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Ironman Coeur D’Alene 2008 Race Recap:

All the hype about the water temperature leading up to Ironman turned out to be just that…hype. On race day, water temp was 59.5 degrees. Perfect. Weather was perfect, warm, slightly overcast with a slight breeze. The group of friends we were with were great, good times. I feel very fortunate to be surrounded by them.

FINAL TIMES:
Swim: 1:17:22
Bike: 5:32:06
Run: 4:08:08
Overall: 11:05:54
264 rank overall
71 rank in age group 35-39

Swim:
For some reason, I wasn’t too concerned about the swim start. I had Jess with me, and she had a dream that we should be on the inside. I just went along for the ride. After putting on the wetsuits, we started the march down to the timing mat. The crowd was moving slow, and took longer than I wanted. But we got down to the beach with enough time to get in the water, get loose, stick our faces in feel the cold. Swam a few times up and back and just felt awesome. We (Brian, Jess and me) headed back to the shore with about 5 min. till the start. National Anthem played, then about 2 min. to go. We positioned ourselves far left. With Jess dancing around with a big smile on her face, it made my experience that much more relaxed. The gun shot off, and we were gone. I went ahead of Jess, but she soon passed me. I didn’t see her, but just knew. The whole start was perfect. I had this little open pocket ahead of me that seemed to stay there the whole swim. The only crazy parts were the turns. You must go around the corner buoys, and that’s where everyone starts piling up, swimming on top of other people, kicking into your face, shoving and jockeying for position. After the turn though, it just spreads out again. Made the turn for the shore on lap 1 feeling good about myself. Pushed it some to the beach, got out, looked at the watch, and was 37 min, doing math in my head, that’s a 1:14 swim, sweet. Headed on out to the 2nd loop and again had that pocket around me. Not once during the swim was I crowded or panicing. I’ve learned this now the last two ironman swims, that when it comes to big race situations, I’m ‘on’. But the smaller events, such as stroke and stride, I just can’t get my breath under me. Swam somewhat hard the 2nd loop, at least I thought i did. Pretty uneventful 2nd loop, and then hit the timing mat on shore to see i was about 1:18, wow. I thought I had swim faster, especially with the continuous swimming, no breast stroking, even around the corners I was able to freestyle or polo swim as Craig has us doing in our swim workouts. Raced up the beach to the strippers. Got stripped, grabbed my swim to bike bag, and into the changing tent.

Didn’t need the warm weather gear, so I just didn’t take it. My bike shoes were warm from the toe warmers I had in there, but took those out before putting my feet in. I thought it might be uncomfortable after a while if riding with them under my toes. I grabbed my socks that I stuffed hand warmers in and poked a hole in for my thumbs in case I needed them. But it was warm enough to ditch ‘em, so they never left the transition area. I dropped them at my bike. Out to find my bike, running pretty fast. Saw that Brian’s bike was gone, and knew he must have had a great swim.

Bike:
The bike was definitely the highlight for me. Started out pretty strong, settled into a low z3 effort until I could get my legs under me. I was taking it slower than normal because I didn’t want to cramp up my hamstrings or legs because they were so cold. After a few miles of warming up though, I settled right into my pedal stroke and started cranking out the miles. It’s a great course, love it. I would equate it with Timberman which takes place in New Hampshire (which I’m planning to race again in ‘09). So much more scenic than the old bike course, and I would say tougher. Pushed it up the hills, coasted on the way down. I did the first loop in low to mid z3, then elevated it to higher z3 the 2nd loop. I could see others faltering up the hills, but because of the training in boulder, I felt the advantage of climbing. Stopped once to pee on the first loop as we rode back to town, and then peed another 6 or 7 times while riding during the bike. I was getting the hang of it. Riding back into town was made slightly more difficult with the head wind. But still pushed 19/20 mph. I knew I was having a good day on the bike when after calculating some math in my head, I figured I’d come in around 5:40. But when all was completed, I finished in 5:32. Really happy with that time. Legs weren’t too taxed, still had enough for the run. At times my heart rate fell to z2, and that’s when my mind woke up and said ‘you need to race this course, no holding back’. So I would then move it back up to z3. But had some trouble doing that late in the race. I’d like to know why that happened, even pushing it hard my heart rate fell to z2. I took in almost 5 bottles of Infinit (300 calories per bottle) and 1/2 clif bar. I drank lots of water too, kept picking up new bottles every aid station. So minus the pit stop, and a pee break or two when i had to slow down, i would have come in under 5:30. My goal to qualify of 5:25 on the bike is not too far away. The closest of the three sports that I’m nearest to nailing. In IMAZ later this fall, I will make that time and still be able to run.

Run:
Off the bike and into T2, I was geared up for the run. This is what I’ve been waiting for. Took some extra time in T2 for sunscreen and a small bathroom break. Peeing off the bike is a good sign that your hydrated. Off on the run for the first out and back, and did the first mile in 8:15. Way too fast, so slowed down. First 6 miles in :51, sweet. Ran the next 6 miles pretty much the same, then stomach issues hit. I can’t quite pinpoint when or what it was that caused it. I started my nutrtion plan right away, and that might have been it. I started out with gatorade, gatorade water, clif bloks and water the first 3 miles. The Bloks are something I’m going to ditch now moving forward. I don’t think they work well in the Ironman marathon where you need to keep moving. I felt chewing them took too much time. And then I couldn’t get them fully down. I probably should have taken more salt and endurolytes too. But something to work on for the next Ironman. I kept pushing the miles, stopping at aid stations trying to get back on track. Each time i tried to push it harder, my belly just said ‘no way’. I couldn’t shake the leg pounding either. Something else I need to work on and block out of my mind. It’s just pain. With 3 miles left, i had about 25 minutes to make it under 4 hours for the marathon. And I just couldn’t do it. Looking back, I needed to summon up some inner strength that’s there, just need to figure out how to pull from it. I didn’t make it. Fell short by 8 minutes with a 4:08 marathon. I also couldn’t get comfortable with my socks. I kept pulling them up, something was bunching up, or felt that way. Whenever I looked, the socks were flat, so it might have been just my feet. If anything was a disappointment for me it was the run. I’ve poured countless miles and hours running over the past 6 months. I know a 33 minute improvement is big for the marathon, but I want more. I’m not satisfied. and that’s why I’m going to continue racing Ironman year after year. Unfinished business. Lots more to do. If anything, I’m now more motivated than ever to get to the run and prove to myself I can do it.

Overall:
Very happy with my time. A :33 minute improvement over my last Ironman, and a 1 hour 33 minute improvement over Ironman CDA 2006! Still didn’t make my goal of under 11 hours. But I’m working towards it. I do know now that to qualify for Hawaii, it’s going to take alot of hard work, and a close to perfect day. I will do it, at some point. That’s for sure. It might take a few years. So the plan now is to do at least 1 per year to get better used to the pain you feel in the legs, and to figure out the race strategy. I’m a few minutes off on the bike of where I want to be, still alot of work to do on the swim, and I know i can run faster than I did on Sunday. I just need to do it.

Room for Improvement:
Swim, swim, swim…and then swim some more. After that, swim again.
Mental training on the run, push through the pain, focus on the task at hand, get it done as soon as possible.
Switch to PowerBar Gels on the run to simulate race day, no more bloks.

Thanks!
A huge thanks to Craig Howie, who has prepared me to race for the past few years, and it’s unbelieveable how I continue to improve with each race. I did more miles and hours of training this year than ever. I have huge faith and trust in Craig and his coaching style. It’s also now Saturday, almost 1 week from racy day, and I feel great. I might even go for a run or swim today. So thanks Craig, keep pushing me!

Thank you Jess for everything, I mean EVERYTHING. For the support you give me daily even after hearing me talk about training night and day. We spend almost 90% of our time together, so I know it can get tiresome. For the weekly massages you gave me to make sure I was back up and physically able to run more miles the next day. How I ran this much, I really don’t know. For your participation in Ironman, and triathlon in general. It makes it so much easier to have you there with me through this all. On race day, at the swim start, i had no nervousness, no hesitations, because you were so positive, and you were there beside me. For sacrificing the small things. Morning coffee time, going to bed early, eating pasta meals 3x a week…you get the picture. You are the single most important person in my life, and I can only do this with you beside me.

It was awesome to race with Craig, Brian, Mike and Jess. The atmosphere was just right for my mind. And the supportive crew: Jackie & Gordy, Chris, Petra, Brian James, Suzy, Kristina, Deanna and Mike’s parents. And Luna too, always nice to see the 4-legged support out there.

Next Up: Ironman Arizona - November 23, 2008