Boutilier's Blog: 3rd Ironman - they don't get any easier...

Coeur d'Alene, Idaho = Ironman CDA!

June 26, 2011

Flew from Boston to Spokane, WA the Thursday before the race

along the 30 minute drive from Spokane to Coeur d'Alene

Getting settled in our hotel room. Holiday Inn Express at $300 a night! Ironman towns love to take advantage... At least it wasn't as bad as Lake Placid where the cheap rooms cost $500 a night with a 7 night minimum! Coeur d'Alene actually threw in dinner & breakfast with the room cost...

We flew on Thursday; got settled; and went for a 1 1/2 hour workout; grabbed Subway sandwiches & hit the hay!

On Friday, we were up early & ready to test the freezing waters of Lake Coeur d'Alene. We had been watching the water temp & were prepared for the worst (and it was...)

Wet suit & still cold after the swim!

Besides freezing temperatures (it was frickin' 53 degrees - the water temp that is (and the air temp wasn't much better); the lake also had 18 inches of messy chop. Whaaa.

Here are some other brave souls.

Chris & I tiptoed into the water (along with our thermal caps & booties). Took 50 strokes and decided to sign up for Ironman Louisville instead! Give me the warm disgusting Ohio river any day!

Chris did cancel the race for him- smart decision. Since I had taken time off from work during a busy period, I decided I had to at least start the race.

This is the beach where the race started on Sunday morning. Small & very crowded, it was!

Lake Coeur d'Alene

After freezing in the waters of Lake Coeur d'Alene, we went for a short bike & run. Then headed back to the hotel for breakfast!

Lots of interesting sculptures around CDA - like this huge feather!

Later in the day, we headed back to the Ironman Village to pick up my race packet. Just in time to hear the pros talk about how they were going to handle the race.

Below is 2008 & 2009 World Champion Craig Alexander! Next to him in yellow, is Maik T, also known as the GCM (one of my favorite women pro's - Hillary Biscay's fiance)

And the women pro's! In the middle is our friend Cait Snow! (She ended up getting 2nd place - woohoo!)

Checking out the expo

Lots of M dots around town (the logo for Ironman); or in this case an M moose...

Time to drive the bike course. We had seen some of it on Thursday when we did our workout.

A lot of busy suburban streets with nothing super interesting to see. Then the Hayden Lake hill section...
Lots of hills

I didn't expect to see this outside of Lake Placid... Ugh. I so wish I had been able to train at Lake Placid for at least one weekend....

There were also plenty of sharp corner descents - crazy! Good thing we drove the course!

More hills - I found out on race day that they call this one the wall...

Then we checked out the run course. It was somewhat flat around town - just a lot of short turns; then it headed out along the path along the lake. It was very scenic -with 2 monster hills on each lap (3/4 mile long hills -ugh)

This bridge was near the turn around - pretty to look at, but not sure I would notice it on race day(and I didn't)

Saturday morning, we were up early; ate breakfast; and headed out for a nice drive.

Here's Lake CDA from a distance - looks so beautiful...

Headed up to the national forest - great views!

Drove way up a dirt road & were treated to an amazing view!

Took a few other roads - lots of lakes & hills - nice & peaceful.

Then it was back to reality & time to drop off the bicycle & gear bags.

2,500 athletes = lots of bicycles!

The lake was nice & calm on Saturday afternoon.

Buoy's ready to be deployed! These are put along the swim course, so we know where to go & where to turn around.

Relaxed the rest of Saturday; ate a simple sandwich for dinner; and tried to sleep. I slept from 9:30 pm to 1:30 am. More than I did for Lake Placid.

Headed to the race start at 5:00. Sun is up early in Idaho - thankfully! It was a chilly 39 degrees; so I was bundled up! I saw my coach Pat in the transition area (he went on to win his age group - fast fellow!); pro's Cait & Tim Snow (she won 2nd place & Tim was 6th overall). Time was swimming in a sleeveless wetsuit. He said that he got warm easily. I thought he was crazy! My coach told me the next day that Tim regretted that decision 10 minutes after the swim start. The water was so cold!!!
Pros started 35 minutes before we did, so they were on the second lap of the swim when our gun went off (swim; bike; and run were all 2 loops - totalling: 2.4 mile swim; 112 mile bike; 26.2 mile run)

I tiptoed into the water again. My swim was steady but slow. I ran into a lot of people, but it wasn't as crowded as Lake Placid. I started to get really cold on the 2nd half of the 1st lap. Oh boy, still a long way to go! And my hands started developing the claw (they spread out & cramped into crooked finger positions). I made it the 2 laps, but I was so cold. I could barely stand when I finished. I went to the wet suit strippers & then headed to a warming tent. I hung out there for a while before heading to the changing tent. Normally I stay in the same race clothes from start to finish. But because it was so cold outside, I changed into dry clothes. I also added arm warmers & a coat! My transitions were long, but I didn't care.
I slowly walked to find my bike in the mass. Fortunately there are plenty of volunteers to help. I was still so cold, I could barely concentrate. A volunteer pointed out my bike. I took it over to the bike mounting area & slowly started off on the 112 mile ride.
The beginning of the bike ride goes along the run course; so we see the lake & hills. Then we head through town - past Home Depots and shopping malls. They did a great job of corralling vehichle traffic, so no problems with cars - yeah! I only saw a few cars all day. The first part is pretty flat (but windy) then you hit the hilly section. Then you head back to town for lap #2! I saw Chris at the start of the 2nd lap of the bike course. I gave him my coat & chatted for a couple minutes. I wasn't mentally into the race. I was keeping a steady pace; but wasn't super excited about the day. So, off for lap #2. Oh there goes another person passing me - oh well, who cares was my attitude for the day. I normally get passed a lot on the bike; and I don't get too bothered by it; but I usually care! Not that day - I just wanted to be done & didn't care if I was last or not. The hill section was pretty tuff. The air temperature wasn't too warm (high 60's), but the sun was hot. I stopped a couple times (which I have never done); went to the bathroom; took my time filling my water bottles. It was probably only a couple minutes; so no time was really wasted. And it was nice to get off the bike seat for a couple minutes!!

Finally started the ride back to town & I felt like I was crusing then! Love to see miles 90 & 100 because you know the end is near!!

Ironman is so nicely catered. Aid stations every 10 miles on the bike course with drinks; foods; etc. And when you get back to transition; they help you get off the bike & then put it back on the racks for you - love that!

I headed out on the run; trying to fix my lake bike hair. Glad Chris got a picture of that! :)

Ok, I can do this! I always look forward to the run; because if I have finished part I & II on time; then I know I'll be finishing another Ironman! I can always walk the run if I have to.

My legs felt very heavy (in contrast to the last 2 ironman where I felt super!). But I chugged along. I saw Cait at my mile 2 and her mile 24 - she looked so good!

My legs started to feel better & I kept up my pace; which felt slow; but maintainable. A lot of people were walking. I told myself that everyone wants to walk. Just keep running & it will be over quicker! Aid stations every mile; so I walked through those - drinking & eating my cliff shots. I saw Chris at mile 11; walked with him a bit & chatted about the day. Finally saw the turn around & headed out for lap #2. I felt fine the last lap. My time slowed due to my walking that 1/2 mile or so with Chris; but when I was running; I was running well (for me anyway). My legs hurt as much at mile 22 as they did at 15; so I didn't really slow down at the end. The hills on the run hurt; but I never hit a wall. I ran all the way to the end!