Holding it Together for IMCdA

[colby]

Yeah, that about sums it up. I realised today that I am getting the pre-race jitters. ;) Since an Ironman is so long, the pre-race jitters start 2 weeks in advance.

So busy at work, finding time to train has been difficult, but I know I can do this. I just want to hear "you are an Ironman" again. I want to race. I want to have fun. I want to smile for the camera. I want to see "Chuck Norris never did an Ironman" signs. I want to see the Inspiration Station at mile you're-almost-there-but-not-quite where my friends always post messages for me that make me tear up (thinking about it makes me tear up). I want to dance with the people that party all afternoon for Ironman. I want to wave at the speedo-and-cape-wearing vuvuzela guy at the top of the big hill where the road stripes end halfway up and you're almost to the top but ha-ha, just kidding, there's more. I want to feel that feeling in your heart when the cannon fires and everything stops for just a second and you take in what's about to happen, then go elbow people. I want to say, BRING IT ON. I want to not get a sunburn. I want to think of all of you (and others) as I cross every timing mat, knowing that some of you refresh the page incessantly while you go about your day just like I do for some of you.

Saying it out loud helps. Thanks for being there, internet friends. :)

PS: Sorry for being scarce. I think of you guys often but can't always find the time.

[salsabike]

We'll be refreshing on that day, you may be sure! Best to you as always, Colby.

Bib number?

[colby]

We'll be refreshing on that day, you may be sure! Best to you as always, Colby.

Bib number?

Not yet :( not even an athlete guide yet. I'll post it as soon as I know.

Thanks!

ETA: Spoke too soon. #238 reporting for duty :)

[HillSlugger]

Race well!

[redrhodie]

What a great post, Colby! I can tell you have the legs, the brains, and the right attitude! You're going to do great!

[colby]

Thank you all.... 9 days, 12 hours :)

[salsabike]

And you have the HEART. A sort of understated/modest but real strength that I really enjoy hearing about.

[kacie tri-ing]

YES! I was hoping for a pre race post! Very excited for you!!!!

[Red Rock]

I love your descriptions of different aspects of the race. I have watched two IMSTG races now and reading your descriptions brought chills and excitement to me as I was reading. I hope your taper goes well.

May you have a great race with lots of cheering fans for you.

Just think of the food you will be able to eat afterward!

Red Rock

[GLC1968]

It's posts like this that make me want to do an IM! Damn you, Colby! :p

I will be watching #238. You will do just fine, you know. I'm so excited for you!! Best of luck!

[Tri Girl]

You'll do great!! It will be all that you dream of and all that you're wanting it to be. Just being out there again will do your soul good!

[katluvr]

You go girl! We know you can do it! And, like other said... you inspire me. I don't think I'll make it to doing an IM, but you still are inspiring (you and others that do these crazy races!).
Good luck, I'll be watching and waiting!

K

[spindizzy]

Yeah, that about sums it up. I realised today that I am getting the pre-race jitters. ;) Since an Ironman is so long, the pre-race jitters start 2 weeks in advance.

It is appropriate that the jitters areproportiaonal to the race..you are too funny!:D

I love that your memories are keeping you focused on why you want to to this. It's the big things..and the little.

Go get your Ironman!

[colby]

Counting down. Holding pretty steady. Making lists, checking them twice. Lining things up. Trying not to second-guess anything, staying positive. Thinking in short sentences, clearly.

Yesterday's song of the day was Cake's "Going the Distance". Especially appropriate for those of us who race long after the winner has won, and the sun is setting.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__PU5CVSegg

:) I want a skunk to cheer me on, to pass a tiger, and for an elephant to hand me water.

[OakLeaf]

You will be awesome. Know it, feel it, be it.

[Veronica]

http://homeremediesfordogs.org/images/skunk%20skunks.jpg


"You swim like fish, cycle like the wind and run like gazelle."

[bikerHen]

. . . the lake is warming up, a little and the weather for Sunday is going to be as close to perfect as we've had to date. You'll do great! Enjoy your day.

[colby]

. . . the lake is warming up, a little and the weather for Sunday is going to be as close to perfect as we've had to date. You'll do great! Enjoy your day.

The stars are starting to align. :) No doubt thanks in part to everyone's positive thinking! Thanks. :D

[colby]

Well, here we are. :)

As always, you can track me (#238) on ironmanlive.com tomorrow.

I will do my best to kick some serious butt. :D

[Alex]

Good luck tomorrow!!!!

[OakLeaf]

She's out of the water in 1:42:17.

Go Colby Go!

[OakLeaf]

First bike split, 2:02:28 @ 16.76 mph ...

[Tri Girl]

Doing GREAT, Colby!! Keep it up, girl!!!!!:D:D:D:D:D

[salsabike]

She's now in bike to run transition, having finished the bike in 7 hours, at 15.98/mph. Steady Eddie, that girl.

[kacie tri-ing]

Go colby!!!!!!!!! We are all cheering for you!!!!!

[OakLeaf]

First run split, 1:35:32. Hang in there Colby, you can do it!

[azfiddle]

I'm so impressed that anyone can do this! Hope you finish strong Colby!

[OakLeaf]

Second run split 1:39:03 - pace very close to her first split pace. More than halfway through the run. Go Colby, go Colby, go Colby!

[salsabike]

Another Ironman done, Colby! Congratulations!

[ultraviolet]

I just read on BT that the water temps were around 54. Eep! That's pretty much my cutoff for swimming. My hat is definitely off to all of the athletes that got through that...and then managed to get on a bike.

Way to go, Colby! :D

[OakLeaf]

Woohoo! Well done, Colby.

[Blueberry]

Congratulations, Colby!!! Can't wait for your race report (after you've had a good, long rest!).

[Tri Girl]

Congrats, IM Colby!!! You raced a good race out there! I can't imagine how tough that course is. I had a friend do it, and we're flatlanders out here- so that course must have just been SO tough! You are AMAZING!!!!:D

How are you feeling today?

[colby]

Hey ladies! Thanks SO MUCH for your positive thoughts. You are awesome. :D

The water was cold, indeed. I swam the day before, so I knew what to expect (5-10 minutes of OMGTHISISREALLYCOLD and then you get over it, but it does slow you down a lot). The bike was pretty relentless, but this isn't my first time on this course, so I saw that coming, too. And the run... they slightly changed it to go OVER a hill rather than stop halfway up, so you had the joy of climbing it twice (four times) at mile 6 and 20. :p To sum my day up, I was really just... tired. It was a really weird feeling. Previously in Ironman it was my physical endurance that held me back - I'd be sore and unable to run toward the end. This time? I wanted a nap. ;)

I'll post a more complete report later. It was not my best day, but the last 3 months have been very challenging for me as we prepared our company to be acquired (I was intimately involved on top of my regular work). I had to fit training in on top of a lot of hard and exhausting work - exciting, but that's part of what makes it so exhausting ;)

I am just happy to finish relatively respectably. Given my performance on this level of training and distraction, I learned that with focused training, I will KICK BUTT!!

PS: They are changing the bike course next year. I'm not really enthused. It will be virtually impossible to train on the course if it is what it's rumoured to be, since it's a highway.

[colby]

The much awaited, long overdue, race report! Also, excessively long! So is an Ironman!

As most of you know, this is not my first Ironman, it is in fact my fourth, all of them Ironman Coeur d'Alene. This is also my hometown race, I can ride the course, run the course, swim the course (though that never happens, because the water is too cold too close to race day). I know I can do it, but I still have to put in the time where it counts. Back in November, before I even started training, I signed up for Ironman Florida - making 2011 a two-Ironman year. I had such high hopes for this year, hoping I could drop another hour into the 13:30 zone and finish in the daylight for CdA, then carry that momentum into Florida through the summer. Training through the summer would force me to acclimate to heat, my nemesis, and not lose my fitness. The best laid plans...

Between June, November, and June again, life happens. At work, I'm a product manager for a (successful) software company. It's a small company, so my title is deceptive. It's a demanding job - rewarding, but demanding. In December, my husband moved to LA part-time (home part time) to take a job he really wanted. For several months leading up to the week of June 23-July 1 (yesterday), we have been in preparation for our company to be sold to a larger company - an awesome, exciting opportunity for my team and I, but an exhausting process for me and the 3-4 other people who have been working almost nonstop to get this done on top of our regular jobs. My priorities since about April have been: 1. spouse/family, 2. merger/work, 3. Ironman, 4. remainder of work, 5. everything else. I trained when I could (sometimes until 2am on weekdays), I prioritized weekends for training and weekdays for work, I focused on getting in the distances and training my body, but not enough high intensity intervals. I knew Ironman would be hard - but it always is. My high hopes for daylight finish and being a rock star dwindled into "finishing is a victory - have fun and be an Ironman." I am driven and stubborn - DNS/DNF never entered into the picture.

A couple of weeks beforehand, I realised my nerves were settling in - that's when I decided to put my thoughts down on virtual paper here at the forum, which was very therapeutic. Work ramped up - I didn't think that was possible. Thursday, June 23 (3 days before Ironman), we announced to the company what was going on. After lunch, I went and picked up my race materials. It started to sink in. I am doing an Ironman in 3 days. Again. My husband had to go to Seattle for his brother's wedding on Saturday, so I was left a bit alone, a bit overwhelmed. I am an Ironman. I can do this.

Friday was a rough and exhausting day at work, so I checked out at 6:30pm (early) to go to the athlete dinner and pick up some extra hammer gel. It sunk in a little further. So much of Ironman prep is like built-in mental routines after a certain point - you don't even realise you're doing things. Picking out clothes that don't chafe. Tweaking nutrition slightly. Applying extra bodyglide. Listening to your cadence. If someone asked you, "why are you doing that?" you'd have to stop and think in order to answer. At the athlete dinner, things sunk in further. Autopilot to pilot, we're nearing our final descent. Here, they confirmed the run course slightly changed to go UP AND OVER a hill, rather than only halfway up. Everything else was routine - the water is f'ing cold, don't draft on your bike, you will get passed by a woman (ME), no pacers on the run, get ready to hear "you are an Ironman."

The Saturday before Ironman, I always do a 30 minute bike check, go check in my bags, and swim in the lake. I made a list of everything (which I'd been doing automatically, but pilot had to verify autopilot), separated what I needed to carry from what went into the bags, and packed it all up. I had assistance from my feline friends, who really wanted to go IN the bags. ;) Don't forget your towel. Don't forget your new arm coolers. Bodyglide in T2, sunblock in T1. It sinks in further. Bike check/nerve check ride was good, it sinks in further. Packed up the car, dropped off my bags, it sinks in further. My husband was at the wedding at this point, so my "wife" came down with her daughter to meet me at the park. I shopped a bit in the Ironman store, picking up some 2010 finisher gear for 50% off, a m-dot dog leash, and a swim cap (which I forgot), then went down to the water for a swim. Your instinct when you get in 55 degree water is to turn around and get out. Mind over matter, you press on. 5 minutes later, the ears hurt. 10 minutes later, you're cold, but still moving. I can do this. A very nice lady in the park assumed we were actually a couple with a little girl, thank you very nice lady, our husbands will appreciate this story, and I love your open mindedness, so we will not correct you, because really we don't mind. Prep ANYTHING I need to carry tomorrow. Eat dinner. Put on compression tights. Try to sleep.

4:30am comes too soon. I had a PBJ and 2 bananas. I prepped everything I needed to carry, I got dressed. I will be an Ironman today. I will have fun. I don't really like getting there SUPER DUPER EARLY because I'd rather not let my nerves get the best of me, so I arrived around 5:45. Dropped off my bike bottles and water. Patted my trusty steed, Lucy. Lucy, we're going to do this. We'll be Iron today. Headed over to meet my awesome Iron crew and do the ceremonial wetsuit application. They had the coolest Team Colby tshirts, vuvuzelas, and pirate hats. The Vuvuzela Pirate Army. ;) Everyone got a hug and a thanks, and we headed toward the water.

Not all Ironman races have mass starts like Coeur d'Alene, but it's... insane. I sincerely apologise to the people that I race with in EVERY race because of Ironman. You can feel the cannon go off in the core of your being. Time slows, like those moments on sci-fi shows just before they go to faster than light/warp speed. Then it's a 90 minute swim and mixed martial arts race in one. I usually wait a second so that people fight it out in front of me, but it doesn't matter... I pass a lot of them anyway. It's a two loop swim, and this was one time where I actually felt like the crowd never really spread out. There was one point on the first loop where I felt suffocated by people and by water and had to talk myself down (while swimming), I could feel my heart rate rising and my panic levels redlining, but I knew it'd pass. My first loop effectively set the tone for the day - not my best day, but not my worst. My neck burned - my newish haircut requires a slightly different bodyglide application regimen. I read later they pulled 64 people out of that water. Not me. I was going to finish. NEXT TIME: more swimming. I swam a 1:05 in the pool, but I can carry that through with more prep. More swimming also leads to less likelihood of panicking.

I was complimented in T1 by my organisation skills - "you have a whole system." They let us get ready in the grass if we didn't actually have to change clothes/get naked, so I just went methodically through the steps, using the world's best volunteers to get into my arm warmers and jersey ("She Loves Hills" again ;)). Still too long in T1, but it's hard because Ironman is my first race and there's a lot of ground to cover. NEXT TIME: ALWAYS put on more sunblock in T1, or test out brands of sunblock that work through the swim. Came off the bike with a bike glove/watch/arm warmer line burn. :p

Lucy and I were off to the tune of the vuvuzela pirate army. I felt suprisingly good on the bike - even considering my lack of training discipline, I knew I wouldn't lose a lot of time to last year, when I had to take it easy due to the sun/heat. I felt awesome on loop 1, I took it easy on the hills and honestly felt so much better than last year through the entire course. This is when I knew: I can totally rock Ironman with time to train. I was already looking forward to Florida, to next year. I backed off on loop 2, thinking about the run ahead, which is reflected in my times. This course is burned into my brain, I can count the hills down mentally. It's actually the flats that are harder because you know the hills are coming and they stop you from counting them down. ;) The two loop bike lets you come through town twice, which is energizing. I was off the bike in just under (officially, at) 7 hours. I had decided not to wear bike shorts along with my zoot tri shorts, my Iron butt was up to the task and I felt great. I think it was loop 1 when I heard my dad cheering me on, then my husband. Amazing how much the two of them meant to me. (No time for tears, only smiles) Nutrition-wise, the accelerade was too much and I had to back off on loop 2 or my gut would rebel. I adapted well. I will be an Ironman again today. NEXT TIME: different nutrition? More gut training?

I arrived at T2 with a ton of other women, so volunteers were a bit scarce. I always put on new socks, and this time I put on a ton of bodyglide on my feet first (A+ idea). I had a volunteer help me put on my arm coolers, which felt great. On went the FiveFingers. "Well. Come on feet!"

Back at the vuvuzela pirate army, they were there to high-five when I started the run. Love those guys. It was warm, I took off my jersey and wrapped it into my race belt. Instead of taking in gels, I started taking in Ironman Perform (gatorade) and it worked just fine. Sponges on the back, sponges on the head (great photo op), sponges on the arm coolers worked great. I decided to start out with a run/walk, to conserve energy and go out consistently rather than tire out on loop 2. It was great in theory, but something happened part of the way through... I was tired. I know this sounds kind of obvious during an Ironman, but this was a really unique experience for me. It wasn't nauseous tired, it wasn't under-electrolytes tired, it wasn't undernourished tired. I was just Tired. Naptime tired. This is where the emotional and mental excitement and exhaustion toll of the last 3 months caught up with me - it all culminated on one day. I did okay on loop 1 (3 hours) and really hoped to keep that up on loop 2, but walked more than I needed to. At one point, I decided to give something new a try, and I drank some coke. OMG! Great idea!! Running again! Bah, there's the stupid hill, keepin the Ironman down. On the last 6 miles, I passed people that had walked past me. I CAN TASTE IT. VICTORY IS MINE. NEXT TIME: better training about sums this one up.

On the approach to the finish, I came upon a woman that was going just a little slower than I was, but we'd probably finish at the same time, or I could choose to go past her. I asked her if it was her first, she said yes. I said, I'll let you finish first then. She said, oh, thanks - clearly spent. I backed off. We started to approach the bleachers, I heard my vuvuzela pirate army, my dad. I told the woman, "we got this" to keep her going. I riled up the crowd. I used my arms, I backed off further so she could enjoy her first Ironman finish. I made the crowd louder the farther we went. She gave high fives. She crossed that finish line to the loudest cheers of her lifetime, at least twice as loud as they were when we started coming down the chute. I know she didn't see it, but she felt it. And that's what Ironman is about - feeling that sense of accomplishment for the rest of your life.

I crossed the finish line happy and tired. I took my finisher picture, I thanked every volunteer. I had two pieces of the best cheese pizza I had all day, some potato chips, and some water. I took a picture with my vuvuzela pirate army, I gave out free hugs. And I was Iron again.

Thank you ladies for all your support. TE has been here since my first Ironman, and even when I don't have time for it, I think of you all, a big virtual team in spirit.

I AM COMING FOR YOU IRONMAN FLORIDA, YOU BETTER WATCH OUT!!

[colby]

Official pictures: http://www.asiorders.com/view_user_event_video.asp?EVENTID=75636&BIB=238
Also me: http://www.asiorders.com/view_user_photo.asp?PID=&EVENTID=75636&PWD=&ID=119634237&FROM=browser&START=2641&SHOW=48&CAT=0&SUB=0

I love the sponge head. :D

[OakLeaf]

Wow Colby, great report. I had tears in my eyes at your description of the finish. On to Florida!

[Tri Girl]

AWESOME report, Colby! I felt like I was right along with you. The finish: what an amazing story!!! That feeling is like no other feeling in the world, and the first time you hear "you are an Ironman" it it's like the heavens singing down to you. I'm doing IM #2 this year, and reading your story is getting me pumped up all over again.

I like the picture of you on the bike with the lake in the background. Very pretty! And sponge head- nice! ;) hee hee

Florida, you better watch out- Colby is gonna TEAR YOU UP!!!!:D:D

Congrats, again, IronColby!

[salsabike]

Colby, you write the most wonderful race reports. Thank you!

PS And furthermore. You seem to be just a great person. I look forward to meeting you someday!

[NbyNW]

Great job, Colby! Loved how you shared your finishing energy with that other racer.

[sgf726]

Awesome job Colby! Thanks for sharing.

[bikerHen]

Hey Colby, Are you doing Valley Girl this weekend? Maybe we can finally meet. I'll be starting with the old farts. You'll most likely be done before I even start!

[colby]

Hey Colby, Are you doing Valley Girl this weekend? Maybe we can finally meet. I'll be starting with the old farts. You'll most likely be done before I even start!

YES! I am! I am a little sad to see the swim shortened but I will still be there. Gets me on my bike faster. :) My wave starts at 7:55. Looks like it will "cool off" to the low 80s, too.

Awesome!

[colby]

Thanks everyone for your kind words. :)

[bikerHen]

My wave starts at 7:55. Looks like it will "cool off" to the low 80s, too.

Awesome!

I'm starting at 8:15, with the old folks! Yes it's definitely going to be a little cooler on Sunday, go figure! :rolleyes: But since I tend to be forever warm, that should work for me. I'll be wearing Team Blaze colors, and will be hanging out at their tent after the race. I've done two practice tri's with the team, and seem to be finishing in about 1:45ish. Although I'm going to really try to push myself a little harder through the run, which is by far my worst event. So with luck I hope to be done before 10am. So if your still hanging around I'd love to meet ya! (I'm the one with the biking tattoos, including bikerhen on my left calf!) :p Lisa

[Red Rock]

I'm late in the response dept.....but congrats to you on your tri and making it through. There is nothing like hearing that "You are an Ironman". Something I will never do, but someone who has done these multiple times....my hats off to you.

Hope you and Bikerhen have a good tri this weekend and have a fun meet up when you have the chance.

Red Rock/Ellen