Ironman Couer D'Alene Race Report

Ironman Couer D’Alene was my 2^nd Ironman, and the 1^st one I’ve done in about 3.5 years.  I had some high expectations coming into the race from a PR perspective, and although I wasn’t close to hitting my marks, I was happy that I preserved through a tough day and finished the race.  This race was really well organized, the city was beautiful, and the volunteers were awesome.  I would highly recommend this race to anyone interested in doing Ironmans.

Swim:

The swim was a 2 loop counter-clockwise course with a 10 yard run out on the beach after the 1^st lap before heading out for round 2.  Coming into the race I knew the water was going to be COLD, as in 54-57 degree cold.  In preparation I purchased a neoprene cap and swim socks to help mitigate the cold factor.  The day before the race I got in the water for about 15 minutes and I described it as “tolerable”.   Having a sleeveless wetsuit certainly didn’t help my cause either.  As all 2400 people entered into the water it became a human washing machine for the 1^st 800 meters which is to be expected.  After a lot of going, stopping, face kicks, and swim-overs I found somewhat of a ‘groove’ and began my way around the course.  There was somewhat of a chop and I was taking in a lot of water so I had to turn my head up directly to the sky to get air every other stroke.  It wasn’t a big deal but I’m sure it didn’t help my time too much.  Another issue I ran into is my hands got stuck in a closed fist in the first 400 meters so I was essentially doing fist drills for the 2.4 mile swim, so that made the swim a bit more difficult.  The rest of the swim was fairly uneventful and I was certainly ready to get out of the water. 

T1:

As I got out water the wet suit strippers took off my wetsuit and handed me my bike gear bag.  I was disoriented, still couldn’t open my hands, and shaking uncontrollably so I was directed into the warm tent to warm up and re-group.  I wasn’t able to buckle my helmet or snap in my race belt so a volunteer had to help me get my gear on.  I finally started to feel decent after 20 minutes in the warm temp and off I went on the bike.

Bike:

We had the opportunity to drive the bike course on Saturday so I knew what I was getting myself into for the race.  It is described as a two-loop course with some rolling hills.  The first loop felt great.  My nutrition was going well, I held an average speed of about 17 mph throughout the course, and didn’t go barreling over a cliff which in my mind is a success.  The 2^nd loop was a different story.  At about mile 70 the miles were catching up to me.  My hydration was off and I was starving.  I was eating bananas and energy bars and switching between Gatorade and water between aid stations to try and play catch up.  The course is relatively flat except for about 20 miles of the aforementioned “rollers”.  Being an Iowa flatlander may have swayed my interpretation but there were some tough hills.  A lot of them had a steep downhill portion and a sharp turn then had you going uphill, or a downhill with a flat portion before going back uphill which slowed down your momentum.   There weren’t any daunting hills, just a lot of them.  By the time I got out of hilly portion and heading back into town I was spent.  I had no energy and I coasted back into town with literally nothing left in the tank.

T2:

As I entered the changing tent a volunteer saw me and didn’t think I looked very good so he led me over to the medical tent.  I was checked over and asked if I needed to stop.  I refused to quit and after a little rest and some sugar water I was out of t2 and onto the marathon.

Run:

Well, I don’t know if I would call it much of a run, more of a walk, shuffle for the 1^st 6 miles of the run.  My priority here was getting myself together and getting some quick carbohydrates and sodium into my system.  This included flat coke, cookies, chips, and sports drink.  After the 1^st 6 miles I was able to do some running.  I would pick out a spot ahead of me, run to that point, and then walk.  I continued this throughout the rest of the run and crossed the finish line. 

A lot of things went wrong during the race, but one thing that stood out for me was my ability to keep a positive inter monologue, upbeat mentality, and a ‘no quit’ attitude.  I took away a lot of lessons that will help me in the future.  I truly couldn’t have done it without the love and support of my wife and my family and I am forever grateful for them.  I’ll take next year off from Ironmans, but I’ll be back the following year!

Ironman Taper

The long, hard training sessions are over.  Any drawn out, challenging, or long-distance based training now will not help or improve performance, but will leave you susceptible to injury and/or showing up on race day tired.  Taper is kind of a hard pill to swallow because you cut down your workout load significantly (50%-75%) and so you have more energy than you normally do and that energy can be spent on nervous energy as you get closer to race day.  I try and take it in stride and use that energy for spending time with family and mental preparedness.

The important thing to remember is that you need to trust your training and human physiology that a 2 week taper before an Ironman is the right thing to do.  The next 10 days will be spent doing shorter, higher intensity work to keep fitness levels high, allow my body to fully recover, and ensure my glycogen stores are full when I line up at the start line.

I'm coming to the end of a long journey to my 2nd Ironman, the hard work is done. The Ironman is just the opportunity to showcase what I've accomplished over the past 5 months.  I'll line up at the swim start with my current fitness level and confidence, and cross the finish line with a tired, smile on my face.  Now, if I can just fast forward to June 26th.

Ironman Race Strategy

I'm about 2.5 weeks out from my Ironman, so I think it's about time to think about race strategy.  I could go a few different routes here.  One option is to go as hard and fast as I can from the start, but I'm pretty sure that is not going to bode well for me and I'll end up getting a ride to shore from one of the nice people on the jet skis due to exhaustion.

The name of this game is patience.  The swim is going to be a warm-up for the bike, the bike is used for hydration and food for the run, the first 20 miles of the run is saving the legs for the real race, the last 10K of the Ironman.

Let's get into a little more detail here.


Swim - the plan for the swim is to start off easy.  When I say "easy", I mean a little more effort than casual.   Once I re-enter the water for the second loop I plan on a slight increase of effort, but still very comfortable.  After all, the swim is just a warm-up.  I'm pretty confident most of the 1st lap will be a human washing machine so it's important to stay cool and calm and let it play out.  The rest of the swim will be about finding some feet and coasting to T1.

Bike - A lot of people will be so excited to be out of the water they will start off on the bike with too much effort and pedal mash the initial part of the course.  I, on the other end, will start the bike in upper Z2 zone and focus on a smooth, relaxed cadence, nutrition, and hydration.  Those pedal mashers will fall apart on the 2nd loop and/or on the run.  My plan for nutrition is a PowerBar every other hour(1,3,5) and 'Sustained Energy' drink every other hour(2,4,6).  This comes out to about 250-300 calories per hour.  Hydration will be intermixed with water and Gatorade with drinking every 15 minutes.  This will also depend on the course conditions.  On the 2nd loop, based on how I'm feeling, I intend to pick up the effort and negative split the 2nd loop.

Run - The run is going to be about putting one foot in front of the other for 26.2 miles.  Nothing fancy or complicated here.  I'll eat what I feel like eating and drink water/Gatorade at each aid station.  I imagine toward the end of the race I'll be taking in flat Coke and put every ounce of effort I have to crossing that finish line.

Keep in mind this is merely a plan and there are many things that are simply out of my control on race day.  I will control the things I can, and not worry about the things I can't.  I may follow the plan to a T, or I may have to throw it out the window.  Hopefully it's not the latter.

Mental Toughness

You're at the point of your race, workout, or life where you come to a crossroad and have a few choices
- fight through the pain and finish strong
- dog it and just finish
- quit

The easy choice, is to quit.  The physical pain will subside quickly and you'll walk away feeling disappointed. The emotional pain won't go away easily and it will linger in the back of your mind.  Clearly, this is not the best choice.


Another option is to half-ass it the rest of the way.  You're not quitting, but you're not giving it your all.  This is the point where excuses start to run through your mind.   "what am I doing here"?, "why did I sign up for this"?, "why do I subject myself to this misery"?  "I'm not built for this type of thing"?  You start to unravel and become unfocused on what you're trying to accomplish.  You'll make it to the end, but you're not going to be fulfilled with the outcome.

The best option, but the hardest, is to fight through the pain and finish strong.  This takes focus, the ability to harness the pain as strength, and true grit.  Some people are really good at doing this, and some have opportunities for improvement.  You need to put away the distractions, the "noise" in your head that is telling you to quit, slow down, or back off and continue to hammer away.  Focus all your energy and visualize that end goal or finish line.  Finish 1st or last, you've won.  You had the ability to overcome your perceived limitations and defeated your biggest competitor, yourself.  By leaving it all out on the course you'll have instantaneous gratification and a high that can't be replicated by any drug. 

The best part of it all, is that you can apply this to every aspect of your life.