Char’s Ironman Coeur d’Alene Race Report - 2007
We arrived in Coeur d’Alene on Tuesday evening before the race. That gave us 4 days to preview the course, soak in all the spectacle, get used to Lake Coeur d’Alene (this was KEY – more on this later), and try to quell all the pre-race jitters. By the time Saturday rolled around, we’d swam the course 3 times, and rode and ran portions of the bike and run courses. All that was left to do was check, double check (and check again) our transition bags and our bikes before we took them down to gear check-in at about 1pm.
They changed the bike course for IM CdA this year, with the middle 25 miles of the 56-mile loop made up of pretty much non-stop rolling hills. Nothing huge, but enough to equal about 2500 feet of gain per loop, or 5000 feet over 112 miles – it definitely adds up. We drove the middle portion one more time on Saturday afternoon to get one more look at the hills and to plan our strategy.
Just about the time we were done driving the course, Jill and Mark arrived in Coeur d’Alene. They’d driven over to cheer us on, and to help make sure Jason & I were in decent shape following the race, since we had no support crew. We met up with them at our house, where Jill handed off the new bottle of Thermolytes she picked up for us. Thank goodness – we were running low, and it turned out that the ½ bottle we had left had turned rancid – or so it seemed, because they smelled AWFUL. We tossed the old ones and went solely with the new ones.
We made some pasta for dinner and packed up our special needs bags. A few more last minute preparations and then it was time for bed at about 9:30 pm. Somehow, I actually slept.
RACE DAY!!
The alarm went off at 3:15 am. I managed to get some coffee and granola and milk into my stomach (about 600 calories) before I woke up enough to realize I was nervous. We packed up our bottles of nutrition, gathered the wet suits, threw on our JFT2 sweatshirts, and were out the door at about 4:35 am. Parked by 4:45, we started heading over to the transition area to drop the special needs bags, pump up our tires and stash our nutrition on the bike. First though was a swing through body marking, where we got marked by our very own teammate, Tina Hall. J Tina gave us some great words of encouragement, and we headed off to drop off our Special Needs bags and get the bikes ready.
Getting to transition early (it officially opened at 5am) gave us plenty of time to get all our business done, hit the porta potties, and still have plenty of time to spare and try to relax before it was time to pull on the wet suits. We did that about 6:20 am, and then just tried to stay warm before the swim start.
The weather on race morning was over cast and cool – about 55 degrees – but with a gusting 15 mph wind off the lake. The high was forecasted to be 68 – I think it felt more like 75 – but still considerably cooler (and better!) than last year’s 98 degrees Fahrenheit. But standing on the beach with the wind blowing, it was COLD!
I did a quick “warm up” swim, just to get the feel of the water, and then took my place to the back and outside. The helicopter flew overhead, and we all waved, and then suddenly, it was time to start. Somewhere I heard a muffled canon shot through my earplugs, and people were heading towards the water. It was the calmest start I’ve had yet – we waded in, and then we were off.
The swim was choppy for sure – about 2-2.5 foot waves – but not unlike what we’d been practicing in all week, so it didn’t really faze me. On the way out on the first lap, I saw plenty of people back stroking and breast stroking, but I just kept my head down and heading in the general direction of the swarm. Before I knew it, things started getting a bit more crowded and a bit more physical, and I thought, “gee, I must be near the buoy” – a quick sight, and sure enough, I was! I continued to go wide, made the turn, and headed for the next buoy. One more turn and I was on the way in on the first lap. I did take one kick to the goggles as I neared the shore on my first lap, but other than that it was uneventful. I didn’t see the clock when I got out, but a quick trip across the mat, and I was back in for lap #2.
The 2nd lap seemed colder than the first – I definitely noticed the water getting colder as I got into the deeper water further out. I followed the same strategy though – just making sure I was following the general direction of the swarm, and swimming steady. The second lap passed by pretty quickly, and soon I could see I was almost done with the swim! About 500 yards out from shore, I noticed my neck getting a little sore from breathing every stroke on the same side for an hour and a half, and I periodically tried to switch and breath on my left , but that felt so strange I bagged it. All of a sudden my hands were hitting the sand, and I stood up and was done with the swim. I was ecstatic when I saw the clock as I crossed over the mat - I was right on target!
Swim Time: 1:27:56
Swim to bike transition was slow but uneventful. With the cooler temperatures, almost everyone was putting on arm warmers, and I had a vest too. In case you’ve never tried, putting arm warmers on wet arms (and bike shorts on wet legs, for that matter) can be extremely challenging. A quick porta potty stop, and I was finally on my way out on the bike after a stellar 10 minute transition. Oy!
T1: 10:24
The first loop of the bike was great, and I really had to work to keep myself in check and keep my heart rate in the right zone. I was getting passed left and right, but I knew that my job was to keep my hear t rate at AeT and ride easy. The first loop seemed to fly by, and before I knew it I was at the turn around on Ohio Match Road – about mile 35. I saw Jill & Mark towards the end of the first loop and got a huge boost from the cheers. I finished off the first loop in just over 3:20, and headed out for loop number 2.
There were lots of signs posted all throughout the course, messages chalked (or painted – tsk! Tsk!) on the road, as well as posted all along the road. Reading all the messages, even if they weren’t meant for me, gave me a mental boost, and also helped to pass the time. My favorite sign of the whole race, which perfectly summed up Ironman to me, appeared mid-way up the longest hill on the bike course. It said, “It doesn’t have to be fun, to be FUN”. Exactly!
The second loop was good, but almost right away I could tell it was going to be a bit more challenging than the first. I made a quick stop through Bike Special Needs to pick up my potato chips & M&Ms, and stash my arm warmers, and I was off again. I tried to stay focused on my nutrition and hydration, and just ride easy. With the stop at Special Needs and a porta potty stop (to apply more chamois butter..), I’d already added about 7-10 minutes to my 2nd loop time. Going through the hills again, my pace was definitely slower than the first time through, but again I focused on my nutrition and heart rate. Once through the hills, I just had to make it the 15 miles back into town – slightly downhill, but into a pretty solid headwind. My neck was killing me at this point, from the swim, and from being in the aeros so much, but I knew I HAD to be in the aeros for the headwind. I gutted it out and brought my bike in just under my 7:00 target.
Bike: 6:58:51
My legs had felt pretty solid on the bike, but getting off in T2 was another story. There was no running through transition – I did as brisk a walk as possible to the changing tent, hoping I would loosen up when I got to the run. T2 went much better than T1 (lots less to change) – I ditched the bike shorts and pulled on my TRIKS run skirt, grabbed clean, dry socks, running shoes, and my lucky running hat, and I was off.
T2: 4:36
Right away out of transition I could tell that the run was going to be tough. My stomach wasn’t quite right – it wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t settled either. I hit the first porta potty about ¾ mile out, but that didn’t help much. I was carrying a hand-held bottle of carbo-pro & e-load, and sipped on that. I did my best to settle in to an easy pace – somewhere around 10:30 miles. I ran the first half of the run aid station to aid station, walking briskly through to grab water, but doing my best “Ironman shuffle” the rest of the time. I had moments of yuck, and moments of “this isn’t so bad” but mostly it was just gutting it out to the next aid station. I’d get to it, grab a sponge and put it down my shirt, grab water, drink it, ditch the cup, squeeze the sponge over my head, toss it and then off on the run again.
I kept that up through mile 14, but then things changed. I got a deep side stitch that I just couldn’t run through. I switched to a power walk, and walked miles 15, 16, and 17. At mile 17, I kicked it back up to my shuffle pace, but I could immediately tell it wasn’t sustainable. My stomach was on the edge, and taking on nutrition was really difficult while I was running. I kept it up to mile 18, when I saw Jason again. He was at about mile 24 and almost done – I still had 2 hours ahead of me.
I made the call then that I was going to stick with a strong walk. I didn’t want to end up in the medical tent, and felt that if I’d forced the run, I wouldn’t be able to continue fueling – which was going to be crucial with 8 miles to go. But I also decided that if I was going to walk, I was going to walk as fast as I could. It was just before 7pm, and I figured if I pulled an average 4mph walking pace (15:00 miles) that I’d be darn close to my target of 14:00 when I finished.
This also enabled me to more easily get my liquid nutrition in, as well as take on more water & other fuel (pretzels, etc) in the aid stations. I kept this up, catching up to and passing other walkers, maintaining just under a 15:00 mile, until I got to the turn around. Coming back down the hill, I took advantage of gravity and jogged a bit – that was pretty jarring to my body. Back on the flats I went back to my power walk, and struck up a conversation with a couple of other guys who were walking. The discussion centered on making it in under the 14:00 mark – hitting the 23 mile mark at about 13:15, I knew we were damn close. I was just passing through the “Ford Motivational Mile” and saw a message for me from my teammate Adam – it said “CPOPP – KEEP GOING! – Adam” I guess that was all I needed.
I decided – you can run for 3 miles. Worst case scenario, you can run for 40 minutes. I started up and kept it up – I skipped the last couple of aid stations, only grabbing sponges on my way through. I ticked off the miles – 24….25…. up the little rise, 1st loop straight, finish to the left – my turn to go left!
I was finally on the last straightaway, and it felt like things were in slow motion. I tried to absorb all the people on the side of the road, the cheers. I could see the 2 people immediately ahead of me, and tried to space it so I could have the finish line to myself. Jason came running out from the side of the road, grabbed my hand and gave me a huge kiss – I kept going and before I knew it I could hear Mike Reilly announcing my name. I didn’t hear the “You are an Ironman” part, but frankly I didn’t care. I knew that I was.
Run time: 5:10:14
Total time: 13:52:01
1339/2085 overall
72 / 134 W30-34
In the end I was extremely happy with my race. To me, my decision to walk didn’t constitute giving up or giving in at all – it was a conscious, strategic decision I made to enable the best race experience possible. I doubt my time would have been much faster, if at all, should I have kept running, and I certainly would have been in much worse shape at the end of the race. Ultimately, I made every single one of my time targets, with the exception of my run, which I was only off by 10 minutes. I raced smart, within my limits, and to the best of my ability. It was challenging, painful, and fun all rolled up in to one. Eventually, I will do another one – it was just too amazing an experience to not do another one. But for now, it’s time for me to concentrate on more base and more short course races.
