright spotlight and I don’t remember hearing the announcer say my name. It was hard to hear over the loud music and cheering! I tried to look decent for the photo finish! Once across the line, a volunteer led me to water, a medal, a hat, a picture, and a shirt. My biggest beef with Ironman the first Ironman-branded race I did was the cheap finishers shirt they give you. In CDA, I got an ugly, blue, cheap cotton shirt that felt like it was on backwards! That was 4 years ago so I was hoping Ironman gave out nicer shirts by now. To my delight, they were dri-fit shirts this time! But the lady handed me my medium shirt that looked like a child’s small! I asked for a large and she almost refused to give it to me. I said, “I just raced for 13 hours and I can’t even get a shirt that fits me???!” I felt bad for just a second, but she relented and gave me a large instead! She had to comment, though, that “someone is going to be very unhappy when they don’t get their large shirt!” Believe me, there were plenty of DNF’s out there (lots of ambulances on the bike and run, people laying on the side of the road, sitting on the curb, etc). I’m sure one of them ordered the large shirt! Needless to say, the large fits great!
I can’t say I’m thrilled with my time, but you never know what race day is going to bring. I’ve done better, I’ve done worse. There were many times I thought of quitting, but I’m proud of the fact that I gutted it out. I look back and think “why couldn’t I have been tougher and run more?” but until you’re in that situation and feeling the way you do, you can’t imagine how hard it is. I’m just glad I didn’t quit. All I could think of on the run was all the free time I’d have in the months to come! My life has been consumed by training the last few years and I’m ready to take it easy for awhile. Of course, I say that now…