Kona Ironman week

FordIronmanWorldChampionship – it's all one word you know – at least that’s the way it sounds whenever you hear it mentioned.

Dan and I were both racing together again this year. The plan was to actually enjoy the experience together (I was way too crabby during last year's race to make it fun for either of us). Our youngest, Ben, joined us for the trip, although the two older kids got to stay home with my visiting mom (what a terrific person she is).

We met some friends in Honolulu who are now on their third year of spectating on Tuesday, and all made it to Kona just in time for Ben to compete in the Keiki Dip n Dash. (I was going to try to put photos into this blog as well, but think I will go for the wordy version here and you can go to the Triatomics Photos link for commented pictures).

They do a nice job of keeping the kids organized and safe in the water, and Mike Reilly (the IM announcer) leads the runners on a Vespa. Medals were given to all kids – handed out by Paula Newby Fraser and Michellie Jones – the kids couldn't have cared less, but I thought it was cool.

Just like previous years, Dan and I would go out in the morning for a swim along part of the course. Gatorade was not a sponsor this year, and PowerBar Perform drink took its place, including at the gear drop for your morning swim. What a great service – being able to leave your stuff at the pier while you swim without having to worry about it. The scariest part is that the morning swims were simply out and backs, and there were so many people in the water, there was a decent chance of swimming into someone if you weren't careful.

We spent some time snorkeling every day. One day we rented kayaks and paddled the one mile over to Captain Cook's Monument for some excellent snorkeling in Kealakekua Bay. Where we also found Faris Al-Sultan (the 2005 IM champion) and some friends getting ready to SWIM back to our starting point. That's one way to avoid the morning swim crowd, I guess.

There's been a twist this year that a number of people were not ready for (even up until race morning) – WTC and USAT have different rules pertaining to swim skins. Acceptable USAT suits are not necessarily acceptable for WTC, which now requires ONLY fabric (my old speed skin has a slight neoprene portion to it). Luckily for me, suppliers of TriSports.com very generously provided its Kona athletes new helmets and new speed skins, so I was set with the new TYR Torque Pro. We thought Dan's would be OK, but when we checked in with Zoot, they said no, so Dan was faced with swimming in just his tri shorts, and then pulling on his jersey over his wet body afterwards (or buying a new skin – but it's tough to swallow that price tag for essentially a single race).

We also went for bike rides and runs every day, although they were rather short. My new Louis Garneau Superleggera helmet is really cool – literally. It's one of those dimpled aero bullets, but the styrofoam is only around your head, not filling the entire aero void (like our original LG from a number of years ago), and it has some great vent holes, which were terrific not only for the wind, but also for being able to dump water through to further cool my boiling head mid-race. I had just received this new stuff at Elephant Man, so although the smart advice is don't use anything new race day, I'm sure glad I did.

Thursday morning is the annual Underpants Run. It was started 13+ years ago as a way to spoof all of the Europeans who are quite comfortable walking around in their Speedos and nothing else all day. It has grown and grown each year. Multiple hundreds of people participated this year, and outlandish undies were everywhere. Ben chose to wear his conservative Bear Bum boxers although white briefs are the standard. They sell T-shorts to commemorate the event and all proceeds go to West Hawaii Special Olympics. It was a hoot.

Friday was gear drop day. You get multiple colored / labeled bags – one each for Bike Gear, Run Gear, Pre-Swim Gear (morning dry clothes), Run Special Needs, Bike Special Needs. We dropped stuff off, and saw Julie Dibens getting ready to drop off her gear. We did not have as much pro-spotting this year as we have seen in the past – don't know why (although Kate Major was on our flight back to the mainland). As you enter transition, there are a large number of people with clipboards lining the entrance chute – I am guessing they are company reps doing gear counts. You get a personal volunteer tour guide as you take all of your stuff into the transition area. They literally take you by the arm and walk you all the way through, going over the route you will take during the race. The day was now ours, so it was off to the City of Refuge for some more excellent snorkeling – this time while a pod of dolphins swam around us during their mid-day snooze.

Saturday 10/09/10 – Race Day.

Big news in the morning - Chrissie Wellington had dropped out due to illness. We had a bit more of a n understanding of that than we would have liked. A few days earlier, Ben had learned the term “praying to the porcelain god” as he hurled multiple times. And the following day Dan had been fairly under the weather with an upset stomach as well. I am guessing that I did not get sick less to my iron stomach, than to my lack of grazing at a local farm co-op earlier in the week. Ben seemed to be free and clear after 24 hours, but Dan was still not feeling great come Saturday.

We were up and out early, having dropped Ben with our friends well before the crack of dawn. Body marking is a serious endeavor there, with all of the block numbers and the India ink. You are not allowed access to your gear bags, but you can get to your bike to pump tires, add your nutrition holders, etc. We hung out together and then finally I needed one more critical bathroom stop so we parted ways and I went off to find the shortest line possible. Afterwards I still had time left over to wait but couldn't find Dan, so back to transition to quietly hang out when I ran into a TriSports.com teammate Karin Bivens, who we had spent part of race morning with last year. Her husband was a volunteer in the gear area, and told us how people were still wearing illegal swim skins, and were being told last minute to take them off or be DQ'd. (He had just taken one guy's suit to his gear bag). I'd love to know how that all played out in the end...

The pros go off half an hour earlier than the age groupers. I tried to postpone the inevitable and didn't get in the water till 5-10 minutes to go. I hung towards the back a bit, trying to strategically avoid the combat swimming I encountered last year. And who do I see treading water in front of me but Dan! Of course, we soon went our separate ways again but it was nice to see a friendly face before the cannon went off. I was pleased with my “don't get caught in the fray” idea, as the swim was much more pleasant, yet still strenuous, and there were still enough people around me the entire time that I did NOT have to worry about sighting, which I have had issues with in the past. And only one serious elbow to the forehead clobber (OK, I don't know how it could have been an elbow, but something really hard smacked me right in the middle above my goggles). I was pleased, that is, till I saw my time when I got out. I thought I should have been faster. Oh well. At least the speed skin worked out really well, and is truly a neat piece of swim gear – even if I will only use it once or twice a year.

Out on the bike, it was fun. I saw Dan and was able to yell to him after the turn around on Kuakini before we headed out of town, and got a big yell from Ben and our friends as I headed up Palani at the Sack n Save hill - always a welcome treat during a race. The wind and the heat really weren't too bad, until we went around a bend up the long hill toward Hawi. Then it was spectacular Hawai'i wind and I worried about getting blown off my bike. Lots of leaning sideways, and almost being blown into the center line simply because you couldn't keep it on a straight course – you know, all of the classic stuff. I felt pretty good till the last bit home – it just becomes a really long ride. 112 miles will do that to you.

Onto the run, thinking that perhaps I had conserved enough energy at least to not blowup on the run like I did last year. And where was Dan? I had seen him after the Hawi turnaround, but he was still behind me – a very unlikely position for him to be in. I saw Ben and friends at our condo on Ali'i Drive about 2-3 miles into the run, which was great. The whole run along Ali'i was actually going pretty well for me, and feeling pretty good, although I knew there were quite a few people in my age group already well ahead of me. With so many already in front of me, I figured it would be great to be able to run with Dan, enjoy the experience, and overall have a nice race. Then I saw him after the Ali'i turn around and he was not a happy camper and was encouraging me to go ahead rather than wait for him. Which I did. Still feeling good, I again pass Ben, but then I hit the little Palani hill. Three years ago, I remember this as a welcome break from the flat course and a nice way to stretch my legs. Not so this year. I felt like I slowed to a crawl, and could not get it back once I got up onto the Queen K Highway. The death run now took over and the world's longest 10k out to the Energy Lab ensued. Finally downhill into the Energy Lab and a grab at my Run Special Needs bag (some Gus and Enervitene) helped. Kept looking for Dan, having expected him to have come along and passed me miles ago. Finally found him heading down as I was heading back up and out. He did not want to run with me, and had been visiting all portajohns possible along the route. BUMMER. Ford sponsors an Inspiration Station around this point, where family members can leave their athlete a 25 character message that gets flashed up on a Jumbotron screen for you to read as you pass by. We always try to make each other laugh, or at least cheer up. Ben had submitted something from earlier in the trip that totally cracked me up, and with the B-52's “Love Shack” blaring in the background as I ran through, I have to admit that I was inspired and totally picked up my pace. And I had a very strong last 10k. Of course, that's what I felt like, and that's what the various people I passed said (“ooo, nice pace,” etc), but the 9:12s that I clocked out on my watch certainly told the real story. Well, at least I was back to being consistent and not feeling like I was dying and when will this thing ever end? As usual, sunset came way too early, and I was way too far out on the Queen K to be happy about it, but I once again dodged the glow-stick bullet, and did not need one before I got back into town. That last half mile up Ali'i truly is a cool one, but someday I'd like to feel good enough to really enjoy it – at that point I mostly just wanted to be done.

I waited for Dan at the finish, but he was much longer than expected, poor guy. Turns out his heart rate monitor stopped working on the bike so he could only go by perceived exertion; he had been unable to really eat anything on the bike; and was down to only taking on water by the run. Never do a Hawai'i Ironman without nutrition – it's really hard.

Elephant Man, Olympic distance, Elephant Butte, NM 09/26/10

Another great race weekend at Elephant Butte thanks to Kori, Scott, and the entire Elephant Man race crew. I love this race – in a town of 2500, they get 150 volunteers to help out. How cool is that? A new twist this year was the kids race (Elephant Kids) held Saturday evening at 5:00. Made it easy for you to get registered, get your kid registered, and then watch him race, AFTER a day of soccer in Bernalillo, or whatever. Lots of age groups, different distances for each. Very well run and a great experience for the kiddos. Free T-shirts, race number belts and chip bands (thanks to Dam It Man leftovers – a lot like our Splash n Dash (Atomic Man) swag this year), real timing chips, open water swim point to point parallel to shore, then into the Elephant Man transition area where their bikes and shoes were waiting. They had a nice way of identifying kid ages (straight from Kona Ironman last year) – not only were they body marked with their number and age, but each age group got a color-coded swim cap and wrist band – which made it very easy for the volunteers to identify the proper turn around spots on the bike and run for the different aged kids. There’s a hill immediately coming out of transition for the bike, but the littlest ones (6 and under) got to simply do flat laps around transition in the large parking lot before heading out onto the run. I love those training wheels speeding around the corners. The older ones headed up the hill and out into the state park a certain distance depending upon their ages (oldest: 13-15 age group), before returning for their run. And did I mention that Ben crushed the 9-10 year old competition?! (Just a little proud mom crowing here).

OK, Olympic distance report: weather is always nice down there this time of year; it doesn’t get real hot till the end of the race, however there was more wind than in the past – never a good feeling to watch the strongly flapping flag early in the morn. Four waves of athletes this year – all the women except the athenas went first. A huge group got off in the front; I certainly was not one of them. The wind caused a decent chop so one leg of the triangular course was tougher than the others. Out on the bike the wind made the ride more interesting than usual. We headed out into the wind, though the tough hill is situated such that the wind was actually helpful. It’s still a steep section, though, that separates the strong from the not-so-strong. I had passed a number of those good swimmers by this point but there were was still some unknown number ahead. Came into T2 and took my good ol’ sweet time, just as I had in T1. As Dan reminded me later, you can’t transition an Olympic distance the way you do an ironman. Oops, that sure cost me.

The run was its usual scenic self – sandy for almost the entire first mile makes it tough, but then it’s up onto the dams with nice views. I saw the first four women way ahead of me and had little hope of catching up. Then I saw Mary Uhl, always a very tough competitor, coming at me as I was coming up the hill to the turn around so she became my goal. Finally caught her around the 5 mile mark (lucky for me she hasn’t been able to train much this year!). There’s nothing like running downhill and along a sandy trail hoping someone’s not right on your tail. I ended up 5th OA, 1st AG. As usual, an early race start gave me plenty of opportunities to cheer for fellow Team TriSports.com people, as well as fellow Triatomics. Speaking of which – a great Los Alamos club showing this year: Bill Bearden, Frank Cherne, Chuck Farrar, Greg Geoffrion, Matt Heavner, Char Latham , Amy Lee, Max Light, Clay Moseley (overall winner – congrats!!), Dina Pesenson, Sanna Sevanto, Andy Sutton, Karen Young, were all there (sorry if I missed somebody). A decent number of cool bottle opener medals and a signature EM beer were awarded to our club members. For those of you who missed it – put it on your calendar for next year – the last Sunday in September. It’s a fun weekend and a great race.

Elephant Man 2010

This was my first attempt at Elephant Man and my last race of the season. We headed down to the lake on Friday to camp for a couple of nights and take advantage of free fishing day that Saturday (there's a reason we tend to only fish on free fishing day - we caught nothing!). Anyway, packet pick up was Saturday afternoon and I was really impressed with how professional the whole set up was. Its all centered down at the beach and there were a handful of tents up with the packet pick up underneath and it was operated with great efficiency. I got my stuff and numbers and headed back to the camp ground for a nap. Later in the afternoon we headed back to the lake for a quick swim and everything felt pretty good and me and Jaclyn bumped into Clay, Dina and Sanna enjoying the beach and Frank when we were on our way out.

The morning of the race we packed all the tent and stuff up and headed to the lake. I racked the bike next to Frank and picked up my chip and got everything set up in transition. Didn't really get chance for a warm up but saw a bunch of other Triatomics - Bill, Amy Regan, Chuck, Amy Lee, Karen and I've probably missed a few - as usual my apologies if I've not mentioned you! The swim started in 4 waves, women first, then men under 39, men over 40 and Clydes and Athenas. I was in the second wave and the swim started about 30 mins later than scheduled. The first leg of the triangle swim was OK, the wind had got stronger and there were some white caps throughout the whole swim, after the first buoy it was into the headwind and the water started to get pretty rough and I was bounced around while trying to make forward progress and probably swallowed more of the lake that would be ideal! I finally got to the second buoy and made the final turn to the shore - I think I tried to overcompensate for the wind and in trying to stay straight ended up heading too far right rather than staying to the left and had a couple of attempts to get back on track before finally getting to shore which probably added a little bit to my swim. I got my wetsuit off at the lake front while it was still wet and did the short run up to transition. The transition was set up really nice, they had these wooden racks on the floor which just had slots in for a wheel - the good thing about this is that it forced you to be a certain distance from your neighbor so everyone had a good amount of room, especially when alternating slots had bikes pointing in the opposite direction. T1 was pretty good, I didn't rush and just got everything done before heading out on to the bike.

The initial climb out of the lake area wasn't bad, it was definitely no Cochiti! The wind was still blowing pretty hard and it was full on into the face, kinda like early spring riding around here. And of course there was the hills, it was mainly rollers so it was easy to crank on the downhill and see how far you could get up the other side with the momentum which was a little tricky with the headwind. The hills went on for about 12 miles or so before the 17% grade climb I was warned about - thankfully it wasn't a long climb but there was another incline after it which was a gentle grade but seemed to go on for about 2 or 3 miles. At around mile 15 we crossed I-25 and the terrain seemed mainly flat or a slight downhill so it was easy to tuck into the aero position and try and get that average speed up. The last couple of miles were through town and back to the lake to T2. Every bump or uneven pavement was marked with green crosses so they were easy to avoid and there were arrows marked all the way on the bike course - couldn't fault a thing about it and if you're used to riding the Bandelier Loop there's nothing about this bike course to scare you.

This is where things got a little tough, transition was fine, no problems, but as soon as I started running I had terrible stomach pains (which I thought were cramps up until after the race) and it seemed like it was going to be when, not if, I launched. It was at this point it stopped being a race and turned into something I just wanted to complete. I was hoping that the pains would stop at some point but they kept with me throughout all 6 miles coming back in waves and slowing me to a slow jog and I had to stop every so often to let the pain subside. - at one point it crossed my mind that maybe my appendix had burst!!!! I have two theories on what caused this - the first year I did Splash'n'Dash I used to get stomach pains on the run from swallowing air on the swim - if I did the same on this swim and with the bike leg in there, that swallowed air would probably be lower in my GI tract and could be causing the pain I was having. I managed to fix this for SnD by paying more attention to not swallowing and swimming faster also helped as I was forced to take deeper breaths. The other possibility is that what I was drinking in my bottles was heavier than my usual stuff and I seemed to drink more of it that I possibly should have done - this could also have had an effect on my GI tract and maybe in conjunction with the amount of lake and air I swallowed may have added to the problem. I'd used the same fuel for a Brick the week before though doing the Loop and doing a hilly 6 mile run in White Rock with no problems but consuming less of it. Unfortunately every step I took hurt and the downhill, which was more physically jarring hurt even more so the run was a little disappointing for me. The run course itself was pretty nice - it starts off with a sandy section and a good climb for about a mile or so and then its out onto the dam and around the lake before a final slight climb to the turn around. There was a good crowd at the finish line and I dragged my butt over the line before heading to the lake to cool down and have a soak. Everyone seemed to do really well, there was plenty of silverware taken home, Clay won overall, Amy Regan got 5th woman and Dina, Amy Lee, Chuck, Frank, Sanna, Char, Greg all took home awards. The organization of this race I was outstanding, it was definitely the best Tri I've been to, its well organized, efficient and the course support was excellent, I couldn't recommend it enough.

Patriot Triathlon 2010

This was my first time doing a race down at the Rio Rancho Aquatic Center, they do a few races there throughout the year, the Spring Fling in April and the Jingle Bell in December there too. My race prep had not been the greatest, I’d only been back from a week in England for my brothers wedding about 2 weeks and had just about recovered from the over indulgence and excesses that brought with it. I decided to train right up to the Friday for this one and didn’t do a taper, I figured that I’d rather train a little harder with a focus on Elephant Man which is 2 weeks after this one. I even had a couple of beers the night before, something I never do before a race – some residual Englishness from the trip coming out I think! The venue is close enough to Los Alamos to do the 1h30m drive down that morning so we set off pretty early after grabbing a light breakfast and arrived there just after dawn. The parking was a little tricky with a full parking lot and no guidance on where else to park! Thankfully we still had some shreds of common sense and drove further down the road and asked someone at the race venue entrance who directed us to another lot 100m down the road which was about half full with plenty of space remaining.

After that it was a short walk to do the pick-up and get the chip, all of which was really well organized and ran pretty smoothly. Then it was racking the bike and having a look at the race. The racks seemed a little cramped and pretty tightly packed together, when I got my bike out for a quick warm up, I was knocking back wheels with the row behind me! The indoor pool swim was interesting, it’s a 25yd pool so its 16 lengths Splash’n’Dash style and the swim start is seeded time trial start. Thankfully you had the chance that morning to adjust your swim start position so I jumped up 30 or so spots as I’d given them my 50m pool time rather than 25yd time. This did lead to a bit of confusion and there was a little jostling for position in the line before the start as I wasn’t the only one trying to do this – the numbers were almost meaningless! The swim went pretty well for me, the lanes seemed a little narrow but thankfully I’d positioned myself well and didn’t have to pass or be passed during the swim.

T1 wasn’t the greatest, for some reason I spotted my bike and turned into the wrong side of the rack so I had to u-turn out of to get to my bike so I lost a little time there and then a photographer was capturing this magical moment at the end of the rack so I had him to navigate too! Anyway, I was soon ready and off onto the 15 mile bike which starts with a climb up and out towards the Santa Ana Star Center and through some mini-roundabouts which caused a little havoc when the traffic was slow moving. I confess that I did pass a car on the inside - hopefully I won’t get a barrage of emails for unsafe bicycle riding but I was in a race dammit! There were police or volunteers at most of these so it made things a little easier and finally it was onto quieter roads with much less directional assistance in a more industrial area. There were some spots where I had to search out cyclists ahead of me to see which way to turn. The gentle climb turned into a few rollers and a few more ascents upto about mile 8 or 9, then it flattened out into a residential area and it was downhill for a long stretch. The last mile was a pretty good climb up to the transition area and I had a horrible suspicion I’d be seeing this hill again on the run.

T2 went smooth and uneventful and I was onto the run. This started on the same stretch of road the bike did so it was a good sized climb before a left turn and more of a climb. Eventually the course diverted onto a dirt trail with a little more climbing and lots of sandy spots which led to pretty soft footing and seemed a little hard on the legs. Then there was finally a downhill section which I managed to get a bit of speed going for about ¾ mile or so. Then it was another left onto the same hill the bike finished on which I wasn’t looking forward to, I also seemed to get a bit of a headwind all the way to the finish so needless to say I didn’t really enjoy the run too much. It seemed like an Escher staircase where the downhill and the uphill didn’t really seem to add up.

Anyway, I got over the finish line in a reasonable time and was pretty beat by the whole race. It seemed pretty challenging for a sprint with a good number of climbs both on the bike and the run (the pool thankfully remained flat) and I kind of wish I’d tapered a little bit for it so I could crank a little more on the run, although I was really happy with my bike split. Afterwards there was a good amount of refreshments but the downside to starting near the front of the swim and it being a time-trial start was that there is a huge gap waiting for the results and the awards. Oh and it’s about exposed as it gets, not much shade and it was a pretty hot morning so we nipped off the Lowes and got a few things while waiting around but still didn’t escape the race site until about 1.30ish. Another thing - a few Triatomics got led the wrong direction on the bike, I don’t know the full details but I think it was a race official on the back of a motorbike who led them off. The official line is that it’s down to the athletes to know the course but to be honest with you, if I had a race official in front of me I would expect them to know where they were going and it would have been very difficult not to follow them. Anyway, a bunch of Triatomics were there and we seemed to do pretty well as a club bringing home some silverware and plenty of the new uniforms were on show too!

Socorro Chile Harvest Tri 2010

This was my second year doing the Socorro Tri, I had fun last year so was eager to do it again and it was one of the first on the calender and it was definitely on there as an A race. Its also the only race I did last year that I'm doing again so was really keen to see how my training has progressed over the past year and a good marker how things were going since getting off the couch two years ago. I had some specific goals this year, mainly to swim around 7mins, take 2 or 3 off last years bike and run sub 7.00m/mile pace on the run. Training had gone really well, I think I've refined my swimming a fair bit, my weekly bike mileage has increased and times have been improving in the Tuesday TTs and I've been trying out the Runners World Run Less Run Faster (it should probably just be called Run Faster....) program which really seems to have improved my run times considerably and I would definitely recommend having a look at it. Since Cochiti I was also concerned about my lack of run performance in that race so I've been getting some good Brick workouts in, doing the Little Boy bike course followed by a 5 mile tempo as part of the RLRF plan - again I think this has also helped out a lot too.

So onto the race - I ended up doing the pickup the morning of the race which was easy and followed by chip pickup and bike check into transition. The transition is a nice set up, racks labeled on the ground by letter which made locating it in T1 and T2 really easy. Managed to get a quick warm-up in and everything felt good and in good shape for the race. The swim is in their outdoor pool which was pretty much the perfect temperature and not heavily chlorinated. The start is time-trial with swimmers sent every 15 second so you have to be pretty much ready to go before you get into the water. I managed to pass a bunch of people in the first 3 or 4 lengths of the 8x50m swim and felt really good even upto the end - I've been concentrating on more arm, less leg which seems to send me much less anaerobic so I can go significantly quicker and save the legs for the rest of the race. I got out and into T1 pretty well, it was my first race having bike shoes clipped in to start with and that saved some time and made getting out to the bike much easier. The bike was pretty uneventful, I just kept it as aero as I could and cranked through it trying to keep as much form as I could. The bike course has a few hills but nothing too evil or too long and it finishes with a quick downhill which is nice although I did take my feet out my shoes about half a mile too soon but don't think it really hurt me in the long run. T2 was also good and went smoothly. I felt really good starting the run and could really feel the benefit of the Bricks paying off. The first mile or so is uphill and my pace seemed pretty good time-wise, then it transitions onto a section of double track before getting back onto the road and a mainly downhill final mile to the finish. The whole run felt solid and I could up the pace a little when I saw the tents and the finish line in sight.

Overall, I was really happy with the race, I managed to execute my plan pretty much as I wanted and hit all my pre-race goals which I was pleasantly surprised at and I came in at virtually the exact time I had hoped for in a very best case scenario. Positives were having my bike shoes clipped which seemed to help in transitions, and I think my Bricks were invaluable - knowing what intensity I could bike at in training and still set a good run pace afterwards definitely gave me more confidence and I didn't have those doubts on the bike that I wouldn't have anything left in the tank for the run. The only downside was a slightly slower bike than I'd hoped for but that's just something extra to work on for the next race! The other thing I need to do is to work out how to slow down everyone else in the 30-34 AG so I can pickup some 2010 silverware!

We had a good Triatomics representation there too - Peter, Nathan, Timbad (LBC reprazent reprazent!), Leland, Nick, Scott were all there and probably some others I missed (apologies!) and between us brought home some well earned awards!

2010 Chile Harvest Youth Race

Denisse and I took Ethan and Natalie down to Socorro to race in the Chile Harvest Youth Race on Friday, Aug 6. Denisse helped to avert a disaster! Just as we were to leave the hotel room for the race venue, I realized that I forgot the kids' bike helmets! Denisse suggested we find a Wal-Mart, and luckily, there was one only 1/2 mile from the hotel. A quick stop to pick up two helmets, and then on to the pool to sign in. The weather cooperated and it was a beautiful evening to race. Ethan raced in the 9-10 age group, and swam 100 yds, biked 2km and ran 1km. Natalie went next and swam 50yds, biked 1km and ran 1km in the 7-8 age group. Both said they were tired afterwards, but had fun and are looking forward to doing it again next year. Ethan's age group was very competitive with the top 5 finishing within a minute. Ethan missed the podium by 10 seconds! Overall, a great youth race, and well organized. Hope to see more Triatomic kids next year!

Ironman Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. June 27, 2010.

This is a really nice course and well suited for someone from Los Alamos. The bike has some decent hills on it, though none too tough, and the run is mostly flat, but with a decent little hill that you run up, then turn right around and run back down about ¾ into the loop (all three events are two loop). The lake is beautiful, and the bike course not only goes along the big Coeur d'Alene Lake, but also in the woods above Lake Hayden with nice views. The run is mostly along CdA Lake, with a brief part through a very nice section of the town and its beautiful homes.

CdA is easy to get to – fly into Spokane, WA, then rent a car for the half hour drive into CdA, ID. The lake was cool this year, ~61 degrees. This feels cold when you first get in, but once you get moving, you realize this is actually a great temperature to race in. I had borrowed Tina's goofy neoprene cap just in case, but was glad I decided against using it. A number of people had theirs on, though, so it's worth considering if you have trouble staying warm. It stays light out late into the evening and gets light very early, so no need for early morning flashlights, and only the very latecomers required glow sticks to finish. Race day was a bit windy, but at least the wind was blowing from the south which helped bring you back into shore on the swim, and push you up the longest hills on the bike.

The pros started at 6:25, the rest of us at 7:00. Which wasn't great for some of the slower pros, as they were just making the turn to start their second loop when the cannon went off for the age groupers. I had made a serious mistake and started in the middle of the middle of everyone for the mass beach start. This means that as we swam, everybody kept pinching and pinching till I really felt I was being squeezed to a point where I needed a break and could go no further on my own; but when I popped up to look for help, I realized there was no way I could get to the side of the swimming mass even if I tried, so I swam on. It didn't finally open for me until well after the turns at the far end of the first loop. Really scary. Given all that, I swam a 1:10 total and as always was grateful to be back on land – even more so for this race. This was clearly my fault, though, and could have easily been avoided by simply staying closer to one side, and more to the back at the very beginning.

The bike was beautiful. Decent surfaces for the most part, nice terrain to keep it interesting, and not too hot till the very end. Note that if you do this course – nearly every hill has a false summit, so just when you think you've gotten to the top, you really haven't. I averaged 20 mph for the first 80 miles, but there were still 32 to go! Ended up at 19.2mph – good enough for second fastest in my age group, though there were other women ahead of me to catch.

Into T2, I dropped my bike, grabbed my bag of stuff, and headed into the change tent. Looking up as I was entering it, I see Sister Madonna Buder standing at the entrance in a volunteer's shirt. So I said “Hi Sister,” and she followed me and another volunteer in and helped me get changed! (She's the 80 year old Ironman-competing nun who is routinely covered on the NBC Ironman shows for those of you who don't know). We chatted about her season, she wished me well, and I left her and the other volunteer with all of my sweaty bike gear to stuff back into the bag while I got slathered with more sunscreen and headed onto the run course. Yep, I left a legend to deal with my sweaty socks and helmet.

Out on the run course my legs felt great for the first few miles, plus I was happy to be off the bike. Of course, and unfortunately, that was a short-lived feeling, and I was soon plodding along. I was concerned about throwing up in a hot race again, so I really paid attention to the amount of Gatorade I was drinking and tried to focus on drinking for re-hydration only, not to just help me cool off (I think this is what I must have been guilty of at Deuces Wild, with such dire consequences). It was well over 80 degrees by this time, so it was a real issue. I saw Dan and the boys quite a few times during the run, as well as the TriSports.com crew who had come up to cheer a number of TS athletes (including the female co-owner of the company). Around mile 11 Dan told me the woman ahead of me was only 15 seconds in the lead, but in typical Amy fashion, my body decided that was right about the time I needed to find a Port-A-John, and it was time to further slow this silly pace anyway. Ah well.

Thus it was with great surprise that the next time I saw the guys, Dan said “she's right … there” and pointed to the woman I was about to pass. She must have been feeling even worse than me, as I ended up beating her by 17 minutes or something like that. Another 4+ hour marathon, 4:05 – ugh, even slower than Kona's 4:04 last October! Sure hope I can figure that out before Kona this year... Bottom line, I won my age group, though I was able to turn down the slot for Kona as I had already gotten one earlier in the year. I admit, it was nice to start the race without that extra pressure of needing to do well in order to race alongside Dan this year on the Big Island.

It was such a fun race, and great course, that while I stood in line the next morning with Dan who was signing up for next year's race, I thought what the heck, and signed up as well. And that is that ... my 2010 race season is now all caught up.