My wife and I headed to Coeur D'Alene on the Wednesday before the race and took several days to get settled. We stayed at the Coeur D'Alene Best Western Inn and the accomodations were excellent. I got settled into the new surroundings but did my best to take advantage of the time shift so it would be easier to wake early on race day. For several of the days leading up to the race I was easily awake at 5:30 AM and thank god the hotel had a nice FREE breakfast which gave me something to do with my early morning time. Leading up to race day, I enjoyed my time checking out the town, eating some good food, and take in the whole Ironman experience. There was plenty to do like last minute training, picking up my bike from tribike transport, shopping in the Ironman village, surveying the course, testing out the swim course, bag prep, etc. I have to say the nerves and excitement leading up to the race were calmed by all the activity (somewhat), however I was nervous and my respect for the distance grew as the week passed by.
On race day, I arrived at the site at about 5:00 AM. There was a buzz in the air and chill as well! It was cold, probably in the low 60s and a bit windy. The lake was choppy and I was happy I swam in the chop two days prior. I got marked, checked out my bike, walked the transition area, and chilled out in the tent as I put on my wet suit. My pal Griff and I headed to the lake a bit early to make sure we had a decent spot to start from. The swim start area didn't seem too big and I was concerned that it would be very crowded when 2200 others packed in down there. I was right. I was able to do a little swim warm up, after I had two minor disasters: First, my wetsuit zipper broke and then, my goggle strap broke. Thankfully, Griff was able to get the suit zipped up and I was able to adjust the remaining strap to hold the goggles on my head. After the quick warm up I stood on the shore and took a moment to think about all the work I had done to get here. I remember thinking one major thought: "ENJOY YOURSELF". The gun went off and I was off and swimming.
The swim was choppy and very crowded. The first half of the loop was packed and I just did my best to stay relaxed and make progress. After the second turn point I caught some open water and cruised in with a little help from the wind! I made my first turn at 40 minutes. I crossed the timing mat, jumped back in the water, and felt good to be back at a second loop. I swam steady, but drafted a guy for a good part of the way. Unfortunately, I think he was moving a bit slower than I had to, but I figured I needed to take it easy and save energy for the day ahead. I came in the second loop at 45 minutes. Total swim time was 1:25:12.
T1 was interesting. For my first Ironman, I was not sure what to expect. I ran in, got the wetsuit stripped, picked up my bag quickly and made my way into the tent. I changed, took a piss, got some sunscreen and made my way to my bike. I have to say I thought I made decent progress through the transition, but my coach, Max, later asked if I stopped to make a sandwich because it took my 9:32 to transition. After thinking back on the whole experience I have no idea why it took me so long to get through that transition.
The bike went very smoothly. I kept my HR average at 139 for the entire ride and did my best to keep a comfortable cadence and use my gears on the hilly sections. After the first loop, I checked my average HR and it was 143 (just above my target) so I took it a bit easier on the second loop. I did a great job with my nutrition plan by eating a Gu every 20 minutes and a salt tab every hour. I used my aero bottle and never really had to tap into my reserves on the back of my seat. I think the only negative things on the bike was that I stopped to piss about 8 times and I fell off the bike trying to pick up my special needs bag. I have no idea why I didn't just pull over to restock. As for the removal of fluids, I couldn't find a good coasting hill and I was stuck riding with a large group of people for most of the ride. It just didn't seem feasible to piss on the go. I regret this because I spent a lot of time in the portajohns. Overall I was on the bike for 6:39:49.
The run was a different story. I transitioned out of T2 in 5:43. I took off my arm warmers and felt warm and really good at first. However, the weather took a turn for the worst and by mile 13 it was raining a cold drizzle! I was missing the arm warmers and things took a negative turn in my head. When I started on the run, I tried to diligently check my pace at every mile. I was trying to keep my HR below 145 and I succeded in doing so at about a 9:30 pace. Unfotunately, by mile 10 I was not able to eat another gel and I started to feel sick and asthmatic. My stomach felt a bit bloated, but just didn't want any food. I switched to cola and water and tried to plug along, but my pace slowed quite a bit and I stopped keeping track of the splits. I hd a hard time eating, breathing, and mentally I was shot and knew I would keep going, but lost the desire to do so at any given pace or intensity. From that point forward I kept my HR in the high 130s and stopped to walk through each transition area. One other thing that really bothered me on the run was how many times I had to piss as well. I must have spent 30 minutes in the portajohn. One thing I will always remember about this ironman was the run from about mile 18 -26. These were the hardest miles I have every experienced on flat terrain. It was cold, the course seemed to go on forever and the end was never in sight. I just kept moving forward and I thought a lot about all the work I put in to get me there. I wondered if it was worth it. I prayed a lot. I thought about my friends and family who were watching my progress at home on the www. I thought about my poor wife and my brother in law who were sitting at the end waiting for me to get to the finish line. I have to say I think all of these things got me through this. I thought about my friend Griff who was there competing for the second time. He was out there way ahead of me and I wondered how he found the motivation without his wife waiting at the end. I have to say I don't know if I would have finished if I were out there alone!
When I got to mile 24 I decided it was time to get moving at faster than a walkers pace! I met a guy out there who was sick on the side of the road. I gave him one of my fuel belt water bottles so he could rinse his mouth out. When he thanked me and handed it back, he started running again. I thought to myself: "if he can run after vomiting, you better get your ass moving and run to the finish strong". I got moving and I was amazed that I felt pretty good doing it. When I turned a corner in the neighborhood, someone yelled out to tell me I was only 2 turns away from the home stretch. He said: "two more turns and you will see the finish line". That second turn was one of the happiest moments in my day! I saw that finish and I had a new found power in my legs and I knew I was going to make it. The emotions carried me across the finish at a 4:55:41 and the next thing I knew a very nice volunteer grabbed my arms, placed a medal over my neck and literally walked with me all the way to the picture spot. She asked me if I was alone and when I told her my wife was here, she called her in to join me for the photo. That was the best part of the day! My wife stuck by me through this crazy adventure and she helped me out so much along the way! I was so happy to have that picture taken with her! I can't wait to see that picture! I can't believe I am now an Ironman finisher!
Here are all the data from the race:
| SWIM | BIKE | RUN | OVERALL | RANK | DIV.POS. |
| 1:25:12 | 6:39:49 | 4:55:41 | 13:15:48 | 1235 | 172 |
| LEG | DISTANCE | PACE | RANK | DIV.POS. |
| SWIM SPLIT 1: 1.2 mi | 1.2 mi (40:01) | 2:06/100m | ||
| SWIM SPLIT 2: 2.4 mi | 1.2 mi (45:11) | 2:22/100m | ||
| TOTAL SWIM: 2.4 mi | 2.4 mi (1:25:12) | 2:14/100m | 1359 | 177 |
| BIKE SPLIT 1: 34 mi | 34 mi. (1:55:21) | 17.69 mph | ||
| BIKE SPLIT 2: 90 mi | 56 mi. (3:21:20) | 16.69 mph | ||
| BIKE SPLIT 3: 112 mi | 22 mi. (1:23:08) | 15.88 mph | ||
| TOTAL BIKE: 112 mi | 112 mi. (6:39:49) | 16.81 mph | 1344 | 180 |
| RUN SPLIT 1: 7.47 mi | 7.47 mi (1:13:42) | 9:51/mi | ||
| RUN SPLIT 2: 21.75 mi | 14.28 mi (2:33:32) | 10:45/mi | ||
| RUN SPLIT 3: 26.2 mi | 4.25 mi (1:08:27) | 16:06/mi | ||
| TOTAL RUN | 26.2 mi. (4:55:41) | 11:17/mile | 1235 | 172 |
| TRANSITION | TIME | |||
| T1: SWIM-TO-BIKE | 9:32 | |||
| T2: BIKE-TO-RUN | 5:34 | |||
