Ironman Coeur d'Alene - TriathlonFull Ironman

Wow. There really is nothing like an IM mass start.

I started just a hair right of the buoy line, in the second row of people. We were actually ankle deep in the water at the start.

There's a lot of nervous tension in the air just before the cannon.... then.... BOOM!!!! And the water begins to froth with 2000 pairs of arms and legs churning it up.

I went mod hard for the first buoy, so that I was in front of most of the carnage, and then tried to settle into a good steady rhythm. Did a good job of that. The reality is, it's going to be crowded. I was expecting it, and I was ready for it. I swam defensively, but I still focused on good solid pulls, and keeping my stroke smooth and on form. The occasional errant arm or leg notwithstanding, I succeeded at that.

I've noticed at the start of races, especially the IMs, I have a fleeting thought/panic attack of "WTF AM I DOING HERE?!?! I DON'T BELONG HERE!!!!!" I swim through it, and settle into my pace.

I swam wide at the turn buoys, about 10' off the line, and was able to swim easily around. Right next to the buoy it was chaos, with people stopping, breast stroking, and treading water as they sorted out.

Didn't see the clock when I came out to start the second loop, which is probably good. I just kept with my plan of swimming easy. I didn't want to push for an extra 5 minutes on the swim, and have it cost me twice that much later in the race.

Was relaxed enough that I was even able to manage to pee coming back into the beach. ( What an odd bunch, that we're so happy about being able to pee on ourselves... )

It's a long day, and it's all about pacing.

When I saw my swim time at the exit, and knowing how relaxed I swam it, the negative thoughts all turned positive instantly. "I *DO* BELONG HERE, DAMNIT!!!!!" :)

Nothing. I had a goal range of 1:05 to 1:15. I swam what I thought was about a 1:15 effort level, but got out in 1:07. Perfect!

Came out of the water, and saw my swim time. I was very happy.

Took off cap, goggles, and neoprene cap, and stuck them in my wetsuit sleeve.

Hit the wetsuit strippers who got the suit off with one quick yank.

Grabbed my bag, then it was into the tent.

Took my time a bit, as I wanted to make sure I had everything. I even packed up the T1 bag with my wetsuit.

I got slathered in sunscreen on my way out to grab my bike.

Go a little faster? Not sure, better to be steady and not rush, then forget something in my haste, especially at this distance.

Bike was awesome. I was a little nervous about the hills on the back half, but they weren't all that bad actually. Ridden much harder stuff around here and in training, so I was well prepared to climb.

Going into the bike leg, my power caps were:

Flat - 190-213 watts
Short Hills - 270 watts
Long Hills - 225 watts

Tried to keep HR in the upper 130's, lower 140's. Did that very well.

The weather was perfect. Nice and cool, with only partly sunny. So I had no problems staying cool with the aero helmet on.

First loop, was great. I kept a pretty steady pace going, and pushed it a bit. Was really enjoying the ride and the scenery. It was exciting rolling through town at 25+ mph with the streets packed with people. Did a good job of controlling myself and not getting carried away.

Nutrition plan was 3 bottles of Infinit per lap. One in aero bottle, one bottle on seat tube, and one bottle in behind seat cage. Drank the aero bottle first, then filled it with the bottle from behind the seat, and ditched the empty. The goal for that was to limit the time I was carrying extra crap around on the bike. Why have a nice aero bike frame/wheels/helmet if you're going to have everything in the world hanging off destroying all the aerodynamics? I also took a somewhat calculated risk in terms of not carrying a spare tubular. I had two cans of Vittoria PitStop tucked away under the seat. Much lighter, and a lot less weight. I did have a spare tubular and CO2 in SN though.

The wind kicked up a bit on the second lap, so we had a headwind on the 15 mile or so stretch that runs back into town. It was a solid 10-15 mph headwind, instead of the 5-6 mph that was forecast. Oh well, that's why I don't avoid windy rides.

Ride the flats harder. I was well under my power cap for the flats. Though, of the mistakes of riding too hard or too easy, too easy is better to make.

I've ridden low-mid 2:30's at HIMs. If I paced this better I probably would have been able to ride around a 5:30 and still been well within myself to set up good run.

Rolled up to the dismount line, and unclipped. Handed my bike off and jogged through the bags and into the tent.

Hit the urinal trough in the corner of the tent. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh......

Dumped out my bag on the ground, and got to work. Aquaphor all over my toes ( otherwise I get blisters ). Smartwool socks on after that. Shoes on, and tighten up the laces and set the lace lock.

Visor on, switched sun glasses, grabbed Fuel Belt Helium and an extra coin purse of endurolytes just in case.

Then I took off out of the tent.

Try not to fumble about. Organize my stuff in the bag a little better so I'm not rummaging for stuff.

I paced the bike well, as I came out of T2 feeling GREAT! Perhaps too great. I missed the first mile marker, so I was just running along at comfortable RPE. I hit the two mile marker and take a lap on my watch. 15:40'ish. Doh! That's a bit too fast. I back off a bit ( or think that I do ). Heading through town, lots of people lining the course, and I'm feeling great.

I miss the next two mile markers. I don't take a split again until mile 5. I'm at a low 8:1x pace. Dangit. I wanted to be around 8:30's. I back things off some more. I was passing a ton of people in the first 5 miles. Turnover felt good, pace felt smooth. HR was in the mid 140's to low 150's, which is about zone2'ish.

I was running with a guy for a bit where we were side by side for about a mile. As we hit more empty stretch of the course he starts letting 'em rip. Laughs about it, and says he was holding it until after we were past the hot chicks. Heh. We hit a slight hill at that point, and I cruise up and he falls back off the pace.

I ran the aid stations this time. Grabbed sponges first, squeezed over my head and on my chest. Then grabbed cup of water, chugged it. Then a coke. Or another cup of water to squeeze some of my Infinit mix into. I had two bottles of strong Infinit mix on my fuel belt. Idea being to squeeze about a 1/3rd of a bottle out into a cup of water from an aid station. That worked pretty well. I felt like a pro, in the IM videos, where you see them rolling through the station and smoothly grabbing cup after cup.

I made it up to the turnaround hill feeling pretty good, and started cruising back into town. Still just rolling along and rolling people up. I switched to taking in more coke than Infinit. I originally thought it was my pacing, but in looking at the split/HR data, that was pretty much in the ball park. I think I may have simply underfueled the mid part of the run, by overestimating how many calories I was getting from the coke.

I made it back through town and the crowd was awesome. The main streets are all packed, and you feel like a rockstar. I'm feeling it a little bit at this point, as I'm 12 miles into the run, but still moving pretty good.

I stayed pretty cool, as it wasn't super hot, and I was keeping my jersey wet with sponges and there was a good wind blowing in over the lake. My jersey would be just about dry and then I'd hit the next aid station.

I made it back past transition, and there were people coming in off the bike, so the run course was filling up. I did the second time through the little out and back west of transition, and headed back past SN. I grabbed only 1 bottle to change over at SN for my fuel belt, and got my RedBull out of the bag. Cracked the top and kept on jogging. The RedBull was great right about then. Gave me a nice little boost for the next few miles. It gave me WINGS!!!!

I saw Q a little before SN, and he was about a mile back from me. I knew he is a strong runner, so my goal was to keep pushing, knowing that he was chasing me down.

I make it back through town for the last time out on the loop. I kept up a good effort, but things were starting to crack. About mile 18, half way out to the turn around hill, I had to hit a porta potty. Once I got out and started moving again, it was tough to make the legs work. I'd run continously the whole time up until that point. I managed to keep up about 9:xx'ish pace, but it was getting tough to hang on.

I made it to the base of the last hill, and that was the kicker. I had to walk up the hill to the turn, though I started running again just before reaching the top and the turn around mat. It was a downhill now, so I let gravity work and pull me back down the hill. As I hit the bottom of the hill, Q passed me going up it the other way. He was looking and running strong at the point, and I knew that I was going to have trouble keeping him back. I pushed on, and kept up a solid effort along the flats along the lake. Despite being in some serious pain at this point and not moving so well, I was still passing people. There were a lot of people outright walking, and I was determined not to be one of them. I decided to walk the aid stations, to make sure that I could get enough fluids in. I tried doing some mental calculations on where I was and what time I was looking at finishing, but my brain just would not cooperate so I gave up trying to figure it out. Decided I'd finish when I finished. I knew I needed a 3:50 to break 11 hours. I was pretty certain I could do that at the start of the run, but wasn't quite so certain now. So I fell back to the goal of just running a sub-4:00. That'd put me about 11:10 finish time.

I put on a good fight, but the last climb up from the lake took a toll. I hit the crest at the top, which is about mile 23 1/2. Just as I started the downhill plod, Q came flying past like he was running a fresh 5k. He yelled at me to come with, but I had nothing left. I think I yelled something back that I couldn't and go on without me, but he was already pretty far ahead by the time my brain convinced my mouth to work.

I was forced to walk a good bit of the next 2 miles, as I was just blitzed. I would run for a bit, then it'd be gone and I'd have to recover. It was probably a 1:1 run/walk. I chugged 2-3 cokes at the aid station. I was heading back through town at this point, and I was looking pretty rough. I think someone described me as looking like I got hit by a truck. That pretty well sums up how I felt too.

I hit mile 25 marker, and knew that I was close. As MissKelly told me once in a race "You can do anything for a mile". So I kicked it back up to a run, and managed to run the rest of the way in. I was going on fumes and willpower, but damnit, I was going to run this one in.

You make the the cross-over on the run course, and you know it's going to happen. You're in the lane that says "To Finish" instead of "2nd loop start". I've got a grimace of determination, but people start cheering for me louder when I move over to the finish lane. I come up the last little climb, and make the left turn onto the main street. 5 blocks ahead of me, I see it.... the black arch across the road.

The streets are lined pretty heavily now, and everyone is clapping, banging on noise makers. I hear a few cowbells in there. It's all kind of a blur, as there's so much going on, and my brain is in a perilous state, just trying to keep from falling over. It's a slight downhill, so it's easy to keep running now. Plus, the adrenaline hits and the pain of the day magically fades.

I check back behind me, nobody is on my heels, so I have some room. I slow down the last block and into the finish chute. I pump my fist in the air, and the crowd starts cheering louder. I do it again and they get even louder. I shout out a great big WHOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! and I'm suddenly in the last few feet of the course. I'm running on the carpet now.

I stop just before the tape, gesture to the jersey and the number I'm wearing, and lay down on the ground. Once again, #179 rolls across the finish.

More calories. I got enough fluids, but could have chowed more calories.

I stand up, and immediately get a medal around my neck, and suddenly there's Whizzzzz. She was a finish line catcher, so she was able to be in there at the finish to meet me. My legs are really weak, so I have to lean pretty heavily on her to make it out of the finish line area. I get to the medical/food area, and they won't let her in with me, so I head in by myself.

I'm still in a daze, so I just sit down in a chair and get handed a bottle of water by a volunteer. I drink about 1/2 of it, then decide to get up. I'm a little unsteady on my feet, but I'm mobile. I notice the massage tent, and head over to find out how long the wait is. I walk up and ask, and they say "No wait, we can take you now". Okay with me. So I get a quick massage of my calves, hamstrings, and quads. That feels pretty good. Now I'm starting to get hungry. And cold. So I make it out of the tent, and grab a mylar blanket and a slice of pizza.

I finally figure out where the exit is ( I said my brain was slow ). I meet up with Whizzzzz and Q and Jess and Shannon. Have a bout of uncontrolled shivering. Wrap myself in a towel and mylar blanket and laid in the sun for a bit. The world stopped spinning, and I decide that it's time to head back to the house while I can still move.

Get my stuff out of transition ( in reality, I sit on a picnic table, while swgtri goes to get it out, since she has a photo ID and the bike checkout card ). She gets my stuff, no problem, and we head back to the house. I take a shower and feel mostly human again. I'm getting hungry now, so the three of us head out the local burger joint/bar on the corner for some food. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm........

After that, it's bed time for me, and Whizzzzzz is off to go start her volunteer shift at the finish line.




Swim was perfect. Bike could have gone a little harder. Run went well until I bonked. Need to work on fueling, and forcing calories into my system better.


The people of Coeur d'Alene are awesome. Every place I went to, I heard encouragement from the locals. If you're there doing the IM, then to them you're almost a celebrity. The location is absolutely stunning as well.

I have to rate this race as one of the very best. NA Sports for all the grief they get really run a tight ship, and it shows. The little details are not overlooked, and everything runs like clockwork.