Ironman Coeur d Alene 1: Dave C.

This is a first post - hopefully other participants will send my their stories and we can get them on the blog. send them to citydave@cox.net check out Johnny tri on the club blogger page http://1stepcloser2im.blogspot.com/.

Ironman is a franchise, a brand. If you enter one of these events you are basically guaranteed that it will be a quality well supported event. Ironman Coeur d Alene was no exception. There were great pre race activities including an athlete dinner; on race day there was an aid station every 10 miles on the bike and every mile on the run. You had volunteers helping you take off your wet suit and helping you change into your bike and run gear. As you left the changing tent they put sunscreen on you, at the end of the race they put me on a cot, covered me with foil blankets, and gave me a massage and pizza.

I arrived 3 days ahead of the race so I could do a little sight seeing and check out the course. I rode about 15 mile of the most difficult part of the bike and swam twice. The first day I got in the water it was 53 – it was ice cold at first until blood stopped circulating in the exposed parts of my body – my face and hands. Two days later it had warmed up 4 degrees and it was cool but comfortable.

They changed the course last year and now it is “more scenic” code words for it is hillier and more difficult. I tried to save some energy on the bike knowing I had the run ahead of me but it was hard the course was very hilly and you can’t hold back that much when you are going up a steep incline. It was a two loop course, each loop being 56 miles. I did great on the first loop but slowed down on the second because the wind really started to blow. You had to work just to go down hill – that sucks after 95 miles of up and down. I have the best tri-bike and wheel set up in the business so I had everything I needed for a good race. Chris my son and cheerleader managed to time it just right and cheered me on every time I passed through town – thanks Chris!!

I am an experienced - not talented - aging athlete 2 Ironman -19 Marathons, 12 half IM, many Olympic Triathlons. My average marathon finish has dropped from 4:10 to 4:30 over the last 8 years.

I have trained for all of the Marathons, and Ironman events, each one has been a struggle at some point but the grand-daddy of the struggle events is the Ironman. I trained - Biked 112 miles 4 weeks out and Ran the 20 miles 5 weeks out and all of the other stuff we do.

Still on race day I was cooked as I left the bike-to-run transition, now what. Here is what I did and it may be helpful to some of you. I quickly determined that I must have a plan; I worked on a run walk interval; I tested a couple out. I finally figured that if I ran 2 minutes and fast walked 30 seconds that I could sustain that for a while - maybe a long while – how long you never know. It was small enough so that even when I felt I couldn’t make it all the way through my second minute I could push myself. Can you believe someone has to push themselves to run a full two minutes – it was no joke for me. I did that for the next 23 miles or 4:45 min or approximately 130 times (I ran most of the last 3 miles). It got me through again; I was able focus on something other than my exhaustion. Advice from the old guy - think about creating that sustainable interval next time you have "had it" and keep rolling down until you get to the point where it works for you.

After my mental workout on the run I passed at last though the finishers chute. Chris was yelling and screaming and cheering me on the last block. As I passed though the chute a volunteer took my arm and asked how I was feeling. I said I would like to sit down. They brought me to the medical area and sat me down asked me if I wanted any pizza. I just wanted to barf. They kept checking on me Chris showed up but they wouldn’t let family in so he waited and watched. After about 10 minutes they helped me up and I tried to make it to the exit but I was too nauseous so they put me down on a cot and signed me up for a massage. A few minutes later they led me into the massage tent (my first time ever in an event). It was unbelievable how much better I felt afterwards! I was able to down 2 beers back at Carlson Race Headquarters - Motel 6.