Scenic doesn't mean flat!

[colby]

Yesterday, I raced the Coeur d'Alene Triathlon, which is Olympic Distance. I have never actually done this distance before, except in training. They call it "the Scenic Challenge." Yeah, the bike ride sure was scenic! The moral of the story is: a scenic bike ride doesn't mean a flat one. I haven't really been riding hills since Ironman, and if I do this race again, it will involve more hill training.

I was able to use my new sleeveless wetsuit (I ended up with the Zoot Fuzion SL). It fit really well and I had a really good feeling swim in it, so it's definitely a keeper. If the suit didn't fit, I was just going to go without - I wasn't really concerned about the distance with or without the wetsuit.

They do a tri and a du at about the same time. The swim was the same area as the Ironman swim, except backwards (clockwise; and a little shorter). The weather was cloudy and threatening wind (but not really rain), but thankfully it held off for the swim (if it was windy and whitecapping, they threatened to make us ALL do a duathlon). There were 3 waves of swimmers - about 600 people did the tri total. They did 39 and under, 40+, and teams. It was a lot of people in the water all at once. I had a decent swim, it felt good, I felt strong, though probably could have gone out harder.

http://kmorris.exposuremanager.com/s...hed=1249800682

The transition area was up sand, a couple of cement stairs, and into a grassy area of the park, which was nice (though if you stubbed your toe on those stairs, that would really suck). Getting off the wetsuit was a cinch, maybe a couple of extra seconds in transition. Surprisingly easy.

The bike went out parallel to the Ironman bike course first section, took a turn and went up. Up up up. Not super steep hills, just... relentless hills. Endless uphill. Not many forgiving downhills, except the end of the hills when we rejoined the land of the living, which went downhill very quickly (bike computer says 43mph). There were some very pretty views, though, of the entire lake area (while you weren't grunting), beautiful trees, and fairly well maintained roads. The whole time, I was thinking "so much for my 3 hour or less finish"

Not flattering (outbound):
http://kmorris.exposuremanager.com/s...hed=1249796675

Glad to be back (inbound):
http://kmorris.exposuremanager.com/s...hed=1249802562

Returning to transition, I was somewhat concerned about the damage of all those hills on my legs compared to recent races. I did get some fancypants quick laces but did not get a chance to run in them so I didn't dare unlace my shoes. I also put on socks. My feet were definitely cold and still wet.

The run was basically flat. Finally, something flat!! My legs felt okay, might have been able to push harder, but not bad. I knew after that bike it was pretty unlikely I would get into sub-10 minute miles. I just wanted to finish. 6 miles seemed to go by pretty fast, surprisingly - after mile 5 my run felt more like a trot, though, I think that's where I lost all my ground. The run was really uneventful, though I saw a lot of people fading.

Finish (no run pictures):
http://kmorris.exposuremanager.com/s...hed=1249805251

Overall: 382 (of 606, male and female - no female-only results were posted - there were 223 women, the rest men).
total 2:57:23 / div place 2
swim 0:24:43 314 / 606 - 1:36 min / 100 m
T1 2:33 (no ranks posted)
bike 1:24:46 417 / 606 - 16.3mph
T2 2:24 390 / 606
run 1:02:57 583 / 606 - 10.1 min / mile (apparently slow runners don't enjoy Olympic distance triathlons )

I had decided to race athena in my "summer of racing athena" and ended up 2nd of something like 6-7 women - passed on the run, big surprise. Had I gone age group, I'd have been 18th out of 37. Not bad either way, and I did end up under 3 hours, which was my goal - especially considering the hills. My bike time felt slow, but I really would have to train for it in order to be able to bust out anything faster.

[Pan Dulce]

The pictures aren't showing up for me.

I enjoy your write ups, thanks for this one, because I am either doing the duathlon next year or doing a team tri (me on bike). But wow - hilly!

It was pretty cool yesterday, I was thinking of all you guys in the water! I have a friend who was doing the swim as part of a team, and I don't know if she rented/bought a wetsuit in time. Ugh.

You did well!!

[Shiraz]

Nice job Colby! Love the write up. I have looked at this Tri so thanks for the information. Congrats on a great race!

[colby]

Ahh, it doesn't like my picture links - let me go back and edit in links so you can just click on them.

I would recommend that you drive the bike course, but the good news is that I see people riding it all the time when I'm out Ironman training or on weekend rides, so you should be able to practice on the race course if you're local enough to do so (wish I had). For a practice ride, I would start past the Coeur d'Alene Resort, like at the Library, because that downtown section is the most annoying section to bike through with car and people traffic. If you want to add miles to total 24, instead of taking a left past the library toward the resort, just go straight through that intersection and then loop back down.

I think it's Vertical Earth that has maps of the bike courses of the area - for the Coeur d'Alene Triathlon, Ironman, and maybe one or two other things. I wish they would list the turns like a cue sheet on their website so it'd be easier to drive. I used that a lot when I drove then rode the Ironman bike when I was getting familiar with it - my husband pointed out landmarks and turns and I memorized them and repeated them back to myself. I don't think this course is that bad, but I am going to drive it and see before I try riding it again.

It was a nice swim, a challenging ride, and a tiring run. When you finish a race and think "next year, I'll do (whatever) differently..." you know you have a problem

[Tri Girl]

Another race? Dang, girl- you need to rest for a weekend.
Congrats on ANOTHER amazing race!!! You are truly an inspiration!!!!
I'm sure the pictures are great!

[colby]

Another race? Dang, girl- you need to rest for a weekend.
Congrats on ANOTHER amazing race!!! You are truly an inspiration!!!!
I'm sure the pictures are great!

Unfortunately the one weekend I "rested" I worked the weekend after traveling for 3 days ... and I'll be racing a sprint next weekend. Going to experiment with this one and wear my shiny new wetsuit and see what kind of transition time it adds. Since it's the Danskin it's big and busy and there's no way I can top anything my age group, so it's mostly a year-over-year benchmark for me.

Then, a few weeks off... because there are no more local races until September 13 and I am usually too lazy to drive anywhere non-local.

[colby]

Swimming: http://kmorris.exposuremanager.com/p...205_21_2_5_1_4

Biking outbound: http://kmorris.exposuremanager.com/p...111_21_2_5_2_1

Bike return: http://kmorris.exposuremanager.com/p...358_21_2_5_2_2

Finish: http://kmorris.exposuremanager.com/p...309_21_2_5_3_4

[Tri Girl]

Great pics, Colby!! As always- you're lookin' mighty fine.

[txred9876]

great pics great times.... I wont post my times from this coming weekend...i just want to finish..LOL
Tina

[colby]

great pics great times.... I wont post my times from this coming weekend...i just want to finish..LOL
Tina

Always the most important goal

[salsabike]

Colby, I love your race reports. I can always SEE your races when I read them. It really sounds like you're having a pretty good racing summer, kiddo. I will look forward to the Danskin report! By the way, Teigyr and I will be at the blue volunteer check-in tent, where the buses let athletes off. You'll probably be walking past there on the way out too so come say hi if you can! And have fun on Sunday! Sounds like the weather will be perfect.

[colby]

By the way, Teigyr and I will be at the blue volunteer check-in tent, where the buses let athletes off. You'll probably be walking past there on the way out too so come say hi if you can! And have fun on Sunday! Sounds like the weather will be perfect.

If by any chance I forget and YOU happen to see ME, feel free to yell at me. I will be wearing the "standard race attire" of my blue and green and black zoot suit and carrying my red danskin bag from 2007. I will try to remember to stop by, though, and thanks to you both for volunteering

The weather looks like it will be awesome - I would even take clouds without rain. It has been creeping back up to the 90s over here and it will be a welcome break. I guess at least the lake will be a little warmer than normal with the recent heat wave, too.

[salsabike]

If by any chance I forget and YOU happen to see ME, feel free to yell at me. I will be wearing the "standard race attire" of my blue and green and black zoot suit and carrying my red danskin bag from 2007. I will try to remember to stop by, though, and thanks to you both for volunteering

The weather looks like it will be awesome - I would even take clouds without rain. It has been creeping back up to the 90s over here and it will be a welcome break. I guess at least the lake will be a little warmer than normal with the recent heat wave, too.

We will for sure say hi if we spot you! Water temps in Lake Washington have been in the low to mid 70s, warmer than usual. So it should be nice.

[Iris616]

Great photos and report!
Thanks for sharing!

[firenze11]

Wow! Great pics and race report, it was fun to read and it looks/sounds like you had a pretty dang good race.