Ironman Coeur d'Alene: Totally Awesome!

"I am an Ironman"

Although I had already competed in and completed one ‘Ultra Distance’ Triathlon, aka an Ironman distance Triathlon, I admit that I still felt like I was being slightly disingenuous calling myself an ‘Ironman’ until I had participated in an actual Ironman (trademarked) event.  However, since I participated in and finished the Coeur d’Alene Ironman, I no longer have any reservations calling myself an ‘Ironman.’   

Swim: 2.4 Miles

The first leg of the Ironman was a 2.4 mile swim in Coeur d’Alene Lake.  I am pretty sure all 2,800 participants of this race were nervously monitoring the water temperature of the lake.  The temperature had been in the low 50’s at some points during the week but fortunately as things warmed up later in the week the water temperature also inched up a little each day.  The water temperature was 59 degrees on race day, which was cold enough to shock and sting me for about the first 15 minutes or so but not so cold that it drastically hindered my progress.  Once my face and collar bones stopped stinging every time I bobbed under water I was fine.  The swim was ‘booty legal,’ which means the water is so cold that you are allowed to wear neoprene shoe-like booties.  I had never been in a race that was booty legal.  I guess they didn’t do everyone a whole lot of good though because after just a couple minutes in the lake I saw someone’s booty floating in the water.  Although I didn’t see the guy who did it, I was told that one man did the swim in a Speedo.  It is hard to imagine why someone would do this, maybe he lost a bet?  Maybe he is an Eskimo from Alaska?  Or maybe he is just even crazier than all the Ironman participants who paid to do a 140.6 mile Triathlon.

The signature mass start of the Ironman was an awesome sight to see and amazing experience to be in the middle of.  All 2,800 of us were anxiously waiting for the cannon to go off right at 7:00 am.  When the race director set it off, we all charged the lake and started swimming.  There were people everywhere in the water.  There were people behind me, in front of me, and to the side of me all bumping or kicking me.  At times it felt like I was swimming on top of somebody or someone was swimming on top of me.  Even though there were literally thousands of us swimming all at the same time and in almost the same place, I only had my goggles knocked off one time and the guy apologized to me.  In other races I have done with much smaller groups of racers I have had hands hit me in the head, go into my mouth, knock of my goggles, and poke me in the eye.

After about a half mile the herd thinned out enough that I could hit my stride and swim at a comfortable pace.  I am told that I had a dazed look on my face when I emerged from the 2.4 mile swim, so the cold water may have took more of a toll on me than I realized.  Overall though, I actually enjoyed the swim the most of any Triathlon I’ve done.  It was really fun to be in the middle of such whirlwind of swimmers, despite getting bumped and kicked a few times.  Like so many aspects of the Ironman race, there was just something special about being there with everyone else, caught up in the moment and feeling the adrenaline of finally starting the Ironman. 

Bike: 112 Miles

The 112 mile bike course was hands-down the most grueling bike ride I have ever done (see course elevation chart).  In all my previous races and in all the bike rides I have done in my training I’ve never had to climb hills as long and steep as the ones in this course that repeated time and time again.  While climbing the steep inclines was of course a challenge, it was pretty fun to go down them.  At one point when I was flying down the steepest hill, I managed to steal a glance at my GPS watch and saw that I was going 42 mph.  I have aerobars (the aerodynamic handles on the front of the bike that let a cyclist lay down very low on the bike) on my road bike so I was able to eliminate a lot of wind resistance on the declines. The entire course was hilly; I was either going up a hill or I was going down one.  Despite the difficulty of the bike course, I managed to finish with a really good time with an average pace of almost 20 mph.  Biking continues to be my strength.  I believe this is because I commute to work by bike and pretty much have biking engrained into my muscle memory and DNA at this point. 

My bike time would have been a little bit better if I hadn’t gotten an upset stomach and ridden for almost the first half the course with it.  I finally stopped and used a porta-potty and felt much better afterwards.  I was trying to grind through the bike course without having to stop but it became evident to me that I was going to have to stop one way or the other so I finally did.  Even though I felt much better after that, I could tell that my stomach was going to be delicate for the rest of the day.  I had to be very careful about what and how much I ate and drank for the rest of the race.  It seemed like whatever I ate or drank, my stomach started to hurt again so I basically had to just decide to go for a minimalist approach in calorie and fluid consumption.  I was able to get by with this approach, but not being optimally fuelled definitely slowed me down and fatigued me muscles sooner than they otherwise would have.  In other words, the race became more difficult because I wasn’t feeling 100% strong and healthy.  This didn’t stop me from enjoying it though.  I still relished each leg of the race and was able to exercise mental strength and a ‘mind over matter’ attitude to continue to push as hard as I could through the race.

At the end of the bike course, there were many volunteers waiting for you to just hop off your bike and run into the running transition area.  Even though this is a little thing, I thought it was really cool to not have to rack my own bike.  I guess it sort of made me feel like I was someone special or something or that I was racing in a really big important race.  I hadn’t ever had someone do that for me in a race before.  With the second leg of the race behind me, I proceeded into the transition tent to get ready for the last – but most daunting – leg of the race: the marathon.

Run: 26.2 Miles (Marathon)

After trading my clip-in bike shoes for my running shoes and my helmet for a visor, I took off on the 26.2 mile run.  I could feel from the very first step I took that the grueling bike course had taken a toll on my legs.  I expected this to be the case though and had still wanted to put as much as I could into the bike course because it is the longest portion of the race in terms of both distance and time.  I knew that if I logged a good time on the bike it would benefit me the most no matter how tired I was during the run because it’s not as large of a proportion of the race as the biking is. 

Even the running course was difficult.  There were some flat stretches of the course – local neighborhoods mostly – but the majority of the course was on a pedestrian/bike path that ran along a country road.  The path was alongside Coeur d’Alene Lake and winded through the scenic trees and mountains that this beautiful region has to offer.  There were spectators everywhere during the run.  The spectators provided lots of entertainment and were able to help take my mind off the pain in my legs, even if it was just for a moment.  Some of the more memorable signs were “Your legs hurt because you’re kicking so much butt!” and “Chuck Norris has never done an Ironman!”  Other encouraging signs that spectators held said things like “Pain is temporary, Pride lasts forever!”  Signs like that one gave me a boost.  The one spectator I will probably never forget though was a really funny guy wearing a huge rainbow wig and possibly nothing else; well, nothing else that you could see anyway.  He was covering himself by holding a large sign that said “Run fast or I drop the sign!”  After passing him – by running fast – I saw that he was wearing shorts thankfully, but it was still quite a memorable spectator.  A lot of signs out on the trail had messages that were clearly meant for specific runners.  One such sign was a reminder to someone that if he finished under a certain time that he would win a bet with someone and that that other person would have to do some type of race in a Speedo. 

The aid stations were also very fun.  Available at the different aid stations which were spaced out about every 2 miles or so were band aids, sunblock, Vaseline, grapes, oranges, bananas, chips, pretzels, ice, water, wet sponges, Ironman Perform (like Gatorade), cola, energy gels, energy bars, energy chews, chicken broth, salt sticks, and straight up salt (yeah, just straight up salt out of the Morton’s Salt package by the handful I guess).  Some aid stations had themes, such as Bourbon Street in New Orleans or just an overall ‘SpongeBob’ theme.  There was also a live rock band performing, a group of musicians playing the bagpipes, many people just hanging out with water guns ready to squirt you if you wanted it, and some people just kicked back hanging out and relaxing in their boats in the lake shouting out encouragement from their – at that moment in time, after 12 hours of swimming, biking, and running – highly venerable position.   

Although it seemed like it would never arrive, the final stretch of the 26.2 mile run and thus the Ironman competition finally came.  Volunteers encouraged the racers to just turn one more corner and then we would be able to see the finish line.  Thankfully this wasn’t a lie.  The final stretch and the finish line of the Coeur d’Alene Ironman is one of the most well-known and praised in the entire sport.  Some people say they return to this race just to experience this aspect of the race another time.  For about five blocks  leading up to the finish line there are thousands of spectators on both sides of the street cheering, screaming, yelling, giving out high-fives, and just willing each soon-to-be-Ironman on to victory.  The throngs of people and the overwhelming support from them was enough to help you forget the pain and put everything left in the tank into this last stretch of the race.  It was a wonderful feeling, unlike anything else I have ever experienced.  While I was running down that final stretch of the race and crossed the finish line with the huge Ironman arch over it it felt like everyone was watching me and rooting me on.  

Aftermath and Final Thoughts

After you cross the finish line, a volunteer gives you your medal and an Ironman finisher’s shirt and hat.  Even though these items don’t carry much monetary value, they are priceless to every competitor who has earned them.  It’s no different for me; finishing this Ironman was a great accomplishment and the entire experience was phenomenal. 

The entire city embraces the Ironman competition and welcomes all the competitors, volunteers, and staff.  Everywhere you look and everywhere you go there are signs in people’s yards and in front of businesses congratulating the athletes and offering encouragement.  Many stores and restaurants have all kinds of deals or special offers for athletes during the week leading up to the race.  I don’t know if I can put it into words, but there is a special buzz in the air in Coeur d’Alene during and leading up to the race.  Having almost 3,000 racers, their friends and families, and thousands of more volunteers and organizers come to your city for a week could potentially be a burden to a city of only 48,000, but as far as I can tell Coeur d’Alene embraces every aspect of the Ironman competition.  This was the tenth year of the Coeur d’Alene Ironman and they announced that the city and the race have renewed their contract for another five years. 

Will I do the Coeur d’Alene Ironman again next year or ever again in the future?  I cannot say for sure, but I think I would probably try to experience other races in other cities before I did the same one again.  I have no complaints at all about this race or the city, it is actually the other way around; I had such a wonderful experience here that I would like to see what other adventures and unique atmospheres other cities offer.  Whether my next one is in Coeur d’Alene or somewhere else, I am confident that there will be more to come – I hope many more to come.