My race report for Coeur D’Alene is long overdue. I’ve been so busy (mostly with work) since I got back, that I don’t know how I ever found the time to train before the race. Somehow, I just made the time for it. It had, after all, been an 8-year plan to do this race for my 50th birthday. Over those years, I had done 3 marathons, 3 half IM races, and a number of Olympic triathlons. I had always envisioned doing IM Canada, but the timing for that didn’t work this year, so Coeur D’Alene it was. The timing for CDA turned out not to be great either – I was dismayed to find out that neither of my sons would be finished with their final exams (junior high and high school) and so neither they, nor my husband, would be able to come to the race with me.
Luckily, my friend Nola stepped up in a huge way. Nola totally made my weekend!! I’m still blown away by how dedicated she was to making my weekend a success! With 3 IMs under her belt and lots of experience as a support person, she was invaluable. She was with me every step of the way in planning and preparation and helped with so many of the small but important details – like buying neoprene warmers for my bike shoes for me the day before the race, driving the bike course with me, and making sure I did NOT use those brand new laces on my runners. (I now know they would have given me grief on the run.) She also volunteered in the women’s change tent, which meant she could accompany me into transition on race morning and get me off to a good start and then help me at T2 as well. I can’t thank Nola enough!!
The other person that I owe a huge thank-you to is Angie. Angie’s coaching was everything I could have hoped for and more!! I felt absolutely confident in her training plan, knowing how many athletes she has prepared for IM. I knew that because of Angie, I had a rock-solid base of training and was well prepared. Angie had gone through all the details of the race with me and I had complete faith in the race plan.
Everything seemed great until… I got sick before the race! It started as a cold and sore throat and then moved down into my chest, leaving me with coughing up thick green sputum. (I know you just wanted to know that…) I panicked, of course! I did nothing at all for the entire week before the race – no runs, swims, bikes – didn’t even go near the lake or touch the water. (That might have been a good thing.) Nola and I didn’t go to the pre-race dinner, as I still didn’t feel well and had little energy for lining up and possibly being cold in the tent. However, I did go to the pre-race meeting, which served to take away my last bit of confidence. The worst news was that the water temperature was 14 degrees C (56 F), the coldest they’d ever had. It was so cold that booties were legal.
Sure enough, the swim was truly the swim from hell!! Even though I wore a full wetsuit and a cap and booties, it was just too cold for me. The swim start was brutal. I was suited up and moving down to the beach at 15-20 min before gun time, but it was a turtle-like shuffle towards the beach. All the athletes had to go over one mat to get to the beach and there were so many athletes and spectators that it was almost impossible to move. I hadn’t even made it onto the beach when the gun went off! So much for my plan to start out way over to the right… When I hit the water I couldn’t breathe. I’ve had that experience before but it has always gone away within a minute or two. Not this time! Again and again I tried to put my face in the water but just couldn’t cope. So I turned around to swim on my back. (I’ve never done that in a race before.) Well, before I knew it I was completely lost – out amongst the boats somewhere and totally disoriented. While I eventually did manage to put my face in the water and breathe—and re-join the swim course—I never did find a rhythm. I was cold the entire time. In the process I somehow swallowed lots of water and air. At the turn-around on the beach I wondered how I’d ever make another lap because I was already so cold!
When I got out of the swim volunteers kept trying to get me to go into the warm-up tent. In retrospect, it would probably have been a good idea, as I was shivering violently. But I refused and carried on. The first few km on the bike felt surreal. I was so cold, I felt disconnected from my legs. I kept looking down to make sure the bike was ok, as nothing felt “normal”. Luckily, it was a warm day and the sun slowly did its job of warming me up. The race plan was to go “easy cheesy” for the first 60k of the bike. After that I felt much better, but decided I would just keep going at that pace. I rode more slowly than during a normal training ride—I did pretty much the whole ride in HR upper zone 1. I was still coughing (more than ever), and because of the bronchitis, I didn’t know how much energy I had and I wanted to play it absolutely safe. I figured a slow finish time would be fine with me but a DNF wouldn’t…So I carried on, without pushing, gradually feeling better and better on the bike and beginning to appreciate the spectacular scenery, the spectators, and the fact that here I was actually doing an IM!! It was a huge lift to my spirits to see my brother, sister-in-law and niece, who had driven up from Saskatoon, cheering me on with home-made signs that made me smile each time I went by!!
I started the run with some stomach issues and had to use the porta-potties several times in the first ½.
However, gut issues during marathons are familiar to me, and although I was uncomfortable, I’ve had worse in other marathons and ½ IMs. I held a slow pace that felt quite comfortable, walking only in the aid stations as planned. (I was also in upper zone 1 HR for most of the run—being super conservative to ensure I would finish.) To my surprise, I just kept feeling better!! Angie had told me that the race didn’t start until the last 10k, so that’s when I finally dialed it up. It turns out I had a fair bit left at the end, as I was able to increase my pace considerably on that last 10k. It felt exhilarating!! The sun setting over the lake was stunningly beautiful, the crowd support was amazing, and I finally felt confident that I’d make it! I ended up passing so many people in those last 10k as I let my HR climb into the 130’s and lower 140’s and I felt better than I’d felt all day! Seeing Nola and my family at the finish line was a highlight. I’ll never forget the joy I saw reflected in Nola’s eyes as she greeted me.
It has now been over 6 weeks since that day. I’m so happy I embarked on this ironman journey eight years ago and I’m grateful that I was able see it through. I’m thankful to Nola and Angie, and of course to my family who’ve been super supportive and have put up with the seemingly endless training. I miss those long training rides now… Because of many other commitments, it may well be 6 years before I do another IM. But I will be back – Penticton in 2017 anyone??
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