Hey Guys,

    We pulled in to town last night and got settled in after 15 hours in the flippin car!!! Everyone is well, and the weather is AMAZING. I got up early this morning and met up with a buddy and went to the river and swam 1 mile this morning at the Gatorade PRactice Swim... The water was AWESOME. Afterwards, I went home, showered and headed back to the host hotel to pick up my race packet. As we were approaching the hotel I get a call from my friend who tells me that I am basically named as a Media Slot here in Louisville!!! How cool is that??? So I come back to the hotel room, look on www.ironman.com and this is what I found (Scroll about 2/3 down the page)...

Ford Ironman Louisville Preview

Record sized field set to compete in third annual event

Published Thursday, August 27, 2009

Sunday's Ford Ironman Louisville event could feature the largest field in Ironman history with almost 3,000 athletes registered from 20 countries for the third annual event here in Kentucky. In addition to the huge age group field, a competitive pro field is also set to take part, headed by defending champions Max Longree and Mariska Kramer-Postma, but both will face competitive fields including a number of Ironman champions.

  Australian Luke McKenzie, a two-time Ironman champion already in 2009 (Malaysia and Japan), arrives here in Louisville as the man most likely to take the crown away from Longree, but South Africa's Raynard Tissink with five Ironman titles on his resume, also arrives as another favorite. Added to the competitive list of male pros is two-time Ford Ironman Wisconsin Dave Harju.

 

Kramer-Postma will face multiple-Ironman champions Nina Kraft, Fernanda Keller and Lisbeth Kristensen as she tries to defend her title. Kraft was a runner-up here in Louisville two years ago, while Kristensen finished third here last year, just eight months after the birth of her daughter, Astrid. Keller is trying to continue a 21-year streak of qualifying for the Ford Ironman World Championship in Kona.

The 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike and 26.2-mile run course will utilize a variety of Louisville’s scenic areas, including Waterfront Park, Oldham and Henry Counties and the city of LaGrange. Athletes will end their journey with a finish line celebration at Fourth Street Live!. 

Approximately 150 Louisville residents are scheduled to participate in this event that serves as an official qualifier for the Ford Ironman World Championship, taking place on Saturday, Oct. 10, in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii.

Some of the interesting age group stories we'll be following include:

• Zach Hadfield, 28, Muldraugh, Ky. – Zach is an active military member and has been deployed twice to Iraq.

• Andy Holder, 41, Collegeville, Penn. – Andy, who lives with Type I diabetes, is the national spokesperson for Good Neighbor Pharmacy. He created the Iron Andy Foundation, which aims to help children, young adults and their families dealing with diabetes and other chronic illness by providing inspiration, resources and assistance to help them achieve their life goals.

• Dan Benintendi, 34, Fort Worth, Texas – Dan has lost almost 200 pounds since the beginning of 2008 and is participating in his first Ironman.

• Debi Hatton, 43, Louisville, Ky. – Debi is a mother of five children. This will be her second time participating in Ford Ironman Louisville.

• Charles Plaskon, 65, ***** Gorda, Fla. – Charles is a legally blind athlete who races for the C Different Foundation. This will be Charles’ fourth Ironman, as he previously competed at Ford Ironman Coeur d’Alene, Ford Ironman Florida and the renowned Ford Ironman World Championship.

We'll have live coverage of this year's race including video, text updates, live athlete tracking and photos from Action Sports International. Our coverage is set to start on Friday afternoon...

So that was pretty cool. A couple other things, I have never tracked my body fat percentage, however I do know that when I went in for surgery my body fat % was 57 percent and weighed in at 400. Today at check-in they weigh you and tell you your body fat percentage and hydration or body water percentage. My Body fat is just under 12% (Which means that I have lost 80% of all of my body fat), my water percentage was 59% which means that I am VERY well hydrated (49-65% is optimal) which is pretty cool. I am hoping after plastic surgery I will bring the percentage down to 10% or so, but I am really happy. I asked the guy who was running the thing what a "Normal" body fat % is, he said for men my age 8%-21% is great. I was glad to know I was on the lower end of that spectrum. Anyways, things are great and I am now resting and getting ready for the big day on Sunday. I look forward to meeting a couple people from OH out there, Duane and another dude named Daniel who doesn't frequent the Excecise board. Have a great day everyone and I will check in before I race on Sunday...

very cool and very exciting!  best of luck with the race, i'm rooting for you.  now go get some!!!

Thank you bro... I will do my best!

Best of luck on Sunday Dan.   Have a great race!

Chad

I am going to give it my all!!! This is a tough course...

You go Dan!

Good luck from central Texas!!!

Darrell

Thanks for the wishes... I will represent the great state of TX as best I can!

I am so excited for you bro. I really wish I could head up that way to cheer you on. I will definately be tracking you and am looking forward to an awesome race report sometime next week. Also looking forward to a little run in October with you once I am up your way in October. Take  care my friend and GATA!

I am assuming GATA is a good thing...LOL never heard that one before. I will do my best to put it to em....

Sorry, it is an old football coach saying, Get After Their Ass