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!