Ironman Coeur d'Alene

Sunday I finished my 7th Ironman.  I love the town of Coeur d'Alene and it is truly my favorite of the IM events I've participated in.  The crowd support is amazing.  The course offers some challenges and tests your mettle as you work through the day.  It is everything that I love about Ironman.  Ironman always provides a chance to learn something about yourself and IM CDA 2011 was no exception.

Leading up to Sunday, I had to throw all my expectations out the window.  And I'm glad that I did.  I was able to enjoy my surroundings and be in the moment while I pushed my body to it's limits.  I wore my usual Timex wrist watch, but I set my bike computer to show me only mileage, never time or pace, and I left my Garmin in my T2 bag.  And you know what?  I kicked ass.

The morning started with a 4:30 am wake up call.  We got our stuff together and hooked a ride with some friends down to the transition area.  After pumping the tires (...and oiling the chain... No, I'm just kidding.  But have you seen the video on you tube?) and loading up our water bottles onto our bikes we headed down to the beach to watch the pros take off.  Once they were moving we got our wetsuits on and lined up with the other 2300 age group athletes on the beach.  I was freaking out.  I wanted to take the outside right line.  Even if it meant I had to swim an extra 500 meters, I knew I'd feel more comfortable.  But, just like in Canada, I let my well-meaning husband talk me into staying front and center.  (Last time I ignore a gut instinct.  No for real this time.  I mean it!)

The cannon goes off and I am literally shoved into the water and then drowned.  Or at least that's what it felt like.  After 10 minutes of "swimming" with my head above the water, getting punched, getting scratched, getting clobbered I finally said enough, and turned to swim to the outside of the pack.  Finally.  Some free space.  From there the swim was relatively uneventful.  I heard from several people after the race that they had problems with leaky goggles and we surmised that possibly it was due to the cold water that we all suffered the same issue.  I must have stopped at least 10 times to try to reseal my goggles.  I would be swimming along happily, and then with no warning I would feel my goggles unseal from my face.  This has never happened to me before.  They were not new goggles.  They were not old, worn out goggles.  There was no reason that they should have given me problems.  A friend remarked that her goggles were more like sunglasses in the lake which I thought was a very fitting description.  And funny too!  (She's pretty clever...)  Se la vie.  I was out of the water in 1:08:58 (my slowest swim ever!) and ready to move on with my day.  Looking back now, it's sort of comical because as slow as my swim was, I was still the 350th age grouper out of the water.  (I consider that good!)         

I ran/ walked to the wetsuit peelers and just stood there.  I hadn't realized how cold I was until I got out of the water.  My face and feet were numb.  I couldn't say anything.  I just stood there and let them help me out of my wetsuit.  As the volunteer helped me up, he asked if I wanted to go to the warming tent.  He may have recognized my slight incoherence and frozen brain.  I quickly snapped to and dashed down the line of T1 bags and into the change tent where once again I just had to let the volunteer guide me as I could not verbalize thoughts.  Finally, as I finished collecting my gear for the bike I regained enough sense to thank her and headed out to collect E'ly from the bike racks.  As I ran with my bike to the mount line I saw my husband running out beside me.  I yelled to him and wished him continued luck. 

Though the bike is my "weakness" I was still looking forward to this ride because I love the CDA bike course.  It's perfect.  Heading out onto the course it is flat and fast for the first 20-25 miles.  I did not set a specific time goal for the bike course but I was hoping for maybe around 6:15-6:20.  I biked 6:35 (give or take) at Canada last year so I knew at the very least I could be close to that.  I decided not to look at my watch until the 56 mile mark.  I would just keep everything in check and try to ride "one gear easier" for the entire first loop.  (One piece of advise I got from an experienced pro prior to my first IM race was to bike one gear easier that what you think you can ride for the first 70-80 miles.  After that, if you want to pick it up then do so.)  Having driven the course on Friday, I knew exactly where the hills would start.  I knew where the tight turns were.  And I knew I was going to hammer the descents.  I laugh at my more inexperienced self from 2008- when I actually braked  on some of these descents.  Man, I had some learning to do!  Thankfully, Mt. Lemmon has made me more confident on the down hills and I embraced every one of them on Sunday.  As people were coasting the descents, I maintained my effort and continued to push through every aspect of the course. 

Entering into the second loop I was still feeling good.  Fatigued, yes, in a normal manner of fatigue.  But I was having an enjoyable bike ride through the gorgeous Idaho countryside.  I couldn't wait to get back to the hills, knowing that once I was through the second set of hills I was home free.  The wind picked up a little bit in the second half.  And combined with the fatigue in my legs, I think my second half was a little bit slower than the first half.  But I hopped off my bike in 6:24:10 and handed E'ly off to a volunteer waiting with open arms to receive her.  (Did I mention how awesome the volunteers in CDA were??) 

I ran through transition and into the change tent for round two.  This time I was very coherent and moving much quicker.  I was excited to get out onto the run course.  I had already decided not to wear my Garmin in the run, and to just run how I felt it.  I was glad that I did and have no regrets over not making my time goal.  In my first 5 IM events I struggled with nutrition.  I experienced every manner of bloating, nausea, constipation, etc during the run.  Last year at Canada I changed my nutrition plan on the bike which helped tremendously.  I was able to run consistently during the marathon, but was starving the whole 26 miles!  I experienced this again in CDA, but to a greater degree.  During the first 13 miles I was able go from aid station to aid station taking in cola, water and a little bit of broth.  At about mile 14 I totally crashed.  I got very weak and a little bit dizzy.  The sun was out and I was worried that I was going to pass out in the heat.  I walked to mile 15 where I took in cola, water, broth and 2 chocolate chip cookies.  Within minutes I could feel myself rebounding.  I resumed running and finished strong. 

It was fun to see my friends out on the run course.  Unfortunately, my husband (who has been off and on with an illness for the last 6 weeks) pulled out of the race at mile 12 of the marathon.  He battled severe congestion, headache, dizziness and vomiting for 2.4 miles in the swim, 112 miles on the bike, and 12 miles of the run.  When he neared the turn around on the run he made the smart decision to not continue, knowing that he has Kona in 14 weeks.  CDA was going to be a good training day for him, and it still was, just not the one he wanted.  It was really hard to keep going after I stopped to talk with him at mile 12.  He was laying on the curb waiting for me to come by.  I knew he was OK, and I knew he would not want me to quit.  But knowing that I had 2 1/2 hours left at that point was really really hard.  I was ready to be done!

Looking back at the results, my 4th leg (miles 20-26) was the same pace as my 2nd leg (miles 7-13).  I was very pleased with this.  I know that with a little more work, I will figure out this nutrition thing and one day I will nail it.  But having been on both sides of the fence, I am much happier being on the light side of nutrition than on the bloated, over fed side.  I can come back from a bonk.  And I was very happy to be able to run the entire marathon aside from the couple of times between miles 13-20 when I had to walk or risk keeling over.  I ran all the hills.  I walked most of the aid stations.  I walked with a friend for a few minutes when he was experiencing a down moment in his race.  And when I turned the corner onto Sherman Avenue for the 7 blocks to the finish line I was beaming ear to ear.  My marathon was a 4:49:04, and my overall finish time was 12:33:22. 

I was received at the finish line by a volunteer who handed me off to my husband, waiting to put the finisher's medal around my neck.  He escorted me to the food tent and propped my feet up on a chair while he collected some pizza and cookies for me.  He patiently waited while I got a massage and then helped me collect my bags and bike and hobble back to the car.  There is nothing better than the feeling of tired that consumes your body after an Ironman.  He drove me back to the hotel for a shower and then to DQ for a chocolate shake and a cheeseburger.  Amazing how good that tastes after a very long day on your feet!  After slurping the last bit of ice cream I feel into a restless, achy sleep. 

The lessons I learned from Ironman Coeur d'Alene 2011? 
1.  Always trust my instinct.  (ie: line up outside for the swim)
2.  When things don't go as planned, it doesn't mean it's time to call uncle.  In other words, no matter what you are feeling during the race.. it will pass.  I could have resigned myself to walking from mile 14 onward, instead I addressed my needs and got back into the game.
3.  Ironman is a long day!  You have to respect your body, respect your competitors, and appreciate the volunteers.  Having a negative attitude gets you nowhere.  Enjoy the process!