July 7th, 2008
MY COUER d’ALENE IRONMAN EXPERIENCE
I finished my 2nd Ironman inCoeur d’ Alene
I want to first congratulate my 4 clients who also finished the CDA Ironman for their first time. It was a family affair. A mom and her 3 kids. Gayle, Todd, Katie, and Gregor. Talk about an awesome family! They climb Mt Kilimanjaro and do triathlons in their free time. Gayle (women 55-59) 16:24, Todd (men 25-29) 13:00, Katie (women 25-29) 14:26, Gregor (men 18-24) 13:30. Unbelievable times!!! Way to go!!!
I have only ever done 3 triathlons. My first was a sprint distance in 2002, Tempe Ironman 2007, and CDA Ironman 2008. A sprint distance consists of a half mile swim, 12 mile bike and a 3 mile run. An Ironman is a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike and a 26.2 mile run. This year’s race was all about beating my time from last years. My personal goal was to take off 2 hours from the Tempe course. I started my training in Sept 2007. We decided doing a marathon at the end of the year would be a great base training for the Ironman in June. From Sept-Dec the main focus of my training was running with 2-3 swim workouts a week and a sprinkle of bike training. I have always been a cyclist and was actually learning to really enjoy running. I finished the Las Vegas Marathon
At this point we had to start adding in more bike training along with the running/swimming. I met Kainoa every Tuesday morning for a swim lesson which helped to make me a much stronger swimmer. The winter was very brutal in Seattle. We had record low temperatures and a lot of rain. Outside workouts became difficult. The winter drudged on and I did a lot of bike workouts inside on my spin bike. Boring!!
The weather finally broke and training was going great. I was getting fitter and stronger in all 3 events. Then, as luck would have it, I injured my groin at the end of April. 2 months out from race day….I couldn’t believe it! Not again! Thank goodness it was 2 months out this year instead of 4 weeks like last year when I injured my knee. I had run a 90 min faster run than normal, everything felt great during the run. 2 hours after I had gotten home I got up from the coach and crumpled to the floor. I could barely walk to the bedroom. I figured ice/rest/Ibuprophen would make it better. Nothing was working. I saw so many doctors and physical therapists. No one could figure out what was going on. I had to get a bone scan to rule out a stress fracture in the hip. That came back OK. Then it was the MRI that showed nothing. Next was the orthopedic surgeon who thought I had a tear in the hip joint. The frustration was mounting day in and out as time was ticking away and race day was getting so much closer.
My goals began to change for this Ironman. Since I couldn’t run I had to change my focus even more to the bike. My goal changed from finishing faster than last year, to bike the 112 miles in 6 hours, a little more than one hour faster than last year. If I could do that it would give me more time to do the marathon in case I had to walk the entire race. I went to Idaho 2 weekends in May to ride the course. I would ride 112 miles on Sat and 56 on Sun. In the month of May alone I had logged in over 1000 miles on the bike. Thank God I love to bike! The Idaho course is much harder than Tempe. It is very hilly and windy. Tempe is very flat and windy.
I am a few weeks out from race day and still the groin is not showing any signs of improvement. Kainoa recommends a different physical therapist which my chiropractor also knows. I figured he must be good if they both know him. I saw Neal and in one session he was the only person to finally have some idea of what the heck was going on with me. A lot of it came from running in the wrong style and size of shoe. What the podiatrist had recommended so many years ago actually was not the right shoe for me. We still didn’t know exactly where the pain was coming from and why but at least I had some insight. I saw him one more time to make some adjustments to my bike which made a WORLD of difference. I got a new pair of running shoes that felt really comfortable. Things were starting to look up. A client recommended an acupuncturist for the pain. It was like magic! With one needle, in my elbow of all places, the pain was gone immediately. I couldn’t believe it, I still can’t. I was hooked! I saw her 4 more times. The generalized pain was getting better but I still couldn’t run pain free.
It is now 12 days before race day and I haven’t run since April 20th. How I would do on the marathon would have to be a surprise. Worse case scenario I would walk the entire race. If I bike it in 6, walk in 6, and swim under 90 minutes I still should do better than last year. Luck stepped in again today and I came down with a horrible sore throat! I couldn’t believe it! Not now, why is this happening! I try to take it easy at work and rest as much as I can to keep this from turning into a full blown cold. 2 days later I am feeling really good. No sore throat, no fatigue. I think “Wow I beat it!” Then wham Sunday before the race it gets me. Huge head/sinus cold. I was utterly distraught, totally frustrated. I thought there is no way I can race feeling like this. Everyone had faith I would feel better by Sunday. It was hard to imagine that at the time when you are feeling so horrible. A client asked me that week “Have you had the Ironman break down? I hear before the race everyone has some kind of emotional/mental breakdown” “No” I said. Well, 3 days later it happened. It was Wed before the race and I had to leave Thurs morning to go to Idaho. I still felt horrible. Everything had finally come to a head. What was going to happen with my leg? How can I race when I can barely breathe?, etc…..It is true what they say, a good cry can make you feel so much better!
I head to Idaho Thurs, 3 days before race day. Packed in the front seat is a myriad of cold remedies. Nettie pot, essential oils, teas, herbs, home made chicken noodle soup and vitamins. Anything I could think of to boost my immune system and help me breathe. The 4.5 hour ride was great. It was sunny, the temperature was warming up. I get to Idaho, register and rest for the night. My family gets to Idaho Friday night. Friday and Saturday I basically rested in the hotel room. Went to the lake to swim to see how cold the water was. The winter was so cold we didn’t know how warm the lake was going to get. We were constantly checking lake temperatures. The beginning of the week they were in the low fifties and by race day it warmed up to 59 degrees. Normally the temperature is 65. 59 felt so much warmer than 51 but it is still very cold. Imagine having an ice cream headache for over an hour, your teeth hurting because they are so cold, and barely being able to move your hands let alone walk on your feet because they feel so frozen. Wet suits were mandatory and they allowed neoprene swim caps and booties for your feet.
Race Day! Wake up at 4:15am and eat. If you haven’t eaten this early before it is not fun. With my eyes barely open I try to choke down breakfast with a lot of water and Gatorade. Arrive at the park 5:15am. Check in everything; check on your bike, pump up your tires, bathroom, pictures with family. 6:20 am head to swim start. Race starts at 7am.
The swim start in my opinion is the most nerve racking thing of the day. 2300 people standing on the beach, all waiting to run into the lake to start swimming at the same time. The course was 2 loops. After your first loop you have to get out of the water run through the timing mat and get back in for your 2nd loop. This was much different than Tempe last year which was one loop and you never got out of the water. The only purpose getting out of the water serves is getting your heart rate up for no apparent reason. I guess they think swimming in cold water with 2300 other people isn’t hard enough. The gun goes off and you run in the water. It is an amazing site to see from the beach. The water is cold, it takes my breath away. I have a mini panic attack because people are swimming over top of you, into you, kicking you, pulling on your arms and legs. Like I said it is nerve racking! I made the mistake of staying too close to the buoys, where everyone else was. I couldn’t get into any kind of rhythm with so many people around until I got 3 quarters of the way around the first loop. I don’t know if it was nerves, cold, or swallowing a gallon of lake water but I could feel my stomach getting a little upset. I figured it was all of the above. I really tried not to think about the lake water I swallowed! I made the first loop and started the second. Things were better, more spread out. It felt like I was out there all day but I came in around 80 minutes which is what I was hoping for.
Once out of the water I couldn’t wait to get on my bike. This was my part of the race. This is where I focused all my training the last 2 months. I was going to own this course. I planned to give everything I had on that bike ride. The temperature was perfect, not too windy, yet. I felt great. Everything was going just as planned. Then I start to notice my stomach wasn’t feeling quite great. I was trying to keep on top of my nutrition on the bike. I was to drink one Gatorade and one water bottle every 10 miles to be sure I was getting about 300 calories an hour. I am not sure what happened. I think I was coming up on the rest stops much faster than last year and couldn’t keep up with all I was to eat and drink. I could feel everything sitting in my belly. I must have had too many calories too fast. I tried not to think about it and keep on pedaling. It didn’t affect my ride at all but in the back of my mind I knew it might be an issue on the run. The first loop was down and I was ready for the 2nd loop. My legs felt strong. I thought about all those miles I had rode training on this course. I knew where and when the hills were coming and where I could hammer out on the flats. By now the wind has picked up and of course I was going against it coming back into town. I tucked down into my aero bars and used the mantra “This is my course” and kept pedaling as fast as I could. I wanted those 6 hours so bad nothing was going to keep me from making that time. I came into town and knew it was going to be close. I was going back and forth with a male rider the last 6 miles of the course. He caught me about one mile from the finish. He pulled up beside me and said “Man, you are a fast rider!” I politely said “Thank you” and proceeded to kick it into high gear and made the final sprint into the finish line leaving him in the dust. I made it in 5:59!
I was so elated when I got off the bike! If I could have, I think I would have done cartwheels to the transition area. I took my time in the transition to be sure I had everything and I was prepared for the run/walk. Then I started to run. My belly was not happy. I could feel the burning sensation in my lungs from being sick the week before. My legs could tell I had not run in 2 months. When I said I would leave everything out there on the bike, I think I left my stomach. My nutrition caught up with me. With every stride my stomach felt weaker and sicker. I kept on running. I saw the mile sign ahead and thought “Ok, keep it slow, this isn’t so bad” When I approached more closely and it was only the half mile marker I knew I was in trouble. I had to walk. I walked a little bit to the turn around then ran again. I wanted to run by my family with a big smile on my face. I saw Scott, smiled gave him a high five; saw my parents and brother gave them a big smile. Once I knew I was out of sight I walked. I didn’t know if I was going to vomit or what. Thank God I saw Kainoa. She asked if my groin was OK and actually it was great. I told her that was fine but my stomach was not good. She told me to only take water the next few miles and see if it would settle down. I walked the next 6 miles thinking how I am going to walk 26.2. My shins were killing me because I hadn’t walked like that in a long time, my stomach was killing me, and my lungs were burning. But the groin was great! Go figure! I walked up the big hill and thought I will at least run down it. I started to run and actually was able to run the next 7 miles. I kept telling myself don’t stop, keep going. It will be murder walking this whole thing and you will go crazy. I wasn’t sure how to handle the nutrition for the rest of the day. I couldn’t not eat or drink. I took some chicken broth, Gatorade and pretzels. I figured all the stuff you would eat if you had the flu. It helped some. I made it through the first loop and thought if I can maintain this I will finish in 6 hours. I managed to run when I could and walk when I couldn’t. I probably ran about 15 miles and walked the rest. I met up with Todd. It was so nice to run with someone and talk to help take my mind off how I was feeling. Seeing him helped give me a burst of energy. I ran with him as long as I could then I had to walk again. It came down to the last 5 miles and I thought I would run one mile, walk one mile until the finish. I ran one walked one then ran the last 3 miles. I was determined to make it to the finish line before 8:30pm. I didn’t want to stop at that point because I knew each time I would stop and go it would be that much harder to keep going. The final half mile was great. It was down hill into the city with the crowd waiting there for you. My pace picked up a bit. All I could think about was getting to that finish. I made it in 13:25. Not quite the 2 hour difference I was hoping for but all things considered I was on top of the world! All I could think about was my bike ride and how I couldn’t wait to get on the golf course and relax the next week on vacation. You can’t put it into words the sense of pride and accomplishment and shear joy you feel when you cross that line and see all the other athletes crossing it with you!
That night my family filled their trash cans full of ice at the hotel so I could take an ice bath. It took some time getting into the tub but I managed. Once in, it feels great. Or that could be the delirium setting it. Monday was rough. I was pretty sore. Tuesday was better not so bad. Wednesday I was on the golf course and played 5 rounds in the next 5 days.
The mental training for this race was harder than the physical. The obstacles we are faced with each day can be overwhelming. Take one day at a time and do the best you can with that day. There was a great quote in a movie I saw and I think it says it best-Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is a gift, and is why we call it the present.
A big thanks to all my friends and family for sticking with me with all the ups and downs. Sorry I missed so many parties/activities. Thanks to all my clients for their constant motivation and inspiration I receive each day I see them. Thanks to Neal Goldberg,PT, Zhi Ping acupuncturist, Tammie Williams massage therapist who always keeps my body feeling good and always knows what to do to fix my injuries, R&E cycles for taking great care of me and my bike (my baby), Dr Michael Lewis chiropractor for always taking great care of me. I couldn’t have survived this adventure without all of you!
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