Ironman Coeur d'Alene

Ironman Coeur d'Alene
June 22, 2008
Swim 2.4 miles, Bike 112 miles, Run 26.2 miles
SWIM-1:50:03 BIKE-7:09:57 RUN-5:49:10 OVERALL-15:05:19 RANK-1692/1942 DIV.POS.112/151 –Lucky Bib#1978

Pre-race-
I was pretty excited to be in CDA and the excitement around me was very overwhelmingly but very cool. I am a very nervous swimmer so the cold temps were pretty bothersome. I arrived on Wednesday night and was in the water on Thursday at 55 F temps. It was pretty cold and my arms were freezing at about 50 minutes in but I needed to get my body used to these temps just in case this is what race day was going to provide.

Day of Race-

Swim-
I awoke at 3:15 with room service knocking on the door. The calls at 3am were pretty much ignored. I ate and got all my stuff that I needed for race day in my bag. I was planning on waiting for my husband and Dave and all walk over together but then I started to panic. I headed out the door at 5 and decided I was going to use the time alone to go over my race plan. My plans were to head to the bike area and ensure my bike was ready and then go over to put remaining items in transitions bags. As I entered the bike area I felt really sick to my stomach. I was totally nervous and sick. By the time I got to my bike I was calling Cindy Bigglestone to see if my bike was ok since my wheel cover was rubbing the day before. She gave the A.O.K and I was off to get my stuff in the transition bags. I found Kevin, Dave and Su and we all proceeded to get our wetsuits on. I waited for Dave and Kevin since our family was in the area and then headed on the beach to find Su.

The gun went off and I waited for folks to go in. I jumped in around the middle and proceeded to get beaten up the entire way to the buoy. At one point I thought I was going to drown. People were swimming on me and I couldn’t find any paths to get around the athletes ahead of me since we were so congested. The turn-around point was the worst for me and this tiny pathway to get us thru was never going to end. Once I was through this I stayed to the far right and swam by myself. Round two was much easier since being a slower swimmer has advantages. I started to cramp right before the turn-around which freaked me out. I tried to remain calm and work through it until both legs seemed better. I was extremely nervous because the turn-around point might cause them again since a lot of swimmers were stopping and sighting here. I hated this spot because I drank lots of water in this particular part of the course. Once thru I headed home to the swim finish. …..I am alive.

Those wetsuit strippers are awesome…they had me out of my suit in 2 seconds. Off to the changing tent. I was totally nervous and very anxious and out of nowhere came Char Popp. She was able to calm me down and get me ready for my bike. She was absolutely AMAZING.

Bike-
As I was heading out I saw my co-worker Beth waiving a sign for me. How awesome is that just what I needed to get through the first loop. I saw my coach Jill Fry on the corner with Beth and they cheered me on some more. OMG…I am going to cry. The first loop was great and I did it in about 3 hours and 30 minutes. Starting my second loop I saw my family and it was what I needed to get through the second loop. I stopped at special needs and had one chip. Gross……I didn’t want anything in there so I headed out with nothing. I decided to stick to my liquid nutrition. As I was heading past one of the schools they were playing the song “Bicycle Race” from Queen. How fitting so when I got bored this is what played in my head for the next 30 miles. At mile 90 my shoulders killed and so no more aero for me as I just wanted to get back. My second loop was 3 hours and 39 minutes not too shabby. Off to the changing station and guess who…CHAR. I love her. She helped me get ready for the run and off I go.

Run-
I ran for the first 13.1 one miles and was doing great with only walking while going through the aid stations. I saw my husband Kevin during the one mile turn-a-round. This was the first time I saw him all day. It took until around mile 9 for us to run for about a quarter of a mile and then he was off. He looked good and he was almost done. This was pretty cool. Once I started my second loop I walked to let my stomach settle because the coke had upset it. Once I started walking it was so hard to get going again. So for the next 7 miles it was a walk/kinda run pace.

I began to believe it would be ok to walk because I had lots of time to do so. I decided that it wasn’t ok and I would run again at mile 21 because my family was waiting for me and I wanted to get back. I began to run at mile 21 but at mile 22 started to walk. Some guy behind me grabbed my shoulder and said no honey…we need to keep running. I began to run with him and then he stopped at the next aid station. I continued to run through it since I wasn’t thirsty. I never saw him again but it was ok, because I never stopped running after this point. I practiced many mantra’s like I can do this and so on but the only one going through my head was “I want to see my family and my family at the finish line.” I ran past the house playing the Rocky Song and well this is what I needed to get me through to the end. I saw the Popps and they gave me lots of kudos and I was off to the finish shoot. I couldn’t see anyone since the lights were so bright but I ran towards the right side bleaches and hi-fived all the spectators there. I gave the biggest smile coming over the finish line. I later learned my family was on the left hand side of the bleachers…go figure. I was greeted by my family and told them I would be back shortly…I needed food and a massage. I put my name on the waiting list ate pizza and then said goodbye to my family since it was past everyone’s bedtime.

I went in and grabbed my bike and transition bags and ran into my friend Su. I was extremely happy to see her. Her car and my hotel were next to each other so we walked for a few minutes. I don’t know if she knows this but she was a huge inspiration for me the year before. I came here the year prior to sign up and my friend Scott was cheering her on. So of course our whole group was cheering her on. She didn’t know how to swim 2 years prior to her Ironman but if she could do it than maybe I could too. I met with her soon after last year’s IM and she became my swim buddy the weeks prior to this race. We both swam in water ranging from 57 F to 62F in preparation for the cold race swim. I can swim in the pool just fine but Open Water has always been another beast for me. She always waited for me at each buoy and made sure I was ok. I went from breast-stroke/free-style to free-style come race day and this was definitely because of her.

I have to give kudos to my coach Jill Fry who always supported me and gave me the encouragement to keep going even during the tough times. For that I will always be grateful. She has a team of amazing athletes and a husband who were always so supportive of me. I also have to thank two people who sponsor our team Gentry and Alexie were always very supportive of me and are just amazing people to know. Then there is Greene and McAlpin who were with me when I signed up. Thank you for putting up with my daily questions and always always saying I would do great!

I also owe big thanks to all my friends and family and especially my mom who watched my girls pretty much every weekend while Kevin and I went on long bike rides to prep for this race. I have to also thank my mom-in-law Rita who flew out on one occasion to watch our girls while I went to do my first Olympic distance about a month before the race with my husband Kevin. I owe a big thanks to my kids and my husband who are by far my biggest supporters. I love you Kevin, Koralee and Kylie.
Thanks to everyone including the volunteers on race day who cheered for me until I reached the end.

Issaquah Triathlon- The Best and Worst Triathlon

Saturday May 31st
Finish time - 1:21:42
AG: 16/86
Overall: 262/703

Nutrition- breakfast 2 hours prior and water on the bike

Pre-race:
I went to see the “Sex and City” movie. It was awesome. I am training for an Ironman this year but made a decision that I still needed to make time for friends and family. So the timing of this movie and the triathlon were somewhat conflicting. I decided to pick up my race packet prior to dinner. It made me later than I originally planned but I needed to get this done. I came home close to 10 and after talking to my mom and Nicole I didn’t see my pillow until close to 11:30.

Race Day:
I awoke at 5 pretty exhausted. Husband is away and so I will be taking my mom and kids to the triathlon this morning. This is pretty exciting as this will be the first race my mom has seen. I go to get my favorite breakfast food and guess what…no pop-tarts. How could this have happened, oh no? Ok don’t panic –an oatmeal breakfast will have to do. I finish getting all my stuff together, kids and mom are in the car and I head to Sammamish State Park. Its 6:15 and I am not yet to the park, panic some what sets in. I honestly think to myself that at this point if I don’t get there by the mandatory race briefing at 6:45, it will be ok. I can race another day. I pull up about 6:25 get my bike to the transition area by 6:30 and then head off to the Triumph Multisport Tent. I decide to put my gear over there today and so my bike has the tiniest transition area. As I am out there with my team mates I mention that I don’t remember where exactly my bike is. That is a first, oh well nothing I can do now.

Swim:
I firmly plan myself right in the middle of the pack. I know that I should never be in the front since I struggle in this area. I however don’t want to be in the back seeing that this race is some folks first Tri. Our age group is a pretty big one and so they decide to put in two waves. Since everyone jumped in the water they decided to let us all go…one wave. Ok, people in front are breast-stroking. Here is the thing. I know how to swim; I do it in the pool 2x per week. Open water, well this is another thing. I feel each time my toes hit the water that it is a first swim of the season. It’s never a good feeling. Now keep in mind that I just completed an Olympic distance Tri a few weeks ago (no wet suit, salt water swim) and this went somewhat well. Now I am in the water with my wetsuit feeling very claustrophobic and it’s just not going down as well as I planned. The water is COLD. I actually think to myself that if I can’t do a ¼ mile swim how on earth is 2.4 going to happen. I make it through and see the shore and this is great. I see my mom and my girls and this adds to my excitement.

Flashback- This was my worst race last year. I have done all my tri’s late in the season and wetsuit free. I rent a suit get in the water a few days prior and believe I am ready for race day. Now when I get in the water I have major panic attacks. I am super claustrophobic and this ¼ mile swim has somehow turned into the swim that never ends. I actually get on my back and start to do a back-stroke. I believe I am going to drown. I look to see where the kayakers are and they are towards either the beginning or end of the swim. I try to raise my hand but what for, they are a mile away. I decide it’s easier to swim to shore and I suck it up. Swim 16:57. Can you understand now why this was my worst race in 2007. Now 2008 is drums rolling please……9:40.

T1: 1:28 - I see my bike and I quickly grab it and head out, woohoo- I remembered where it was.

Bike: 43:28 - I tear it up and just decide to give it my all. I am somewhat breathing like I am out of shape but oh well. I have to remind myself to save some for the run, but hey this is an all or nothing sprint. Bike feels great and I am excited when I get into the park. Nothing out of the ordinaryJ

T2: 2:56 - Ok so this part I didn’t plan. When I was in the transition area I noticed that the bike rack has two sets of numbers-they are different on each side. I remembered that I walked around confused for a bit but then I saw my number and parked my bike. Being a slow swimmer has advantages, like my bike is always alone and I can always find it. I come into T2 and realize I have no idea where my run stuff is let alone where I am supposed to put my bike since the only numbers I see on the racks don’t match mine. I run frantic up and down the aisle, not working and no luck. My tiny transition is now a horror story and moving my bright-red transition bag to another area, well not smart. I finally decided to lean my bike on the end of a rack. I run to the other end of the racks find my number and head down to the end of the rack. Cool, I see my stuff and I am out doing my run. Run: My feet are so numb from the cold swim that it takes a good mile to actually start feeling them. Run feels great and I even chat with Heather from the Seattle Luna Chix for a minute. I than see Lavonne decide to yell her name. This by the way is never a good idea because as she turned around she almost fell. Yikes I would have felt so bad. We chat a bit and then off to the finish line. A nice strong finish and my teammates cheer me in. My family is nowhere to be seen which leads me to believe they are at the park playing, that’s awesomeJ. Day was a success. Did I mention that where I parked my bike and where it was actually supposed to go is 6 racks away? Good thing I can laugh about it now…..hahaha.

Honolulu Triathlon

Sunday May 18th, 2008

It’s 3:45 am and I go take a shower. My hotel room contains only a refrigerator, so my morning race meal consists of a slice of dry bread, one banana and 3 slices of turkey. I start drinking water and swallow one salt tablet. It’s a 15 minute walk to the park and transition closes at 5:45 so I need to move quickly. Kevin and I arrive at the park at 5:25 which is cutting it really close in my book. I get body marked first, since this is a requirement before I can enter the transition area. I grab my bike and then head over to the mechanic to get my tires inflated. I see Kevin has a pump so I head his way so he can help me. I then head back to my appointed bike spot and set-up my area. At 5:45 I run over to an area by the swim and grab my timing chip. Off to the restrooms to do the pee dance while waiting in line. They are reviewing the rules over the loud speaker and getting the Pro’s in the starting area since they start at 6 am. I head over to do a quick swim but as soon as I get in, it’s time to get out. Oh well. I watch the pro’s take off and go to find Kevin since I haven’t seen him since transition. I find him in the waiting area since his wave is going to be taking off soon. We go over some swim exercises, give each other hugs and kisses and wish each other good luck. Each wave was scheduled 4 minutes apart however they decide to have each wave go in 3 minutes increment. Good thing I was paying attention because my wave now starts at 6:15 instead of 6:21. I proceed to do a few more arm stretches and run in place for a minute.

This is my first triathlon where we start from the beach and run into the water. I am towards the middle of the pack but when our wave starts I let the girls behind me go ahead. I take it easy, get settled into my swim and start to site after 5-7 stokes. I take a big gulp of salt water, not pretty. I remind myself to stay calm and relaxed, and to swim with ease. I tuck in behind a girl who is in front of me and let her guide me to the turnaround point. People are going by me but none of them are swimming over me, which is a huge relief. They just move over to one side and continue on. At the turnaround point I get sandwiched between two swimmers, which puts me in a panic and a breast-stroke. It last only a minute until I can coerce myself to get back to the free-style stroke. This happens one other time and I again give myself another pep talk and keep moving forward. I am coming home and that is what is what is driving me. I debated about checking my swim time at mid-point but decided against it. I am glad I didn’t because I believe it would have thrown me off. I am out of the water and my time shows 38 and change. OMG…I just swam in 38 minutes. I am excited since I anticipated 45 minutes.

I run with ease through the transition area, maybe even slower than I should of. Oh look being a slow swimmer has its advantages. On my side of the rack my bike sits alone. Now I don’t have to fumble around, I can grab my bike with ease. I put on my hat and glasses and then grab my bike and head out of transition. My shoes are already on my bike which saves me some time. I didn’t practice this but I did visualize this the night before so that counts for something. I’m on my bike but I let up on my right foot and my shoe starts to drag because I am not in it yet, oops, don’t panic…I can fix this…fixed.

I have a very specific bike plan which I plan to follow. I turn on my power-tap which is about a ¼ mile late. Oh well. My heart rate is about 5-6 beats lower than my goal so I pick up the pace. I can’t put into words how this part of the race felt. It was so surreal and fairy tale like and unlike anything I imagined or experienced. Side note-The race officials cautioned the athletes that penalties would be given if the rules were not followed. No drafting is allowed and you must be 3 bike lengths apart. Pass on our left. They have these big burly men with tattoos riding on motorcycle bikes. They have the refs on their backs taking numbers down to issue penalties. Crazy, I haven’t experienced this before. I continue to bring my numbers up and then hold for 10 minutes. I am passing other bikers. I was passed by a few men but that is it. I hit the turnaround point and one lady passes me as I am in a wrong gear going up a tiny incline. This is where the fun begins. There are three of us total, a man, and my lady in blue who stick together as neither of us plans to give up our position. We all are passing other bikers and each taking the lead at one point or another for the next 13 miles. The fun part was it was all within my HR zone, I committed no crimes here. Now here is where I make a small error. I was to bring my hr up another 10 beats for the last few miles. As I start to do this, I see race officials guiding me back into the park. I have to slow down some as there are about 5 speed bumps ahead. My power tap shows 22.4 miles, how the heck do I make an error like this? Oh well…keep going. I get off my bike and proceed to run with my bike shoes on. This feels foreign and I don’t like it. I see my lady in blue pulled over to the side taking her shoes off so I do the same so I can sprint to the bike rack. My husband greets me as I get off my bike and says nice job. He has followed me to the run transition and proceeds to ask me how the swim felt. I mumble fine. He then asks about the bike, again I mumble fine. He tells me great job and to have a great run. Now I am very appreciative of the support he offered me but it throws me off a bit. My goal was to put socks/shoes on and grab hat/race belt and head out to the run. Instead I find myself putting on my hat, than getting socks/shoes on. I do however grab the belt and take off.

I love running, always have and always will. I focus on being relaxed and to maintain good posture for my first mile. I have my flask which contains two gels mixed with water. Side note- practice drinking water while running. I failed miserably today. The first time I got a drop of water and wore the rest on my face. The second time I only got a small gulp. While on my first loop, I develop this terrible side ache which lasted a few minutes. All I can think of is the pain. I try to think of something else but I fail miserably. I finally work thru it and life is good again. I really need to find out what causes this so I can do my best to avoid these all together. I have Ace of Base melody, “the sign “playing in my head now. It’s a peppy song and that is what I need right now. I struggle with keeping my hr against plan because I am hot. Long story short but I have a bad sun burn and the hot sun beating down on me is killing me. I feel like there is a magnifying glass upon me. I look forward to some shady spots ahead. I am only off by a few beats so I shouldn’t worry too much. Okay, back to my water dilemma. I come to my second loop and grab some water; it goes down my air pipes. I start coughing and I have to slow down a bit. This is crazy, what am I a newbie. I take my last sip of gel a ways down and I stop and walk at the next water station so I can actually drink some water. I get back into a run and focus on getting into a rhythm. I bypass the last water station since I am headed to the finish line. I pick up my HR a few beats and I now running with 2 guys. One drops off and the other continues to run with me. I hear him say good luck and then he stops and walks because of leg cramps. I have .75 miles left. I get passed by a girl at half mile and I wait until I believe I am a quarter mile away and go into a full sprint, thus passing her. I hear the announcer guy say that it’s going to be a battle and who is it going to be. I believe that he is talking about the girl I just passed so I proceed to run faster. I sprint across the finish line. I turn in my chip and grab a Gatorade. Oh wait time check please…I see 2 hours 47 minutes. Kevin congratulates me and says nice job…way to push it. He says I did 3:02 in which I look at him wide-eyed and with the biggest cheesiest grin ever I say nope, I think I just did 2: 47. I show him my watch and he can’t believe it, heck I can’t believe it.

Here is what I do know. There were 25 girls in my age group. I was the 22nd girl out of the water. I came in 3rd place with my bike and 11th place for my run to earn myself an 8th place finish for my AG. This is by far my favorite race because its fun and I topped 10. If you asked me about specific spots on the bike, I would have no idea. I could however give you details of what some of the athletes were wearing, specifically the two I hung out with. The run, this is where I savored the day and focused on having fun. I took in all the sites around me and marveled in the day’s beauty.
I later learned the announcer was talking about the girl ahead of me who came in 3 seconds faster and claimed the 7th place AG spot. Next time:)

Swim -22-38:45 -2:35
T1-2:22
Bike-3 -1:06:56 -22.4
T2- 1:50
Run-11 - 55:48 - 9:00
Time- 2:45:40

Nutrition:
Bike-1 bottle of carb pro/eload and half bottle of water
Run – 2 gels

Prep Days prior to Honolulu Triathlon

I arrive in Honolulu on Thursday night around 10 pm. Flight is etremely long and I am super exhausted. My hubby picked me up, we head for a quick bite and then off to bed, it’s now 11:30 pm.

A friend of ours lent us their bike boxes for this trip, in which I am extremely grateful for. My friend helps me pack my bike since Kevin is already in Hawaii on business (okay I watched). In packing the front tire I noticed that it definitely needs replacement. It will have to wait till I get to Honolulu.

It’s Friday morning and I call my step-dad in-law to see what was on his agenda is for the day. Kevin has business to attend to so I am on my own for most of the day. Rusty is taking a walk in the nearby vicinity while Kevin and I are having coffee. I end up leaving with Rusty since he offers to take me to the bike shop. So there I am off to run errands. The only 650 tire the bike shop carries are a Gatorskin tire which work out perfectly. I also purchase some CO2 cartridges to pump up my tires, since neither Kevin nor I packed a tire pump. Off to the grocery store and then finally back to my hotel to put my bike together. It’s already 1 in the afternoon, not a lot of time left in the day. It’s now time to put the bike together. OMG, the back tire is shot. I am mad at myself that I didn’t check this prior but I also didn’t know that I would be running errands in the am, so can’t be too mad at myself. Hmmm, I will need to see if I can get another ride to the shop for another tire. My window for my long bike ride is getting shorter. My husband and I decide to go for quick 15-20 minute swim to see how the water feels. The water temp feels great but the salt was killing me. Off to Rusty’s hotel to get our errands started. It’s mandatory to attend a race briefing prior to getting race packets and lucky for the participants they are scheduled every hour. We get there just as one is beginning, how perfect is this. No joke, it’s in another language. Another participant asks if they will be speaking English and she kindly says no, She mentions the slides are in English so that should suffice, so we stay. It is dinner time so we grab our friends and head to dinner. No time for a bike ride. I am pretty exhausted so we head back to the hotel and am in bed by 8:45 pm.

It’s a beautiful Saturday morning. Prior to doing our swim and run workouts we decide to go eat breakfast. It’s a 15 minute walk to the park from our hotel so this is plenty of time to let the food settle and find spots by the water to put our belongings. It’s hot outside. My schedule says a 30 minute run below my AET. Kevin is laughing at me because of how slow my run is and he expresses his concern that at that pace I might not finish. I ask what pace I am at since he has the Garmin watch and he proceeds to run at my pace which are 12:20 min miles. My long runs should be at 11:16 so yes this is slow. I can only imagine the heat is driving up my heart rate up. We head over to the water where the buoys are all set up and oh boy……..that is the longest mile of buoys I have ever seen. Here’s the truth. Swimming is not a strong skill that I possess. Swimming sets off all these emotions which come over me like a tidal wave. Panic and fear take over each and every time. I especially don’t like the feeling of being swum over, which happens to me often since I am a slow swimmer. I CAN swim, I do it in the pool 2-3 times a week yet it’s different than open water. Today I imagine I am in a large salty pool with happens to have no pool lanes. I plan to swim out for 15 minutes and then turn around and come back. I was all over the place. I was way out to the right so I would correct myself and then I would find myself way over to the left. This was ongoing and a little scary. I need a game plan, how about every 6 strokes I site. Better, much better. My return trip took 5 minutes longer, not a good sign but nothing I can do about it. We head back to the hotel where I read a book on the patio and Kevin takes a nap. We head over to the park to drop off our bikes and then we plan to head off to an early dinner. While getting ready for dinner I notice that I am completely burnt and it hurts. We set-up for race day and decide to go to bed at 9 pm.

Midnight Kevin calls my name and I answer. I ask what time it is and I am annoyed at the time. Neither of us can sleep. I am unable to sleep because of my sunburn and I still can’t believe how burnt I am. I go back to bed as I have to get up at 3:45 am.