Ironman Coeur d'Alene : Official Thread (Page 4)

I'm looking forward to being in the 80-84 age group. Only shot I've got at Kona is being last one standing! I've got a lot of years to go.

I signed up on June 24th as soon as registration opened. I'm turning forty next June so it's like my birthday present to myself. We've booked a room at the Ameritel Inn. Mrs Ultramike is really excited that we are leaving the four kids at home with Grandma.

This will be my second Ironman. I did Penticton in 2007, but I haven't done any triathlon racing at all since 2008. Life, family, and injuries kinda got in the way.

I have about forty pounds to lose before I am at race weight. All the hills on the bike course will definitely keep me motivated to lose the extra weight.

I'm really hoping to ride the bike course at least once in May or early June. Coeur D'Alene is about a 6 or 7 hour drive from here. Hopefully I'll find some other people in the Vancouver, BC area who are also doing this race.

Hi Mike - welcome back to triathlon! I hope you have a great adventure you and your wife can spend some quality time in Coeur d'Alene. We loved it when we were there in 2011.

Yea.....about that 40-44 age group........ugh!

Sounds a lot like my story.. I haven't raced a tri since 08' myself. (life, kids, work, etc.) Let us know if you make it down in the Spring to ride the course. A few of us that live close in to CdA may join you for the fun.

I'm officially in, just signed up. Not much of a break before I begin the training as I race Augusta 70.3 in a few weeks then the Jacksonville, FL marathon the end of December. Should be able to get a 2 week full rest after. Really looking forward to this one.

Tom

My last race of this season is this weekend. After that, next major race on my calendar will be CdA! Looking forward to a little downtime, really that will mean some unstructured training, then getting after it for the race!

Welcome aboard, Tom. I saw your St. George 2012 race report. Yup, it all sounded very similar to my race there. Let's hope CdA provides a little (ok, a lot) more civil weather.

Welcome aboard, Tom. I saw your St. George 2012 race report. Yup, it all sounded very similar to my race there. Let's hope CdA provides a little (ok, a lot) more civil weather.

Logistical question. Any shuttles (that would accommodate a bike box) from Spokane to the hotels in CdA? Or is renting a car the real only option?

I was planning on using Tribike Transport again. Their service was excellent for Lake Placid.

Just got back home from over two weeks in the backcountry bow hunting for elk........ Brought two elk home and lost over 10 lbs! Much closer to race weight now.. Looking forward to some excellent organic meat for the diet and jumping back into training.

Woo hoo, busy this year with racing and signing up for more next year. CDA will be one stop in my 4 for 40 year. If all goes well I'll hit #12 late next year. Good luck and happy training.

Hey Tom, no Texas in 2014?

Does that mean 40 triathlons in 4 years?

Not racing for 2014 but did this year and will be hanging out some because I miss all the talk from the 2013 race and maybe I can help some of the others with CDA experience answer questions, help with a drive tour of the course for out of towners, that sort of thing. I also hope to see some of you out there as I will be volunteering on the water and maybe at the finish.

What's up Papson. No return trip for me. I loved it and mulled it over for a bit and decided on CDA. One part of me wanted to go for the redemption factor, but in the end I like new venues. I must say, TX is logistically nice for me with a nice 9-10 hr drive and decent /cheap hotels to choose from. I may go back one day. Good luck with CDA and looking forward to a good 9 mos. of the CDA forum.


Tom

Thanks for offering some insight from a racers perspective.


TOm

I just did Whistler to Congrats!! I also did CDA the last few years. Here is my take.

Start/Finish
In CDA they are in the same spot. I say win for CDA. Also in town and you finish down the main road. Where you have 6ish blocks of Ironman glory to your finish in front of tons of people.

I felt Whistlers finish line was great, but not as good as CDA. Any finish is great but CDA is a lot of fun.

Lodging
Whistler has CDA beat on this. You are in waling to everything you would ever want. The whole Whistler Village was nice, and then you were able to just walk back to your hotel.

The hotels around CDA are not very close to the start, but you can walk from a few of them. There are a couple close but not many. The resort is the closest and I would guess that it is full. I stay at the Holiday Inn and last year they had a shuttle in the morning if you wanted to take it. We just drove over and parked.

There are also homes to rent for the week that might land you closer to the start but I do not know much about them.

Race site.
Tough call here. CDA has it all in one spot. You might park a bit away form the park but if you are a little crafty you are never that far away. Also all the action is in one area. The park and beach are big enough for your family to see you on race day get in the water and get out. Also the swim area pre race is not a 2 mile walk. Getting in and out can be a small pain but never that bad both on race day and before hand. Post race I have never had an issue in CDA. My wife finds a nice parking spot and its not that far of a walk. Also the bike course is closed by the time you are done so you wont have to fight road closures to get away.
Whistler had a great sire as you know but it was spread out. I liked it but I also like the CDA compact race site as well. I found that with each you are in crowds for pre and post race, and I walked the same. Just depends on if it was from hotel to bus in Whistler or car to race in CDA.

For me the run in CDA is a bit more fun. I like the course in Whistler better because its beautiful and the fear of bears will get you going. However in CDA there is a lot of local town support that makes it a lot of fun.

In my book Whistler wins on the bike due to closing the roads. i know CDA can not do this for HW95 but Whistler gave us a chunk of road and that was awesome.

It is a tough call. I like both places and am going back to CDA next year and might mix it up to Whistler the following year. They both are great places and have ups and downs to the venues. I think it just comes down to your preferences. CDA will or could be a cold swim and have tough chop, but the bike is not as tough. Whistler is a small swim area, tough bike and has bears. Other nice thing is CDA has an airport close by in Spokane that you might be able to fly into for the quick in and out you were looking for. Plenty of hotels in Spokane if you do not mind the 30ish mile drive to the race venue.

Thanks for the info.  I think a big deal for me, especially as my wife will be with me, and we'll be alone, is the ability to walk back to the hotel while I race.  I really don't want to have to drive in race morning, and have her be stuck there all day, I think Whislter gives more options right now.  I don't really care about course difficulty, etc.

Yeah Whistler provides more hotels in walking distance. CDA has a few if you look but I am going to guess they are booked rather quickly. Others who know the area better might be able to tell you of a good smaller hotel. The only one close by I know of is the resort, but I have seen a couple smaller hotels close by, just not sure what they are named. Good luck, and I would say you can not go wrong at either place. Maybe someong knows of a rental or hotels within walking to the start.

The weather has officially "cooled" off up here in the Coeur D'Alene/Spokane region....... Had to build a fire in the woodstove a few times this week.

Here's hoping for an early Spring to warm up the lake for June. It would be nice to have several OWS in Lake CdA prior to race day.

Count me in I did IMLT last weekend and well I have money that says CDA will be warmer and not as hilly as IMLT. This will be my 5th IM with another run at IMLT this fall. Just healing up at the moment. I am hoping for calmer water at CDA this year. My other IM there had 2 foot wind waves that pushed across course. Glad to see so many in the thread.

Congratulations on finishing IMLT! I'm guessing CdA is a walk in the park compared to that.