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RACE REPORT

Triathlon is a fun sport. This year I tried to do a full distance triathlon. That decision started a year ago when I registered for the Coeur d’Alene Ironman 2008. That pretty much sealed the deal and so the training began. I really enjoyed the training as it gave me a welcomed break from my routine. The mental sharpness, physical fitness and spiritual refreshment that came as a result seemed in my mind at least to justify the hours. But as the day of the race approached I became increasingly nervous (Just ask Lisa how much I worried). I kept on wondering if I had enough hours under my belt. I was definitely at the bottom of the heap as far as number of hours trained.

My family and I plus my mom and dad all left 4 days before the race. I am so very thankful to have such a great family that supported my efforts and cheered me on. It meant so much to me.

We arrived at Coeur d’Alene Thursday late afternoon and met the gal we were going to rent the cabin from. We met her in the lobby of Best Western. As we were talking to the lady another triathlete was standing nearby with his gear getting ready to go for a ride. It was at this point that the intimidation set in. His legs were rippling masses of flesh, perfectly tanned and shaved. He was carrying this $10,000 highly tuned carbon fiber woooosh-woosh bike. Seriously, I started feeling way out of place. I put that thought out of my mind and we finished the check in.

The cabin was so, so nice. It was only $90/night right on Hayden Lake! We could not believe it. It had its own dock, a washer/dryer, kitchen, nice deck, etc. We loved it. Lisa and I both felt like it was a pure gift from God. The days leading up to the race were spent playing in the water, fishing (we caught two fish and ate them), registering, checking stuff in and just hanging out. We had a lot of fun as a family. A lot of people were out riding their bikes and swimming around. I just hung out with my family.

Friday night Lisa and I attended the welcome dinner where they introduced some of the high level athletes, highlighted the oldest and youngest athletes (73-18 years old), the guys who lost the most weight training (83 lbs in 8 months), etc. They also went over the rules of the course. Lisa and I got way sick of the Ironman ego that just reeked all through the room. There was a pretty strong oder.

RACE MORNING

Saturday morning I woke up at 5:00am and my dad and mom had driven over and my dad drove me to the race. Got to the race at 5:30 and began the long day. Checked in my special needs bags, took a bathroom break and thankfully relieved myself (the kind of relief you don’t want during the race). Went to my bike, filled up my water bottles, pumped up my tires, turned on my GPS so it could aquire a signal, etc. I was surprised how long all this stuff took.

The pros were launched at 6:15 and that was my signal to start getting my suit on. Changed out of my dry clothes and started squirming into my wetsuit. Talked to an older veteran for a few minutes and he encouraged me. I helped him zip up his suit and he helped me with mine. Made sure to apply body glide to the neck.

After I was ready to go, I started the long walk down to the beach. We all crossed the timing mat and then gathered up in a heap on the shore. I met a guy who was 63 and had completed 15 ironman competitions. I was seriously impressed. The guy on my right was just like me. Nervous and new.

THE SWIM

The gun went off and so did we. It probably took about 30 seconds for me to actually hit the water. When I did, it was pretty much what everyone says, namely, a churning mass of arms, legs, torsos, etc. I didn’t get any serious contact which was very good. I think I started my swim to far back in the pack because I felt like I was idling for about the first 20 minutes. That was probably good because it forced me to take it easy. The only panic point I had was when I ran into a swimmer in front of me and then the swimmer to my left and right both began crowding me and nudging me suggesting that I move over. The couldn’t see that the same thing was happening on the other side of me. That only lasted 30 seconds or so.

At the first turn bouy everything piles up and so I went way wide. This prevented a traffic jam but did make my swim a bit longer. On the way back I started hearing the announcer and got excited that I was almost done with lap one. Out of the water and around the timing mat, back into the water to do another lap. The second lap was very relaxed and I truly enjoyed it. The water felt perfect, the noise of the helicopter was very soothing and this lap was pretty uneventful with the exception of bumping into a surfboard. My only complaint was the strong diesel smell as we rounded the outside bouys. There were a lot of boats watching the event and I just kept thinking, “Can you please turn off your engines?” Finished the swim, got out of the water and felt great.

Expected time: 1:30
Actual time: 1:21

The wetsuit pealers did their thing. Grabbed my T1 bag and into the tent. Changed as fast as I could and then grabbed my bike and headed off the mounting area. Saw my family for the first time and was so excited. All my kids were cheering my on like I was winning the race. Awesome!

The bike was long and fairly uneventful. There were about 6 major hills per loop (2 loops), but each uphill was rewarded with a downhill. I ate a banana, a gel and a full bottle of Gatorade between each aid station. I was so sick of sweet stuff by the time I finished the bike.

At the end of the first loop and about 15 miles into my second loop I saw the pros out on the run course. Those guys are sickly fast. I just don’t get how they move that fast, that long. They are seriously amazing.

I was worried about a hamstring issue on my right leg, but that turned out to be no problem at all. About 90 miles into the ride, my left leg started hurting in a weird way and that would prove to undo my run later on.

I wanted off the bike pretty bad at the 100 mile mark. Having only 12 miles to go doesn’t seem like long after having ridden 100, but that last 12 miles just crawled along, especially since we were fighting a pretty good headwind at that point. Finally the finish line was in sight.
Expected Time: 7:30 minutes
Actual Time: 7:15 minutes

THE RUN

Finally got of the bike and hobbled into the changing tent. Changed my shorts and shoes and then attempted the marathon. Saw my dad again and he encouraged me to keep it up. Ran the short out and back and saw my blessed family. I stopped for about 20 seconds to say hi to them and Brock yelled out, “Dad, you better keep going!” So I did. And then the pain in the leg started. And it slowly got worse and worse. I thought, “Mile 3…23 to go. Not good.” So I did the run walk thing for a while. Run 50 foot strikes walk 50, repeat. Did that for a few more miles. After making the turn around on lap one, the run walk thing was pretty much over. I had a long power walk ahead of me.

I met up with a guy and we walked together for about 5 miles. He was seriously cruising and so I walked with him to keep pace. He ended up being a Christian. He had a t-shirt on that said something like “tri God.” Some dude ran past us and said, “God is awesome but he won’t help your run.” I thought, “If he wanted he could. But that would certainly be breaking the normal protocol.” I took a bathroom break and lost that guy.

After I completed my first lap, I had a moment of deep despair. I could picture what needed to be done… exactly. I said to myself, “There is no way I can do that lap again.” My feet were hurting pretty badly at that point, my hands were swollen, I was sweaty and sticky, my knee was really starting to hurt badly and just wanted to sit down. But I thought to myself, “I didn’t drive all the way up here to have a picnic.” So I started the second lap. I met up with a guy from Alaska and we ended up walking the next 12 miles together. He was a nice guy who was actually having some bad GI issues and hadn’t been able to eat or drink much on the race and consequently had to walk. We power walked the last 12 miles and goodness did that seem like an eternity.

By the time we got to mile 23 it was pitch black. However, very contrary to what I would have expected, the ironman spectators seem to come alive at this point. The encouragement from the sidelines seemed to escalate as the time went on. It was really neat. There was only 2 miles to go, but even at a brisk walk that meant 30 minutes. So we continued to press on. Finally, I could hear the announcer bringing people home. Almost done. Rounded the last corner and the crowds were going nuts (I’m sure the copious amounts of alcohol had something to do with it). One very drunk guy came out on the course and tried to convince me to run. I tried to explain that if I ran I would collapse in agony. He didn’t seem to get it.

About 100 yards from the finish line I saw my dad and wife. What an awesome sight. Lisa ran in and dad got a quick picture of us and I hobbled along (my leg badly, badly hurting at this point). Walked to the start of the finish chute and everyone was cheering begging me to run so I tried. I kind of did the skip, hobble, favor the good leg pathetic wobble and that seemed to excite the crowd even more. Then I finally crossed the line 1783 out of 2300.
Expected time: 5:00
Actual time: 6:49

AFTERMATH

Two guys came up and helped me find a chair. I sat down for a few minutes and Lisa and dad were there congratulating me. I was so glad they were there for me. They coaxed me to eat something which I didn’t really feel like. I ate a piece of pizza and then moved to the curb where Lisa was going to go get the car to pick me up. I could barely walk at this point.

I sat down on the curb and then the dizziness and shivers set in and then my memory gets a little foggy at this point. I layed down on the grass and started shaking with cold and felt like I was going to throw up. I felt a little better and finally Lisa pulled up. It took me a good two minutes just to get into the car which was a good 5 feet away. I turned on the heater and the heat to the face caused the blood to rush to my head and I really thought at that point I was going to go under. All I could see was gray and I was right on the verge of passing out. Rolled down the window and got some fresh air and that really helped. After about 20 minutes I felt “normal” again.

The next day I was very, very sore, but felt decent enough to help Lisa pack up and haul stuff out to the car. All in all it was very fun and rewarding. I just have to thank God for keeping me healthy and for my wonderful, wonderful family. I just can’t even express how fun it is to see my kids and wife and mom and dad out there cheering for me. That is just the greatest feeling in the world! Thanks.

TOTAL SWIM 2.4 mi. (1:21:31) 2:08/100m 1128 128

BIKE SPLIT 1: 34 mi 34 mi. (2:05:21) 16.27 mph
BIKE SPLIT 2: 90 mi 56 mi. (3:41:55) 15.14 mph
BIKE SPLIT 3: 112 mi 22 mi. (1:27:50) 15.03 mph

TOTAL BIKE: 112 mi 112 mi. (7:15:06) 15.44 mph 1561 173

TOTAL RUN 26.2 mi. (6:49:46) 15:38/mile 1783 186

5 Days to Go: Run Bike Indoors

Did a 30 minute run at a quick pace and a 30 minute bike at an easy pace. I was so restless I felt like I really needed to just get out and do something. That little workout really helped. I got to watch the the last 4 holes of Tiger Woods in the U.S. Open. That was fun knowing what was on the line.

12 Days to Go: Hamstring Issue is Frustrating

Went on an hour bike today and even in that short ride, the hamstring issue flared its ugly head. Did some research on seat height and discovered that I am way low. After raising the seat, the hamstring issue hurts less. Now I am in the frustrating position of trying to decide if I race the way I trained or if I race in what seems to be a more comfortable position. Bad timing. Rookie mistakes all over the place. Do I see a train wreck? OK, God is in control. Of course. :-)

15 Days to Go: Last "Long" Run

Ran 1 hour 45 minutes to finish off the last of my long runs. I am just plain nervous. I have not been documenting a lot of the smaller workouts I’ve been doing, but the tapering has been going well.

17 Days to Go: New Shoes!

So, so, so thoroughly impressed with my new shoes! I finally broke down and bought an expensive pair of running shoes. After reading all the forums I concluded that you get what you pay for. Man, I just could not believe the difference between a 30 dollar pair of shoes and a 100 dollar pair. I was literally shocked at how good it felt. I am hoping that little advantage will work wonders the day of the race since running is CERTAINLY my limiter at this point.

18 Days to Go: Hour Swim

Swam a comfortable hour today. Enjoying the workouts these days! I am a bit nervous about the swim in open water. Hope to do an open water swim with my dad in a few days to calm some fears.

19 Days to Go: Hour Push

Ran for an hour today. At one point I really had to go to the bathroom and I knew that Demeyer Park was about 10 minutes away. It turned out Demeyer Park was only 5 minutes away. I pretty much sprinted that mile in the knick of time. More info that you wanted I’m sure :-) Overall, I feel healthy and refreshed. I think the tapering is working well.

21 Days to Go: 80 Mile Bike Brick

Rode 80 miles and my hamstring issue flared up again. Got off the bike and ran for 30 minutes. That part felt GREAT! I was very surprised at how awesome I felt considering. I got a small glimpse at what the bike-run might feel like. 112 miles is a long ride though and a marathon is a long run. I am pretty nervous. I just want to finish.