Ironman Coeur d'Alene - TriathlonFull Ironman

the water was crazy. moments before the start, mike reilly actually offered people a duathlon as an out. we though he was kidding at first, but he was serious. i think 50-100 people took him up on the offer. i understand their anxiety, but that's no way to end a year of hard work and training. at least get your toes wet and give it a go. you can always turn back and say you gave it your best shot.
the tiny canon went off we stormed into the water. the chop was pretty rough and some of the kayaks were getting tossed around, but i was able to settle in ok. there was a good amount of pushing and shoving, but it wasn't too fierce. i would say worse than IMWI, but better than IMLP. it was tough going, but i just put my head down and plugged along. i could tell i wasn't setting any speed records and tried not to look at my watch, but when i came out of the water i was fine. i hadn't ruined my day, and that's really all i care about in an IM swim.

nothing.

wetsuit peelers are awesome. what else can i say.
i didn't feel cold while swimming, but now that i was out of the water, i began to shiver uncontrolably. there was a hottub set up next to the t1 tent that was about the most tempting thing i have ever seen, but i had a feeling that i would never get out of it. i grabbed my bag and joined in t1 naked time with all the others.
we knew it would be cold starting the bike, so we all bought 'arm warmers'. they were actually knee high socks with cool patterns on them for $4. mine were argyle with skulls and crossbones. they were great and i don't think i can pay for real arm warmers ever again. i grabbed my bike and hit the road hoping to get warm soon.

nothing.

i started the bike feeling cold, but strong. i knew tim was behind me and assumed craig was ahead of me, but had no idea where anyone else was on the course.

i came up on k pretty early. i was glad to see she beat me out of the water and was looking great. i continued on trying not to take it easy until i hit the hills.

half way through the hills i was feeling great with an average speed of 17.7. that's when things went downhill.
as i came around a sweeping right turn on rimrock rd (~mile 30), my rear tire blew. i was going ~20mph so all that i was thinking was “don’t go down… don’t go down…”. the rear wheel was fishtailing like crazy, but i was able to lock up the breaks and get a foot down before falling or skidding into oncoming bike traffic. i'm sure i could have been more graceful, but i was happy to have avoided any injuries and walked to the side to change my tube. that's when i noticed the dime size hole worn in my tire from skidding to a stop. ugh. i pulled out a new tube and started trying all the tricks. i put a patch on the inside of my tire, wrapped a $5 bill around the tube, and even sprayed some unidentified green stuff some spectator pulled out of nowhere (yes that's outside help, but i'm pretty sure victor had a comfortable lead at that point and it didn't work anyway). it held air, but barely and after 100 yards it blew again. i had tons of c02 and another spare tube, but they were useless. i started walking and trying to flag down race motorcycles, but
the first several that passed ignored me. i wasn't sure where the next aid station was so i started getting a little nervous. i began jogging in my bike shoes rolling the bike along side.
some riders would yell some encouragement words as they passed. others would ask me if i was ok, but not even hesitate long enough to hear my answer. i certainly wouldn't expect anyone to stop and help, but i'll just say the encouragement was appreciated and the latter was not.

at this point i made it a few miles and i was starting to get a few leads. i got one motorcycle to stop and radio support and k, heidi (who was having bike troubles of her own), and one other rider that slowed to hear my problem were off pushing my case to anyone who would listen up ahead. i ran through the turn around and finally my savior in a pickup truck showed up. i told him that all i needed was a tire and that i could do the repair myself if he could go to tech support (assuming that they were helping someone in worse shape) and just bring the tire back. he said he actually had a spare at his house just up the road and sped off to get it. i ran the rest of the way to his street and started the repair. ironically as soon as he got there with the tire, tech support pulled up too. 1:20 and 3 miles later, i was back on the bike. paul from north pinecone road: you are my hero. i stopped to ask some neighbors to try to find your full name to thank you in person, but they didn't know. it's volunteers made up of people like you who make these races possible.

the next ~40 miles went well. i caught k and picked up my extra tubes in special needs. then my second round of troubles began. my braking was pathetic and my front end was really wobbly at any high speeds. i was happy to be moving so i didn't stop immediately. i just kept pushing knowing that even if i had to brake on downhills and go easy i could make the cut-off, but after another 10 miles it was getting downright dangerous. i stopped to look at it and this time, a mechanic appeared out of thin air and started tightening my headset and adjusting my brakes immediately. it was fixed in minutes and i cruised to the finish. i was so happy to be off the bike and ready to run.

should i carry a tire from now on? i definitely should have stopped and fixed the brakes and headset myself immediately after noticing the problem. i was just a little out of it and happy to be moving faster than 5mph.

uneventful. i changed and got to work.

nothing.

i thought i could save my race with a decent run split so i started out pretty fast. i finally go tot see all my friends:
i saw tim (konichiwa) and laura (gumnutt03) way ahead and they were looking strong. tim was a little glassy eyed, but he is physically capable of a solid run and laura seemed mentally tough enough for the both of them. i was able to catch up to taco (cpjohnson) and he was doing great. i've never seen him in such high spirits during a run.
in a repeat of IMWI, i was closing in on heidi (hdhtri) all run with hopes of running some with her, but never actually caught her. then, what has become my favorite moment of an ironman race, i saw k off the bike and on the run! i didn't have any doubts this year, but as my bike showed, you never know. there is nothing that can keep me from finishing once i see she made it.

i pushed pretty hard and the going got rough in the early 20's, but i at ~mile 23, another runner who had troubles on the bike (8 broken spokes!) came by me. he was going at a perfect pace and was all the motivation i needed. i jumped on and we pushed each other right to the finish. we finished by running a strong 8:27/mi.pace for the last 2.2 miles. he deserved it, so i let him go ahead on the finishing street and enjoyed the final 1/10th of a mile. the imcda finish is amazing. coming down that final street with mike reilly and his collapsed lung calling you in is worth every penny!

drink a little more and maybe take some salt tabs.

i felt terrible for about an hour after the finish. very woozy and cold. i caught up with tim, laura, and heidi who nursed me back to health a little bit with some gatorade and pizza.
finally got well enough to get a massage and head back to the finish to do a little dancing and cheer k in.

it's a little disappointing that i'll never know what my bike fitness was like this year, but even if i pr'd, it wouldn't have been by much so no big deal. i finished and that's all that matters. our group went 6 for 6 and is 32 for 32 in 1/2 IM and longer races. pretty sweet.


top class event. great course. great amenities. some of the best volunteers on the planet. im volunteers and fans are amazing. i don't know how they do that all day.