Ironman Coeur d’ Alene

The Rolling Stones lyrics, ” You can’t always get what you want and if you try sometime, you find you get what you need” accurately described my Ironman experience.  I was plagued with an annoying case of tendonitis that left me sidelined for a couple weeks of training prior to Ironman.  The setback kept me off the bike for a couple weeks and left me with only 50 miles of running in the 5 weeks leading into the race.  Normally the run is a strength for me but this time around I was very nervous for 26.2 miles of pain.  On Monday afternoon I had yet another setback; as if the injury was not enough!  I came down with a bad case of food poising and spent all day in serious pain losing fluids and calories.  The sickness passed fairly quickly but impacted me for several days and I was finally able to start eating normal again on the Thursday before the race.  I was left a little weak and made my best attempt to replinish my stores with anything I could get my hands on.  I did not get what I wanted leading into Ironman!

Team Montana

Despite the setbacks I knew that I could learn a ton from racing in what has become the hometown Ironman for Montana folks.  Adam Jensen, Matt Shryock, and I loaded up and headed for CDA on Friday morning.  The weather was still a little chilly and did not exactly feel like summer.  After dipping a finger in the lake I decided I would save my swimming for race day.  We busied ourselves dialing in our bikes, eating, and relaxing as much as possible.  Jake from Zoot sports took the whole Zoot squad out for dinner on Friday evening.  It was great to catch up with some of the other Zoot sponsored athletes.  The weather began to turn for the better and temperatures appeared to be heading into the 70′s.  As we prepared for bed I knew the Montana Iron Fans were just rolling out to take over Coeur d’ Alene for an evening of debauchery.  Fueled with mixed drinks and street meat the Montana crew would be primed and ready for a full day of cheering.

Mounting the new Ridley Dean!

Race morning started as normal with a stiff cup of drip and then it was off to transition.  The best part about Ironman is that you show up race morning and nearly everything is done.  Other than the long wait in the porter potty line I really had nothing to do other then slip into my Zoot Prophet wetsuit.  The water was freezing!  I jumped in for what turned into a pre-race cool down and then toed the line in  the small professional field.  It was awesome standing shoulder to shoulder with some of the best athletes in Ironman racing including 2x Ironman world champion, Craig Alexander.  The cannon sounded and I immediately jumped onto a swimmers feet and set out for the 2.4 mile swim.  The race quickly sorted itself out and Olly Piggen, a Canadian, found himself towing Team Montana around lake Coeur d’Alene.  Adam, Matt, and I exited the water in just over and hour and ran into transition on what felt like peg legs.  After a speedy transition I mounted the Ridley Dean and set out for the 112 mile bicycle journey.  The start of the ride was cool and only after about 20 miles I finally warmed up.  I  really made a big effort to keep my heart rate low for the first hour before I opened up the engine to full throttle.  After about 30 miles I was dropped by Matty “Ice” and Olly on a small hill.  I started to go with them but my heart rate was getting to high so I let them go.  After about 60 miles I caught back up to Ice and my legs started to come around a little.  The whole ride I felt kind of flat and did not find the legs that I was wishing for.  I dismounted the Ridley Dean in just over 5 hours of cycling and headed out onto the run course.

Surprisingly my legs felt really good heading out onto the run!  After a quick stop in a porta potty I was ready to go.  I started the run a little hot, well maybe I started the run way to hot!  I was running 6:30 pace for the first 6 miles, which probably killed my run.  I slowed to mid 7′s for the second 6 miles and finally into the 8 minute pace range for the final half marathon.  Ironman is grueling race, and I quickly found myself in a deep dark place.  I attempted to embrace the pain and after desperately grabbing for some magic fuel at an aide station a cup of chicken broth helped me bounce back.  I instantly was much more aware of what was going on and knew that I could make it through the final 6 miles.  I made it through the marathon thanks to 2 cups of warm chicken broth at mile 18.  After what felt like several hours of running I made the turn onto Sherman Avenue and grabbed a cowboy hat for the final stretch.  I crossed the line in 9:34 after struggling through a 3:22 marathon.  Not my best result, but not my worst.  The best part of Ironman CDA was that I once again got excited about Ironman, learned a lot about my body, dialed in my nutrition, and had fun!  After 2 weeks I recovering I’m ready to toe the line once again at Rev 3 half ironman in Portland, Oregon.  My recovery consisted of short workouts, lots of quadrolling, Compex, and sleep.  I’m off to Portland!