Trial run

I am a little behind on my posts due to the holiday which was a holiday week for me.  The weekend prior I was able to go down to Louisville and do some practice/training. It was an invaluable experience  in preparing myself for the race.  We drove down very early Saturday morning to participate in the Iamtri  group training.  As part of this group, a wonderful and selfless guy named Bob from Lexington, Kentucky hosts about four of these events each year before the race.  These vary from 1 to 2 day sessions with up to all three disciplines being supported.  For us, it was a one day session with a brief swim in the Ohio and then a ride on the course. Bob started us off by taking us right to where the actual start will be race morning.  These are a set of docks just east of downtown Louisville.  He sat a group of about 70 of us down for a brief description for the plan for the day and then a discussion of how the start works.  This included a brief q & a that some IMKY veterans gave input as well.  It was such good information and a great preview.  We then concluded this session by jumping off of the starting point and completing an informal 1/2 mile swim up the channel inside tow head island that will be our course on race day.  We did not go into the main channel of the river for safety reasons as it was still open for full boat traffic.  The swim was nicely supported by kayakers and on-lookers to assure our safety.  It was so wonderful to get the feel for this swim.  I was able to gauge sighting and the river flow.  Some anxiety was lessened.

This is the view back towards the start, inside of the island, where we will loop around and then head back down the main section of the river going under the bridges you see in the distance.

We then headed over to ready our bikes and to hit the road to ride the course.  This was definitely a slower transition time than what will occur on race day but I did keep the cloths on that I swam in so I could test my comfortability over the long miles. The ride course is somewhat of an out and back which means you ride one direction out from the start and then back on the same road. However it does contain few segments on the course that include another out and back along with a 2 lap loop in the horse country near Lagrange, Kentucky.  We were only going to do one of these laps.  Thus we would only ride 80 miles of the 112 but would actually cover all the roads.  

This is a map of the course that shows what i have tried to describe along with the elevation.

The ride went fairly went.  My first issue was that I tried to pack too much nutrition and items with me since we would not have the full type of support as we would have on race day.  Bob does set up stops with a lot of drinks and nutrition but I was trying to focus on my particular plan which did not exactly match what he had available. Also, since this was more like a practice ride I was carrying my cell phone, money, ID, etc.  I did this wearing a tri jersey and shorts.  They do not have the number of pockets nor large enough pockets to hold all of this type of stuff well.  A normal cycling jersey does and I normally use those on regular rides.  So, about 5 miles down the rode my ziplock bag with my phone and ID popped out and onto the road.  Turnaround 1 was complete.  Next about another  5 miles in I dropped a water bottle out of my rear bottle cage.  This was another turn around and a race back to my riding partners. I did finally settle in to a good riding rhythm.  We were moving fast.  The first 10 miles is relatively flat along the rivers edge. Then comes the hills.  There are a series of rises and subtle drops as you move easterly.  These increase in intensity as you go.  Then you take an out and back that goes south.  That was some serious hills.  Again, we had a good rhythm and were moving at a quick pace.  These were definitely some steep climbs that can eat you up. We proceeded through the course and a previous comment replayed in my head over and over.  When you go down you go right back up.  This was so true.  There were no flat segments to be had.  It seemed like I was either flying downward at nearly 40mph then climbing at 12.  The constant undulation actually begun to wear on me mentally.  Also, I found it hard to eat and drink safely as we progressed.  This cost me near the end as I was running short or energy and nearing a bonk.  At the end I was way short of how much I should have drunk and ate.  A mistake that on race day could cost me dearly.  Lesson learned.  Second lesson learned was a 20 mph average like we had done is probably not achievable or wise when faced with a marathon when done.  When we finished I was so pleased to have seen the course and its nuances, learned much about my race plan, and gained a huge respect for what is a very hard bike course.  A course which lived up to its reputation as one of the most difficult of all IM courses. My uneasy feeling has grown on how I will do a full marathon after riding this beast of a course.  I have since talked to other finishers who know its difficulty but insist if you stay to your plan you are fine and it will all come together despite what may seem insurmountable now.  I continue to train to put those pieces in place.  I also continue to try and build my confidence for those pieces.  A unique aspect of ironman compared to nearly any other sport is that you will never be able to a full practice race or scrimmage due to the toll you put on your body would derail your training.  Instead you do increments and portions that with proper planning allows you to have them all come together on race day and get you to that finish line.  This unknown is hard to comprehend.  I plan to go back down one more time and ride with a better focus on my nutrition and race pace.