'Tis the Season: Ironman Coeur d'Alene

[OakLeaf]

Congratulations Colby! You rocked it!

[Tri Girl]

Congrats Iron Colby!! I know that's a tough course, so way to rock it out, girl!!! WOOT!!

[salsabike]

Congratulations, Colby! You are the total GRIT girl.

[GLC1968]

Way to go, Colby! I can't even begin to fathom racing for that long and in tough conditions. You have my utmost respect! Congratulations on a huge achievement!!

[salsabike]

I hear the water was REALLY cold and that people were spending lots of T1 time in warming tents.

[kacie tri-ing]

I got to see her goig out for lap two on the bike, and her finish!!

Congrats! It was a tough and windy day out there!

Can't wait to read your thoughts about it!

[colby]

Thanks for the extra cheers, Kacie!! George did amazing! I joked to my husband that I must have spent half my brain making sure he had the awesome race he trained so hard for, because he sure did at the same time I did not. So cool to be Kona bound!

Thanks everyone for the congrats and tracking! The bike splits - WTF? There was a timing mat out on the bike turnaround and the day before it looked like there should be splits, but on that day, there were none. Let me tell you, there were a lot of nervous internet trackers out there!



I just had one of those days where stuff doesn't click. It wasn't a day when I had panic on the swim, stomach issues or nutrition issues on the bike/run, excess pain overall, super nasty weather, or anything, really, just... meh! After the swim, I thought "oh, I see. Glad to be on the bike!" Second loop of the bike, I thought, "oh, I see. Glad to be running!" Second loop of the run, I thought, "let's get this done!" and I was able to walk/run pretty consistently (sorry about that 17 minute/mile walking stretch, oops) then run hard to the finish that last quarter-mile, so I had some gas in the tank. Failure was not an option. I never expected to be that close to any cutoffs at this point, but I'll take the Just Finish. Instead of hearing "you are an Ironman" over the loudspeaker, I was personally greeted by Mike Reilly who told me to my face as I walked across the line.

I will post a more complete race report soon - just wanted to pop in and say that I am alive and doing pretty well. And yes, I signed up for next year, within seconds. I will have my revenge, unless something comes up that prevents it (in which case I'll have my revenge at another race because I'm not NOT having my revenge - I WANT that race where everything DOES click )!

[katluvr]

Awesome Colby....as usual, I am in awe!

K

[GLC1968]

I was personally greeted by Mike Reilly who told me to my face as I walked across the line.

How cool is that? Congratulations again, Colby!!

[Tri Girl]

+1
That is awesome that he was right there with you!

[colby]

What is this... a weekend? I don't even know what to do! So confused. I get to... sit around... and do nothing? For TWO WHOLE DAYS?

The recap.

Training:
I split my time 3-2ish between Austin and my home in the PNW since my company got acquired (if you followed my previous 2 IM reports, it happened last July). It's hot in Austin, it was a cool and wet spring in the PNW. It was interesting to figure out how to bike commute, train, and get weekend rides/runs in in the two varying sets of conditions. When you train for an Ironman as a real human, you have to find the balance between training and life. I decided this year to balance to life a little more, I was in a job that was still pretty new and trying to give some extra love to my spouse who was going through this for the 6th time. I skimped on strength training and swimming for sure and some percentage of my high intensity intervals, but I got in long rides and runs, and I biked 12 hilly miles round trip to/from work daily in Austin (and we bike almost everywhere except errands).

At the end of April, I did a century ride in Austin, holy hell. Humid, then sunny and hot, and windy all day (imagine standing in front of a hair dryer for 6 hours). At the end they said "there's a temperature and wind factor, you actually rode twice the miles you think you did". I knew then at least that I could go the distance, and I had 2 months to go. After that, I battened down the hatches and continued focusing on the long runs and rides, and making sure to get quality workouts in.

Race Time:
I came home from Austin a week before Ironman. Through the week, my brain had become increasingly more occupied by Ironman (imagine a pie chart that slowly gets filled by one color/slice). The weather up here was great, though the water was still cold (low 50s F). I've been through cold and windy IMCdAs before, my only hope was for no rain on the bike. The weather forecast went from nice (70, partly cloudy) to warm (80, sunny) to iffy (75, chance of t-storms/rain). I checked in to the race on Thursday during my lunch hour and that's the point where things start to get really real. Holy crap, we're going to do this again. Am I ready? Am I kidding myself? Is this the race I DNF? Or will it be awesome? You have to fight to push out the uncertainty and have confidence in your endurance, your training, your mental strength.

During the athlete meeting/dinner (Friday night for a Sunday race), they showed last year's race recap, which was awesome (haven't found the video). And then, the skies opened up. It was raining SO. HARD. Thunder, lightning, rain. Ominous, or just getting it out of its system? Only time would tell, but there are approximately 2,000 pictures of that rainstorm that athletes took with the same simultaneous expression of incredulity that it was happening. They announced the water was approaching 60 degrees at the beach and 57 at the far buoy - but no guarantees it would stay there. Not much chat about the new bike course, other than the way the highway would be split, with a few no passing zones - one of them on a fast downhill. All in all, the athlete meeting was pretty quick. Afterward, I drove the section of the bike course that I hadn't rode before - I debated training on it but decided not to, it's a highway and I'd rather not risk it. There are a couple of 1-2 mile climbs, but it's all in all less rolling hills than before.

Saturday was gear drop-off, but I also had to pick up my husband from the airport. I laid out all my stuff, hopeful that I didn't forget anything in Austin. I always lay out my gear bags and place everything on top of them, careful not to overpack because I know I do not have a brain. Should I wear these socks or those? Decide now. Should I wear my recently purchased FiveFingers or my old favorites? Nothing unknown or risky. The weather was still a little unknown for tomorrow, but that day was beautiful. The water temp was holding around 60. After picking my husband up, I came home to do my final bike check. This has become ritual, I ALWAYS ride my bike the day before and I do NOT touch it the next morning other than to make sure there's no flats. We headed down to drop off my stuff and do my second ALWAYS, which is to swim at least the day before. My in laws turned out for this race, their first Ironman viewing! We met up before my swim, then walked downtown Coeur d'Alene and ate an early dinner. Mac and cheese for the colby, nothing complicated. I had nixed all spicy and high fiber foods for about 3 days leading up to the race. Food was boring at this point.

And then, home to sleep. Prepped my bike bottles (refrigerated bottles and ingredients), made a list of anything I needed to remember knowing I would be stupid tomorrow (put sunglasses in bike bag, water for aero bottle). Bedtime around 8pm, though I can't sleep until later. Rest, rest, rest. Snuggle with my kitties. Rest, rest, rest. 2:00am: pouring rain. Thunder. Lightning. Convince myself to go back to sleep. It will pass, it will pass.

Race Morning:
Up (and it's not raining!) for some toasted peanut butter bagels, bananas, and nuun, prepped to head out by 5:15am (I'm not the type to get there super early and dawdle in transition, it does not help my nerves). Slap on insane amounts of sunscreen knowing I'll probably still get burned. My in laws have a VW camper van that they have parked in such a way that we can sneak in and park behind them a few blocks from the race. Walked down to transition, got my free body marking (one day only!), had to remember my age (they offered to put a question mark on). Last year we really wanted to book a room at the host hotel for that day/night, but we waited too long. I can see the benefit of being that close after doing it in Florida. Checked off all the items on my list (sunglasses, swap of bike jersey, aero bottle, bike bottles, check tires for flats, tell Lucy - my bike - we're going to have a great day together).

Ceremonial wetsuit assembly and bodyglide adornment. Adjust more than you think, put on more than you think you need. Head to the beach. No turning back. The water is 57 degrees, 54 at the turnaround. It will be cold. Mentally prepare. "You're going to be an Ironman today" says Mike Reilly. Yes, I am. The cannon fires, and we're off.

Swim:
I walk into the water, letting the washing machine go ahead of me, and adjusting to the cold, cold, water. It's hard to breathe. At 50m, you want to turn around. Fight it. Keep going. Pee in the wetsuit, everyone else is. On the first loop, the water was fairly calm, I sighted the buoys well but stayed off to the side. Not much abuse to be spoken of, but it doesn't really bother me. I remember thinking to myself several times about how poorly some people swim in a straight line. There was one guy that zig-zagged me the entire swim.

When I got out for my second loop, they said "plenty of time." My heart sunk a little, but I didn't look at the clock so I wouldn't be disheartened. I just wanted to finish the swim. The second loop was rough. The wind picked up, you felt like you were swimming and going nowhere. The waves were rolling, rolling. Combine cold water, rolling waves (tall enough that you can't see the buoys even when they were close), and poor sighting swimmers, and it was very disorienting. I always have this problem on the second loop when the swim thins out, I think I'm alone, I second guess my sighting, everything. This is like mile 16-19 of the marathon. The dark zone of the swim. As you near the beach, you can hear people, you can see people. I'm going to make it. I will finish this. The clock said 1:59. My heart sunk again, I thought, "I see how this is going to go. On to the bike, it'll be better."

T1:
I was still pretty disoriented, this is why I don't pack more than I need. The grass was wet so I had grass ALL OVER ME, scooby doo towel to the rescue, and some willing volunteers. I had to sit for a second to let everything right itself. On went the arm warmers, the bike jersey, the socks, the gloves, the shoes, the sunglasses, the helmet. I had them put more sunblock on my legs. And I was off for my bike! Since I was so slow, they were able to bring me my bike as I walked through transition. Getting my money's worth!

Bike:
It was still kind of windy on the bike. The first section often has wind one direction or the other, and I bike it frequently enough to know it well. The second section is the new out-and-back that I hadn't ridden but had driven, so I wasn't sure what to expect on the legs. Camera guy on first section caught me reaching for my bottle, doh. My eating strategy starts at 15 minutes (small sip), then for real at 30 minutes after I've righted myself; I eat every 15 minutes from then on, alternating bottles and gels, sometimes with bananas. During Florida, my tummy felt a little upset, but I think my nemesis is sun and heat, and I need to figure out how to deal with that. Here, the weather was still chilly and cloudy, which was very nice, and I hoped it'd hold out all day.

First loop of the new section... was uphill into the wind for about 20 miles. There's a 2 mile grade, then 1 mile downhill, then another 1 mile climb, and the rest is pretty much false flat to uphill. The return trip was pretty awesome. :P I missed seeing some of the spectators of the old course, but they did a good job segmenting it so that you'd get to come back through town often enough. Better than Florida which was so lonely. I always have to pee on the first loop, no matter what. I remember shaking my head.

I admit to not keeping track of time. I knew I could make it, I was trying not to go out hard on the bike, staying within my comfort zone the entire time. All I watched was my heart monitor on the climbs and flats. It was awesome in that way, I never pushed too hard, which probably means I could have pushed harder. Too many unknowns for me on the bike course means I end up being way too conservative. This happened to me during my first Ironman and Florida, too.

Second loop, sun coming out, had to peel off arm warmers. Stopped at the first aid station and had them put on sunblock. If I get burned, I get zapped fast and pay for it for days. The wind died down, too, which made the out segment on the new part less of a grind, but it made the return section (last 20 miles!) so much more of a grind without that tailwind. I was uncomfortable, I hadn't done enough long rides in aero since my triathlon bike was here in the PNW and not in Austin. I'll have to think about that one.

As I headed back into town, I rode with a lady that needed me as much as I needed her. She asked if we'd make it. I cried a little inside thinking again that I didn't want to be out this long just like the swim, but said out loud "absolutely, plenty of time." Not long after, THIS BIKE RIDE IS OVER!! But then I did the math, and again, my heart sunk a bit. I wasn't supposed to be chasing cutoffs. I knew I could make it, but I want it to be different, or I want a good reason. Tummy felt great. Legs felt good. I just... don't know.

T2:
Staying positive, they tossed me my run bag and I headed in to change. Disassemble, reassemble. Bodyglide ALL OVER the feet, new socks (I live for this moment), shoes, arm coolers (if anything they protect me from the sun). More sunscreen on my legs and face. Saw my family and other people who knew me, so awesome.

Run:
My strategy was to run as much as possible, but know that I was going to walk most uphills and essentially all aid stations. Since it was sunny and warming, I walked sunny sections until I could get water and ice on/in myself. Every aid station was out of sponges. This makes me sad. Sponges are amazing. Nutrition strategy was to use the perform (gatorade) and gu on the run, never taking them both in at once. Use bananas/oranges and pretzels when needed, if tummy started to rebel stop taking in gels and drink some coke. Turns out I didn't really want more gel, so I switched over to fruit, pretzels, perform, coke, and water, trying to calculate at least 150-200 cals/hr.

First loop, blah. Run when you can. Look on the bright side, since we were so slow to this point, the sun is going to go down sooner on the run, and it will start cooling off. Run every flat/downhill. Run to the aid stations. The run course is also very well divided, two out and back loops make it mentally easy to strategize and divide up the course. I walked more than I'd like. I started doing the math. What was up with this day? It just wasn't my day. At this point I was committed to one thing: failure is not an option.

Second loop, saw more of my family, handed off my sunglasses. Thanked a friend from work who was volunteering. Kept going. I will finish this. You can see on my splits where the "dark spot" of the run is. I just couldn't find the drive to run, even though when I run nothing really hurt and I wasn't really feeling sick. Things just didn't click. I wasn't even really upset, I was just disappointed. You really have to dig deep to get yourself out of that. You know you can walk, what convinces you not to is your own drive, your own motivation. I forced myself into a walk-run pattern, which actually felt good, and I was passing people all over the place. I saw the SAG wagon going out to the cutoff at the turnaround when I was on my way back. If I had given up, that would be me.

The last 3 miles I was committed. I must finish. The more I run, the faster I get there. The spectators were good and drunk by now. I thanked them all, I love the Coeur d'Alene spectators. They cheer for everyone. In Florida, it really felt like people were there for their athletes and kind of cheering on others. In CdA, everyone cheers for everyone, they just cheer harder for their athletes. Again people were saying plenty of time, but I had to fight through the disappointment. Thinking of the positive, I actually felt really good on the run itself. My running endurance has come a long way.

The Finish:
As I rounded the corner to the finish, I was so happy to be at the end of a long, testing day. I sprinted to the finish, I riled up the crowd (who was pretty amped). Mike Reilly was in the finish chute, where he said my name, and he came with me as I approached the finish. I knew that meant I was one of them, the lucky finishers that made the cutoff, but my journey wasn't about chasing cutoffs intentionally, it was just a consequence. I was so glad to be done. I saw my family and friends at the finish, nothing better than that moment (well, other than "YOU ARE AN IRONMAN" which is pretty amazing ). The hugs you get after an Ironman are like no other hugs.

Ironman CdA Full Circle video here (race recap, pretty good): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JgzM5wVErb0

My pictures: http://www.finisherpix.com/search.ht...4&pcevent=0191

You can see me finish in video #3 (I finish at 16:46): http://live.ironman.com/?race=coeurd...#axzz1zIPfC0lL

Recovery & Next Up:
I feel pretty good, actually. After the race, I was able to eat. My neck/shoulders hurt the most, which makes sense after the swim. Of course on day +2, my big muscles were really sore. After that, I was (and am) just tired. TIRED. Yesterday, I rode my bike for 45 minutes and ran for 15 minutes, today I'm a little sore again. I have a sprint race next weekend.

I signed up for next year within minutes. I want that race where everything clicks. I want to finish in 13, 12 hours. I want to rock. I will be back! I need to figure out a few things and am thinking about committing to a good coach, and getting some solid run focus in to increase confidence and speed. I am also racing Austin 70.3 at the end of October.

If you made it this far, even if you skimmed, thanks for reading! You ladies have been with me through all of my Ironmans, and I love this community.

[Tri Girl]

Amazing race report, Colby! You are very inspirational- trudging through and finishing. So proud of you, girl!! You'll be back next year, and it will be a totally different race.

[salsabike]

Colby, I repeat. Total grit. And as I've said before, I love your race reports. Thank you.

[Blueberry]

Thank you for continuing to share your races with us! You are amazing and inspiring - keep at it

[salsabike]

Colby, was this number 5?