Ironman Coeur d'Alene - TriathlonFull Ironman

Mass start was tough. Cold water, lots of waves and excessive contact with other competitors made it hard to catch my breath at first, but after the first 500 yards I was able to get into a decent routine. I started toward the front, about in the middle of the line. Probably too far up given my speed that day.

Never again will I swim that lake in a sleeveless suit. Thankfully my wife bought me a full length suit this year for my birthday, but not until after the Ironman. Also, since I'm generally a strong swimmer I'd try to go faster, especialy at the start. I think I was too worried about running out of energy during the swim.

I admit this was a slow transition. Good chance to catch my breath, but resting is not an ideal use of time during transition.

Since my next Ironman will focus on reducing my time, I'll have to come into this with the conditioning to avoid resting in transition.

I had really trained too little on the bike, mostly because it just takes so much time, and I couldn't secure that much time so I knew that 112 miles would be hard for me to finish. My goal was to go slowly so that I had enough energy to get through the run after the bike. Although I was slow, I did succeed in getting through the 112 miles with enough energy left to at least walk the run, and with enough time left to walk the run.

At one point prior to the Ironman I had taken off my aerobars because I did not feel stable while using them. This was a mistake. I should have practiced with them until I was comfortable in the aero position. Also, I simply must make the time for more long rides. There is just no substitute for training.

This was another opportunity to rest for a second while not rushing to get to the run.

Next time I'd add a sense of urgency to the transition.

This was not a fast run obviously. By the time I got to the "run" my legs were shot from the bike. The heat was draining me of strength, but I knew that I had enough time left to walk out the marathon and that's what I did. Best I could do was to keep up a fast walk, with a little bit of running here and there.

I'd practice more on the bike and spend more time in the aero position to save my legs a bit. My run was shot before I ever started.

I could barely move when I finished. It was dark and late, and I had no support at the race. Tough being exhausted and still having to worry about carrying bags, bike and gear back to the car. Sat down for a bit and ate some pizza, but mostly I just wanted to go home and get in the tub, then bed, so I loaded up the car and drove 40 miles back home.


Conditioning was an issue, but I was happy to have finished this challenging event. Just a couple years ago I would not have imagined signing up for an Ironman, much less completing one. Next Ironman will be better. I learned a lot from this experience.


Amazing amount of effort by the local community in supporting this event. Locals stood all day in the heat chearing on even folks like me who finished well behind most of the participants. That really helped. Corporate sponsorship was great (Ford).