We had planned on getting up early to go watch some of the Tour de France down at The Mount Bakery - a local Belgian bakery, but skipped it for a little extra sleep before we headed south. I loaded up and then got the kids fed and loaded and we were off.
Clear Lake is about 30-40 minutes south of Bellingham, just east of Mount Vernon and I thought we were late, but as it turns out the race started at 9:00 instead of the 8:30 I had thought, so we had plenty of time to get setup and relax and play a bit.
My parents same up from Seattle to watch Jacob do the kids race which starts after the adults race. They arrived early enough to watch me race too, very nice! The lake has a very nice small park with a great play structure for the kids, some slides to slide into the water, nice sandy beach and it was turning out to be a beautiful day.
The race got underway a bout 5 minutes late to allow cleaning up some of the road construction. The swim is basically a 1/3 mile triangle and the start in between the swim docks was a little tight. I think I hit and got hit just as much as my Ironman swim. Once around the two turns and coming back into shore, it did clear up a bit. I got out of the water in just under 12 minutes, right where I was hoping.
I decided to try to race with no socks to see if I could save some time, so my swim to bike transition was very fast, just sunglasses, helmet and shoes and was off, no drying , no stopping to put on socks. I was able to bike without socks without any pain or blisters. This is a short sprint race and was only a 15 mile ride, out and back so you get to see all the leaders and who is coming up behind you. Pretty flat too, one hill and I really didn't even notice how big the hill was until I was coming back down. I passed 14 people on the bike and had two pass me, I know one very well as I ride with him most weekends, the other was wearing the new Bellingham Tri Club gear but I did not recognize him. Even though it was so short I was happy to finish as I was going VERY hard the whole way, finishing in 42:17 (or 21.3 MPH and averaged 154 HR which is a lot higher than I train at).
My bike to run transition was very fast too, I had transitioned to bare feet on top of my bike shoes on the last 200 yards of the bike so just needed to run to my spot, set bike and helmet down and put on my running shoes, this was a little harder than I expected as my feet were still a little damp, but got them on, grabbed my race number and hat and was headed out.
I could feel that I wished I had socks on, it was rubbing me the wrong way, but I made it through with only a couple cuts on one foot, no blisters, so no complaints. I checked my watch at the mile marker and saw 6:45 so I was moving along pretty good. Kept picking off people too, one at a time here and there and hit the turn around at 13:13 still moving fast. Finally got passed by one faster runner just after the turn around, but I kept on trucking along and pretty soon I saw the 1 mile to go sign. The first part of the last mile was a bit tough, but after a couple turns you can see how close you are getting and before I knew it was around the last turn and turned it up a bit more and then the final 150 yard dash was a nice sprint to finish it off. I passed 6 on the run and had 1 pass me. not bad at all! 26:39 run or 6:40 per mile 160 HR!
Final time of 1:22:20 and 13th overall position!
Relaxed a bit and then got Jacobs transition all set, He wanted me to swim/bike/run with him so I did a second triathlon and it was just as much fun as the first. Jacob used a kick board and I swam along side, his swim was about 100 yards and he did great, ran quickly up and out of the water and I helped rinse off his feet. He was going sock less as well, got on his shoes and helmet and I set him off while I got my shoes and helmet on too. I quickly caught up and we rode the 1.5 mile ride having a nice conversation. Back at transition, we ran to drop off our bikes and I told him just to set it down and I would catch up after I set the bikes in place. He ran most all the .6 mile course with only one walk section this year. He really wanted to improve on his time from last year and was about 3-4 minutes faster. He was very happy!
After his race I found out that I actually finished my race in first place for my age group (Male 35-39) so that was a nice surprise. They do a great raffle for all sorts of stuff, but Jacob was a little disappointed again this year, two years in a row and our names were not called (75 or more prizes on the table to choose from).
After, my parents took us all out for lunch and treats at Dairy Queen, so I think Jacob's disappointment did not last long! Great day and very happy to have my parents come watch Jacob and I race. Alex had fun playing and I was able to swim and catch him coming down the slide. Great Day!
IRONMAN Coeur d’Alene
June 24, 2007
I got an ok night of sleep, got up about 4 am to eat and load up the car while the kids slept. Jacob woke up and got dressed and I carried Alex out to the car in his pajamas and we were off about 4:35 or so.
I dropped off my special needs bags, put my nutrition mix and gels on my bike and found someone to pump up my tires, and then finally got body marked. I met up with Debbie and the kids and we went to check out the swim start area and walked towards the Coeur d’Alene Resort. After many hugs, kisses and good wishes I went back towards transition and sat down to relax a bit.
About 6:20 or so I started to get my wetsuit on and dropped my dry clothes bag off and was on the beach with about 15 – 20 minutes to go. I moved to the far right got my cap and goggles on and then heard the national anthem and was ready to go.
SWIM 2.4 Miles – 1:29:12 – 2:21 per 100 meters
Before I knew it I heard the cannon and I slowly walked down behind the runners. It took me about 15 seconds before I was in and deep enough to start swimming.
The oncoming whitecaps and rollers from the wind were tough to get a good stroke going, the waves had no regularity so you could not get a rhythm as to know when to breathe and when to sight. I was pretty much following the swimmers in front of me.
The real mess was at the first turn buoy. I planned to swim a bit wide but didn’t go wide enough and was caught in the mess. The swim section parallel to the beach was extra tough as the whitecaps kept pushing everyone in and that made the second turn buoy tougher than the first as not many were able to swim wide. I made it around and the waves kind of pushed us towards the shore but it didn’t help too much as I found it harder to know when to breathe and when to sight.
I was amazed when I saw the timing clock at 41 minutes as I got out of the water. The wind and associated whitecaps were just as bad on the second lap and I did not have nearly as many people in front to block and use for sighting. Not nearly as many people at the turn, but was still a tight turn with lots of people.
My calf cramped up tight once around the buoy, so I had to stop swimming and rolled over onto my back for almost half a minute while I tried to stretch and not get hit or swam over. I worked through it and got back into the beach with a total of 1:29:12 and boy was I happy. Under my goal of 1:30!
T1 - 6:47
I walked up the beach past over a 1000 people lining the barriers, awesome! I picked an open pair of wetsuit peelers and they pulled and tugged and within a couple seconds my wetsuit was off.
I found an empty chair in the changing tent. Once dry and bike gear on, I was out the door to the next set of volunteers and had two nice lades slather my arms and neck with sunscreen before I jogged off to grab my bike. I saw Debbie and the kids at the fence near my bicycle and they cheered for me and it felt great to be sent off like that.
BIKE 112 Miles – 6:38:58 – 16.8 mph
I exited the bike transition and the town streets were packed full of people cheering you on. I tried to settle into a nice and easy rhythm to keep my heart rate down. Coming back through town after first out and back in about 45 minutes I Debbie and the kids and got a little misty eyed as I made my way up and onto the middle 40 mile loop that had most all the hills.
I hardly noticed the first hill and before I knew it I was up and over the steepest hill section and ready for the rolling hills and again before I knew it was out at the furthest north turn around, about 35 miles into the course in under two hours, man I thought I was going too fast.
Back into town over the few more rollers and the final 10 miles or so is generally downhill and then you do get to ride through the barriers and tons of people cheering for you, it was awesome!
First loop done in 3:08 and change and I was off for the second loop, repeating the exact same route out and along the lake. I stopped at one of the vault toilets along the lake and at the bike special needs drop bags to reload my nutrition mix. I walked a bit to stretch my legs and toes.
The section through town was once again awesome and then up into the hill loop. Even the outer sections of the hilly area had lots of people, each aid station was like a party zone, people had parties in their driveways, some major intersections, and at the furthest turnaround was a large group all dressed in red cheering everyone on, I saw someone dressed up as Elmo way out here too, man it was great.
I got off the bike at the start of the aid station at mile 96 and walked through as if it was a run course aid station to stretch, get off the bike and use the facilities.
The short two mile out and back was great as I knew I was so close to being done and hammered out and back to make the second loop in about 3:30.
T2 - 4:53
I went straight to one of the porta potties then got my bag from the volunteer and back into the changing tent. This was quicker as I just had to take the bike shoes off and put the running shoes on.
It felt great to get the bike shoes off and the running shoes on. I stopped at the sun screeners again and got slathered, they got my ears and face this time in addition to my arms and shoulders, it was like a great mid race massage.
RUN 26.2 Miles - 4:56:22 – 11:19 per mile
I was now on my strongest portion of the triathlon and I was off and running towards the first short out and back section along the river. After the turn around, I checked my watch at the 1 mile marker and saw 8:30, not a bad pace at all maybe a bit fast but I was feeling ok and shortly after, just before getting back near the transition area, I saw Debbie and kids and they saw me and started to cheer and boy oh boy was it great. What a lift, each time I saw them my pace quickened a bit and I’m sure my smile got bigger.
The tunnel of people on each side of the barriers as you run past the transition area was like what you see when you watch the Tour de France, it was packed full of people on each side and lots and lots of them are calling out your name and man it was awesome. Just past this, you run through downtown Coeur d’Alene and the streets are closed and each side of the street is packed. You get this feeling for about 5 or 6 blocks before the turn towards the residential section before you get to the lake area.
I was able to run pretty much the first 10 miles, but after that I settled into a run/walk and made it back into town and the crowd helped me run, how could you walk when thousands of people are cheering for you and calling your name. I made it past the transition area in about 2:08 for the first half marathon.
Once past the river dike section and downtown and the residential section and back along the lake I was starting to turn into a walk/run. I had plenty of energy to run, but was too sore all over my legs and feet so wanted to walk so I did. I did run the hill up the turnaround because I knew I would walk back down so I ran up, felt great!
The way back was more walk than run and back through the residential section I tried to run and was starting to turn back into a run/walker and once past the last aid station about mile 25 I ran the final mile plus all the way home.
Coming down the final 5 blocks is all downhill and packed with 2000-3000 people all cheering for me and lots would read my name and call out “Go Glenn!” or “Way to go Glenn”, man it was awesome. About two blocks from the finish chute I started to slow as I was looking for Debbie and the kids as I wanted to finish with Jacob and Alex. Some people said don’t slow down now, you can do it, but I finally found the kids, or Jacob found me and ran out of the kids corral area and I asked if Alex was coming. Debbie got him out of the stroller and we all ran down the finish chute and I even heard Mike Reilly call my name (correctly too) and where I was from and most importantly that “YOU ARE AN IRONMAN!!!!”
SWIM: 2.4 Miles – 1:29:12
T1: 6:47
BIKE: 112 Miles – 6:38:58
T2: 4:53
RUN: 26.2 Miles – 4:56:12
FINAL: 13:16:11
PLACE: 217/344
AGPLACE: 1108/2085 OA
Time to relax and take it easy for the rest of today.
After enjoying breakfast at the hotel, the whole family went down and found a new place to park (on the Idaho college campus) and it should be a good place for race day too. I went for a short bike ride followed by an even shorter run while Debbie and the kids went to the park.
We met after and all went to the expo and the kids got some IRONMAN souvenirs and left messages for me at the Ford display. These inspirational messages are triggered by the timing chip and show up on large reader board during the Ford Motivational Mile (yeah everything is sponsored).
We walked around and looked at bike entry/exit area and the run exit and then over to the finish line (almost all setup) before meeting Aunt Pam and Uncle Pat for lunch. We had a nice visit and then took our time back to the hotel by driving up past Silverwood and then drove part of the furthest northern part of the bike course.
Back at the hotel we are now relaxing and hope to get to bed early.
Live video and athlete tracking is up on www.ironman.com
The only 'events' I planned on doing today was the morning swim and the evening banquet and athlete meeting, so once done swimming (another day of wind and whitecaps) I drove back to the hotel and went to the continental breakfast with everyone.
After, we drove to CdA and drove out part of the bike/run course along the lake and then went for a hike in Tubbs Hill Park. Near the trail head is a memorial to Hydroplane drivers. (In the back of the local awesome hamburger joint -Hudsons - is a little Hydroplane museum that we stumbled upon at lunch on Thursday). What great views, the trail was a little bumpy, but we made it and went to play at the park toy structures for a while. We went for lunch at a San Francisco Sourdough sandwich shop and they were great and even better, next door was a Cold Stone Creamery.
A little rest at the hotel and I organized my transition bags and now we are headed out to swim in Hayden Lake!
I also uploaded more images to my Picasa web album, check the links on the side of the blog
