Ironman Coeur d'Alene : Official Thread (Page 55)

You may want to ask someone who did better on the bike than I did about hill prep!  My bike split was only 5:54.  That does include 3 stops to pee - over-hydrated a bit early on.  I was really focused on saving my legs for the run, which worked out since my 3:32 run split was the only thing that allowed me to hit my 11:00 goal (10:55:26).

Thanks for you words of encouragement.  Now that a couple of days have passed, I'm almost ready to sign up again.  I got close enough to see that the entry fee went up $25 over this year, but didn't pull the trigger.  

Dallas, I'm in the same boat with you and feel empty inside.  Need another event to work towards.

that was a tough course.  I have to agree with Scott.  Bike course was much harder than everyone was saying.  when we drove the course on Friday, everyone that I was with said it definitely looks harder than Lake Placid (and it was).  I drank half of the Lake during the swim.  somehow my cap and goggles managed to come off 1/3 thru the second lap (don't think it had anything to do with the kick to the face i recieved).  thanks to any of you that didn't run me over while I was struggling to put on my goggles in the washing machine. 

did anyone else have terrible stomach pains and gas during the run?  I can only think it was from drinking a lot of the lake water. 

didn't come close to my 11:00 goal time.  11:31.  but i'm happy.  will be about 3 years before I tackle the full distance again.

congrats to everyone that finished.  CDA has the best volunteers anywhere.  I love it there. 

In your opinion, where does the bike course rank amongst the rest of the North America IMs?

I'm trying to decide which one to do next based on this one...

I prefer to base my decision on where to race solely on weather (the heat).  for that reason, I would never to Louisville and Texas would be very iffy. 

Regarding the bike, I don't think any race in north america will have a tougher bike course (similar in difficulty, but not much tougher).  however, you need to determine what impacts you more - longer more gradual climbs or shorter/steeper climbs.   

Sounds like you raced smart. If you weren't ready for the bike there is no way you could pulled off a run split like that. Congrats on beating your goal!!!

interesting thoughts on the bike course. I thought it was technically on the easy side with few turns and the few climbs were not very steep....but I ride lots of hills so it is relative. Its funny though as I have ridden my bike in NY/NJ (much of the IM that will be in NJin August) as well as Colorado and San Francisco. By me in NJ/NY there are few flats and it is constant up/down. I did a simliar distance ride in San Fran with similiar elevation but profile looked flat with two huge mountains in the middle. My legs generally feel better with all the elevation in one shot...as long as it is not too steep.

This course reminded me of that with a few hills and mostly flats. I found it fun especially on the way back from the turn around on 95.

I am still hurtin on my left ankle and trying to think what I did to it but cant think of anything. Frustrating right now as I feel good otherwise.

I will say my hats off to all you people that do the full distance multiple times. I am 99% sure once was enough for me! lol

Well I finished the swim in 2 hours but was so cold I spent 20 some minutes in the warming tent before I could get fully dressed and out to my bike.  My hands would not move.  I was a little concerned about the cold water because I do not do well.  I swim 5000 meters in 2 hrs and the 3.8 took me 2.  Way to long in that water and fightening the current/waves on lap 2.  I was determined to finish the swim and if I got out in time I wanted to do 1 lap of the bike and see if I could make up enough time to do a second.  I did not make the cut off for the second bike loop (over by 10 mins).  I was not upset, I was proud to have finished what I did and I knew I tried as hard as I could.  I have done 1 Iron distance not an offical M dot 4 years ago.  The Iron Gods are calling me and I am looking for a warmer swim.  I would love to come back to Coeur d'alene, it is an amazing course with an amazing community but you can not guarantee the water temperature.  In fact they should change that on their website to say the temperature is mostly in the 50's to low 60's!!

Congrat's to all of you that finished

That was a rough race for me.  Nearly tapped out in the swim as I couldn't get my breath (turns out I have walking pneumonia).  I had to hang onto a paddle board for a few minutes to get my breath.  Finally settled down and got my breath, swam a bit slower than normal, battled the waves and came out of the water in 1:40.  The bike was tougher than I thought it would be and with diminished lungs I road a bit slower up the hills, but really enjoyed the down hill sections flying like the wind.  The run is were everything got really bad though.  Joined up with my brother on the entire run.  We made a pact to pull each other through to the end.  I initially had trouble running anything with a slight incline as it would throw me into a coughing attack.  My brother stuck with me and pulled me through until the lungs recovered at mile 7.  But he started having stomach issues from not sticking to his nutrition plan.  He ended up throwing up 10 times between miles 8-16.  It was brutal and many of you may have witnessed his distress (sorry about that).  But he finally rallied enough to pick up the pace.  We finished together with 11 minutes to spare.  The finish line was an awesome experience.  The volunteers and crowd support was awesome.  Even though we were some of the last people to finish we felt like rock stars.  I felt like every participant and the whole town of Coeur D'Alene was there to the end.  I really should have had my cough looked at before the race, but I convinced myself that it was just weakness making its way out of my body.  Went to the doctor when I got home and now my pneumonia is on the mend.  I'm pretty sure I won't do another Ironman, but as the memory of the race fades I keep thinking that if I was healthy I could improve my time by hours.  

This forum has been great with advice and encouragement through all of my training.  Thanks.

Wow - great story and very inspiring.  You and your brother truly are Ironmen.  Great job, and get well soon!

Hey I was there at the finish when you boys came through. I had a PR 13:30 (day light finish!) and went and had dinner and my wife and I decided to go back to the finish and cheer everybody in. I was so tired I just wanted to go to bed. But the crowd was amazing, and the energy was amazing. I was wishing I had stayed out on the course to get this kind of finish. We we there for an hour and watched it to the last. In the end YOU ARE AN IRONMAN!!!!

Congrats on finishing an getting through a hard day.

Yeah me to I am thinking about my next race and when I can start training again...I think it;s in our blood.

Ironman Coer d' Alene 2012 - Full Circle... Inspirational!

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JgzM5wVErb0&feature=share

Hi, we spent a week in Glacier after the race to wind down and now are back in MI.  The race did not go as planned for me either.  I didn't reach my goal time but did PR over St George by 51 minutes and did 15:02.  I'll get to my actual race report later this week.

The swim was pretty brutal.  Ended up with a bloody nose and I thought I would have a black eye from several heels to the face during the first lap. The second lap I swallowed more lake water and air than I had ever anticipated and still could not get away from the crowd.  My swim was 15 minutes longer than expected in 1:28.

My bike nutrition planned failed on my execution.... FYI... don't refrigerate GU in gel flasks when the expected air temp will be cool.  I had to make up my calories the entire bike ride.  Fortunately I had some fun size twix bars to compensate slightly. And I listened to the "never trust a fart" and lot 8 minutes because I stopped.  From there on I learned I can't pee on the bike even when I try - really hard.

I did ok during the first part of the run, then fell apart and ended up doing the shuffle.  I was feeling crappy and said I would never do this again.  After some more food and water and miles I got to about mile 18 and suddenly I had energy.  I finished strong although just after daylight.  I'm already thinking about where I'm going next.