Ironman Coeur d'Alene - Triathlon

Need to work on upper body strength. Perhaps get a different wetsuit as it feels quite constricting now.

Had to make a pit stop due to GI issues and get rid of some waste. I haven't had to do that for several races.

Wake up earlier so I can clear my system before the race. Also, when changing my garmin watch from wrist to bike, I hit the next button so it looked like I was in T2 already. Needed to stop and fiddle with that until I got it back to the cycle settings.

First lap felt pretty good. Kept the HR in a good zone (137) while the second and as the heat continued to rise, let off the gas to keep the HR in check (140.7). Very difficult to do as it became very hot on the course.
I felt I drank enough fluids as I was able to pee three times on the bike. 2 small and 1 significant amount.

Possibly take in more salt and dowse myself with more water. Even though I don't feel like I pushed it on the bike, I suffered on the run more than I feel I should have. As I write this report, I have a head cold that I am dealing with. I wonder if all the AC before the race brought it on during the race and that is why I suffered on the run.

Took my time at T2 as I wanted to make sure I had everything I needed. With the heat, I should have used my water belt but elected to go without it. I also did not load my gels from my T2 bag in to my tri suit as they were very hot. I could not imagine taking those in. Lathered my feet in a lot of body glide.

Put on my water belt.

Started off a bit too strong so I dialed it back a bit. First km, did it in 5:59. Slowed down each km after that as I was focused on my HR. At the 8 km mark, my left ear plugged up. Really need to get this figured out before my next race because after that, I became very dizzy and out of balance. Had to walk/run quite a bit for the next several aid stations. Had to completely walk a few more kms. The last 8 km, I ran most of the time and pretty much only walked aid stations or one or two of the hills. Finished strong, perhaps a bit too strong as I needed some meds to settle down my stomach.
Had a plan to take in salt in every aid station. Did not do that as it was a new routine and forgot some of the time. Took ice on my head whenever I could and put some down the front of my tri suit. I was also inconsistent with the amount of nutrition I took in. I know I did not take in the gels I had planned on and at the special needs bag, my drink that I prepared was very hot so I threw it out. The last 8 km, I took in flat cola and that helped out a lot. I will look at doing that more early in the run.

Stick to the nutrition plan.

After getting my finisher goodies, needed to sit down as I was very dizzy. My family found me and I chatted with them for a bit but needed to sit down again. The catcher that caught me, found me again and inquired how I was doing. I knew my situation was deteriorating, so I had him help me over to the med area. Once there, I threw up the contents of my stomach. I received some anti-nausea meds and was fine after that.


The heat. The air temperature was over 42C and the radiant heat off the ground was much more. This became a race of survival and finish and any time goals I was thinking off went out the window.


I would like to do this race again. I heard that this IMCDA 2015 race was the hottest recorded in North America and third in the world. I did not look at the clock when I finished and did not know my time until the next day. Out of the 4 that I have done so far, this was the hardest to do. The course is not that hard but the heat made it almost too much for me to handle. I heard there were about 370 DNFs on the course.