By now you all know the end result of this story - a painful DNF (did not finish) at mile 12 of the run. Here's the rest of the story - to be memorialized in this journal to tie things up.
On Saturday, Amy and I started the day with a walk to Wild Eggs for breakfast (good choice!). After eating, we went down to the waterfront to check out the transition venue and to get a look at the river. The Ohio was seriously flowing on Saturday. I heard from some other people that during the practice swim, it looked like the athletes were on a treadmill - working hard but going nowhere. I was thankful that the race swim was only about 0.6 miles upriver, and would be shielded by an island.
We skipped the underpants run and walked back to the hotel so that I could pack all of the bags I would need during the race. These included a morning clothes bag, bike bag, bike special needs bag, run bag, and run special needs bag. The gear in the bike/run bags is obvious, but in the bike special needs bag I packed socks, 2 tubes, 2 CO2 cartridges, some beef jerky, and some Mountain Dew. In the run special needs bag I packed socks, body glide, and Advil. The special needs bags did not get returned after the race, but everything else did. I guess I just donated bike tubes and CO2 to the bike techs that roam the course during future races.
After packing up we walked to Jimmy Johns for some lunch (can you say huge salty pickle) and went back to the hotel for the athlete briefing. There was really no new information in the meeting, but it's good to listen just in case.
After the athlete meeting I went down to transition to check in my bike along with my bike and run gear bags which was mandatory. Amy read the blog of another triathlete who recommended that you pack your clothing inside ziplocks before putting them in your transition bags in case of rain. This was prophetic, because it POURED Saturday night. I heard many athletes complain of soaked clothing and shoes during transition on Sunday.
Bike check-in was just the beginning of the race volunteers making you feel like you were royalty - a theme that would continue through race day. When you walked up to the entrance, a photo was taken of your bike for insurance purposes, I'm guessing. A volunteer then took your bike or bags and walked you to your racking location, explaining a bit about how things would work on race day. They then walked you to your bag location, showed you the changing tent as well as bike/run in/out, bike techs, medical, sunscreen, bathrooms, etc. With that - I was done...ready to race.
We finished our Saturday by meeting up with the Honey Badgers at Impellizzeri's Pizza, including 2 of 3 teammates who made the trip down to Louisville to watch the race. We were back at the hotel by 8:00. Amy put on my race number tattoos (which included a bit of shaving), and I was asleep somewhere before 10 ready for the adventure of the next day.
Amy and I left for Louisville on Friday after my final 30 minute training run in advance of the Sunday race. A number of our teammates left on Thursday, but I felt like the Friday departure would give me plenty of time which turned out to be true. All I had to get done on Friday was to check-in for the race before 5 PM.
Check-in process was typical of an Ironman race. Medical forms needed to be verified, waivers needed to be signed, and packets/swag bags needed to be picked up. The only real difference from the 70.3 races I've done were the bags - the Ironman races feature full backpacks whereas the 70.3's have draw string bags.
After spending some money in the merchandise tent for my typical things - race shirt, coffee cup, and race sticker - we browsed through the expo. We stopped by the Melanoma Research Foundation booth for a few moments and talked to the staffer who was working. I mentioned that I was a MRF athlete, and she asked my name and said she had some things for me - a camelbak backpack and an insulated water bottle - both with the MRF and Ironman logos. Adam is beside himself about the Camelbak - once it cools down a bit, we'll head out for a hike.
A few members of Team Honey Badger went to Bluegrass Brewing Company for an early dinner, and we then walked down to Fourth Street Live to check out the venue for the finish. Signs of Ironman were all over town, and that doesn't even include the ridiculously fit people walking around with their race t-shirts, alien helmets, and $15,000 bikes.
After packing up we walked to Jimmy Johns for some lunch (can you say huge salty pickle) and went back to the hotel for the athlete briefing. There was really no new information in the meeting, but it's good to listen just in case.
After the athlete meeting I went down to transition to check in my bike along with my bike and run gear bags which was mandatory. Amy read the blog of another triathlete who recommended that you pack your clothing inside ziplocks before putting them in your transition bags in case of rain. This was prophetic, because it POURED Saturday night. I heard many athletes complain of soaked clothing and shoes during transition on Sunday.
We finished our Saturday by meeting up with the Honey Badgers at Impellizzeri's Pizza, including 2 of 3 teammates who made the trip down to Louisville to watch the race. We were back at the hotel by 8:00. Amy put on my race number tattoos (which included a bit of shaving), and I was asleep somewhere before 10 ready for the adventure of the next day.
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