Ironman Coeur d'Alene - The Run

So coming in off the bike I knew I was in trouble.  I handed my bike off to some friends Greg and Chris Purviance who were working the T2 transition and headed over to pick up my run bag.  Back into the tent and another great volunteer helped me get everything off and then on again.  I was out in no time and made a pit stop in the port-o-potties to try and buy me some time.  I knew my family would be waiting in the run out and I wanted to get myself together so I wouldn't burst into tears in front of them.  By this stage my stomach problems had worsened.  I was getting horrific cramps that kept me doubles over.  How ever was I going to run a marathon.  I doubted that I could even run a mile.  Out of the port-o-potties and I bumped into a number of team blaze peeps volunteering in transition.  They encouraged me to get going so I sucked it up and off I went.

Straight out o the chute I saw my friend and PT Trish.  So good to get some encouragement from her, and then a little farther up some more hugs from friends and then the faces of my family in the crowd.  Lots of hugs and I said to my husband something like " I feel like crap.  This is going to be ugly" And he just smiled and said "You're fine now get going".  I think that's exactly what I needed to hear.  No time for sympathy.  Get moving.  So off I ran.


The first part of the run you head up through the main street of CDA.  People everywhere.  My insides were on fire but I kept running.  My mind was in panic mode.  I was trying to trouble shoot and problem solve and not think about all the miles in front of me.  I thought I'll just take it aid station to aid station. I ran until the first aid station and then I had to walk. I tried taking one of my gels but my stomach rebelled. I ended up ditching all the nutrition I was carrying because I knew it would be useless.  The only thing I kept were the salt tabs. After the aid station I tried to start running again. People were encouraging me to keep going but I had to keep stopping and bending over.  A medic on a bike came up to me and asked if I was alright.  A spectator yelled to the medic that I was fine. and said to me " Don't let him pull you off the course or that will be the end of your race".   That was a defining moment in the run for me.  I just had to put my head down and gut it out. Aid station to aid station.  Run between them and then walk through them.  Take water and ice.  Keep going. And that was my strategy for the entire marathon.  At about mile 8 I started feeling a little better.  I saw my coach and he urged me to keep going.  Run while you can then walk when you have to.

 By mile 13 my lack of nutrition was taking its toll.  I tried to take in some salt tabs and a pretzel or 2 and then my stomach cramped up again.  Back through town it was great to be uplifted by all the crowds and the cheering.  But I knew the second half of the run was going to be killer.  Heading out again on the second loop it was getting pretty hot.  I started dousing myself with ice and water. My shoes soon filled up with water so I knew I had the makings of some decent blisters on my feet from that. By mile 16 I was having trouble walking in a straight line.  At one of the aid stations another medic asked me if I was OK.  Before I could answer an aid station volunteer thrust a cup of coke into my hand and that turned out to be magic.  I told her that it made me feel a lot better and she said just to make sure I kept drinking it at every aid station until the end of the race.  And that my friends is what got me across the line.

Coming down the main street on the way to the finish line was amazing.  I stopped and hugged all my friends and family all the way down.  I grabbed the Australia flag from my son and proudly ran with it to the finish.   I don't remember Mike Reilly calling my name.  I just remember being so grateful that I made it across the line.


Once I crossed I was "caught" by 2 friends who were volunteering at the finish.  That was so nice to have a friendly face to take care of me once it was all over.  Once I was done having my finisher photo they asked me if I needed to go to medical.  But this point I just wanted to go home and put my feet up. I told them about the problems I had during the race but that I felt ok and they told me to drink water and wait 30 mins before I try and eat anything.



After that I met up with my family and friends.  Grabbed my bike and headed home for a shower and bed.  IMCDA was officially in the books.

 

Ironman Coeur d'Alene - The Bike

Coming out of the swim I headed straight off the beach and up to the wetsuit strippers.  My friend and tri team-mate John was there and he called out to me so I ran over to him and he had my wetsuit off in no time. The water temp had been about 64F which is warm for CDA in June and I was a little worried that when my wetsuit came off I'd freeze because I knew the air temp wasn't much more than 64F by the time I got out of the water.  From the wetsuit strippers I picked up my bike bag from a volunteer ( theme of the day = super efficient and fast volunteers) and headed for the change tent.  I had assumed it would be super busy in the change tent but it was actually not too bad.  I had a great volunteer who emptied everything out of my bag and asked me what I needed.  She put on my socks, my bike shoes, my arm-warmers and gloves.  I was shaking from the cold so I decided to put on a disposable jacket that I could wear until I warmed up and then ditch along the way.  The volunteer zipped up my jacket and threw my helmet on...then pointed me out the door and into bike transition.

When I was running to my bike I was so excited to see Max and Matt along with Ron and Alex in there.  They handed me my bike and gave me a hug and I was on my way out .

I had to make sure that for the first 10 mins or so I kept it easy.  After such a  crappy swim I was tempted to push hard but I kept it under control until my legs warmed up.  Out of transition you head out to Higgins Point first which is also where the run course goes.  Higgins has some gentle rollers and is about 12miles out and back.  I saw lots of my team mates on this stretch which was great and then you ride back through town and hear everyone cheering so its an awesome way to start out on the bike.

Once you pass through town you head up the freeway on-ramp and turn into I-95.  This first part is a "do not pass" zone because there is freeway traffic right next to you on the overpass.  It only lasts for a few hundred yards and then you have 20 miles of I-95 in front of you.  There are some big hills out there - most notably Mica Grade - but I just spun up it without going crazy.  There were plenty of people pushing themselves at this stage but having ridden the course so many times ( home court advantage) I knew it was easy to get carried away on the first loop.  I knew I'd be seeing these people again on the second loop.

 I did a lot of praying riding the downhills. Mica Grade on the way back down is a no pass zone and I may have done some yelling at jerks who didn't think the "do not pass"  applied to them.  There were a couple of accidents and plenty of people fixing flats on the side of the road, ( thank God that wasn't me), but I also saw a whole lot of my teammates out there and cheering for them helped pass the time and before I knew it I was headed back into town.  Passing all the spectators was fun then back out to Higgins to pick up my special needs bag. The second loop went the same as the first.  Although by the time I hit mile 90 my stomach was starting to rebel. Looking back now I am sure that the IM perform that was used on course was to blame.Super sugary and acidic.   By mile 95 I had to pull over and use the port-o-potty.  Some poor guy walked in on me using the bathroom and later caught up to me to apologize for walking in on me.  That kept me laughing all the way back to transition.

When I hit the off ramp from I-95 I was so excited because I knew I'd get to see my family again....and get off my bike.  Yippee.  112 miles in the bag.

Ironman Coeur d'Alene 2013 - Pre-Race and Swim

This post could definitely have been titled "It was the best of times; It was the worst of times". On Sunday I completed Ironman Coeur d'Alene (CDA). One hundred and forty point six miles of swimming, biking and running. It was tough. Tougher than I had ever expected. But I guess that is the challenge of ironman. There would be no accomplishment if it was easy. And there is a strange satisfaction that comes from doing something really hard. It seems odd to admit that even despite the low moments I faced during the day I never doubted that the end would justify the means. That any struggles that I experienced would be forgotten when I entered the finishers chute and crossed the finishline.  Ironman is really about the journey to the finishline.

My lead up to the race was pretty low key. I tried to stay away from the hype and just take it easy. I was still recovering from the respiratory infection that I had picked up the week before. My antibiotics ran out on the Friday but unfortunately they didn't quite do the job so by Saturday morning all my symptoms were back.  There goes any chance of a good swim! Lunch time Saturday I went to drop off my bike and gear bags and  I meet up with a friend who was also racing and who had been suffering from stomach flu...(you can see where this is going). I got home from the drop off and I felt awful. I couldn't eat lunch or dinner the night before the race, I was dizzy when I stood up and all my muscles were aching.I knew I was in trouble. Why do these things always happen just before race day? Respiratory infection and stomach flu....sheesh. Not a good pre race combination.  But I decided to make the commitment and try and race and see what happened. I'd come so far I wasn't going to give up without trying.

Race morning I woke up at 3:30am and tried to get some food in. My body wasn't really interested but what I did get down stayed there.  Matt, our friend Ron ( who were both volunteering in bike transition) and I headed out to the race at 4:30am.We got there around 5:00am and had plenty of time to pump tyres, drop off special needs, visit the port-o-potty and get body marked. I was pretty relaxed and didn't feel any nerves.I guess that is the benefit of letting go of any performance expectations I had.  The weather was absolutely perfect,especially since the previous week had been stormy,rainy and windy. There was a little low lying fog out over the water but that soon lifted and it looked absolutely perfect.

Everything was really well organized and ran smoothly. The volunteers as always at Ironman events were awesome.  Before I knew it,it wa time to suit up and get ready to swim. The biggest problem I had was trying to make it through the crowd to get down to the water for the swim start.  The sidewalk was full of spectators and it was gridlock. Eventally I found a way through the maze and down to the beach. And as usual for me this is the only time I get nervous.  Just before the horn sounds.

 CDA had a new process of swim start this year.  Previously it was a race known for its mass start and stories of being swum over and pushed under.  This year due to safety concerns they decided to make some changes.  Now I had never experienced the washing machine that was the old swim start but I have to say I give the big thumbs up to this new process.  It's really just like the start of any marathon.  You line up in order of your expected finish time.  The faster people go first and the slower people at the back.  The different sections were under an hour, 1:00-1:15 and so on. They also had some platforms that were anchored at points around the course that you could hang on to if you wanted to catch your breath. There was some criticism that this would subtract from the IMCDA appeal but my opinion is it was a great improvement since athlete safety at these events has to be a prime concern.

So, back to the swim......I found my friend and swimming partner Ken with surprising ease. I thought there would be no way I would find him in a crowd of 2,700 people, but he was wearing a sleeveless wetsuit so he was pretty easy to spot. We chatted briefly with another friend Jeremy then lined up in the 1:15-1:30 line.  In no time we heard the sound of the horn and the fast people up front were off.  Official start time was 6:35am and it took 9 minutes for the line to move along before it was our turn to get in.  While we were waiting Ken and I were watching everyone getting in the water and we made a last minute decision to swim the inside line along the buoys.

 Once I got in I found lots of open water and it wasn't the crush I was used to at other swim starts.  The only tough part was going around the turn buoys.  Lots of people converging on a small space.  There was lots of kicking and leg pulling but once I was around the 2 turn buoys it spread out again. There was a little swell out near the buoys but generally the water was calm and flat. I had intended to try and swim easy so as not to aggravate the problems I'd been having with my breathing during the week.  I stuck a rescue inhlaer up the leg of my wetsuit just in case I had an asthma attack out in the water but luckily I didn't need it.  the first lap I did in 41 mins. yikes....I WAS taking it easy.  Out of the water and you have to run across the timing mat and then back into the water for another 1.2 miles.  The second lap went much the same way as the first but I swam it way slower.  I wasn't very happy coming out of the water and seeing my swim time but the upside was that I wasn't in the least bit tired.  Ready to get out of my wetsuit and get on to the bike.

Still tapering

I looooove taper.

I'm not sure why most people complain about it.  I get a chance to do all those things I have been putting off for months, or trying to sqeeze in between workouts, kids and life.

I can always tell it truly is taper time when I am doing this......

I love to really clean my bike....like REALLY clean it.  She is going into the bike shop tomorrow to get prettied up for race day and get her race wheels on. Yikes.....is it really only 12 days until IMCDA? I remember when the race time line was being measured in months not days.

I think everything is ready to go and barring any unforseen catastrophe ( touch wood) I should be toeing the line come June 23rd. I have been battling a sinus and upper respiratory infection the last few days which made open water swimming a bit of a nightmare, but I am taking antibiotics so hopefully that should be all under control by the time the race rolls around. 

So now, all that's left for me to do is to keep on tapering, tapering, tapering.  Luckily for me that is something I've got nailed down pretty well.  No complaints here.