My plan was to drive downtown, ride the Louisville IM bike course and then do a run on part of the run course. Being in Nashville, and then visiting my sister-in-law in Murray just put us too close to Louisville to pass up the opportunity. It is a little bit of a pain (and nerve-racking with a brand new tri bike) to travel with your bike, but worth the effort for the piece of mind going into the race. I had heard the course was hilly, but not as bad as Wisconsin.
I got up early that morning and left their house around 6 and made the drive downtown. It took about 25 minutes. I eventually found my target parking lot on River road and got ready. After all my usual prep (and peeing twice), I hit the road. I was rolling by 7 AM. The first part on River road was quite pleasant. Very flat and fast. My intention was to simulate race conditions as best I could so for the first 20 miles, I was going to stay in HR zone 1, stay in my small chain ring, and keep my wattage under 200 as best I could. I was still cruising along at 21-22 and easily hitting 23-24 at times, so I knew there was a significant tailwind. The first several miles are along River road and then you make a left turn onto route 42. Well, as I approached where I thought 42 might be coming up, I started seeing signs that the road was closed. I kept going just to see if there was a way through. Once I got up to where it was closed, they had guard rails across the road, but there was enough room to get my bike through. It didn’t really make sense to me that the race route would go through a closed section of the road and I wasn’t sure what to do. I decided to turn around and see if there was another way to 42. I found a lady at a nearby building and asked her how to get to 42. She directed me back to Lime Kiln road and up to 42 that way. It turns out, as I would later discover, this added about 5 miles to the ride and took me to a part of 42 that was VERY busy right near 71. Not idea. Nonetheless, I kept truckin’ and eventually made it to the point where River road did join back up with route 42. I figured this was the real route after all.
I was still feeling great and sticking to my nutrition plan. Sips of Perpetuem every 15 minutes and a Hammer gel every 40 minutes. I also brought salt tablets, but forgot to take those. I have to get into that habit, because I know I will need them come race day!! I motored along 42, but was not particularly excited about all the traffic. There was a school on this road and it was very busy since I was riding by at like 7:45-8:00 AM. The next part of the course was a spur off of 42 down into a valley on 1694; just an out-and-back section and then you come back to 42. I eventually found it and this was quite a nice road to ride on not much traffic at all. I was relieved and much less tense on this part of the ride. I did notice though, that as soon as I turned back a little bit into the SW direction, there was a VERY stiff headwind to deal with. I also knew that I had a long ride on 42 as I finished the loop and headed SW back into town, so it would be very windy.
I made it back out to route 42 and headed E/NE again. The next turn was on 393 S/SE. I was glad to get off the main road again. This part of the route was fairly hilly and it wasn't easy to get into a good rythym. I tried to keep focused on a steady effort, but not to get too aggressive yet, staying in zone 1 and 2 as best I could. I headed out towards route 146 and once I got out there I turned to the E/NE again and the wind was at my back. I was flying down this road with not much effort. It felt pretty nice. It was a main road, but this was the middle of the morning on a Monday, so there wasn't much traffic. I cruised into LaGrange and took in some of the sites as I passed through. The next turn was a ways up the road on Ballard School. I came to a fast descent and was motoring along and next thing I know a road came up on my left called Ballard School but I was going to fast to make the turn. Oops.
I slowed down, turned around and headed up Ballard School. Once on this road there were some rolling hills and again, it wasn't easy to get into a good rythym - I am basically thinking that will be the theme for the ride. Aerobars and cruise down hills and then up onto the bullhorns and spinning up short hills with lots of shifting. This was a nice road to ride on and I think this part fo the route is what people talk about when they say this course is pretty to ride. Lots of horse farms, etc. Very nice. I stopped for a minute and snapped this picture of my Team Revs water bottle.
I checked in with my better half and then kept moving. Ballard School dead-ended onto Old Sligo, which was again, a very scenic road to ride on. Big houses, farms, etc. More rollers, but I was still feeling quite good. I think I was about 45-50 miles into the ride at this point and sticking to my nutrition plan very well. The Perpetuem has been working quite well. I get a little tired of it after 4-5 hours, but switching to Gatorade/Coke during the run will be a nice switch, whereas, in IMMoo in '07, I was drinking Gatorade all day and got very tired of it, especially the orange stuff they give you on the bike.
I found the turn onto L'Esprit Parkway and was really flying on this part. The wind was at my back, it was a nice, scenic road with not too much up and down. The problem was that route came up before I knew it and I had to turn back the other way. I rode up the short section of 153 and then made the turn back onto 42 to head back. I had about 30 miles to go and there was a SERIOUS headwind. I just tucked into my aerobars and started pushing. There were a few rollers and the road wasn't that great, but overall it wasn't too bad. I was still feeling relatively good and decided to see what kind of steady effort I could put out. There were times when I was doing 300 watts and going like 16 on a flat road. Then up some of the hills into the wind I was doing like 14. Overall on this ride back to town, I was pretty happy with my effort. I put out a steady ~210 watts over the last 30 miles.
I was pushing fairly hard, not at half-iron race pace, but strong and steady with a HR around 145 or so. My crotch was a little sore, but I decided it was going to work out just fine to wear just the tri shorts for the race, which will make things a tad easier in transition. The Profile-Design tri saddle has been working fairly well. I may check in with Joe S. at WheelWorks one more time, but overall, I am quite comfortable on the new ride.
I got to the intersection of 42 and River Road and decided to make the turn this time to cut through the closed portion. I got to the bridge where it was closed and just cut through the guard rails. I suppose the race will go through here, too. The wind had really picked up and although it was very flat, on that last section back to the car, I was doing ~225 watts for the last 8 miles, but only averaged about 18.5 mph. Normally at that wattage on a flat road, my speed would be much higher in the 22-24 range. The wind was really strong in this direction; if it happens like this on race day, I'll just have to be mentally prepared for it. I am trying to be less-focused on absolute times and more focused on how I place relative in my age group.
I got back to the car and hopped off my bike. The legs actually felt decent and the nutrition went fairly well. I grabbed some water from the van, got the bike back into the van, and changed into my running shoes. After about 6 minutes, I headed up into town from the river front. It was Derby week, so downtown was quite busy, even for a Monday afternoon. I crossed over to 3rd street and headed south down part of the run course. My plan was to do an hour. I probably should've carried some water because I was starting to get dehydrated. It was hot - maybe like 85 by this time so it was good prep for the heat of August (although I am sure it will feel much hotter if it gets into the mid 90s like last year). Nonetheless, I tried to focus on my run cadence and cruised along. I turned around at the University and headed back. Not a bad run. The course will be very flat, which is good. It should suit me well to shoot for a decent marathon. I did around 7.6 miles in like 58 minutes - an average of about 7:40 per mile. I was very tired, but dind't seem to have much trouble locking into that pace. The real question will be how long I can keep it after a tough ride.
I am really, really excited about taking another crack at IronMan. Last time, I just wanted to finish, to survive. This time, I am going to push it a bit and see if I can figure out how to sort-of "race" an IronMan. We shall see. Bring it on!!
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