A cold and blustery Ironman Coeur d'Alene (IM CDA)

The week leading up to IM CDA was chilly and the prediction for race day was cold, windy and rainy. I got in a couple short bike rides and runs...and one swim in the lake. It was in the warmest part of the day, but the lake was in the low 60's. It ended up not being that bad, but during the first few minutes I felt like my ears were going to freeze off. I also noticed the water was a little choppy.

Not too excited about climbing back into the water, I decided to limit the remainder of my swimming to race day. I stayed in a house with some folks from St. Augustine. James, Sally, and Libby. Neal, Libby's husband, was there to help with support and did a great job.

Luckily race day the water temperature was 64-65 degrees, and was just about perfect with a wetsuit. The air temperature was another story, it was in the high 40's or low 50's. Once we dressed in our wetsuit's, we had to drop off our dry clothes bag 30 minutes before the start...it was pretty crowded with all 2200+ racers and their family and closest friends all crammed along the lakefront. Sally, Libby, and I made our way to the beach in a slow semi-orderly fashion.


If you've never witnessed a mass Ironman swim start live...then you don't know what you're missing. Mike Reilly, "The voice of Ironman", always says something like, "...you are about to witness one of the greatest spectacle's in sport..." It's pretty crazy, and this start was no different. I've been through a few rough starts, but this one took the cake. It was a full on MMA cage match. There were people everywhere...swim form was out the window, it was just survival...and for Pete's sake, protect your head!



In retrospect I went out too slow and got bogged down in the huge mass. I wanted to swim really easy and expend the least amount of energy possible. The water was pretty choppy with some swells. The second lap saw the wind pickup, and the swells were a lot bigger and it was really hard to sight the bouy's. You really had to wait until you were on top of the swells before taking a look. You combine rough water with inexperienced swimmers, and you have people swimming sideways all over the place. There was very little open water.


To shorten this story a bit, I made it out in 1:11...ouch! I was hoping for closer to 1:05...well, ok...let's get on the bike. I got into the change tent and started putting on my clothes...every piece of riding gear I brought with me! I had a tough time getting the arm warmers pulled up, then got my bike jersey pulled overy my tri top. I then tried to put on a vest I brought, but the zipper wouldn't work...so I just stuck it and the garden gloves I bought into my jersey pockets. It was in the 50's and I wanted to be as warm as possible. Anyhow, it took me 8+ minutes to get out of T1! I could have taken a freakin' nap in that time! I was in 70th place in my age group going onto the bike.

The bike course is really beautiful. There are these incredible homes all along Lake Hayden...it's really something else. The bike course had some good hills on it, and since it's two loops...the fun lasts. Oh, did I mention the wind? It was pretty windy. My strategy was to keep a low heart rate and conserve as much as possible so that I could have a good run. In all the bike was pretty uneventful. I was really ready to get off about mile 85-90...I was totally over it. I did a good job with getting my calories in and hydrating well, but my legs were pretty sore and I was still haunted by the run that lay ahead. My bike split was 5:29, so it was way behind what I had hoped...but, once again in retrospect, I didn't go hard enough. I should have been about 20 minutes faster. I knew the watts I needed to hold, but was just trying to get through the entire distance...and I didn't want to walk the marathon. I was 46th in my age group coming off the bike.




In T2 I stripped off the arm warmers and bike jersey. I also left a running shirt in the bag instead of putting it on...I would regret not putting something on, and taking off the arm warmers out on the course. The temperature was in the low 60's and the wind was really whipping off of the lake. I ran out onto the course and felt pretty good. After getting my Garmin GPS to reset about 1/2 mile down the road, I saw that I was running 7:40 miles...yikes, too fast I thought. My heart rate was low and it felt comfortable, but I figured I would pay a very high price later in the run if I kept up this effort...so I backed it down.

The first loop was a bit cold, but I felt pretty solid. The last 13 miles is where you have to really "man up" and try not to fade too bad. The temperature had dropped and the wind was really strong off the lake on the second loop. My nutrition and hydration were still good, and I didn't have any stomach issues. I was hurting pretty good, but still doing the "Ironman shuffle" pretty well. I got to the turn around point on the second lap, and walked the hill. I figured it wouldn't be much faster "running" up it, and I caught everyone who passed me going back down. There were about 4 miles to go and I ended up picking it up and progressively running faster each mile. I passed a fair amount of people, even a few in my age group.

All I could think about was getting to the finish and putting on some warm clothes and eating the pizza that is always offered at the end of an Ironman...did I already say I was freakin' freezing! Tons of people had grabbed those aluminum foil type blankets and were wearing them to stay warm. I was also craving prentzels...and they had huge boxes of them. I would run by and scoop up a handful as they flew everywhere...I had maybe 30-50 in my hand with each grab, but for some reason only 2-3 made it in my mouth each time! My body wasn't working that well anymore.

Well, I "sprinted" down the last mile and finished in 10:42. A long ways from where I wanted, but not a total blow out...I had one of those in Arizona last year! I finished running, and pretty much ran the whole way...so I'm happy for that. My marathon time was 3:49. And once again, in retrospect, I should have went faster in the beginning while I still could. And as Shawn says, everyone fades towards the end of these things, you just try to fade less. I ended up 227th overall and 42nd out of 444. Being top 10% overall and in my age group is nice, but my goal was to be in the top 1-3% in my age group...so I was pretty far off.

I raced scared, and for me to do well I had to race on the edge...just on the thin line of either going fast, or not being able to finish. I raced conservative, and that's where the chips fell. Shawn Burke was 1 place behind a guy named Tarkington when he did the race 2 years ago...funny thing, I was 1 place behind the exact same guy in my age group this year! Strange stuff.

Luckily, it only started raining on me with less than a mile to go! I was shaking so bad that I ended up dropping my pizza...but still downed 4 pieces of pepperoni and a whole row of cookies in short order. I then shivered over to the massage tent and the big heater inside.

First lap...

Second lap...can you tell the difference...

Finish...ugly pictures!


On Monday we went to the most famous burger joint in Coeur d'Alene, Hudson's...in business for 100 years! If you want fries and a milkshake with your burger...forget about it...they ONLY sell burgers and pie! Right before they hand you the burger, they dip the bun on the grill to add that extra "burger flavor". I had a double with cheese! The place is small, and we waited in line...and they were busy non-stop. I'm not sure if the burger was really good, or if I was just that hungry, either way it tasted great at the time!

Thanks to everyone for their support and well wishes...it's a very long journey, and a very emotionally and physically taxing day. I just got done reading another of my "Must Read" books, "Running With the Buffaloes" by Chris Lear. It follows a year with the Colorado University men's cross country team. A year that would see one of them win the NCAA cross country title, and another lose his life.

At the end their coach says something which can be applied to any of the tough endurance sports. It could be running, cycling, or triathlon's and it would still ring true.

"In football, you might get your bell rung, but you go in with the expectation that you might get hurt, and you hope to win and come out unscathed. As a distance runner, you know you're going to get your bell rung. Distance runners are experts at pain, discomfort, and fear. You're not coming away feeling good. It's not a strategy. It's just a callusing of the mind and body to deal with discomfort. Any serious runner bounces back. That's the nature of their game. Taking pain." -Mark Wetmore

Ironman distance races, and especially the training, helps you learn a great deal about yourself. You "major" in pain management, time optimization, injury abatement, mental toughness, and most importantly...humility.

I'll post pictures as I find more.

It's Miller time!
Sween