Final Taper into IMLOU

As I am midway through my final taper into Ironman Louisville, I wanted to share some of my thoughts leading into my A race. I just finished my last speed workout (John Deere 5K) taking 2^nd, and I’m ready to switch to all easy workouts. I am also battling a cold, so please send some thoughts/prayers my way with less than 5 days to go.

Was made fun of for wearing my compression socks in public

At this point, it’s been 18 months since I made the decision to go all in and attempt qualifying for Kona. I lose sight of how long it’s been and forget to reflect on everything I have been through so far. After my thoughts, I’ve included a detailed recap for anyone wanting to know some specifics =)

There have been quite a few ups and downs in the last 18 months as you will see below. It’s hard to believe that at this time last year, I was going to physical therapy twice a week for my knee through December. My heart pounds every time I think about this race, and I worry the past 18 months will be for nothing. I don’t know what to expect for conditions, how fast my competition will be or if I can perform the way I did at Madison. Madison was meant to be a set-up race for the main event, and that adds even more pressure.

I know I will do well if I can simply push it as hard as Madison. I remember the pain and dark places that race took me, so simply “repeating the effort” isn’t so simple. This week I plan on trying to keep myself busy and keeping my mind from going there. At this point, I am relying on friends and family as they encourage and amp me up. I already have a lot to be proud of for coming this far. My body is physically ready to take it on, and it’s time to focus my mind.

I hate doing this, but here are my goals for Ironman Louisville:

Top 5 AG

Aggressive 9:30 finish time

Swim - 0:57, Bike – 5:15, Run - 3:05, T1&T2 – 0:10

My finish at Ironman Louisville 2017 (10:39) - expecting to drop over an hour

Detailed Recap

Fall 2017: Completed first Ironman in Wisconsin - 11:38. Ironman Louisville 5 weeks later in 10:39 (Thanks Garrett for the push!) I was meant to be a 1 (or 2 in this case) and done, so I completely dropped training.

March of 2018: I met my buddy Craig, and he got me back in the pool. And after training with him I decided I would do another Ironman that fall. I signed up for Madison again with 6 months to train. I learned more about the Ironman World Championships held in Kona Hawaii and started looking into how I could qualify. Each Ironman offers 40 slots to the age group athletes, and each age group receives slots based on their size. My age group of 25-29 typically gets 2 slots, so I’d be looking to place 1^st or 2^nd. My plan at this point was to use IMWI 2018 as a stepping stone to see my improvements from last year and to see what I needed to work on for 2019.

August 2018: 3 Week before Wisconsin, I was picked up during a century ride due to excruciating knee pain. I was off the bike for 3 weeks leading up to the race, and I almost didn’t go. I decided it would at least be worth completing the swim to see my improvement, and I would bike as far as I could expecting a DNF.

September 2018: To my great surprise, I survived the bike and finished in 11:10. Unfortunately, this race was meant to bring me closer to the podium and gauge where I was at. Instead, I left with 22^nd place and unable to start training for 2019.

After the race I started Physical Therapy. I couldn’t bike or run until mid-November and stuck to swimming for fitness. Once I was cleared to bike again, I had to slowly work my way back up to riding for just an hour.

April 2019: My running pm the other hand progressed quickly, and I dropped a huge half marathon PR of 1:21:29 in April. This was a huge confidence boost as I continued training towards the Muncie 70.3.

May 2019: Along the way, I thought I could easily drop a sub 3 hr marathon and punch my ticket to Boston. The marathon dominated me, and I didn’t come close with a 3:16.

July 2019: My first real test of speed and fitness to see how I stack up to the competition was Muncie 70.3. I managed 5^th AG with a time of 4:30:31 and was very satisfied with the performance. I still wasn’t where I needed to be to take a shot at Kona, but I was moving in the right direction.

September 2019: Ironman Wisconsin was not my A race for the year. Instead, I chose it as a set-up race to make a my “true” qualifying attempt in Louisville 5 weeks later. I finished in 10:00:32 and snagged 5^th AG! I didn’t think I had a shot at the podium, yet there I was at the awards ceremony waiting for the Kona slots allocation. As you may know from my previous post, the 2nd slot rolled down to 3^rd place (who beat me by 36 seconds).

I always have a fear of the unknown, and what will come out of Ironman Louisville has my stomach in knots. But as Ty always reminds me, “Being nervous is good! It reveals how important this is to you”. So with that perspective, I eagerly await to toe that starting line and can’t wait to be in the mix with my competition.

Fastest Employee at the John Deere 5K (2nd Overall!)