Five
days later, and I am still pinching myself to make sure that Ironman Coeur D’Alene
was real. I almost don’t know where to
start with this blog post!
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| Aloha baby! |
HIGHLIGHT REEL: 11:16:03! 4th AG, 12th female overall, Kona Slot –
BOOM!!! The swim was choppy, the bike was hot/hilly/windy, and the run was
super hot! My age group was SUPER competitive, with 3 minutes separating 3-5
and 17 SECONDS between me and 3rd! Seriously just the best day ever! I got to share the race course with 5 other
#muddylove athletes, and 5 other Coeur sisters.
It was truly an amazing boost every time we shared a smile, cheer, or
(at the end of the run) a simple thumbs up.
The day was unreal, I fell even more in love with this sport, and I can’t
wait to line up on another starting line in less than 6 weeks!
For
the nitty gritty of the day, hunker down – it might take just as long for you
to read as it did for me to race!!!
Pre
Race: I
flew into Spokane on Thursday and went directly to check in. Spotted all my muddy peeps, obviously took
some ridiculous photos with Eileen, bought lots of things from the merch tent, then checked into our fantastic rental house and did a gigantic Safeway run. Then it was time for recovery boots and bed!
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| Behind the scenes to our photo shoot on the beach ;) |
Friday
– swim/run, shopping, and boots. Oh and
prepped our bags! We were so relaxed in the house that we wondered “what else
should we do? Oh…right…we have to check
our bags in tomorrow!! Duh!” Clearly we
weren’t stressing about the race.
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| Hoping to look like this on #raceday! |
Saturday
– this is when the real fun started.
Bike/run, bike check in, then the rest of the Sherpa squad arrived! Traditional pre-race dinner of Thai food: Basil
Chicken, heaps of rice, and Mango Sticky Rice for dessert!
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| #mulletduo is ready to race! |
Race
Day!
– as per tradition, I got to transition super early with my mom so that she
could get all settled in for her body marking volunteer duties. I jammed to my Eugene Marathon playlist, put
in my race day braids, and kept the calories going.
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| Traditional Pre-Race Bodymarking selfie with mom! |
I was calm but excited as I put the last of
my nutrition in my bags, pumped up my tires and shimmied into my wetsuit before
heading down to the beach. As always, it’s
a pretty special experience to be surrounded by hundreds of people about to
embark on an incredibly hard but amazing day.
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| Lake Coeur D'Alene |
Swim: 1:12.16 - I PR'd by a minute (I know I improved much more
than that, but the conditions were really rough, so I'm happy with where I was) The lake was pretty choppy from the get go,
and I felt seasick at beginning of first loop, then the back side turnaround
had HUGE swells! But my body adapted to
the rise and fall of the chop and the seasick feeling went away before the
second loop.
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| Right on target |
When I came out of the water to start the
second loop I was right on target for 1:10 split, but second loop was choppier,
so I feel ok about not quite hitting that goal. On the second loop I found some
lovely feet, which was super helpful. I
would peek up now and then, but he was swimming a pretty straight line and I
was pushing to stay with him – not sure
if it slowed me down or made me faster but made for a pleasant experience!
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| Hoping I made Coach Tom proud! |
Gear:
Roka Maverick X full sleeve wetsuit, R1 goggles in Arctic Mirror, Coeur Sports Team One
Piece tri suit, Coeur Sports Team sports bra.
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| Off to my happy place #bikelove! |
Bike: 5:47.20 - third fastest bike split in my age group (7th
overall female) Not a PR, but there was
about 4k feet more climbing, and some significant headwinds on the way out of
town, so again - Pumped!
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| #headdowndowork |
I
realized after the first out and back (around 14 miles/45 minutes in) that I hadn’t
even finished one bottle. I knew it was
going to be a scorcher, even though it was shady and cool during that first
part. As the second aid station was
coming up, I downed my bottle of water, grabbed one for my cage in the back and
stuck another one down my sports bra. I continued that for the rest of the
ride! So I ended up drinking AT LEAST 12
bottles. I peed 8 times on the bike!
#soproud
There
is one point on the bike, somewhere around mile 27ish that is a false flat but
honestly looks like it’s a slight downhill.
I was riding near another guy and as I came up to pass him, I asked “am
I crazy or does this look like it should be downhill”…he responded that it
looked uphill to him! Well screw
you! Silly man! Other than a bit of a headwind – nothing crazy,
but it was noticeable on the way west of town – the bike was pretty
uneventful! I steadily made my way from
11th AG out of the water to 3rd AG off the bike! I had bigger hopes in terms of time, but
based on the conditions, I am super pleased…and I definitely learned that you
can’t always judge your race based on time because of the conditions, have to
look at it comparatively to the other racers
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| Wheeeeee!!!!!! |
The
volunteers (in the whole race, but especially on the bike course) were AWESOME –
honestly, such a hot day, and out on 95, they were standing on blacktop in the
baking sun, but they were enthusiastic, and ready to go!
One
of my biggest goals was to hit my nutrition, because that is what failed me at
IMAZ. Proud to say that my nutrition was
on point!! Mainly because I want to remember this for the future, here’s what I
took in (I don’t go by total calories, just by macros):
- Goal:
250-300g carbs, 20 g protein, 50-100g caffeine / hour
- Actual:
4 clif blocks (200- 50g carb each) - 2 salted watermelon, 2 black
cherry (100g caffeine each);
3 ritz sandwich crackers (60- 20g carb each),
1 choc/cherry clif shot (20 + 100g caffeine);
2 bottles: each with 10g protein (Optimum Nutrition
chocolate/coconut) + 20g carbs (unflavored pure dextrose)
1 hot shot at mile 90ish
I
had about 2 pieces of clif blocks and 2 ritz crackers leftover
- My
second bottle of carbs/protein stayed frozen/cold until I needed in starting
the second loop, and I didn’t drop any of my nutrition, so I didn’t stop at
special needs
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| Fun time is over |
Gear:
Giro Aerohead helmet, Louis
Garneau Tri-400 Triathlon Cycling Shoes, Enve 6.7 wheels, Cervelo P3 Di2
Run: 4:09.25 - Nearly 37 minute Ironman marathon PR, ZERO GI
issues, and it was faster than my first 2 open marathons! I ran almost the
entire thing, walking aid stations only after mile 15.
It
was SUPER hot on the run (not quite like 2015, but still a scorcher) so it was
ALL about ice, water, sprinklers, hotshots, and singing “I will not break down
on the run” to the beat of the new Taylor Swift song! I am absolutely most proud of this leg of the
race. I never had a super dark moment (I
had a slightly dim section between miles 15-19ish, but it was never terrible. I just got in a zone an kept moving forward. Just like in Arizona, my training buddy Jeff
and I started the run right around the same time and I spotted him when I was
just exiting the park. I yelled out to him with a big wave and eventually
caught up to him. If I’m having a good
day at our Tuesday track practices, I can settle in right behind him…and we
were able to run together for about the first 4 miles! We were either next to each other, or one was
just ahead, but in the same rhythm. It
was a pretty cool experience.
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| Ready to go to "the dark place" |
I
knew that the 35-39 females were going to be a competitive age group, and at
every turnaround, I saw the same ladies, not too far back. I knew that I couldn’t let up because we were
all so close. No one was falling back
and it was a huge motivation. On loop
one of the run, Ginny just flew past me on her way to a blazing run split and 2nd
AG in her FIRST ironman! So amazing. I knew that Emma (3rd place) was
right on my tail and hunting me down (I saw her checking out the age on my calf
at one of the turnarounds!!! She was on a mission!), and she passed me just after
the turnaround on the third lap around mile 19.
Because of the rolling start, I didn’t quite realize how close we
were. But I didn’t get down after she
passed…I just kept running my pace, nice and steady. Had I known that she was only 17 seconds
faster, I might not have walked that last hill, run a little faster down Sherman,
picked up the pace just a tad, but I honestly have zero regrets.
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| Getting in the zone |
I
felt “great” the whole run. I mean, how
good can you really feel during an Ironman marathon…but I RAN almost the entire
thing. I walked only the aid stations,
and not until mile 15 or so. Even then,
I didn’t walk until the first table of the aid station and immediately started
running again at the last table.
As
for my nutrition, I didn’t quite hit all my numbers but had ZERO GI issues,
never felt like bonking, and didn’t feel sleepy like I did at IMAZ
- Goal:
160-220g carbs, 10 g protein, 50-100g caffeine / hour
- Actual:
1 bottle: 10g protein (Optimum Nutrition chocolate/coconut) + 20g
carbs (unflavored pure dextrose) frozen and surprisingly still cold in my Run
Bag
2 chocolate coconut GU Roctanes (40g carb)
2 choc/cherry clif shot (40 + 200g caffeine)
1/3 banana and 1 orange slice at miles 21 and 24
Coke at miles 21 and 24
I
finished my bottle at around mile 21, then tossed it so I wouldn’t have to
carry it anymore
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| Make it hurt and hold it... |
The
one think I need to figure out is how to address the cramping in my Vastus
Medialis and my Achilles/foot. I was on
the razor edge of cramping the whole time, just like in the 70.3 and the end of
the Eugene marathon. I drank about 5-6 Hot
Shots, which would help for a bit, but the feeling would come back. I took in a bunch of BASE salt, but it didn’t
go completely away… Always something to
learn in an Ironman!
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| Spectating is serious business |
I
had my watch face showing my pace until about mile 3 (where I was trying to get
myself to slow down so I didn’t go out too hot), then switched it over to just
my heart rate, which I didn’t really even look at. I just literally just ran. I just clicked away the miles until I got to
take the arrows point to “finish” instead of to “laps 2/3”. Making that final turn down Sherman was
unbelievable. I knew that I had made the
podium, and finishing in the daylight was so so cool.
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| Pure Joy! |
Before hitting the finish line, you get to
run along Sherman Ave. for 6 blocks.
The streets are lined with spectators cheering, and you really get to
revel in what you just did. The finish
at IMCDA is soooo much better that IMAZ which is just a tiny turn and then you’re
there. I saw my mom and her cowbell, and
a giant high five to my husband, then I was there! I had done what I set out to do!
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| High five with my man! |
I
know I sound crazy, but I felt so great after.
I was able to eat, right after the race (and lots after) unlike IMAZ
where I could barely stomach a milkshake until hours later. I think my post race pizza count was 4 giant
slices – basically the equivalent of a whole one for myself!
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| Coach Muddy |
Gear:
Nike Zoom Pegasus 34 (goldilocks shoes!), Feetures socks, Trislide (on feet
before socks = no blisters FTW!), Coeur Sports Race Belt, Nathan handheld,
Coeur Sports Team visor
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| Completely in a daze The day went by in a flash! |
Post
race:
After taking lots of pictures, I chatted with Coach Muddy and John, saw Jeff
cross the finish line, turned an insta friend into a real life one, then headed
to our house for a shower and Ice bath.
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| The sun was on fire, and the volunteers were still working hard! |
Then my mom and I went back down to Sherman for the Root Beer Float that
I had been dreaming about since June and cheered until #mullettduo PIC rounded
the corner onto Sherman. Definitely
teared up – she crushed both her swim and bike goals, and fought through a
tough run to a shiny new PR. It was
really great to be out at the finish line cheering. I had lofty goals to do that at IMAZ, but one
I got back to the house I wasn’t moving – it was really great to see so many
smiles as everyone made that last turn to the finish line.
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| PR CITY!!! |
Monday: I started the
morning reliving the race at the athlete breakfast with my Coeur teammies. It was just awesome to share the course with
these ladies. Our kits were easy to
spot, and sharing encouraging words and smiles with everyone on the course made
each lap much more bearable! The awards
ceremony was so cool. I was honored to
be up on that stage with such speedy ladies, and it was great to meet the women
who pushed me all day long. I still can’t
believe how close 3-5 were. Everyone put
up a great fight.
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| Team Coeur: Lilias, Heidi, Stephanie, Kim, me :) |
Going
into this race, my goal for the season was to make it onto the podium (top 5…my
mom and husband were confused and though I was delusional when I said I made
the podium – they thought it was only top 3).
While I had hopes of an outside chance at a Kona slot, anything more
than a podium would be icing on the cake.
Well…thank goodness for ageing up!
The female 35-39 age group was the biggest women’s AG by almost double,
and with the additional slots that IMCDA had for its sunset year, we were
originally given 3 slots. Rumor was that
the winner of the race (and our AG) wasn’t going to take hers, and during the awards
ceremony, the second place lady said she wasn’t taking hers!!! Squeal! I didn’t want to get my hopes up just in case
the winner showed up, or Ginny changed her mind. Then, the AMAZING and super badass 70-74 year
old female declined her slot (because she already had one!!! Seriously I want
to be her when I grow up) and it was reallocated to our AG for a total of 4
slots…Holy cow, no question about it, I WAS GOING TO KONA!!!!!
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| Women's 35-39 Podium! |
As
they worked their way through the announcements, my excitement grew and as soon
as I heard my name, I jumped up and practically ran to the stage to get my lei
and super important piece of paper to sign my life away. Unless you win your AG outright, getting to
Kona always involves a little bit of luck – a combination of how many slots the
race has, how big your age group is, who shows up to the race, and how your individual
race shakes out. The way it worked out,
the third, fourth, AND fifth place finishers in my AG are ALL going to Kona. I am so happy to share another course with
those ladies and I am incredibly happy that everyone got a slot, given how
tight our race was!
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| Aloha bitches! |
I
truly cannot believe that I will be racing in Kona in 5 short weeks with the
very best in the world. With the short
turnaround and the fact that this wasn’t even on my radar at the beginning of
the season, it will be a week-long Celebration on Life, as Coach Muddy likes to
say.
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| Mantras to get me through the race, inspired by Erin at sweetsweatlife.com |
A
huge thank you to everyone who played a part in this journey: Coach Muddy,
Coach Tom, massage therapist Dave, nutrition coach Alex, NCFit, La Dolce Velo,
Coeur Sports and all my teammates, Mom, Dad, #mullettduo Eileen, and most
importantly, my amazing husband.
