Race Report: Ironman Coeur d'Alene 2012 Part 1

Grab a coffee and a snack and maybe a blankie and pillow - this is gonna be a long one! I had to post it in three parts so the blogger software didn't melt down.

Dan, Adam and I arrived in Coeur d'Alene on the Wednesday before the race so I had several days to obsess over the looming race and try to keep myself off the ledge. I did a few swims in the lake, biked one loop of the run course, and did a couple of short runs, which felt good and helped to blow off a little steam. I checked in for the race on Thursday and got my wristband. The pre-race dinner was on Friday. They showed some videos that were very exciting but you could still feel the anxiety and nerves in the room. On Saturday, I dropped my bike off in transition and left my bike and run gear bags in one of the long rows, ready to use the next day.

I did a pretty good job of holding myself together those few days before the race. I just tried to focus on the excitement of being there to do an Ironman! On Saturday night, we went for dinner and then for a little walk by some of the beautiful waterfront houses near our hotel. I became suddenly overwhelmed and started to cry and Dan had to console me. It didn't last long, though, and that was really the only bad moment I had.

I had a pretty good sleep the night before the race. We got up at 4:00 a.m. and I showered and then we had breakfast. We left the hotel around 5:00 and arrived in transition at 5:15. I put my nutrition on my bike and pumped up my bike tires. Several of us chatted while we got set up. There were lots of first timers in my row. It was a surprisingly relaxed atmosphere. I felt like I had lots of time so I went to make sure my transition bags were still there and then I went in the change tent and put on my bathing suit and pulled my wetsuit up halfway.

At 6:15, I left transition and headed toward the beach. There was an incredible sea of green and pink swim caps! They told us we couldn't do a warm-up swim but a few people got in at the edge of the water anyway, so I did, too. I put my face in and let the water fill my wetsuit. The water was cold. It had been all week but it was reportedly a little colder on race morning (57 degrees F). I swam about 20 strokes. It was enough for me to feel that I had fulfilled my ritual and that I'd be OK getting back in. I found a spot on the beach and waited. I listened to the Star Spangled Banner with my hand on my heart so I could feel the moment. At two minutes to seven, I said to myself, "I am here at Ironman and this is incredible." I closed my eyes and listed the names of the people who had supported me and encouraged me and wished me well, many of whom had done this distance. I felt calm and ready.

The Swim
The cannon went off! I had situated myself about 3/4 of the way to the back of the pack, just right of the buoys. When the gun went, I started walking, didn't wait, just got in and started swimming. I knew the mass start with about 2200 people would be amazing and indeed it was! Bodies everywhere! But I just swam and kept looking for the next space to slide myself into and whenever I found some feet to follow, I stuck with them. The course goes counter-clockwise, 900m out, 100m across, 900m back and then you make a short beach run and get back in for a second loop. The first 900m was fine. It was very crowded but I felt strong and not nervous and kept plugging along. It was congested at the first turn but I expected that. At the second turn, I was just about around the buoy when I was suddenly thrown forward about six feet by a huge wave then went over my head. I thought, "Wow! Where did that come from?" I kept swimming then but noticed that it was a little rougher than the way out. Still, I arrived at the beach at the 45 minute mark, faster than I expected to be so I was pretty happy about that. The second loop, however, was an entirely different story! The waves had really picked up. There were still people everywhere and we were all being thrown around quite a bit in the chop. I found that I would have to lift my head high to breathe and then dive back into the next wave. Sometimes I mistimed it and got a mouthful of water so I swallowed quite a lot of the lake! At the turnaround buoys, we were side-on to the waves so we were thrown around a little bit. I actually did not feel nervous or anxious about the situation, though. I just raised my head when I needed to and got around the second turn. It was hard to sight heading back to the beach because of the height of the waves but I finally found something large on the beach to focus on. I did start to think that it would be nice to get out of the lake but I felt strong all the way to the end of the swim and the waves certainly took my mind off the cold! My swim time was 1:40:24. I expected to be around 1:45 so I was pretty pleased with my time, especially considering the conditions.

T1
The swim to bike transition took me 12:13. The wetsuit strippers got me out of my suit and I ran over to get my bag. In the change tent, I got all my biking stuff on with the help of a wonderful volunteer who helped me pull everything on over my wet body. Outside the tent, more volunteers slathered me with sunscreen (although they missed the back of my shoulders, which I did not realize at all, so I have a pretty fabulous sunburn!). I ran toward my bike and another volunteer unracked it, handed it to me, and pointed me in the direction of the bike out arch. Pretty slick. Pretty amazing volunteers.

Continued in Part 2...