Trip Report
Coeur d’Alene was a very nice town. It’s been an Ironman locale since 2003 so I’d
guess they’re pretty used to how things need to go. Lake Coeur d’Alene was gigantic and pretty
impressive overall. Water temperature
was pretty good. Probably not to someone
from the warmer states, but having trained in Portland it was just up my alley. The athlete’s meeting was incredibly
informative and I think they covered about everything possible. I had an accomplice at this race (hereafter
referred to as Ravishing Opal Eyes, or ROE), so touring the town was a bit more
relaxing. We swam once after picking up
our packets on Friday and biked once on Saturday. The meal voucher was good at eight
restaurants. I ended up using mine
Monday morning for breakfast on my way out of town.
Transition closed at 6:15 and the swim began at 6:40. This seemed a little strange to me since we
had to go through transition to leave our morning drop bag. Thankfully the weather was pretty decent. The swim was a self seeding wave start. There were a few
signs with completion time ranges held up right before starting to spread out
the swimmers by pace. I heard someone
say 60 degree water temperature which felt about that so I’d believe it. We were walked down to the sand and
continuously funneled through the starting arch until everyone was in the
water. The course headed out roughly 800
meters, turned left to go another 200’ish meter, and turned left towards shore
to swim back again. The swim consisted
of two loops. We had to get out of the
water and cross a timing mat and then head right back in for the second
loop. On the second loop it was
announced (I was swimming, so interpretations are rough) to turn at the clump
of paddle boarders. I found out after
the race that the first corner buoy had blown away. A few people got to knock a few yards off
their course as the staff improvised.
Once out of the water the wetsuit peelers ripped off wetsuits and we
headed to grab our swim to bike bags.
The volunteers inside the changing tent were helpful and abundant.
The bike course was a two loop course consisting of
(approximately) 16 miles through town and along the lake and then 40 miles
along highway 95. Going out either way
was primarily uphill, which meant coming back into town was primarily
downhill. The course had 3 (for each
loop) no passing zones due to confined space on the course. I only noticed a single spot on the course
with road kill gear; one bridge transition had a nasty bump with a myriad of
water bottles and CO2 cartridges following it.
Rough bumps are no fun. The bike
course had tons of spectators through the city and near the lake. The section along highway 95 had spectators
as well, but due to limited parking and logistics they were far less abundant. Overall, crowd support was a major highlight
of this course. Aid stations were about
every ten miles. Each stop had two’ish
portapotties which created some lines, but lines dissipated further into the
race as bikers spread out. As soon as my
front tire crossed the dismount line a volunteer was there ready to take my bike. The bike to run bags were on a basketball
court and were easy to locate. The
changing tent was far less crammed for T2 since there was less congestion.
The run course was also two loops. The run went out of town and along the lake
mirroring the first portion of the bike course.
Aid stations were very abundant, about every mile. This year’s run course was apparently the
test to try Red Bull at aid stations. The
course was very nice and there was only one nasty hill during the run. The hill was steep and banked. The run had a lot of crowd support. The turnaround went right into downtown and
back out which had the heaviest density of crowd support.
Based on
what I've read there were 151 DNFs and 1953 finishers, with over half of the
finishers being first time participants.
Based on result derivations from the actual race results for 2466
competitors I see 1958 finishers, 345 DNS (did not start), and 160 DNF (did not
finish). I’m missing three people in
those numbers somewhere. Of the DNFs 8
did not finish the swim, 112 did not finish the bike, and 40 did not finish the
run. Of the 40 at least 5 finished the
race but crossed after the time limit. I
don’t know how many competitors started the race and were recovered by boats /
medical personal. All DNFs in the
results have swim times listed. It’s
possible that recovered swimmers were left as DNS in the results.
The Personal Recount
I woke up at 4:30 to eat breakfast. I had my morning clothes in a pile. After getting dressed I at some assorted nuts
with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, some Poweraid, and a little bit of
black tea. I continued to snack on
pretzels after breakfast up until I left my hotel room. Everything was in my wetsuit bag ready to rock. I shaved my face, applied some Butt’r to the
appropriate places, and made a PB & J for my swim to bike transition bag
before heading out the door. My family
drove me to the race start. I arrived
sometime around 5:30 and got body marked while heading into transition. I brought my PB & J to my transition bag
and headed over to my bike to add some Ultima to a water bottle and fill my
aero bottle. This year I had waaay less
stuff than last year to leave in my morning bag. I can’t even fathom how last year’s bag was
rippingly full, but it was. I found ROE
and we talked for a minute and finished up in transition. I left my bike pump with my sister and got
the lower half of my wetsuit on. From
about 6:05 on, they bullhorned out how many minutes were left in
transition. Right around 6:15 I dropped
my morning gear bag and headed towards the boardwalk area. The Portland Triclub president was along the
side as we headed towards the swim start; I don’t know him very well but it was
awesome to see another familiar face. I
found ROE and we talked and hugged and
got ready. It was nice to have someone
to talk to this year (other than some random person). As the mass headed down the beach area we
took a minute to get in the water and wet our suits (haha, PUN!). But seriously, I peed in my suit as soon as I
got in the water. That’s what happens
when they close transition half an hour before the race starts. Some more hugs and “good lucks” were
exchanged before heading under the arch.
The water had some swells but nothing extreme. Heading out 800 meters meant that hugging
buoys wasn’t too imperative. I was able
to secure a nice spot and make some decent progress. I didn’t get hit at all other than some
tickles here and there. I “crawl”ed the
whole course without any breaks except for resorting to breast stroke a few
times for defensive purposes. The first
loop was pretty straight forward. Coming
back towards shore my goggles began to fog a little and I drifted a bit off
course. I sighted myself out a nice tall
tree that contrasted the sky quite nicely.
Take that, goggle fog! I got to
shore and headed onto dry land to cross the mat. Heading through the inflatable arch to cross
the timing mat was pretty irritating, but I guess everyone had the same impact
on their performance. I dipped my
goggles as I headed back out in order to clear the fog. The seconded loop was choppier than the
first. I had a few strokes where I
didn’t breathe and a few where my head slapped back into the water. It actually gave me something to think about,
so other than swallowing a bit more water than normal, it was kind of nice (in
a weird way). During the swim my left
hand started to get a numb sensation so I’d wiggle my fingers as my hand passed
out of the water. As we approached the
first turn of the second loop every swimmer was just as confused as me. The red buoy was missing. This threw people waaay off. Were they lost? Did they pass it? None of us knew that it had blown away at
that time. We just kind of followed the
masses towards some paddle boarders and then turned. It worked.
Heading into shore I felt great.
The home stretch! Swim 800 meters
towards shore and graduate to the next level.
I got out of the water and started to unzip and get ready for the peelers. They ripped off my suit and I headed to grab
my T1 bag. I got out of the water in
1:23:XX. I had shaved (more like
chopped) 30 entire minutes off last year’s swim time.
There were actually a ton of people in the changing tent
still! I got my shirt out of my bag so I
could put it on while I peed in the portapotty.
I headed into the tent and proceeded to don my gear. I couldn’t find my socks. Whatever, I kept putting stuff on. I still couldn’t find my socks. I turned on my watch and flapped my wetsuit
and looked through my bag. No socks,
none. I had put baby powder in my bag
with the intention of drying my feet before wiggling my toe socks on; I guess
baby powder was all I was going to get.
I put each foot into my transition bag and blasted them with baby
powder. I used the entire “travel sized”
container on my feet and threw my bike shoes on. This year I pinched the back of my shirt
towards the center so the volunteers applying my sunscreen could get all my
skin. I spent just shy of 14 minutes in
transition due to the sock mystery, but whatever. I headed out to grab my bike and was
incredibly happy with the sight. Tons of
bikes still on the racks! Last year
coming out of the tent I’d have needed to be blind to miss my bike; it was one
of the only ones still there. I felt
great physically and mentally.
The start of the bike was great. I felt good and I was around people. At this point I didn’t realize how much
faster I had swam compared to last year, but I did know I felt better. This year I used a cadence and speed sensor
rather than the GPS of my watch to conserve some battery life. I started to eat some gel right away and wash
it down. Heading out on the first leg of
loop one was nice. I was feeling great
and had no idea what hills were coming, I liked that. I passed ROE on the way out and yelled
something random. I kept going and the
turnaround came quicker than I thought.
Back through town and out the other way.
I met my first no passing zone which a few people ignored (it was really
packed). The ride out was a lot of
uphill with some head wind. I was
incredibly thankful for all my hill training with that *bodacious babe* before
the race; this was where I needed it.
The ride out was long. There were
a few wind gusts that made me back off my aerobars for a bit, but after a while
I got a feel for the ride. I saw ROE again
and it gave me some spark. I stopped and
ate half my PB & J while peeing at an aid station and headed out
again. After hitting the turnaround I
was able to milk my cycling strength: fast peddling downhill on the
aerobars. Downhill with a tail wind
almost made the uphill head wind worth it.
It was fast, it was fun, and I would get back to town a lot quicker than
I thought. I had a pro behind my when I
entered the third no passing zone. You’d
have been lucky to fit a pencil between our tires. Once the zone ended he dropped the hammer and
sailed past people. I could only wish to
pick up that speed that fast.
The second loop was still solid, my slight decrease in steam
was countered by the fact that I now knew what to expect on the course. I flew out of town and headed towards the
first turn around. I saw ROE again and
we waved. I hit the turn around again
and headed back towards town. The second
trip out on highway 95 was incredibly rough.
The head wind had grown to an irritating level. Peddling uphill with the head wind made my
quads feel incredibly fatigued. I kept
chugging along and stopped at an aid station.
I stepped into a portapotty and almost fell into the wall. The combination of bike cleats and the
horribly crooked portapotty made things fun… especially while eating the rest
of my PB & J. I got on my bike again
and continued up the course. This 20
mile stretch was the hardest part of the entire race for me. I knew I could do it, but I felt like it was
just eating my time. I hit the turn
around and felt extremely relieved. On
the way back to town I passed the two leading pros on the run course. It was awesome to see Andy Potts in the first
place position chugging along. After
passing him I hit a hill and dropped to about 10 miles an hour. It passed through my head that I’m on a bike
going slower than Andy Potts is running right now. I had one point heading back towards town when
my chain slipped from my front sprockets.
I was actually happy this was my only bike issue all race. I hopped off my bike for the five second fix
and then kept on trucking and made it to transition.
We could leave out bike shoes on our bike for transition,
but I needed to leave them on to keep my feet dry. I grabbed my watch off my bike as the
volunteer took it for me. I went to the
tent and wiggled on my toe socks from my T2 bag. I left behind my Red Bull can and water
belt. I shaved about 5 minutes off my
transition time from last year, now being just shy of 6 minutes (I blame
getting each of my toesies in the socks).
I left the tent to start my run and switched my watch into
GPS mode. At the start of the run I
could tell my legs had been hammered by the bike. Be it the wind or the hills, or both, I
wasn’t going to pull a run time I had hoped.
My right shin was really tight so I started with a walk run combo. Eventually my legs felt a little better and I
was able to run for longer periods. At
the aid stations I drank Red Bull and Powerbar drink to keep hydrated. I ate a few bananas and eventually settled
into a pretty decent run. The only
hiccup was the long banked hill. It was
so crooked and steep I decided to walk it on both loops. I could see that most people around me made
the same choice. I saw ROE three times
(I think) on the run which really helped my mentality during the end. Each time I started running again my legs
would burn until I was back into my tempo.
During the run there was an aid station that was circus
themed. People were dressed up and so
peppy. It was nice to have a unique
check point to remember. Most of the
other aid stations just meshed together.
On the run it was crazy to see how salty some people got. I don’t sweat a ton, and get mildly salty on
my face. Some people had salt dried all
over their shirts, and a couple with salt lines dried down the backs of their
legs. I took four salt sticks the entire
race and was grateful I didn’t lose so much in my sweat that it was a
necessity. I peed about two hours into
the marathon and figured I should up my fluid intake. One portapotty had a poster inside of it
which was kind of different. Also, one
had what I’m pretty sure was a bottle of urine in it on the floor. I started taking two cups per an aid station
after my first stop; water coupled with anything else with sugar. I was doing well in the race overall, but
each time I saw ROE pass me I got excited and felt even more energy. She was doing so awesome and her run pace was
solid. The last time I passed her I was
so proud (and jealous) that she was more than halfway into the marathon. It was really great to have someone in the
race that I knew.
I ran hard the final push into town and crossed the
finish. I saw my family, ROE’s family,
and ROE’s gorgeous smile. I felt
great. I coughed a bit, but nothing like
last year. Pictures were taken, food was
eaten, and back to the hotel I went. It
was done. 13:25:29. 2 hours, 39 minutes and 27 seconds off of
last year at Whistler.
It was so amazing having my family, ROE’s family, ROE, the
PTC club president, and even one of the PTC members I saw along the
course. Even though I was in Idaho I
didn’t feel alone. Back at the hotel I
had very little appetite. I ate handfuls
of nuts and finished the Powerbar drink that was left over on my bike. I went to bed feeling pretty great. I didn’t sleep well, which I didn’t
expect. I left town the following day
and drove all the way home. I walked
four miles which helped stretch my body back out after a six hour drive. About the only lasting soreness is in my left
glute/hamstring and around my left deltoid.
Sitting in the car really brought out the left glute stiffness. When I got out of the car during my ride I’d
hobble for a few steps until everything stretched back out.
Coeur d’Alene Versus Whistler
Coeur d’Alene operated from a single transition area whereas
Whistler had two completely different transition areas. I liked the logistics of gear dropping at CDA
better. Whistler was condensed and
walking everywhere was standard. In CDA
we had to drive to the race area, but the town seemed to have a pretty sizable
amount of parking. I definitely liked
the Whistler one loop swim over the CDA two-loop. Whistler had a far more prominent feeling of
the event since the town was so small.
Blue bracelets were everywhere in that town. In CDA, you’d see a few throughout your
hotel, or out and about, but not really a dense population until you went back
down to the race area. The crowd support
at CDA was better than Whistler.
Whistler has closed a rode for a 15 mile portion (30 total out and back)
and crowed support was limited to residence from the tiny farm town out that
way. CDA didn’t have a plethora of crowd
support along highway 95, but it was enough to keep you going.
Next on the list are the Skagit Flats Marathon and the
Olympic distance Portland Triathlon, both in September. I’ll take it easy for a couple weeks and then
ease slowly back into training. Part of
my brain says that was my last Ironman, but another part says I should do
more. Maybe down the line a few years,
we’ll see.
