Monday, September 8, 2008

2008 Ford Ironman Louisville Afterthoughts







It's hard to know how to judge a performance that occurs in a difficult race situation like the 2008 Ironman Louisville. Without any further information a 4:40 marathon doesn't sound like anything special. So I looked at my Louisville result as compared to 2008 Spirit of Racine Triathlon a half-iron distance race.

  • Swim: SORT 24.4%, IMLou 37.3%
  • Bike: SORT 74.7%, IMLou 69.4%
  • Run: SORT 86.3%, IMLou 76.3%
  • Total: SORT 79%, IMLou 75.4%

So what was the cost of the fall at mile 88 of the bike? If I had performed at the same percentile at Louisville that I did at Racine, my bike would have improved to 5:58:30 and my marathon to 4:20:00 and with these my finish time would have improved by 29:30 to 11:53:00 for 242nd. The 79 percentile at Louiville finished in 12:09:30 for 297th. This essentially gives back my better swim at Louisville. In summary Ironman Louisville participants should plan for a hot day and race conservatively. The most important thing I learned was to be very careful on the bike because an accident is just waiting to happen, a situation not unique to Louisville.

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