Ironman Coeur d'Alene
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Ironman Coeur d'Alene - Triathlon
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Swim
Comments: Wow. Started just left of center about 5 "rows" back. The melee at the start is similar to the scene at a trout hatchery at feeding time. Bubbles everywhere, bodies moving, but very little forward movement. A lot of contact, but I kept my hand in front of my face to fend off kicks. About 500 meters in, I got punched in the jaw during a breath, causing my mouth to slam shut. I was sure that I chipped a tooth, but no evidence of that post-race. Found some awesome feet soon after, and this guy could navigate! On three different occasions, I tried to pass him after repeatedly running into his feet. Could not stay in front of him, so I felt like it was smarter to cruise along behind him. Lap 1 ended and I waved up at the wall, pulled out my gel ran across the beach. I grinned a little knowing that 36 minutes was awesome for me and way ahead of my intended pace. Re-entering the water, I was a little off balance, but it went away by the time that I reached the first turn buoy (~300 meters). On the second lap, I had no feet, and swam most of the way back in to the LEFT (wrong side) of the buoys. Repeated attempts to rejoin the actual race course were not very successful and I continued to veer left. With about 600 meters left, I found some other swimmers and drafted off them. There was some room at this point, so I did some kicking to get the blood flowing to my legs. What would you do differently?: Start at the front of the pack. Not much else. I wanted to feel comfortable during the entire swim and I did. Note: As suggested by Rich from EN, I wore my arm warmers under my wetsuit. I did not notice them at all during the swim, and was glad to already be wearing them when I hit T1. Transition 1
Comments: Awesome. Simple, calm and deliberate. At a jog pace. This is a long day. Don't rush. Pulled wetsuit down. Plopped down at strippers. Thanked strippers. Got my bag. Sunscreen ladies asked, "where do you want it." "EVERYWHERE you think, and my tramp stamp." It took four ladies to coat me. Thanked suncreen ladies. Into tent. Glasses on. Helmet on. Socks on. Jog to bike. Thanked bike area pointers, but I knew exactly how to find my bike. Greated bike, "Billy baby, let's go!" Seped walked out to mount line. Mounting was ok, but nothing major, just more time pedaling on top of shoes that I would have liked. What would you do differently?: Pull wetsuit below my hips before getting to the strippers. Bike
Comments: "This is an Ironman. Let's be patient and make the bike feel easy." Well, make it as easy as is possible for the longest ride of my life. 111.1 was my previous longest ride, and that one was flat. This course is NOT FLAT. I knew that after a strong swim and fast T1, I would be entering the bike with a shipload of potential Kona Qualifiers. I had to get comfortable with others passing me easily. I just needed to keep saying in my head, "I'll see you on the run." I started off pretty easy, in aero, but after about 30 miles, my Sacroiliac joint started hurting enough to make me realize that I wasn't going to be able to spend a lot of time in aero. I decided to use aero only when it would provide a distinct advantage, in downhills and into the wind. And only would pedal high cadence low pressure. Took it as easy as I could up the hills, and tried my darndest to continue the effort over the crest and down the beginning of the next hill. I saw Rich from EN on the first steep climb at English Point telling a lady how those athletes who pushed hard up the hills would pay for it later. It made me grin as I chugged up the hill with my hands on my aero pads at about 5 mph. About 40 miles in, I saw my TPR Teammate Wayne pass me. This was a surprise, because he is a super-strong swimmer. Anyway, he chatted with me as we chugged up a more moderate hill at about 12 mph. After a minute, I told him that there were no friends in the race, and that he needed to take off if he was feeling good. And he did! Coming into town, I was feeling pretty good, although the headwind was tough with limited aero-ability. When I headed uphill up Govt Ave, the wind pushed me to around 20 mph. Coming back down the hill, I was closer to 18. At around mile 85, another teammate David caught up with me. He uses a watt meter, so we went back and forth for about 5 minutes, until he finally pulled away a little on a flat. It was good to see him. Overall, I was psyched about my performance on the bike. I totally nailed my hydration, nutrition, and effort goals. I knew that I left myself plenty for the run, although my legs did feel tight and a little tired. What would you do differently?: Start the ride with a cadence > 85 rpm, and possible 90 rpm. Transition 2
Comments: Switched socks. Shoes on. Fuel belt Infinit was warm, so I left it. Found one Rocktane. Carried it in my hand. Sunscreeners. Buhbye! What would you do differently?: Less talking. No fuel belt. Run
Comments: I started off with some tight legs, and a solid plan. 3/1 run/walk for the first 6 miles, averaging ~11 m/m. Then 4/1 for the rest, averaging ~ 10:15. This would get me right around 4:30-4:40. I ran walk to the first big hill sticking strictly to my plan. I had gone "Amish" with my race, not even starting my stopwatch. I just knew that the race started at 7AM and that I had to finish by 12AM. (Note: At one point, I had convinced myself that 13 hours would be at 7PM). So, for the first 6 miles, I knew that I was around 11 m/m with my 3/1 Run/Walk. I had NO IDEA if I was a little over or under, and I added a walk on one the short uphills in the neighborhoods. I could not really remember when I finished the bike and when I left T2., but I knew that it was around 2:30-ish. Nutrition Note: I had 3 gels in the first 4 miles, which was too much. I backed off and only had 4 more for the remainder of the run, using cola and Perform and water for the bulk of my calories. Broth was a loser as were potato chips. I left the neighborhoods and headed toward the lake and hill feeling pretty good, but hoping that I was running a little UNDER 11 m/m, and not a little OVER. I continued my 3/1 up the hill, albeit at a much slower pace. I reached the peak and started chatting with another race on the way down. I felt so good that I continued running for about 8 minutes, only walking at the aid station. Mistake #1. I then walked up most of the hill to catch my breath and I felt that the juice would not be worth the squeeze. I worked a 2 minute jog into the middle less steep part, and then ran from the crest back down the steep part to the flat ~6 minutes. Mistake #2. I then resumed my 3/1 but was having some problems with breathing. I hit the inhaler for a puff (or two) at about mile 11. Mistake #3. I felt a little better, and resumed my 3/1 into town. As I ran downhill through the crowd, I maintained a steady jog for over a mile. Mistake #4. I started to feel very emotional, as I knew that I would see Laura, that I was heading back out of town, and that my race was going extremely well, but that I was not feeling great. I saw Laura, and almost started crying, but held it together. Heading back out of town, I saw some of my none-racing teammates in run special needs. They told me that I was rocking it, and encouraged me to run. I told them that I was still doing my plan. (A little fib). Then the full blown breathing difficulties hit. I felt shaky, tired, and out of breath. I looked at the guy next to me and said, "Well, I guess THIS is the rest of my race." He said, "Yep, me too." as we were both resigned to walking the remainder of the distance. I felt dizzy and short of breath even by walking quickly. After walking nearly two miles, I started feeling a little better heading toward the lake. Without a word to my 'race friend', I started up with 1/1 toward the aid station with more teammates at it, giving out sponges. I got some more encouragement, and went to 90 sec/ 60 sec. Until the base of the hill. I briskly walked up the hill, and passed at least 8 runners, and only got passed by about 4. I hit the downhill running 2/1 and committed myself to sticking to this pattern until I returned to town. I successfully stuck to my 2/1 until returning to town and hitting a couple of the 100 yard uphills, which I gave myself as extra walking time. I was running with a nice Asian fellow, who was doing his first IM as well. Shared a couple of words, slapped each other 5, as we knew that we were going to be Ironmen in just about 10 minutes. Upon leaving the neighborhoods, I ran through run special needs, and saw Daniel, running with him camera, snapping photos. He was screaming, "Mike you are doing amazing. Keep going!" As he dashed ahead to snap another photo. As I left him, I realized that the last mile or so would be completely downhill. I could hear the crowd and music at the finish, and ran for about 5 minutes straight. I took one minute, knowing that the finish down Sherman was only minutes away to regroup for the final push. As I turned down Sherman, I rejoined the Asian guy, and we ran next to each other,giving 5's to the kids lining the sidewalks. As we approached the final 400 meters to the finish chute, I motioned to him to take the lead, and settled into a nice run about 25' behind him. I spotted Laura screaming and crying like a madwoman in the stands, but I held it together through the finish, knowing that I had just accomplished something great. I AM AN IRONMAN! http://www.asiorders.com/view_user_event_video.asp?EVENTID=75636&BI... What would you do differently?: Stick to the 3/1 even in the downhills. Don't use an inhaler. Use difficulty breathing in longer races as a pace limiter. Post race
Warm down: 40 minutes in the Medical tent. Chicken broth. Pizza. Massage. Back to stands by 9PM with compression pants and dry shirt. Beers (free) from Java in tummy by 10PM. Tipsy by 9:20. <---Goal acheived !!! What limited your ability to perform faster: Natural ability. Overuse of inhaler. This was a well executed Ironman for me. Last updated: 2010-07-29 12:00 AM
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2011-06-30 10:10 AM |
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United States
Ironman North America
72F / 22C
Sunny
Overall Rank = 966/2480
Age Group = 40
Age Group Rank = 201/480
Slept well except for interruption at 1:30 when room mate woke up to blend his Perpetuem and have a snack. I took the opportunity to make a bagel with peanut butter and eat half and drink some smoothie. I did not say a word and hardly opened my eyes. He later told me that he thought that I was sleep eating.
Got to transition at 4:55 AM. Got stem replace on my front tube by IM support in Transition. Awesome mechanic. I did NOT want a new tube, so this rocked. Potty break #3 in the "real bathroom" at the park. Awesome! Wetsuit on without any new tears. Laura and rest of our amazing support crew camped out right on the wall in front of the swim exit. Only downside was that this was right where the speakers for the entire beach were.
Fought the massive crowds of athletes and fans to the beach entrance for about 20 minutes. Got on the beach about 10 minutes after the pros started. Splashed my face with some cold water and chatted with a couple of other athletes.