This post could have a lot of different titles. "Old School," "We're Not Worthy," "Double Tough," and "It Takes All Kinds" are some of the options I considered. They all apply, and the reasons why will become quite apparent.
This past week, the video of IM Louisville highlights arrived. My kids love it, and we've watched it several times. One remarkable portion of the video shows the man pictured here. His name is Joe. And he is one double tough, old school Ironman.
He is a 42-year old laborer from Memphis, Tennessee. He finished IMKY in just over 16 hours. Many would say those are some fairly common characteristics, far from remarkable. Then again, I've seen the video and searched out a few pictures for further consideration.
Consider Joe on the bike...
There are a couple of notable items about Joe on the bike. First, note that he is on an old school road bike. No aero bars. No aero fork. One water bottle cage. For that matter, a close look at the pedals will reveal that not only aren't they clipless, they appear to be cageless.
Many of us talk about going low tech when we leave our heart rate monitors at home. Joe seems to have taken a step back toward the original Ironman competitors, completing the event using very basic equipment.
If you still question whether that makes him "double tough," look at his "bike kit." Yes, those are jean shorts. And a standard cotton t-shirt. I don't know about you, but I sometimes find spandex tri-shorts a bit course for my liking over the course of 112 miles. I cannot imagine completing long rides wearing cotton.
Joe didn't change much for the run. He traded his cycling helmet in for the Ironman hat, and may have switched shirts. He wore the same jean shorts from the bike onto the run. And he kept moving.
It was very apparent from the video that Joe impressed and motivated the people who saw him on the course. On the bike course, the video crew started filming one lady, and she pointed out Joe saying they should film him, instead. They did.
Later, the film crew caught up with Joe on the run. They asked if he had heard many comments about his shorts. Joe did what many of us would have done on the run. He kept going and may not have even heard the cameraman.
Another competitor on the run commented that Joe showed just how tough he is because in addition to completing the Ironman, he put up with the constant questions about his attire. I don't know how many questions Joe might have faced, but I am sure everyone who saw him was amazed he would go into an Ironman using such basic equipment.
The variety of competitors is part of what makes triathlon so popular. Participants cross the spectrum of training, equipment, background, and ability. And in Ironman, the pinnacle of the sport, everyday laborers such as Joe can compete with superstars such as Chris McDonald and Heather Gollnick. The winners demonstrated their toughness by finishing first. Joe showed his toughness by kickin' it, OLD SCHOOL.
When last we saw our intrepid triathlete... Wait, sorry, I was just channelling another blogger.
Anyway, I believe the last "detailed" report I filed for Louisville detailed the conditions in the water. And that would bring us to the truly interesting portion of the day, the transition.
Okay, it's really the bike, but allow me to comment on transition. Compared to Wisconsin, I REALLY liked the entry to transition in Louisville. That would be due primarily to the lack of a helix to climb in Louisville. While there is a decent run from the water to the actual transition area, it doesn't compare to the trip required in Madison.
And also allow me to point out the the smile in the picture shown here is a fluke. I'm fairly certain that every other moment on the bike was a grimace of "Dear God, not ANOTHER hill!"
Leaving T1 in Louisville requires a decision by all participants, particularly if there has been any rain in the days leading up to the race. Since the bikes are parked in a huge grass field, one must decide to either wear cycling shoes and possibly foul the cleats or leave their shoes on the bike and definitely get muddy feet. I opted to keep my shoes in the gear bag and decide on race day. In the end, I put the shoes on and didn't have any issues with mud.
The run from the changing tent to the bike mount line is about 100 yards. Most of that is, however, on a fairly wide sidewalk. The people were out in force, cheering on the participants, and they had a lot of help for everything from sunscreen to nutrition to pointing out the line for mounting bikes.
The first half dozen miles of the bike were fairly non-descript. Much like other races, this portion of the course can be called the "get out of town" section. The city streets were pretty well maintained. Thankfully, they were also flat. That is the last time you should expect to see THAT word in this post.
A quick check of the course map shows an out-and-back portion near the beginning of the bike leg. This portion consists of what I will call "There Go the Legs" valley and "There Goes the Nutrition" valley. Keep in mind this is an out-and-back, so we got to hit both valleys twice. Heading into the first major downhill section (somewhere between miles 10 and 20), we had the excitement of some significant speed. I hit about 44 MPH without pedaling, and only the knowledge that I was going to have to go back up that hill at some point dampened my spirits.
Well, that and the fact that after hitting the bottom of the hill we started back up a hill, watching people on the return portion FLYING back down. It was exciting to know we were now headed up a hill similar to the one we had just descended.
If you examine the elevation profile on the course map, you'll note that the second major downhill comes immediately after climbing out of the first valley. It's followed by another major climb. And, just to straighten that profile out, we turned around right at the tippy top of the second major climb. I'm not sure what the profile did with that, but where it shows one down/up/down/up around the 20 mile point, there were two sets.
By the way, did you note how the map shows roughly 400 feet of climbing from the 10 mile point until the 20 mile point. That seems pretty accurate. It's spread way out, so it isn't truly killer, but it's a LONG way to keep going up.
So, let's move on to the rest of the course. That's were the title of the post comes into play. Ups and downs. Because that's the only way to describe the rest of the course. And I honestly believe I cannot reiterate it enough. If we weren't going up, we were going down in order to get to the next up.
Now, before we continue, I want to point out that this picture on the left was taken right near the end of the bike course. That was the other section that was sort of flat. Not really flat, as you will note that I AM, in fact, climbing. But this was only a little climb.
As with Madison, Wisconsin, where I completed one of my century rides prior to the Louisville race, this was a two loop course. Ironman officials will say that is to provide maximum efficiency when it comes to aid stations. I say it's so that the first lap can serve to totally demoralize you as you head into the second loop. Or, if you're like me, you can use it as a positive, mostly by lying to yourself. Saying things like, "Hey, those hills are mine. I know their coming, and I've already survived them once," can go a long way toward improving morale while on the bike.
I'm not sure how much it actually improves pace, but small bouts of insanity are always worthwhile.
The one positive of the second loop is the absence of monstrous hills. While the hills we faced were relentless, the worst hills of the day were on the out-and-back portion at the beginning of the course.
The volunteers on the bike course were a huge positive. They did an amazing job caring for everyone on the course. I haven't seen enough races to know how they compare, and I can only imagine they rank up there with the best the sport has to offer. Every volunteer went out of their way. Those handing off drinks did their best to ensure cyclists had bottles before letting go. If something was missed, another was right there to ensure the racer got what was needed.
When anyone stopped, there were volunteers right there to help with the bike, and take care of replenishing needed items while the owner took care of other needs. They constantly asked what else might be needed. I was constantly amazed at how professionally the volunteers performed, and did my best to thank them as much as possible.
The course was also very well covered by local authorities. They had police officials at nearly every intersection, often more than one. Though there were a few areas where cars were on the course, most drivers respected the race and did what they could to minimize interference. I even had one passenger comment that they knew I was there as they kept the driver aware of my location. The few times cars did interfere with my progress, I was able to deal with it, as the roads were so well cleared when viewed from the big picture sense.
Soon, if not soon enough, I was back in Louisville headed back toward transition. And the support there was as outstanding as the rest of the course. They had three volunteers providing information about the bike dismount area. One was about 100 yards out. One was about 50 yards out. And the third was just in front of the dismount line with a megaphone.
After getting off the bike, we headed back down the sidewalk and volunteers took our bikes as we headed toward the changing tent. In this case, Wisconsin has the slight edge. In Madison, volunteers take the bike as soon as the rider dismounts. In Louisville, the rider has to run with the bike for about 25-50 yards. Quite the trick after 112 miles of riding.
All in all, the bike course was extremely challenging. It was also a great ride. Anyone participating in the 2008 race should put in plenty of training time riding hills. Find some relentless rollers that are 50-100 feet minimum. And ride them over and over. Figure out how to get nutrition down when you are going up or downhill. If you do constant rollers and find nice flat spots for eating and drinking, you are doing yourself a disservice. Learn to eat ON the hills. Because that's what will happen in Louisville.
Ironman is all about ups and downs. IMKY just happens to have a few more than other races.
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