Ironman Coeur d'Alene - Triathlon

The race day weather was changing constantly the week before the race. On race day, the wind picked up and we were swimming in two foot swells. My swim was five minutes slower than my PR but conditions played a roll in my final time.

Nothing... I immediately found open water and I swam my own race. I entered the water with the 1hr-1hr 10min group. I stayed with my group basically the whole time.

I was in a large pack which got out of the water at the same time. The change tent was so packed that I found myself a nice piece of grass to sit down on and get into my bike gear.

Nothing... I was still on pace to make my goal by the end of the day. When I entered the change tent, saw how packed it was, I did not panic and just did my thing.

My first loop was going exactly as expected. I was averaging close to 20-21 mph and feeling great. When I hit the marker at mile 70 to complete my second big loop, I ran into a sever headwind. I was brought down from 20 mph to 13 mph for the 20 mile southbound stretch. At mile 91 was the turnaround to come back into town and finish the bike. I feel like I cruised in with the wonderful tailwind.

For the most part, nothing. I have been training on this course for months and I knew every small downhill and places I could power though. There were some windy days where I decided not to ride Highway 95 and maybe those training days would have helped me during race day. I was expecting to finish the bike between 5:30-5:45 so I was slightly disappointed in my final time of 6:15.

Great volunteers who took my bike for me and handed me my run gear bag. It made my transition just a bit faster.

Nothing

When I realized my goal time was not going to happen, I told myself to just enjoy the run. I left T2 and I stopped b my wife and told her I would be a little longer on the run because I was going to have fun, talk to people and just enjoy my marathon. I ran the first loop with no problems and felt great up to mile 20. The last 6.2 miles were more difficult but nothing I could not handle. I walked every aid station and the front side of Bennett Bay hill. While would on the course, I met some great people, talked to some wonderful volunteers and had a blast with the folks at Aid Station #2.

I did exactly what I wanted to do, have fun during my marathon and I was pleased with myself.

I was escorted through the finishing chute where I found a buddy of mine was volunteering. It was great to see his face, talk to him as he walked me through. I grabbed two pieces of pizza, chocolate milk and went back to my family. I posed for photographs and we went home. Once at home, I jumped right into the bathtub and just laid there. After getting out, my wife took a rolling pin to my legs, back and arms to roll out my pain.


HEADWIND!


Ironman CDA has a reputation in town of being one of the most iconic ,scenic and spectator friendly courses around the country. I'll tell ya, for a local, this course did not disappoint! Mike Reilly said during the welcome ceremony that taking your time down the finishing chute is the most important thing you could do. He stressed that the "young bucks" sprint the finish and he never understood that. As I made my turn down Sherman Ave., I looked back behind me and I was the only one around. I ran side to side and gave as many high fives as I could. I listened as Mike Reilly said "From Coeur d' Alene, Idaho, a local Police Officer Andy Nye, YOU ARE AN IRONMAN!" I have dreamed of this for so long and I achieved my goal for the year. My final time may have been 27 minutes too slow but I have the most fun I could have ever had. Thank you to all the athletes and volunteers who made my dream come true!