IM Louisville Race Report

Meg and I woke up at 3:53 am...no alarm needed. That's how race day started. Whether nerves or fear of oversleeping, it didn't matter, we were ready to get up and get after it. As we sped around the hotel room getting everything together, thoughts of the day ahead were creeping into my mind. It was actually here! 6 months of training all leading to this day! We were rested, we had done all the long bike rides, all the hot runs, and swam farther than I ever imagined I would. Nothing left to do but put them all together.

We hit transition about 4:45 am and dropped off our bottles and aired up our tires. It was a crazy sight to see. Thousands of people all preparing to go through the same adventure. It was a 3/4 mile walk from transition to the swim start. We hustled a little as it was a first come, first serve time trial swim start. We got there thinking we would be close to the start of the line, HA! Not even close. As we kept walking, we were thinking, "Are we going to be last?". Far from it, but we ended up about the middle of the pack. It was a long 2 hour wait for the race to start. Once it started, it was 15 minutes before we finally jumped off the dock and into a river of arms, legs and green and pink caps.

Our plan for the swim was to stay together. Because of the unique start it was the first time we have ever even had the opportunity to swim together, so we welcomed it. Meg is by far a better swimmer than I am, but in open water I tend to be pretty good. I am a little better at sighting the buoys than she is, so our plan was for her to stick on my right hip and watch me and I would sight. It worked great!! We had to swim over a lot of people over the 2.4 mile course, but we got out of the water in 1:02! We had hoped for 1:05, so we were very happy!

We wished each other good luck and parted ways as we went into our respective changing tents. The adrenaline at this point is high as you are excited to be done with one portion and ready for the next. In the swim we both used what is called a swim skin. It is a one piece suit that you wear over your tri suit. It is highly water resistant and works really well for a race that doesn't allow a wetsuit. This was the first time I had ever used a swim skin, so I unzipped it and took it off down to my waist as I raced through transition. I then hurriedly put on all my bike stuff, helmet, shoes, bib number, etc. As I ran toward my bike I was ready to get on the bike and roll! Right as I was about to jump on my bike, I realized I still had my swim skin on! Oh NO!! What to do? Go back to transition and lose time? Just then, a volunteer offered to take it for me, oh thank goodness! I ripped it off and handed it to him while telling him my number so he could put it in my transition bag. I then raced off and jumped on my bike. As I did a thought flashed through my head that, that may be the last time I see that swim skin....

The bike was 112 miles of rolling hills through the outskirts of Louisville. The first 15 miles were fairly flat as we made our way out of town. I tried to get rolling, yet stay calm as its a loooong way to go!! At about the 20 mile mark it starts to get really hilly with some severe up and downhill sections. One in particular is scary as it is an out and back with bikers coming both ways. I heard afterward that there were several crashes in that section. Then it is off to a 30 mile loop section that we do twice. My parents had come with us and were there to support us. Thanks Dad and Debbie!! They were there at the 38 and 68 mile marks in a town called La Grange. It is a fun section as there are thousands of people going crazy cheering.

Throughout the bike I knew I was aiming for 20 mph average. I could tell at times I was ahead and then the hilly sections I was losing speed. I tried to remember to stay within myself and that I still had a marathon to go. There were hard sections were I felt tired, but then shortly after I would feel good again. I was trying to focus on my nutrition as well, which is so important in this race. As I saw the 90 mile mark, I knew it was all downhill/flat from here. I started to roll and knew I would have to go a little harder to get my 5:30 time that I wanted. The last few miles I made sure I was using a high cadence to get my legs ready. I would stand up every once in awhile to stretch and I felt good other than I could feel my IT Bands were tight. I hoped they would be fine when I got off the bike.

I flew into transition in 5:29, right on time. I handed my bike to the volunteers and raced down the sidewalk. Halfway there I stepped hard on a rock right on my left heel. I let out on ouch, but didn't have time to think about it. Once again I passed through the changing tent, making sure I took off all the proper gear this time. A quick stop at the sunscreen tent and port-a-potty and it was marathon time!!

I felt great!! How was this possible after 112 miles on the bike? I knew from friends that no matter what I felt like, I should go slow the first couple miles. I had to consciously slow down, cause it just felt so easy. In the first mile I downed a gel and headed up the only hill of the course. An excuse to slow down, perfect! As I ascended the bridge I felt a slight twinge in my right hamstring. I stopped to stretch it out and luckily it went away. I passed the first mile in 7:02. Right on!! I made the turn around and headed down the bridge as my left hamstring started to speak up. I shook it out and kept going, whew! that was close. Because of the downhill mile 2 was a little faster with a 6:40. It still felt easy, so I decided to just maintain. I felt like I was flying! I was passing people like crazy and all the spectators were yelling, "You look great!". I continued to put out 6:45 miles for the next 4 miles. As mile 9 approached I started to feel something, something bad. My IT bands that had been a little tight on the bike were screaming! Every step now became a fight between my legs and my mind. With every foot strike a stab of pain went through my entire outer thigh. How long could I go like this? I still had over half the marathon to run!! As I got to mile 10 I saw Meg coming the other way. She looked great! She asked how I was and I said, "NOT GOOD!". I wished her luck.

Somehow I managed to make it to mile 13 at about 1:30, still a good time, but things were getting progressively worse. I had taken a bite of banana and now my stomach was killing me. I don't know if it was the banana or just my stomach, but I felt like I needed to double over and throw up. This went on for the next 5 miles! I would stop, bend over and push in on my stomach, trying anything to get it to stop hurting. My mile splits were now creeping well into the 10 minute range. And if that wasn't enough, now the cramping began. My left calf seized up and I couldn't even move. I stood there stretching it, massaging it, anything I could do. Nothing was working. Every time I tried to take another step it stopped my dead in my tracks. I must have done this for a good 5 minutes. Finally it loosened enough that I could shuffle my feet and at least make forward progress. Qualify for Kona was now out of the picture. I was in survival mode. All I could think about was, just finish, just finish! I was going to walk the whole thing if I had to.

Mentally, it was brutal. I knew in my mind, if I could just stop the cramping, i could at least run. But the cramps weren't going away. A nice gentleman saw my agony and offered my some salt tabs. I took them with a thank you. I downed the tabs and kept walking. I was at about mile 20 when the cramps finally subsided enough that i could attempt to run. So I came up with a strategy. I would walk for 20 seconds at the mile mark, then I would run to the aid station, which was about 4 minutes away, walk through that and then run to the next mile marker and repeat!!

It worked! I was able to run at about a 7:15 pace during the part that I could run. So, now I was doing about 8:50 miles. Not great, but better. It was all I could do to make it to the aid stations before walking. The pain in my IT bands was only getting worse and if they had snapped in half I wouldn't have been surprised. Oh and that rock I stepped on in transition, yeah it had bruised my heel and that was hurting now as well!

Mile 25 was a welcomed sight. I knew I was so close! I was determined to run the entire rest of the way in. I did! It was ugly, but I made it. As I crossed the line I heard the announcer say, "Trey Vernon, YOU ARE AN IRONMAN!!!" It was wonderful and horrible at the same time!! It was over! Ten hours and seventeen minutes later, the longest, most painful day of racing was finally at an end. As soon as I crossed the line, I fell into the arms of the volunteers. I was done, my body had given everything it had and was shutting down. A big guy grabbed me and yanked me into a wheel chair. I couldn't even put my feet up on the foot pedals, because I was cramping again. I felt like I might pass out and the guy jammed something in my mouth and told me to bite down. I obliged and it was the worst tasting thing ever. Not sure what it was, but it tasted like pure pepper or something, awful!

They sped me off in the wheel chair to the medical tent. I was so out of it I could barely speak. They laid my down on a cot and propped my legs up. They ached so bad!! They asked my how I was, and I replied, "terrible". After 5 attempts they finally got the IV in. I was just too dehydrated for them to get a good vein. They kept wanting my to drink an electrolyte drink, but after 10 hours of doing that, it was the last thing I wanted. I told them I would probably puke it up, they didn't care. Down it went! They also checked my glucose level, 62, not sure what is good, but 62 is not good! They made me drink more and I ate a cookie. It tasted so good.

As I lay there, I was thinking of how Meg was doing. I knew I would miss her finishing and that really sucked. I had always envisioned getting to see her cross the line. After 2 bags of IV they let me leave. As I very slowly and gingerly made my way out, I saw Meg coming in. Her turn!! I asked how she did and she said, 11:14!!! Wow! That was awesome! So fast! She had biked 6 hours and then run just over 4 hours in the marathon! She is amazing! I was so proud! I sat with her as she got her 2 bags of IV and we talked about the race. At that moment I told her I had no plans of doing an IM ever again!

Now that it is over, I look back and try to take it all in. What an adventure to be sure! Although I wasn't fully satisfied with how mine ended, I knew it was my first one and it happens. I know know that I have to do another one, just to prove to myself that I can do it without stopping next time!

P.S. I never did see that swim skin again...