Ironman Coeur d'Alene 2014 Race Report: Run

Run

My excitement had me flying onto the run course at an initial average pace of 8:39/mi for the first 2.5mi.  This was probably not the most sustainable pace I could have chosen for a marathon after swimming and cycling… so I gradually slowed to 10:30/mi running pace.  

Sometime after mile 1, my run took a really fun turn, as I made a new friend, Danielle, with whom I ran the rest of the marathon!  She made a joke about them not marking the half miles along the course as I ran next to her (had been running similar pace), and then I turned to see if she was talking to me?  I had just noticed her name on her race bib, so I told her I liked her name (also Danielle), and we were instant buddies.  We chatted a while and then decided to keep running together since we both had the same plan: to run steady but walk through the aid stations and any steep hills.  We actually did this until mile 17 when we started running intervals (run 5min walk 1 min – which both of us had planned as a backup for later in the race).  

It was genuinely awesome to run with my new friend!  We kept each other moving at a decent pace when it would have been easy to join the walking party happening around us.  We cheered for everyone we passed, and we looked like we were in much better spirits than most.  I was truly grateful for such good company.    We finished strong together & really enjoyed the run! 

Run course highlights:

The Fans! Wow - people know how to throw house parties in CDA!!! Loud music, dancing, drinking... inflatable booze bottles used as cheering items … athletes getting phone numbers from cheering ladies (yes - that happened to a dude wearing a tech shirt that had an American flag background with an airbrushed bald eagle head over the flag graphic.  He was also wearing a flag bandana as a headband.  Seriously – I was not dehydrated and seeing things… this happened!).  The comments on the second lap were a little less PG rated, and the high fives a little less accurate, but it was awesome.   

Other awesomeness: Seeing Larry and my Dad about half way through the run, neighbors with megaphones calling out racers names as they passed, kids with home made signs (one read “press here for power” and had button drawn on the poster, so obviously I had to accept this offer), “heart ironman” spelled out in golf balls on someone's front lawn, entire neighborhoods coming outside to cheer and offer water, some people were even thanking us for racing!?!  Also some drunk dude rambling from a dock, people on boats with speakers blaring music, the rocky theme song coming from somewhere...  Many of the dedicated volunteers at the run aid stations were dressed up according to various themes and were incredibly supportive.  It is really hard to describe how amazing it felt to truly have the support of the fans we brought with us but also everyone who lived along the course and in town in general.

Running into the beautiful sunset was also wonderful!  The course provided incredible views of the pine-topped hills and orangy-pink sky surrounding the picturesque lake.

Nutrition:  

I drank Scratch labs drink (pineapples 1^st half, lemons limes 2^nd) every mile as my Garmin watch buzzed as well as take in water at the aid stations.  I carried the drink in my hand held fuel belt palm holder water bottle (10oz), which worked really well.  Beginning at mile 14-15, I also drank a few sips of coke at each aid station.  Words cannot express how awesome Coke is while endurance racing! 

In terms of eating, I managed to consume one pack of sports beans by mile 4 on the course.  Then, my stomach decided that it did not want sports beans at all, so for the rest of the race, I switched to pretzels.  I ate about 3-4 of these at each aid station and also attempted a few bites of banana (which was also ok, but seemed a little sweet especially since this was pre-coke).  All I took from my special needs bag (around mile 13) was one Twizzler, a pack of scratch labs mix to refill my bottle, and a pack of sports beans (which I did not eat).  I also gave the volunteers at the special needs station a bag of jolly ranchers I specifically packed for them (just like I did on the bike!).  I figured they don’t get enough thank yous, and it would cheer me up to do something nice if I was having a rough day by then! (and jolly ranchers don’t really melt like many other candies)

Bloopers:  

I was triple fisting cups at the aid stations later in the race, which was probably pretty funny to watch (1 water, 1 coke, 1 pretzels).   I got slapped on the shoulder as a dedicated fan who had been attending an all day house party tried to give me a high five (somewhat missed and then hit my shoulder).  I heard some very supportive and interesting comments as Danielle and I approached cheering fans… Some people said that it was great we were running together, and later in the evening, the Double D jokes started up and the confusion over the 2 Danielles continued…. Go Danielle and…Danielle?!?  Good stuff!

Finish line: 

Blazeman roll

The finish line at CDA was by far the most spectacular one I have ever experienced.  The final quarter mile of the race through downtown CDA was incredible: fans lining the streets with arms outstretched for high fives from us crazy racers, tons of positive energy and cheering from all directions, Larry and parents with huge smiles and cheers, and then the finishers chute with the Ironman carpet that serves as a welcoming mat to that famed finish line where Mike Reilly tells you “You are an Ironman!”   There were too many flashes and bright lights to get emotional at the time (plus with all the high fives I was focusing on not falling or tripping), but thinking back at it, I am super proud and almost get a little choked up.  What a grand ending to an epic journey.  After giving my new running buddy a big hug, I was able to go back and Blazeman roll across that line to finish what I started as #179 at IMLT.

If you’re interested… You can actually watch me run and roll across the finish line by going to the event live coverage page, clicking on the top video (finish line) and scrolling to 1:24:00.   http://www.ironman.com/triathlon/coverage/detail.aspx?race=coeurdalene&y=2014#axzz36YKjluaY

Race Time: 15hrs 3min

Danielles!

After thoughts:  

Overall, IMCDA was a surreal experience.  It is incredible what the body & mind can do with proper training!  I was so happy to be out there racing and feeling ok!  I was so grateful to have the chance to chase this ironman dream again and participate in this event.  All day I felt incredibly fortunate to have Larry supporting me and my parents there to cheer for me after so many years of driving me to practices, traveling to watch me play a game/participate in a meet and cheering at so many events.  I was also so thankful for my awesome coach who picked me up from my IMLT low and brought me to new heights as an athlete. 

(more info on coach/the club team in an upcoming post – stay tuned!) 

Ironman Coeur d'Alene 2014 Race Report: Bike

Bike

The bike portion of the race consisted of 2 laps of a double out and back course centered downtown CDA.  The first out and back was shorter and significantly easier than the second.  I’d say the highlight of the first out and back was the beautiful view of the lake and the bagpipers at the top of a short hill.  This dedicated group was out there during the entire bike portion of the event rockin’ the bagpipes!  Awesome!  

The second out and back loop had much more challenging climbs... I felt strong during the first trip through this part of the course.  The second time… it was harder.   There was a noticeable headwind that increased in strength throughout the day.  This made the second lap through the hills the most physically and mentally challenging portion of the entire IMCDA course for me.

The highlight of this second part of the course was pedaling past many dudes on the uphill climbs.  I also gained a little strength as I passed each intermediate cutoff checkpoint.  I have to admit, I was a little emotional as my bike computer read mile 89 because this was the farthest I had gotten in an ironman race to date!  I knew as soon as I got past mile 89 I’d make it to the finish line!

Throughout the bike course, the fans and aid station volunteers were outstanding!  Seriously impressive work cheering and handing off fuel to us crazy cyclists!  My parents and Larry were awesome to be out there so long to see me pass by a few times and cheer loudly for me each time! Thanks so much!

In terms of the course itself, the pavement was great for the most part, and we had plenty of space except for a few short, tricky single file sections that were very stressful (due to the proximity of riders coming at you in the opposite direction and cars as well).  

I was fortunate to have made it through the bike course without any mechanical issues or significant GI troubles.  I saw a bunch of athletes with flat tires and many people were getting blown towards one another by the wind, but I managed to make it through all these obstacles in one piece.  I did have a minor headache for a little while, but I drank more fluids and my noggin felt better. (The headache did come back on the run for a little while though).

Overall the 1st lap went well and according to plan.  I didn't push the pace too hard as I focused on controlled efforts up the climbs and taking in as much nutrition as possible.  I knew I had to make the cutoffs, but also save some energy for the run (which I was determined to do this time!).  

Nutrition Plan: Drinking:  I brought a water bottle filled with concentrated Gu brew (blueberry pomegranate) (3x servings of mix) plus my spaceship bottle (Aero HC fitted with Camelback bite valve) filled with Gu brew (regular strength).  My idea was to drink the spaceship & refill it by grabbing water bottles at aid stations & adding 1/3 of my concentrated mix each time.  This worked pretty well, and it also allowed me to vary the concentration and alternate with plain water.  I grabbed a second concentrated bottle from special needs on lap 2 to do the same.  I probably drank 6-7 bottles worth of Gu brew beverage plus some additional water (at least 7-8 bottles of fluid).

Nutrition Plan: Eating: During the bike portion I consumed:  1.75 picky bars (smooth caffeinator), 3 bonk breakers (2 coconut cashew, 1 mocha), 1 pack of twizzlers, 2 smartees rolls (tasted too tart?), 3 banana halves, small pack of pretzels (1st thing I eat on the bike to settle swimmers stomach - I get really disoriented coming out of long swims & sometimes feel sick), 1 pack of shot blocks (citrus), 1 pack of honey stinger chews (pink lemonade- tasted too sweet so ate few here and there).  My goal was to eat at least 1 bar an hour after the 1st hour (when I ate shot blocks and pretzels) as well as consume a bottle of electrolyte mix per hour.

Bloopers: I completely forgot to open the seal on the sport top plastic cap for my lap 2 concentrated mix so tearing off a hard plastic strip with one hand while riding took me a while to figure out (drank water in the mean time).  I scared the crap out of one aid station volunteer because I wanted to grab a banana from her but I had to throw a bottle to free my hand first… As I threw the bottle, I somehow jerked my handlebar by accident & headed straight toward her for a second before I corrected my steering.  She jumped back so quickly! Then still managed to hand me a banana after that! I apologized as best could!  Rockstar volunteer!  Very brave!

Challenges: Biggest challenge was my uncomfortable undercarriage... My tri shorts were bugging me and I just couldn't get comfortable after mile 35 or so... I realized there was a long way to go after this so I just moved around in the saddle and stayed out of the aero bars for certain sections.  The headwind was mentally draining too as it seemed to be genuinely stronger on the second lap.  There were even some downhill sections where people were pedaling due to the wind!  I also couldn't remember where (mileage wise) the turnaround was on the second lap (near mile 90?) so every time I got to another little hill that leveled out, I would say “oh, it must be there!”... then when it wasn't, I would say, “no problem, I’ll just keep going!”  

Bike Results: 7hrs 44min, with avg speed sound 15mph with 2 quick stops & a jacket handoff

T2:

This was exciting! I was trying not to lose it as I entered transition & saw Larry & my parents cheering loudly for me!  They saw how terrible I felt missing the bike cutoff at IMLT, so I knew they really appreciated how I felt coming into T2.

I never thought I would be so excited to run a marathon after swimming 2.4 mi & cycling 112mi.  I know I must sound crazy!

In transition, I changed into running shorts (Oiselle long rogas) plus new socks with my Brooks adrenalines.  I stuffed my pockets with sports beans packs (2-3) hit the port o potty, sunscreened myself,  & filled my hand held 10 oz bottle (had pack of concentrated scratch labs pineapple mix in it for 16oz).  I also wore my GOTRIbalnow hat!

Ironman Coeur d'Alene 2014 Race Report: Swim

RACE DAY!

The morning went according to plan, as I got up early (4am), ate my usual breakfast (oatmeal w/ peanut butter & craisins, a banana and Scratch Labs drink), drove a few miles to the event, and parked our rental car (in team color: red) at North Idaho College.  We walked (about half mile) toward the Ironman Village where I navigated the bustling transition area to drop off those “special needs” bags and add all my nutritional stuff (water bottles, bento box) to my trusty ride.  Then I took my time getting into my wetsuit while hanging out with my husband, Larry, in the park near the start.  I found my parents just before entering the swim start corral, and it was awesome to spend some time with my wonderful support team before I took an emotional walk to the beach.  I was really excited because I was much more prepared (thanks Coach Jim!) this time, and I had an overwhelming feeling of gratitude for the opportunity to tri this ironman thing again!  

Swim

I made my way down to the beach to take a quick dip to get used to the chilly water (low 60s, but warmer than Tahoe).  Then I lined up on the beach according to my predicted swim finish time.  I decided to start with the 1hr30min-1hr45min group, which is a little on the slower side for me, but I’d rather swim through people than get swum over.  While waiting for the start, I met a local woman who raced last year.  She gave me a few pointers for the course and chatting with her kept me from being nervous at the start.  

I really like the new rolling start they have enforced at these events because it allows us athletes to calmly enter the water in smaller groups (rather than a huge mass start).  After crossing through the swim start arch, my strategy was to stay wide and to the right of the other swimmers in hopes of finding some open water to settle into my race pace.   

I quickly adjusted this strategy as the water was much choppier than it looked from shore.  No wonder most of the paddle boarders were kneeling rather than standing!  I decided my new strategy was to just go with it and not battle anything/anyone: ride the waves (or duck under a the bigger ones!) and use breaststroke whenever necessary to let the diagonal swimmers pass.  Sighting was easy because it was relatively straight course and there was no fog.  The crazy chop and wind kept my mind off the distance, because I spent most of the time playing Frogger in the water trying to swim past the other frantic zig-zagging swimmers. 

The choppy conditions did make this one of the most physical swims I’ve encountered to date.  As much as I tried to stay wide and out of the way of other swimmers, it was definitely a full-contact sport for the first 100-200m as well as the entire length of the turns (between the 2 far buoys) about half way through the laps.  I only managed to get slapped on the back/shoulder a few times and pushed down once, and the most brutal hit was a hard elbow to the left quad.  PSA:  Dudes – please control your stroke and try not to drown the lighter folks out there!  The water was clear so no excuses to swim over people (or if you do by accident – no reason to push down on them as you do!)

The IMCDA swim consists of 2 loops of a large rectangular course extending straight away from shore (700m out to 2 turn buoys and back) with a quick walk on shore in between.  My first lap was faster than the second due to the pack I got stuck in on lap 2 (couldn’t shake this dude swimming back and forth – took me something like 300m to get away from him) but overall was a great swim. 

Gear: Orca Sonar full wetsuit, tinted speedo vanquisher womens goggles, and a silicon swim cap under my race cap – this seemed like a great setup for these conditions. 

Result: My watch said 1hr 18min from shore to shore (not sure where the timing mats were) and finished with an official clock time of 1 hr 20 min.  I was thrilled with this, especially in choppy water!

Fun Fact: Not sure if I told this story already but…. I credit my early days on the Brookfield Muskrats (swam to age 13) for my love for open water swimming.  The Muskrats were the summer swim team that practiced at the Town Park at Candlewood Lake with lane ropes suspended between a series of 2 sets of docks.  I learned to swim laps without the black line in the pool to sight from, and I didn't realize how handy that skill would be later on! Thanks for bringing me to all those practices as a kid, Mom!  Go Muskrats!

T1

I exited the water and gave some high fives to the volunteers!  Yeah - one part done!  I caught a glimpse of my husband in the crowd as I walked across the beach, which was awesome!  Gave a big smile, waved, and was on my way to transition…

Transition was slow, as I was really cold when I got out of the water (air temp low 50s).  I had a really tough time putting socks, shin compression sleeves (zensah calf sleeves) & arm coolers (Pearl Izumi) on my wet body with cold hands.  I also decided to take my coach's advice and wear a light jacket for the 1st lap (which I planned to drop with my support crew at the start of lap 2 – thanks guys!).   

Note to self: when they provide warm up tents in T1 - use them!  

All bundled up in layers, I made my way toward my bike.  The good news was that I had a great swim and made it out of the water in front of a lot of people.  The bad news was that there were tons of bikes still racked...  

I had made a good mental note of which row my bike was in (before the tree with caution tape - plus they are numbered), but I completely forgot where in that row it was racked (first section, dummy!).  The photos of me running past my bike, turning around a few times, running back and forth, and finally finding my bike... are hilarious.   

As usual… lost in transition! 

Welcome to Ironman Coeur d'Alene 2014 - Pre Race Activities

I'm kicking off my blog with some stories about the days leading up to my biggest triathlon adventure: Ironman Coeur d'Alene.  I'll post more about the race in the next few days!  Enjoy! 

Ironman Coeur d'Alene (IMCDA) took place throughout June 29, 2014.  I say "throughout" because, for many of us, covering 140.6 miles takes pretty much all day.  An iron-distance triathlon consists of a 2.4 mile swim, a 112 mile bike ride, and a 26.2 mile run.  I realize this sounds ridiculous and more like a dare than something people would willingly sign up for (and pay money to do)... but it was one of the coolest things I've ever done, and I learned a ton along the way.
 

IMCDA was my second attempt at an iron-distance triathlon as I earned my first (ever) DNF at the previous one, Ironman Lake Tahoe 2013.  I'm happy to report that I proudly crossed that finish line at IMCDA and smiled like a crazy person throughout the entire race. 

I will try to capture various parts of the weekend here as well as provide some insight into what it was like to race this beautiful course.  I'll break up the report into various parts so you can skip around and not have to spend as much time reading as I did racing that day!

Welcome to Coeur d'Alene, Idaho!

We could sense how incredibly positive this race experience was going to be the minute we entered Coeur d’Alene.  The first place we went was Michael D’s Eatery (which has excellent brunch by the way!).  Outside the small restaurant was a large banner reading “Welcome Ironman.”   Next stop: the hotel, where they went out of their way to get us ready and excited for our race!  They were playing coverage from last year's race on the lobby monitor to get us pumped for our race.  In each room there was a goodie bag donated by Albertsons with a dozen Clif bars and other treats.  On race day they opened breakfast at 4am and also left each participant a goodie bag (from the hotel staff) in every athlete's room with snacks, water, Gatorade, cold packs, etc.  I couldn’t believe how genuinely welcoming everyone was.  I was overwhelmed with gratitude for the people of this small town who opened their arms to thousands of visitors who were going to shut down roads and take over the town for a few days.  Seriously, I did not meet one person that was annoyed at us crazy iron-people!?!  

I remembered being overwhelmed with the Ironman Village at IMLT (so many vendors, anxious participants, DBs at race check in, shops, etc.), so this time I skipped as much of the hooplah as possible.  I checked in at the race Friday afternoon by moving as quickly as possible through the registration tent and straight out of the Ironman Village.  Then I headed to the beach for a short swim in the beautiful lake so I would know what to expect and feel more confident on race morning.  The water temps were in the low 60s, so it was chilly, but not cold (by Tahoe comparison). 


Later that evening we headed back into the Ironman Village for the welcome reception.  This was a nice way to introduce the event and all those racing as well as supporting - even the Governor and Mayor were both there.  This ended with a pretty spectacular thunderstorm, so we took off quickly in search of snacks and other supplies tomorrow's final race prep day.

Final Race Prep

Saturday was a fun day of running around in total crazy pants fashion, setting up race bags and getting my bike racked.  The day before an ironman race you have to drop off your bike gear bag (with your helmet, shoes, extra clothing) and your run gear bag (with run shoes, hat, etc.) as well as rack your bike in transition.  I was better at getting all this together this time, but after sending my bike via Tri Bike Transport (great service!) my front derailleur needed adjustment, so I left it with the great on-site mechanics of Velo Stop who were happy to take care of it for me.  2 hrs later, I picked up Honu, racked it in my numbered space, and was on my way!  (bike’s name Honu = Hawaiian sea turtle… because a turtle relative taught us that slow and steady wins the race, plus Hawaii is the birthplace of ironman as well a very special place to me) 

True!  Banner from the IM Village

 
Luckily, I had my husband, Larry, there to help with gear and to help calm my nerves as I navigated the hectic transition area.  I also had my parents coming into town for additional support, which was awesome!  We had lunch back at our new favorite spot and then relaxed in the afternoon a bit before grabbing some dinner (salad for me at a restaurant, plus the pasta I packed back in the hotel) and making last minute additions to my other 2 bags I had to prep for the race (special needs bike and special needs run – for me these contain candy and extra race nutrition stuff).  Got to bed relatively early in hopes of having many happy iron-dreams!