Pre-Race:
The alarm was set for 5:00am and I got going as soon as it went off. I changed, made breakfast, grabbed my transition bags and left the hotel around 5:40am. When we got to the race site, my old roommate Bruce dropped me off as close as he could to transition, and he went to find a parking spot. (I didn’t see him again before the start)
It was around 50 degrees and overcast in the morning, with the forecast calling for rain later in the day. (It did not get over 55 degrees the entire day) I got body marked, and headed to my bike in transition. Pumped up the tires, filled up my aero bottle with water, checked the brakes, checked/erased my computer, and lastly affix several gels to my top tube. Except I didn’t have any gels packed. CRAP. (My nutrition plan throughout most of training and for the race consisted of two three-hour bottles of Carbo Pro w/ Nuun, with one gel or Shot Block every hour, two Salt Stick Caps every hour and water in the aero bottle.) I didn’t panic, knowing that I had a few gels and blocks in my T1 bag, that I was planning to put in my back jersey pocket. And I also had a full bottle of Carbo Pro w/ Nuun in my Bike Special Needs bag, so between those two I should have enough calories. I check my Bike Special Needs, and Run Special Needs bags, and find a spot on the wall along the lake to sit down and eat the rest of my breakfast.
My breakfast for the morning, as had been for most long training weekends, was a banana, cinnamon-raisin bagel with peanut butter, and water/coffee. As I get comfortable on the wall, I realize that my bagel with peanut butter had fallen out of my hoodie pocket. CRAP! I’m not in panic mode at this point, but I definitely was stressing out. THINK. THINK. What to do. I remembered I put some extra gels in my special needs bags, so I ran back over to the bag drop boxes, sifted through the boxes to find my bags, and plucked a couple gels out for breakfast. It would have to do. Later, Maggie went and snagged me a bagel from the tent near the transition area, but it was cold and didn’t sit well with my stomach. It was also getting too close to race time for me to stomach it. Even though I knew it was important to take in all the calories I could, I would just have to make do this day with what I had. I did manage to eat a gel and a few Clif blocks, but would start the race without a full stomach.
Not long after sitting down on the wall, other teammates arrived and we all huddled together to stay warm and calm. It was pretty windy, and the water was pretty choppy, but it was no worse than the previous days. Water temperature was 65F on race morning. At 6:25am, the pros started, and at that point I went to the bathroom one last time before getting in my wetsuit. I had been calm the entire time in Couer D’Alene, and really had just wanted to get the race over with. I was ready for a break from training, mentally and physically. I had trained pretty consistently for a year and a half without much of a break. But now, as I started to get in my wetsuit, I was nervous.
I was nervous about the swim. My swim training fell off the last few months. I was only swimming about once a week for the last 2-3 months of training, and it was usually slow, long swims at Barton Springs. I was nervous about the “washing machine” and the waves, and starting too fast. In the practice swims before race day, my body was tired after swimming out to the second buoy in the lake and back. [The swim was 2 loops, with 8 buoys out and back.]
Swim: (1:18:46 - About what I expected)
Around 6:50am, I entered the beach, and headed out to the far end of the mass of people. It was comforting to see other T3 teammates out there with me, those of us not as strong or confident about the swim. I was around Charles, Kevin and a few others. My plan was to start 5-10 seconds after the gun on the far outside. I got into the water and swam out a few strokes to warm up, make sure the goggles were good, and get the feel of the water. After the national anthem, I don’t remember much, and couldn’t really hear anything. The experience of standing on the beach, with 2,000 other athletes, waiting for the race to start was surreal. The picturesque scenery was amazing. Dozens of boats out at the turn around point, kayakers scattered along the buoy line, helicopter overhead, and thousands of spectators crammed along the walls around the lake. It was an awesome feeling, and my thoughts focused on all of the many months of training leading up this moment. And before I knew it the canon sounded and we were off.
As planned, I waited about 5 seconds and then jumped in the fray. There wasn’t much contact with other swimmers for the majority of the first loop out to the turnaround. There was the occasional slap, punch, or kick, but it was relatively smooth sailing out to the turn around. The waves were the biggest that I had raced in. I had decided to use the top of the mountain to sight as I headed out. The turn buoy was lined up exactly with the mountain, so that made it easy, especially when I’d raise my head and wave would block my line of vision, I’d still be able to see the mountain. The waves werent too bad once you got your breathing in rhythm with them. As usual, the crowd bunched up at the turn buoys, but thinned out on the straightaways. It was awesome heading back to shore, getting glimpses of the crowd. I come out of the water, and am a little dazed. I didn’t notice my time. I crossed the timing mat, and headed back in for Loop 2. First loop: 38:03
The second loop was fairly uneventful. I probably got hit more by other athletes on the second loop as I swam the buoy line the entire time. I knew my second loop would be a little slower, due to the extra length from the first loop exit out to the first buoy. (The first loop was a straight shot out to the first buoy, second loop was diagonal.) From looking at most of the swim times from Lap 1 to Lap 2, I think 2 - 2.5 minutes is about ballpark for an even split swim. I felt that my effort was the same or better on the second loop. The turnaround and last straightaway were awesome. Seeing and hearing the crowd each time I sighted, and knowing that I would finish the swim was a great feeling. I think I had a huge smile on my face under water. I was dazed standing up out of the water and running across the timing mat. Again, I didn’t notice what my time was coming out of the water, and I normally don’t think to look at my watch. Second loop: 40:43.
T1: (7:34)
I got wesuit stripped, and then had to find my own transition bag (as opposed to it being handed to me by a volunteer). The transition was mostly uneventful. The changing tent was a madhouse. I didn’t immediately see any available volunteers, so I found the first available chair, sat down and started changing and dumping out my transition bag. I decided to change both my top and shorts, so my transition time was slow. It was nice to be in dry clothes though!
Bike: (6:39:44 - A little slower than I hoped, about what I expected)
I felt good starting the bike. Although only a few minutes in, I realize that I didn’t grab all of the handful of gels from my transition bag and stuff them in the back of my jersey (which I really needed). Not sure how I didn’t grab them, I remember seeing them on the ground when I dumped my T1 bag out. I did manage to grab 2 of them, but somehow didn’t get them all. So only a few minutes into the bike, I realize I only have two gels and my bottles. I took my first gel pretty quickly, and then took the second one an hour later. I also started taking my salt pills every hour.
I believe around 40ish miles in I pass Jim Opre (Jim, you’re a life saver) and chatted for a bit. I didn’t really want to ask, but I had no choice. I started to ride ahead, and then pulled back and asked if he had any gels to spare. Being the great guy he is, he gave me two gels and wished me a good ride. I don’t remember the exact flavors (something orange), and although they didn’t sit well in my stomach, it was better than nothing.
Finished the first loop feeling good. I grabbed my spare nutrition bottle from my Special Needs bag to start the second loop. It was about midway through the second loop when I realized that they were handing out gels at the aid stations. (Not sure if they had them at every aid station, or only the later stations) I don’t recall seeing/hearing them call out gels on the first loop. At any rate, once I realized that, I started trying to pick up a gel at every station. However, I never came across any flavors that I liked.
I was getting really tired on the second loop, and could tell I was burning through my calories pretty quickly. With the mismanagement of my nutrition from the get go, I was totally off my gameplan for calorie and salt intake, and had no clue where I was with nutrition on the second loop.
On the second loop, the team’s videographer found me and rode along side me for 5 or so minutes filming. I felt like a rock star, except that the majority of the time they were next to me, I was struggling out of the saddle up the hills. My mind started wandering on the second loop, and with it being Father’s Day, I kept wondering what my Dad was doing, if he remembered my race was today, if he was following along on Ironman.com.
Around Mile 100, I had a close call. I was going downhill 30+mph in aero position, and hit a crack or pothole which caused my front end to wobble. My elbows slipped off my aerobars, and I immediately start to slow down and regain composure. It scared the crap out of me. Some guy that was right behind me passes and says, “Way to hold it upright”. Heading back in to town, my back was hurting and my butt was numb and ready to be done.
T2: (5:24)
I was SO ready to be off of the bike. I had a volunteer with my T2 bag in hand waiting for me. I got into the tent, and it was a lot less crowded than the first time around. I saw that there was a urinal in the corner of the tent, so I took a much needed bathroom break while in there. I again made a full change of top and bottom, switching from cycling jersey to a sleeveless tri top, and from tri shorts to running shorts. Again it was nice to be in fresh clothes. My stomach was on empty, and knew this was going to be a challenging run.
Run: (4:44:57 - A little slower than I hoped, about what I expected)
Coming out of T2 and starting the run, I was just behind Michelle L. (teammate). We would go on to leapfrog each other the majority of the run. By the time I started the run, it was windy and cold. The marathon was two 13.1 mile loops, beginning in town near the lake, heading out through neighborhoods, and out on a bike path along the lake. The rain held off for most of the first loop.
I was able to run the majority of the first loop. I walked through each aid station. Since I was very low on calories starting the run, I tried eating something at every station: gels, cookies, chicken broth. By the start of the second loop, it was very cold, and started to rain. With the drop in temps, volunteers were handing out blankets which I gladly took and wrapped myself. In one hand was my water bottle, the other hand I used to hold the blanket around me.
The second loop was a struggle! As soon as I was out of town (and out of sight of my teammates and the crowd of spectators) I resorted to walking. I had nothing left in me. I was STARVING. I would grab 2 or 3 things to eat at each aid station, but it wasn’t helping. I went to playing mind games, and doing whatever I could to keep running. I resorted to counting my steps, running 100 steps, walking 50 steps. I’m sure it was frustrating for the other athletes around me, to keep leapfrogging back and forth.
It was nice to make the turnaround on the second loop heading back in. It was also good to see my teammates coming and going. Right at the last turn on to Sherman and the home stretch, a big group of T3 supporters was at the corner. I threw off my blanket, tossed my water bottle into the crowd, and started picking up the pace. I could see the lights at the finish line, see the big Ford and Ironman banners over the road, and hear Mike Reilly calling people in. I think I this point I had perma-grin.
I picked up the pace and started slapping as many high-fives as I could to the kids lining the streets. The crowd support was awesome, and was 3 or 4 people deep along the home stretch. It’s amazing how all of a sudden you have a burst of energy to finish the race. There was another guy just in front me heading into the finish chute, and as much as I wanted to let him have his glory, he was going too damn slow. So I sped up and passed him (it was still a good 50 yards from the finish), and crossed the line with arms raised. Unfortunately, because of the slowpoke, I didn’t even hear Mike Reilly call out my name. As I crossed the finish line, just as they were ushering me away, I remembered the camera. So I walked back directly in front the camera, and gave a shout out to Austin, Texas, knowing that many friends and T3 training partners would be watching.
Total Time: 12:56:25 (About what I expected)
The Aftermath:
As I got my finisher’s medal and hat, there were a few other T3 teammates still in the finisher’s chute. I got my picture taken, and then immediately went to the massage tent. I waited about 30 minutes to get a massage, but luckily had Jerry (teammate) and another girl from Texas Iron to keep me company. After a quick 10 minute massage, which didn’t help much, I had a few pieces of cold pizza. After a few minutes of standing around talking to teammates, I was getting cold, my legs were getting stiff, and I needed some FOOD! And not just any food, I needed greasy fast food, which I’d deprived myself of during most of training. And a Diet Coke! I had given up soft drinks for 1.5 years, and a big, cold, Diet Coke was going to be my post-race treat. I had initially thought that I’d want to hang around and watch my other teammates finish, but I HAD to get food, shower and get off my legs. Luckily, my travel buddy Bruce had already taken care of my bike and brought it to Tribike Transport. Heading back to the hotel, it was great to see the text messages, missed phone calls, and Facebook posts on my phone from throughout the day. What a great experience! I feel so grateful to have been able to train and race with so many teammates and friends. It was an awesome experience and I’m looking forward to the next one. Thanks to all those responsible for getting me to the start line, including family, friends, teammates, coaches, physical therapists, massage therapists, and the best bike shop in town.
Ironman Couer D’alene 2009 is officially in the books.