The D Team: Ironman Louisville Race Recap: Race Week

Race day eve at the swim exit

Where do I even start in attempt to summarize race week? August last year I had helped with bike and gear check-in. After interacting with all the athletes, I got myself thinking that an Ironman was something I could really do - having only completed an Olympic triathlon, two marathon, and a bike ride no longer than 30 miles over the past several years- so why not? My husband was so supportive and did not think twice when I first talked to him about it - knowing all the sacrifices he would have to do in order for me to reach my goal. He believed in me from the very beginning - maybe even more so than myself. Forward to October 2014, I had started researching coaches and finally asked a 4x Ironman finisher about being my Ironman mentor if I decided to sign up. He agreed and started me down a path that allowed me to improve my weaknesses and gain confidence, but not get burned out before the race would get here almost a year later. I am forever grateful for his tips, advice, and experience over the past year. In December, I signed up and joined Team Ironman Foundation to raise funds to give out to the local charities.

I had so much emotion race week, that sleeping was hard starting on Monday. It was so hard to focus on anything or even hard to distract myself to something productive. Fortunately, the evenings were filled with a variety of events from getting homework done with the kids, to dinner with friends, and cross country practice with the oldest. My husband, somehow, had endless energy that week and picked up all the slack of keeping our family going. On Tuesday, I had a flat tire from a new inner tube (bike was just on the trainer!) that raised my anxiety up a notch. Fortunately, my husband, aka Crew Chief, put in another tube and was good to go. On Wednesday, I was fortunate to meet up for some pizza with my friend, Connie, who I had my first 40 mile ride back in May, saw me tumble over forgetting to unclip, and flat tire on another ride. So she knows all the fun in training for triathlons!

Thursday finally arrived and was the first day to pick up our race packets. It was also the day of Team Ironman Foundation volunteer event. Since my youngest, Jos, was out of school that day, she got to tag along with to the volunteer event at Harbor House. We got to play games, do puzzles and crafts with the adults who have developmental or physical disabilities. She loved handing out high fives to everyone. Afterwards we headed downtown to the Ironman Village. It was a beautiful day and not crowded so we could take our time to soak everything in- even running into a few people I had trained with on the bike. At athlete check-in we got our bibs, number stickers for our bike and helmet, 5 plastic bags for all our gear for the transitions and special needs bags for half way through the bike and run, timing bracelet, and our Ironman wristband which was our ticket to get in all the events. Once that wristband went on my wrist, my ability to think straight and focus decreased even more so. I was still in shock a little bit that it was show time! Thursday night I was able to visit with fellow athletes participating in the race that I had met through training. This was all our first Ironman so it was fun talking about race day and trying to figure everything out. When I left there, I ran into my Ironman mentor, Heath, that gave me a pep talk about just not over thinking things, trust in my training, and just breathe. It was perfect timing to those things.

athlete briefing

Friday finally arrived and Jos and I headed back to Waterfront Park to listen in on the athlete briefing and to just enjoy the atmosphere again. This was the last day for athlete check-in so it was busier than Thursday. About 2/3s the way through the briefing, it started to rain, so my daughter and I headed back to the car. We were hoping to meet up with my friend, Marian who worked downtown, but staying to true form (and her running nickname, Storm) we weren't able to unfortunately with all the rain. That evening I finally had enough focus to lay out all my gear for each of the transition bags and special needs bags. I texted my mentor, Heath, about special needs bags as I did not really have much to put in them. Heath told me not to over think things - just keep it simple. I went for another easy bike ride only to have my chain lock up. Fortunately I was in my neighborhood and able to walk home, but talk about building up the nerves! Once again, Ryan comes to the rescue and fixes the issue!

My kids decorated my bags for an extra boost during my race.

Saturday was bike and gear drop-off and my parents, brother, and one of my best friends, Emily was coming into town. I was like a kid waiting for Christmas waiting for them to arrive because it meant race was getting closer. I opted to skip the practice swim Saturday morning and just stay low key. However, we did go to my oldest son's cross country meet to cheer him on in the early afternoon. After that we headed down to the waterfront with the bike and gear drop off. I was number 32 so I racked my bike right by the bike exit which made it so easy to find race day! I checked out the swim exit and the swim start to visualize what I was about to embark on the next day.