Ironman Coeur d'Alene 2008 - Revenge was sweet!

I don’t think I slept much more than a wink the night before the race…this time, even though I felt an immense amount of pressure to make the bike cut-off and finish successfully, I almost felt like a kid waiting to wake up on Christmas morning to see what Santa brought me. I don’t know a better way to describe it than to say I was excited and calm all at the same time. Excited to see what the day had in store for me, calm because I knew I put in the training and was ready to execute it.

I left the hotel room at 5am, made a quick stop to the nearby Starbucks, and was in the transition area by about 5:30am. I made a checklist of my morning activities on a small post-it note which helped me keep on track and ensure that I had everything ready. Checklists are great…even down to the most simple and ridiculous detail…it takes that extra bit of pressure off of you on race morning. This was the first time I actually remembered to put water in my aero-bottle! Feed bottle contained 1400 calories of Infinit. Got my special needs and T1/T2 bags all squared away, then moved away from the nervous-nellies and found a happy place on the grass to keep a sound mind.

Here’s a picture of Bryce and me, right before I started shoe-horning my body into my wetsuit.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/27992366@N04/2609900672/in/photostream/

I was flooded with emotion when I gave Bryce a kiss and hug goodbye before making my way over to the swim start. Tears welled up as I thought back to IMCDA 2007 and the disappointment I experienced. I knew I couldn’t go through that again and this was my chance to prove something very big to myself.

As crazy as the swim start can be with 2200 athletes trying to swim in one area, there’s something to be said for that little piece of relief that hits me when I hear the gun go off signaling the start of the race. This is it, I’ve done the training, and now I just need to get through the day.

Ah, what a difference a couple of degrees makes! I think it was close to 60 degrees and my face didn’t hurt near as much as it did on the Friday morning practice swim. I never really got into the groove and rhythm of the swim like I usually do by the halfway point…I just kept battling with crooked swimmers or people stopping to figure out where they were while trying to dodge the breast-stroke-kickers. 1:39 and I was done with that swim. Not my best time, but I knew I played it smart and didn’t burn through my energy stores needed for the bike…and “the line” (mile 18...that's where you put your nose to the grindstone, forget about the pain, and try to actually push it).

Now the bike is what took me out of the game last year, so this is where I needed to play it smart. I felt so good on the first loop, I can’t even begin to tell you. The ‘hills’ that I remembered from last year seemed a little bit smaller, and my legs felt strong. I think it took me about 3:45 to get through the first loop. I do have to admit I wasn’t necessarily that excited to start the second loop of the bike…it’s a tough bike course! On the second loop I was coming up on another bicyclist and I could hear a motorcycle coming up behind me. I was careful not to encroach the drafting zone but I kept hearing this motorcycle just sitting on my tire…waiting for him to pass. Next thing I knew, I heard a guy say “You’re on tv, Brenda.” Geez, I probably should have sucked in my stomach and improved my posture, but oh well! With nothing better to do, I started chatting up the guy holding the camera on the motorcycle and gave him my sad-boohoo story of missing the bike cut-off by 2 minutes schpeel. In a way, it was cathartic to be able to tell people of last year’s race because it held me more accountable to achieving a very necessary outcome this year. As I made it back in town I was so jazzed that I was going to make it into the bike cutoff with plenty of time to spare that I pushed against that headwind, passed several on the last 20 miles and came in after 7 hours 34 minutes. I thought I might have been able to pull off a 7 hour ride, but I can’t tell you how happy I was to be done and see that bike finish. I dismounted my bike and ran to the bike finish arch and hugged it while bystanders and volunteers laughed. I turned to a few and said, “If you only knew…” Eureka ! I think I might have been the most excited person on the course that day to be starting the marathon.

The coaches warned us about getting to amped up on the bike course and to ultimately hold back until the line (mile 18) where then we should kick things into gear and get’er done. Under any other circumstance I would have likely complied but I apparently got my heart rate soaring coming in against those crosswinds and perhaps running a bit too fast on the first two miles of the run with all the spectators around cause next thing I noticed, I had some stomach cramping and bloating around mile 3. I also noticed that my Garmin heart rate monitor was not working for some reason which was bothering me mentally. Uh oh! Thankfully I knew just what to do, I stopped taking in calories, laid off the fluids, and walked from mile 4 to mile 9 just to get back on track and let my heart rate settle. I picked up the pace after that, felt good, and got over the fact that my stupid HR monitor was telling me I was at 30bpm. The GPS worked, so I went off pace (perhaps Coach Patrick and Rich sabotaged my Garmin for that very reason???) I knew my body, I didn’t need a stinkin’ watch to tell me how I was feeling. I came back in through town to start my second loop where Bryce was antagonizing me to ‘step it up a notch’. I told him I was holding some in reserve for mile 18.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/27992366@N04/2609070917/in/photostream/

Around mile 17 I was mentally preparing for “The Line” and thinking about my several One Things that would get me to the finish line in light of how difficult things got or how much pain I was in. (1. To finish; 2: To run the best IM marathon I ever have; 3. To finish when it was still light out) I kept looking at my watch trying to calculate whether I could make it in by 9:30pm and knew I was cutting it close, though I was CERTAIN that I would nail 2 of my 3 One Things. I felt a little loopy in my head and took in a bit more calories and fluids. I also started to feel some pain creeping in my body since the Tylenol I took at 5am was wearing off. I had a little Ziploc bag of meds in my pocket so I stopped at an aid station and picked through it for 2 Tylenol. Now I was ready to Bear Down and give it all I had.

Mile 18 and I started running with a purpose and a pace. I ran the whole last 8 miles of the race with exception to the few uphills. I began counting each of my victims that I picked off during those 8 miles and decided that at victim #60 I would allow myself 30 seconds of walking. Wouldn’t you know that I was approaching a group of three people that kept each other on track and convinced one another to keep running so I had this moving target for almost a mile. Oh, the tragedy! I finally passed them and almost yelled out “62”. I could feel a nagging blister on my left pinky toe that decided to relieve itself at mile 24 and I nearly crumbled to the ground. Seriously, how could a flippin’ little blister be that painful? I modified my gait a bit trying to stay off that portion of my foot but could then feel other muscles threaten in my left shin to cramp, so I bucked it up and ran “normally” (ha, I wish I could see video footage of this!) I was running like the wind (if you want to call 11 minute miles running like the wind) and rounded the corner to see the finish line lights down a slightly graded downhill. I handed out high fives like I never have before, smiling from ear to ear. I spaced myself out from a finisher ahead of me so that we could have our own little piece of glory at the finish line. Oddly, I didn’t hear Mike Reilly announce my name and that I was an Ironman, but I’ve been told he did.

15:01:00
http://www.flickr.com/photos/27992366@N04/2609903090/in/photostream/

Success. Redemption. Revenge. Goodbye evil monkey!

Like any true athlete, I can’t help but analyze this race and think about the things I can do to improve my speed and come through that finish line even faster next time (yes, I said next time):
*I trained with a Garmin Forerunner 305, using GPS and heart rate, along with perceived effort. I have no doubt that a power meter is one of the next steps for me to take if I want to improve greatly.
*I trained by myself 95% of the time, and know that I could benefit in speed and technique on both the run and ride if I started doing more group rides and running with someone that can push me a bit more.
*Continue to focus on my diet and lean up.

What’s next? I would LOVE to do another one. Here I am, still hobbling around and vividly remembering how hard this was, but I want to do another. I just have to test out Bryce and see when and if I can get his blessing. I’ve nearly convinced him to sign up for Cal 70.3 with me…misery loves company.

I went swimming today and had some tool split the lane with me. He was totally trying to compete with me and I kept thinking, “Oh yeah, you’re such a stud, you’re just beating the pants off a 3 time Ironman who just did IMCDA 3 days ago.”

I’m planning on sleeping in this weekend, catching up on some housework, organizing some closets, gardening, and drinking some wine! Next week I’ll work on my training plan and start hitting the trails to train for Pikes Peak marathon which is a mere 7.5 weeks away.

I'm anxiously awaiting for the race photographers to post pictures and also learned that I made it on the race highlights DVD which I'm going to send away for.

Thanks to all for following my story and being so supportive, you were with me the whole way!