Ironman Coeur d'Alene - The Report (LONG)

[colby]

Thanks for the report, Colby! I had fun following you on Twitter and the Athlete Tracker on race day. You are amazing! "It's just what we do" indeed!

I have the same wetsuit you bought. I am selling mine as it does not fit. I tried some other brands and, hey, who knew? Water doesn't have to come in the neck and slosh around inside when you swim...

Sorry to hear about the sunburn. Moeben sleeves might be worth looking into. Someone in another thread suggested wetting them down and I tried that last week on a very hot run. Oooh, so very nice! I wear them all the time when I bike, if I am not wearing a long sleeved Boure SPF jersey.

I am "pretty satisfied" with the fit of the 2XU, but will only wear it for cold temperature swims so that's good enough - it is definitely better than my old full sleeve suit. If someone could make a suit that fits me well, I would absolutely buy a higher end suit, but I just can't justify $500 on something that doesn't fit. I found it humorous that someone (Zoot, I think?) advertises their "16 sizes" - and 12 of them (or was it 10) are mens. Apparently women don't come in short and tall, just one size, but men need a variety.

I will have to try the sleeves. It looks like this weekend will be hot, and I am doing a sprint tri. I would rather not suffer, even if it is only for 3 miles.

I guess since I'm here, I'll post about recovery... I don't know if it was the way I raced (conservatively), the Zoot tights (which I basically wore for 2 days straight and for evenings for 2 more days), or some combination thereof, but I actually felt pretty good most of the week. The first 2 days are definitely the worst, as you'd expect. Yesterday I rode for an hour, the first 40 minutes were awesome, the last 20 were torture. My rib cage to my hips were just locking up tight, and my shoulders started to hurt. My hips felt tight when I got ON the bike, so the ride felt really good, up to the point my body said no more cycling, thanks. I ran today, a little over 3 miles, and I started to get that same feeling creeping in but it held off. Amazingly for all my hip problems 1-2 years ago on my right, my left side is more sore than my right - probably because of the cramp I got at mile 1.2 of 140.6. I consider it that a huge victory.

All in all, I might not have had the race I wanted, but I cannot be disappointed. Some races you race, some races you learn - this one was definitely in the "learn" column.

[KnottedYet]

COLBY! How come I only just now saw this?!?!

Congratulations! Wow, your race report made me tear up, too.

Good job! You rock!