Ironman Coeur d'Alene - TriathlonFull Ironman

For my first mass swim start, it was about what I expected. The Star Spangled Banner, Boom!, then "Crap! That was fast?!". My HR was up while on the beach, I did some deep breathing, and my nerves felt good.

200 yards out my mind was racing. I couldn't get my rhythm going and was frustrated at that. So I stopped, took 2-3 deep breathes, regrouped, and pressed on. Much, much better. Contact with other swimmers was pretty light. I had staged back and well right and didn't have anyone swim over me. It was a little more difficult to find clean water than I had thought. I torpedoed some guy who was headed for a kayak.

Navigation at the first turn was very tight. I tried an outside line both times, but it seemed like the kayaks were keeping everybody pressed in. Second lap highlights included a little chop on the far end and an elbow square to the back of my head. The guilty Aussie apologized, so no biggie.

I drank a bottle of sports drink before the swim start. This was "A Bad Idea". I couldn't get the pee in the wetsuit thing going on the second lap. Check my T1 time.

No dizziness getting out of the water. Made eye contact with a stripper and they hooked me up. Hit the porta-pottie before the change tent. Ah, sweet relief. Man I had to go soooo bad.

T1 Volunteers Rocked. Can't say enough good things. Sunscreen helpers also rocked. Hit the porta-pottie on the way out to the bike rack just to be safe and had to pee AGAIN. Better safe than sorry.

Hustled out to the mount line. Ah well, it's a long day - I expected 10+ min. for T1.

Never, ever, drink a bottle of sports drink before the swim. Just makes for a bad scene.

I missed getting sunscreen underneath my shoulder blades ( w/ jersey stretched & hunched-over on the bars), so I have two brick-red crescents of sunburn. But hey, i didn't forget my bald scalp underneath my helmet.

I held way back on the first lap and was glad I did. The bike course was awesome - a tailwind leaving town, some rollers on the far end, and a headwind coming back. The people cheering were Unbelievable. The race leader passed me with a motorcycle escort - that was cool.

Rest Stop volunteers - again - they make your day. I went with a concentrated bottle and a h2o bottle setup. I'd stop, they'd hold my bike. I'd ask for a water fillup, and hit the porta-pottie. Come back, they have my bike ready to go. Sorry, but I just don't have it in me to go all over my nice clean bike.

At about 6.5 hours I went from Perpeteum to water and gels. My stomach was good, but the concentrate wasn't tasting so great. I kinda expected this, so all good.

I never ever looked at my avg. speed on the bike computer and paced myself on HR and RPE. At 80 miles, I still felt good, so I cranked it up a bit. Kept the cadence high and spun into the wind. It was so much fun coming back into town. You feel like you are winning the prologue on the tour. I kept on the throttle right up until the chute at the dismount line.

Not much. I put a bunch of spare crap (tube, co2, bottle, wheelset, etc.) in my special needs just in case. I only used the sunscreen.

I can see why people go with those aero bottles on the front for water; it lets you maintain pace through the handups and discard your water bottle at the far end.

T2 was simple. Bike stuff off, Run stuff on. Sunscreen, thank volunteers, go get it done.

I dumped my bag on the ground. A volunteer asked me if I needed a cold towel for my neck. I had one in my bag, which they made up for me. I wiped my face and neck. While I did that, they had arranged my stuff for me into little groups and was standing there holding my bag open for me.

I had a wetsuit kiss on my neck that burned like hell fire when they put another coat of sunscreen on me. ouch.

I had a great run. Frankly, I didn't expect it to go as well as it did. My plan was to run aid station to aid station, and do a reality check at Mile 18.

I set my watch for 08:00/01:00 and followed that religiously. I walked the aid stations to ensure I drank enough fluids (read more in the stomach and less on the shoes). I went with watered down coke, a few gels, and endurolytes. Threw ice in the hat a few times, and took several sponges in the jersey. I paced with a few gals who looked like strong runners and let them do the driving for a stretch.

At Mile 19 I knew I had this in the bag. Shortly after, I thought I could hit a 13:30 but my math was bad. The last few stops I made sure to thank any volunteer who would listen. At Mile 23, I felt something go weird in right foot .. ended up being a small blister popping.

That last stretch coming downhill on Sherman made it all worth it. The people lining the street are simply incredible. I felt like I was winning an Olympic medal. My catcher was very nice and helpful. My wife met me on the other side and we shared a teary hug.

I just felt good - I was proud that I raced smart and just stayed within myself all day. Running that marathon for me was all about managing the next eight minutes of my life until someone told me to stop.

Nada.

To quote Rich Strauss' "IM How-To" article:
"... Raise your arms, smile for the camera, and break the tape. Thank your family, get a massage, then have some brown liquor and a cigar...". These were generally my post-race plans, sans cigar.

Dude, wtf with the massage tent ? I was seriously looking forward to a post-race massage. The lights were off and nobody was home. Waaah. :(


This was an awesome race for my first IM. Top Notch organization. Scenic venue with good weather. Incredible volunteers. People cheering you All Day Long. Having my family there to see the months of training payoff was great.

Lastly, and Most Importantly:
To My Wife, Carrie Jean - I want you to know that seeing you dash out of the crowd to run alongside me was the absolute highlight of my day. My finishing time doesn't matter ... my bike splits don't matter ... seeing how proud you were of me was the only thing that mattered. Thank You So Much. I Love You !!!