Jon's 2014 IMCDA Race Report

Ironman Coeur d’Alene Race Report

This was my first Ironman.  I have done a Half Ironman before and a couple of Olympic distance triathlons before.  This is the first race report I have written so I might be a bit long but I wanted to try to get everything written down.  Since it was my first the main goal was to simply finish the race (not so simple actually).  I had a knee injury earlier this year that caused some interruption in my Ironman training, so just finishing became even more important.  I had been training with my friend Peter (also an Endurance Nation team member).   We both began our Ironman journey at the same time.

On Saturday leading up to the race I had a large breakfast (omelet and pancakes).  Ate lunch in town at a Greek restaurant that was recommended by a veteran of IMCDA.  After lunch I started the process of getting all the bags together for the race.   Once the bags were in order I had a light pasta dinner and tried to sleep.  Throughout the day I had been drinking 64oz of Perform and 64of water to hydrate myself for the race.

I had mixed feelings and expectations for this race.  I was injured earlier this year, which caused me to rethink how I should approach training and execution of the race.  I didn’t get as much Ironman training in as I would have liked so going into the race I was very worried about the run.  I felt better about the swim since I had been swimming while injured and have been improving greatly in the last couple of months.  I felt strongly that I could do the bike, but I would have to back off a little on it to save for the run.

Here is how the day went:

Woke up at 3:15am to drink a smoothie to get some calories in me to start the day.  I mixed a bottle of Perform to sip on while I waited to get into the water for the swim.  Got dressed in my tri bib and tri top, put some warmer clothes on top since it was in the 40’s that morning.

Got to transition to put the finishing touches on getting my bike setup, put on the torpedo bottle and filled it with Perform, pumped the tires and put on my Garmin.  Once things looked good went lakeside with Peter to watch the Pros start their race.  Once the Pros started I began climbing into my wetsuit and getting ready to start my race.

Got the wetsuit on and then put the clothes I was wearing into the morning clothes bag and handed it to a volunteer minutes before they closed transition and headed for the water to start warming up.  Since I had done a practice swim a couple days before I was not too worried about the temperature of the water, I was more concerned with the choppiness of the water.  During the practice swim the water was choppy and it made it hard to get clean breathes since I would get a face full of water when I tried to breathe.  On race the day the water was even choppier.

The Swim:

Time: 1:29:47 (my fastest swim ever)

Pace: 2:19/100m

After warming up a little (which included peeing in my wetsuit to get warm), we had to start lining up for the swim start.  At IMCDA to avoid a bloody massacre in the water there is a corralled start.  You are supposed to place yourself amongst swimmers of the same strength, this attempt to avoid being swum over or swimming over lots of people.

I placed myself in the 1:15-1:30 group and then waited as we slowly made our way to the start line.  Once I got into the water I had a period of time where I needed to get my bearings and find the buoys that I would use for sighting.  While the water was very choppy and on the way out I did have to fight a current, I was able to get into a rhythm and get comfortable.  I only had to stop once due to multiple people in front of me with nowhere for me to go except on top of them which was not very conducive to swimming.  Other than that I was able to keep swimming and I even passed a few people, which almost never happens.  The current did have a nice benefit on the way back to shore, which I was just fine with taking advantage of.

The IMCDA swim course is a two-loop course, so you have to exit the water and then reenter it after a very short walk on the shore.  I had some confidence from the first lap so I felt really good going into the second.  Again, I was able to pass people and maintain a nice rhythm.   I finished the swim feeling pretty good, exited the water and made my way to the changing tent to get into my bike gear.

Note:  I must have peed on the swim at least 7 times (not including when I peed during the warm-up)

T1: 11:57 (need to work on that)

The Bike…:

Time: 8:28:08 (not my day for the bike)

I started the bike fixated on making sure I stuck to my watts so that I would not hurt my run in anyway.  That caused me to be well under my intended watts for the first half of the bike leg.  Whenever I would see my watts go up I would think to myself “How is that going to affect your run?” which could cause me to slow down.  Once I got out onto the highway I thought I would be able to pick it up and maintain my watts better (I was wrong).  Once I got onto the highway I felt the urge to pee (even after peeing so much on the swim).  Up until that point I had never peed on my bike and I was determined not to on this race.

I saw an aid station on the opposite side of the road and decided not to stop there.  Since I did not study the location of the aid stations too deeply I was not sure if there would be another one on the same side as me up ahead.  Convincing myself there wouldn’t be another aid station up ahead I turned around (after riding a mile past the aid station) and stopped at the aid station.  Along with having to pee so bad I thought my bladder was going to explode I was having some GI issues which caused me to have to do something that could not be done on the bike.  After using the porta potty for all its worth, I was on my way.

I felt much better after that porta potty session and continued the race.  There was an aid station ahead but I don’t think I would have been able to make it in time so I feel I made the right decision (even though it cost me 2 extra miles).  By the time I got to the next aid station I had to pee again.  After leaving this aid station about 10 minutes later I had to pee yet again just as badly as the first time and my GI issues sprang up again.  This time I was fairly certain there was no aid station close enough so I had to venture into the world of peeing on the bike.  At first it wasn’t easy,  but once you get the hang of it, it just flows.

I was consuming only Perform on the bike and had a salt tab (with caffeine) every hour.  Along with the salt tab, every other hour I would take an additional electrolyte pill that contained ginger root, which helped a lot with my GI issues.

After about 25 miles I noticed that one of my bike cages was loose, I saw a sag motorcycle up ahead so I stopped to get it tightened so I would not lose any bottles.  I got going again and then realized how windy it was.  The wind was especially bad on race day.  Since I was so afraid of spiking my watts I make sure I did not push hard into the wind, which caused me to slow down dramatically.  In addition to the wind I was still needing to pee about every 10 minutes or so and having GI issues.  In total I had to stop at a porta potty on the bike course at least 3 times and peed on the bike about 10 times or more (I couldn’t always wait for a downhill which cost me some time).  All the stops really add up in addition to the fear of pushing too much.  On the second half I had gotten my GI issues under control and I was peeing on the bike so I didn’t have to stop as much.  I picked up the pace a bit and started passing a lot of people.

Towards the end of the bike I switched to drinking water instead of Perform for about the last 10 – 12 miles.  I think this helped settle my stomach and setup me up nicely for the run.

If I hadn’t let the fear of the run get to me and figured out the GI issues earlier I would have had a much better bike, but that is how the day played out and I learned a lot from it and will do better next time (I am already thinking about which Ironman to do next year).  I need to get better about maintaining my watts.

T2: 4:57

The Run:

Time: 5:20:25

After a fairly horrific bike I was ready for the run.  The run has always been my biggest fear (I did not do so well on the run during the race rehearsals).  I started the run feeling pretty good; I had to keep looking at my watch to make sure I was staying at the right pace.  I was going way too fast at first and needed to slow down.  Since this was my first Ironman and first marathon I wanted to pace myself conservatively, I kept to my long run + 30” pace for the first 6 miles.  After 6 miles I stayed at that pace (maybe a little slower) to ensure I could run the whole marathon (only walking the aid stations).  I saw Rich on the run and he reminded me to settle down and wait for mile 18. 

I got into a pretty good grove and felt good.  After about 6 or 8 miles the bottoms of my feet were not happy with me.  They would be in paid for the rest of the run, but I would not let that stop me.  I was determined to finish the race and run the whole marathon.  While I was not going fast I was running at a good pace for me and felt strong.  When we drove the course a couple days before the big “hill” worried me a little, but when I actually ran up it, it wasn’t too bad.  I had to control my decent since my feet and legs (at this point) were hurting.  I made the turn around and headed back to town for the first loop.

When I got back to town I thought to myself “how can I do that again”, but I was determine to keep going and just thought about each step being one step-closer to the finish line.  I got to mile 13 and picked up my special needs bag, put some Vaseline on just in case and then continued the run.   By this time it was starting to get dark.  Also at this time there were many many people walking and very few people running.  I was passing people left and right.

Once I hit mile 18 I tried to pick up the pace a little but my legs just weren’t cooperating at the time.  After a couple more miles of convincing my legs to more a little faster they started to move, but only slightly faster.  I figured if I ran faster it would be over sooner so I tried to keep a nice consistent pace that would get me to the finish faster.  I was feeling good and passing people didn’t hurt.

At the aid stations I would drink a cup of water and a cup of Perform.  About every hour I would take a gel but after the first one my stomach didn’t feel so great so I didn’t take as many gels as planned.  Towards the end of the run I started drinking cola thinking it would keep my stomach feeling good and give me some extra energy.  Like on the bike I pretty much peed at each aid station (I just couldn’t stop peeing).  I realize that probably means I was over hydrated but I didn’t want to deviate from my plan so I kept on drinking.  I rather pee all day long and be hydrated then be dehydrated and possibly bonk to avoid peeing.

On the way back into town after the second loop I was feeling good and kept increasing my pace as I got closer and closer to the finish line.  Once I made the turn onto the main street that I figured was the finish line chute I started to almost sprint knowing it would be over soon and I would feel amazing.  Coming down the chute to the finish line is an amazing feeling that is fueled by the energy of the crowd. 

It being my first ever marathon (in training 18 miles was the furthest I had ran), I am pleased with my time.  There is much room for improvement and I look forward to training hard and improving.

I felt good throughout the day (except for the GI issues on the bike) and didn’t feel at all like I was going to bonk.

Overall the story of the day is that I accomplished my goal of finishing an Ironman and has given me good reasons to do another one and keep improving.  As mentioned above, I am thinking about the next Ironman I will be signing up for.