Back into the belly of the beast...

On June 21st I'll compete in my second full Ironman event. This one is in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho...and features a much harder course than the one in Arizona.

This swim is a beach start as apposed to the deep water start in Arizona. Deep water starts are normally less chaotic since you are already treading water when the gun goes off. Beach starts are comprised of 2100+ people running into the water all at the same time...and then battling it out on the way to the buoy line. If you've ever witnessed an Ironman mass swim start, then you know the physical contact associated with this portion of the event. The key is to attempt to protect your head from getting kicked, punched, clawed, or mauled in every way imaginable...a broken nose or fractured eye socket can really slow down the rest of your day :-) The good news is that it's a two loop swim course, so if someone gets rough with you in the water...just wait until you get out after the first loop, snatch his goggles, and through them way up into the crowd :-)

Next is the bike, and this is also a two loop affair. I chose this Ironman because the bike course is a hard one...so it will hopefully take it's toll on all the fast runners! I've viewed the course video while riding my Computrainer, and it has several beautiful sections along a couple lakes.

Once done with the bike it's onto the...yes, you guessed it...TWO loop run course. These are mentally tough, since you come back towards the finish line...and then are only halfway done! It also looks like it will have a beautiful view as you run along the banks of lake Coeur d'Alene.

This time around I have more experience with pacing an event of this length, know a bit more about nutrition, and have another year of training under my belt. I've had a few injury issues, and that has put me a bit behind where I would have liked...but, I think (and hope) I can have a much better performance than in Arizona.

I'm not sure of my internet access once I get onsite, but will post as often as I can. I'll also post updates via Twitter & Facebook, which will carry over to the right hand site of this blog...I can do this from my iPhone.

If you want to follow on race day, here is the link (my bib number is 1063).


This coming weekend I'm planning on doing the second Beaches Fine Arts Series sprint triathlon on Saturday, so I'll try to update once that is complete.

I fly out this coming Wednesday, my bike is already on it's way...and now I have a bunch more packing to do...so, I need to get to it!

Sween