IMCdA

[KSH]

Congratulations Colby!

Now... you simply MUST do it... so we have another IronWOMAN to cheer on from TE!

[Wahine]

I knew you'd end up signing up sooner rather than later. Well good on ya!!

We'll be here to cheer you on the whole way towards actualizing your Iron Dream.

[colby]

Thanks ladies, how can I let you all down now?

[tprevost]

Congratulations Colby!

Now... you simply MUST do it... so we have another IronWOMAN to cheer on from TE!

+1 YEAH!!!!!! She's committed!

[mommelisa]

First of all - thank you so much for watching out for me yesterday. I can't tell you how much I appreciate it. Tracy sent me a message so I knew you were there with me in spirit and truly - everyone's good wishes helped me to have a wonderful race.

Oh.my.God what a BEAUTIFUL place for an Ironman. I can't even begin to tell you how wonderful the location is, how great the people are here and how amazing the volunteers are!

I will write a longer race report soon, but I wanted to give you the recap real quick. It was crazy at first. The water was so choppy the race director gave us the option of doing a duathlon instead of the IM. Hmmmm, NOPE, I figured I'd swum in that chopfest in Florida, I could do this. Well, it was crazy. The only thing that made it better than FL was that it was fresh water and when you got a mouthful of it, it tasted ok. :-)

Onto the bike and those hills - WOW. Just when you think there couldn't possibly be another hill, there was! And it was big. I tried to ride conservatively the first loop, and by the second loop I was feeling good and I could see a lot of people who'd gone all out on the first loop started to fade. I passed lots of people! I think I averaged just over 17 for the course and I'm SO happy with that. The best thing about the course was that there were people everywhere - truly - everyone came out from there houses, but not just for a few minutes - for hours! I saw the same people on the second loop of the bike as I did on the first!

The run was good. I pretty much ran the first loop (its an out an back like FL along the same course, so you see people a lot) and walked the aid stations. By the second loop, a friend of mine had realized his hernia had popped out and so I walked a bit with him. Then, the girl that I have done all my long runs/long rides with this time was about a mile behind me (she left transition 6 minutes before me and I caught and passed her on the first loop), so I dawdled a bit. We had talked about finishing together if we were ever close enough to do that, so I let her catch me and we ran/walked the last 6 miles together. We got to cross together - I let her go just before me so that my kids could run in with me. It was really great.

My hubby said, you slowed up a bit on the run. And I told him, for me, its all about the experience and making it fun, and running in with Krista made it a once-in-a-lifetime for me.

If you're thinking about signing up for an IM, DO CDA. Really. It is a fantastically managed, setup, held and run race. I can't say enough about good about.

RM - regarding the hills. I trained out in Fountain Hills. NOTHING was harder than that, I promise. They were unrelenting and the wind was pretty bad on the bike, but nothing that you couldn't do. Do it, you will LOVE it, I just know it!!

[btchance]

Great job mommelisa!! Can't wait to hear more about it. And Colby - good luck next year! I'm sure you'll do it. No backing out now

[Tri Girl]

Congrats mommelisa!!!!! I can't wait to hear the longer report! The hills weren't that bad, huh???? Maybe I could do CDA! A duathlon? Ha! No way you're training that hard to do a duathlon instead!
Congrats on a great finish- and for having a wonderful time during the race! Way to go!!!!!

[eclectic]

Great report Melisa! It wasn't too long at all I was reading it totally enthralled
All you Ironwomen are so amazing. When I read your abbreviated report I thought " she makes it sound like a walk in the park" Even after reading your full report I sensed total joy w/ no hints of agony.

Congratulations on a great race and a great day!

[colby]

Congratulations, Melisa! I guess this makes you SuperIron?

I read in the paper that something like 20 people opted not to do the swim, and started riding around 9:30 instead. Some people opted out altogether, standing on the beach in their wetsuits (one guy said "it's just not my year, I guess."). If I had trained that hard and long just to get there, it would take a lot more than choppy lake water to convince me to turn back. Can't call it an Ironman without some unexpected twist -- last year it was the heat, this year the choppy water, but next year will be perfect... right?

Your times were great, I wish I'd have known earlier or I'd have made a point to be there when you crossed the finish. We were all there in spirit.

[Wahine]

Great work Melissa!! Thanks for the recap. I've been thinking about that race. Sometime I'll do it.

Great courage to go out there in the water in spite of the choppiness. I'm glad you had a great race and a FUN race.

[mommelisa]

ok, girls, i've written a race report. you can find it here: http://mommelisa.blogspot.com.

beware its long!

[colby]

ok, girls, i've written a race report. you can find it here: http://mommelisa.blogspot.com.

beware its long!

Great story, Melisa, and not too long. Congratulations, once again. Crossing the finish line with your kids must be amazing.

I'm glad Coeur d'Alene was good to you. Apparently the home sales in the area rise every year after Ironman, so there's a lot of people that agree with you. Not sure about the campground in your lake pictures... looks like it could be a golf course back there?