Ironman Coeur d'Alene - TriathlonFull Ironman


View Member's Race Log View other race reports
Coeur d'Alene, Idaho
United States
Ironman North America
63F / 17C
Overcast
Total Time = 10h 37m 10s
Overall Rank = 207/2200
Age Group = 25-29
Age Group Rank = 21/117
Pre-race routine:

I Woke up at about 4:00 to a cold shower because the hot water heater went out. That was a great start. I didn't worry about it too much though because I had showered the night before. I actually didn't sleep very well the night before as I woke up a few a times and went to the bathroom. Each time I woke up I ate a mini bagel though. I'm not sure if that was a good strategy or not but it didn't seem to hurt anything. Once I got out to the kitchen I got down to eating my breakfast. i had a bagel with peanut butter, a banana and a boost. I also sipped accelerade and had another boost on the drive from my house in Spokane to the Coeur d' Alene. We got to the race at about 5:25 and started getting everything ready. I thought I got there in plenty of time but time flew by and before I knew I was waiting on the sidewalk to get onto the beach. And I continued to wait until about 2 minutes before the cannon went off. I went across the mat and made my way over to the far right as quickly as I could.
Event warmup:

There wasn't any time for a warm up, but all the excitement from the start was enough of a warm up.
Swim
  • 1h 16m 36s
  • 4224 yards
  • 01m 49s / 100 yards
Comments:

This was pretty tough. The first straight away wasn't too bad. I guess I expected the contact and it didn't bother me. I started to get frustrated at the first turn buoy. Everyone told me how congested it got there but this was horrible. People were just stopping. I had to just keep swimming and I'm sure I swam over some people. I felt bad, but I am not a good swimmer and I sort of started to panic so I knew I had to get back into a rhythm. The way back to the beach was nice because waves were pushing you back in. Came in at about 36:30 for the first loop. I was happy with that but I knew the next lap would be slower. My navigation for the second loop was terrible. I kept ending up inside the buoy line and I was getting pummeled by the waves. The turn buoy was just as bad if not worse on the second loop but I still had that awesome feeling of knowing that I was about 15 minutes from getting through the Ironman swim. I could hardly swim a year ago when I signed up for this. So to be at this point in the race felt so good. I finished in 1:16 which is about where I though I would be.
What would you do differently?:

Try and swim straighter.
Transition 1
  • 04m 59s
Comments:

Wet suit strippers are great. I came out of the water with a lot of people so the change tent seemed packed. I just plopped down on the grass and put my stuff on. Handed my stuff to a volunteer and off I went.
What would you do differently?:

nothing.
Bike
  • 5h 33m 2s
  • 112 miles
  • 20.18 mile/hr
Comments:

The beauty of being a slow swimmer is that you get to pass people the whole time. I passed about 500 people on the bike. I started out feeling good as far as my legs went but my stomach was bloated from swallowing so much lake water. I still stayed on my nutrition plan of gels and accelerade but I could feel my stomach hurting. The first loop went by great. I felt good and was pretty much cruising. Then about mile 65 I felt terrible. I knew I needed a porta pottie stop so I handed my bike to a kid and stepped into the outhouse. After riding for 3 hours I was little unsteady to begin with and add into that the fact that I had bike shoes on and I think I nearly knocked the outhouse over as struggled to stay on my feet. 5 minutes later I felt better, but I had lost some time. I decided at that point once I got back to govt. way I would just take it easy and get ready to run. Thats what I did and I got passed by a couple people but I just didn't care at that point. Got into t2 and I knew all I had left was a marathon.
What would you do differently?:

I'm not sure what to do differently. It was a GI issue that limited my speed. I was on pace for a 5:12 bike after the first lap but, I just started feeling like crap.
Transition 2
  • 04m 52s
Comments:

Volunteer took my bike and another one got my run bag. I went into the change and It was almost empty. This was great! I sat down and a volunteer came out of nowhere and dumped my bad out. I took off my shoes and socks and told him what I needed. He even put my socks and shoes on.
What would you do differently?:

I had to make another bathroom stop and that slowed me down.
Run
  • 3h 37m
  • 26.2 miles
  • 08m 17s  min/mile
Comments:

Run went great. Not sure what else to say. I felt pretty good the whole way. This being my first race I wasn't sure how much to push. I think I could have gone faster which is encouraging for the next time. Coming down that final stretch was the best feeling!! I had quite a few friends and family there so I was high fiving people and the crowd was yelling. It was awesome feeling!! It was everything I had pictured it to be in all my long training days. That made it all worth while.
What would you do differently?:

Run faster
Post race
Warm down:

Not much. Just went and got my bags and waited for my friends to finish

What limited your ability to perform faster:

This being my first race I think I held back quite a bit. I plan on pushing harder next year.

Event comments:

I loved this race!!




Last updated: 2008-09-29 12:00 AM
Swimming
01:16:36 | 4224 yards | 01m 49s / 100yards
Age Group: 61/117
Overall: 838/2200
Performance: Average
Suit: Blue seventy Synergy
Course: 2 loop rectangle
Start type: Wade Plus:
Water temp: 63F / 17C Current: High
200M Perf. Average Remainder: Average
Breathing: Below average Drafting: Average
Waves: Good Navigation: Below average
Rounding: Bad
T1
Time: 04:59
Performance: Average
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
Yes
Wetsuit stuck? No Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: No
Getting up to speed: Average
Biking
05:33:02 | 112 miles | 20.18 mile/hr
Age Group: 33/117
Overall: 309/2200
Performance: Good
Wind: Strong with gusts
Course: 2 loop.
Road: Smooth Dry Cadence:
Turns: Good Cornering: Good
Gear changes: Average Hills: Good
Race pace: Hard Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 04:52
Overall: Average
Riding w/ feet on shoes Good
Jumping off bike Good
Running with bike Good
Racking bike Good
Shoe and helmet removal Good
Running
03:37:00 | 26.2 miles | 08m 17s  min/mile
Age Group: 21/117
Overall: 207/2200
Performance: Good
Course: 2 loop along the lake.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Average
Mental exertion [1-5] 3
Physical exertion [1-5] 3
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Average
Race evaluation [1-5] 5