Yes, I am alive and am posting on our blog. It's been a while I know, but... er.. I have no real good excuse. Just plain lazy I guess. But since I am posting, how about a brief recap of what I have been doing for the last 6 months. Ok, ok, not even I want to rehash that. Meghan has done a great job of keeping people informed of my sick devotion and I will keep this to details of the week in Cd'A.
After a week of pulling little sticky notes off of the swim, bike and run course printouts pinned to my cubical wall, on June 17th I finally pulled the last note informing anyone who happened by that I would be "Off to Coeur d'Alene". I dragged Meghan out to Silver Lake for one of only a couple open water swims getting more and more comfortable in the water. That night I finalized the packing which had been progressively gathering gear to the spare bedroom that had more often than not been used as a staging ground for everything Tri for the last 6 months! Ok, who are we kidding, it's the Gear Room. Everything that could possibly be needed was hopefully stuffed into 2 duffles including cold and rain gear as my cousin Julie's experience from Wisconsin proved anything is possible on race day. With a 30% chance of rain/thunderstorms forecast for Sunday, I hoped for the best.
Wednesday morning we packed the car early leaving plenty of time to check and recheck that I indeed had both my wetsuit and bike, as I figured those would be the most difficult components to replace once in Idaho. (How little I knew and Ironman operations center!) Once convinced that my bike was on top of the car and Meghan's on back, we picked up our amazing friend Lea who joined the crazy team Vardo-Klein for the week and were off!
The excitement didn't really start in on me until I found myself picking out vehicles toting road or time trial bikes as we neared Coeur d'Alene. Having trained largely alone, and only really competed in one triathlon, it was cool to finally be amongst people who were here for the same reason I was! Our drive complete, we arrived at Meghan's brother Mike and Teresa's apartment which was to be the main staging ground for the week only a few blocks from downtown.
(Sorry for the jotted notes, a little more for me than everyone else)
Meghan's mom Katy graciously acted as chef
training ride out to the higgin's point then run
steak
Thur
morning swim - kicked out of the pool!
brief look at Ironman booths and registration tent
picked up Julie
Registration and Ironman store
Penne rustica
Royce and Linda arrive
Bike tuned
Relocated to Holly's
Fri
real training swim down and back length of bouys
wander Ironman store
Signs made
Kleins arrive
Planned out transition bags
Dinner for athletes
Erin arrives late
Sat
Morning run in full outfit
wander Ironman store
massage helped tight left calf
lunch at M&T
Checked in Bike and T1 T2 bags
Special needs bags stuffed
chilled
spaghetti dinner
thanks to all
Happy Everyone Day
Early to bed
Thunderstorm in midnight - 2AM
After 30 weeks of training, I made it to the beach at Coeur d'Alene City Park. I had no real concept of what I was about to do, but I was excited.
Ben dropped me off a few blocks away and I walked over to the transition area. It was electric being there with everyone making final preparations that morning. What a feeling. I spotted Meghan, Lea and Teresa and B-lined it to them for my body marking. Quick hug and kiss and I was off to check a couple items in my transition bags, place a beverage bottle on my bike and remove the plastic from my bike, which was nice and dry! Time was getting short and I wanted to see the Pro's off so I ducked unto the change tent and donned my jersey and wetsuit and dropped off the morning gear bag. The throng of people was getting huge, but I managed to see the Pro's start and wander over to find Royce then Julie. I gave my special needs bags to Kari and we began our march to the start. Don't know how but managed to find Dad and Erin who urged a quick good luck and we turned onto the beach with a constant high pitched chime signifying that we and everyone around us were checked in.
Julie and I managed to find a nice open spot on the beach almost in line with the buoys. It was a surreal experience as you knew the final moments were ticking away to the start. We hopped into the water for a quick jolt and the view from the water was crazy; a sprinkling of blue and pink caps atop the sea of black bodies. It was very cool to be there with Julie who made me take notice and not forget the view. We hopped back on shore and said good luck to each other and waited the final seconds looking out to the waiting boats flanking the course
Boom!
The beach all started moving at once and I immediately lost Julie. Aside from the initial jolt of adrenaline the first couple hundred meters were OK! It must have been when everyone began to converge that it got hairy. Bodies bumped all around. I felt hands on my feet. Chop from arm made me gulp water. I started to get a little freaked out. A couple bobs of breast stroke all I could see were bodies thrashing around me. I tried to calm, but it's kind of hard with people swimming up your legs. Little by little I eased into less tangled water and really started to swim. By the first turn everyone bunched up again and I was getting more used to it, but that could be because I kept drifting farther out of the main current to keep from getting swam over. I consciously decided that I had to keep in there a little bit lest I swim 3 miles rather than the 2.4, and that didn't sound appealing. I finished my first lap and was amazed that it was a great relief knowing only one more and I would be done. I scrambled up the beach hastily made my U-turn and flopped back into the water to go again. The second lap was more of the same but I was able to get my head back and swim like the pool. It was a good feeling! I even picked up the pace and passed a couple people.
Having the course a two lap swim turned out to be a great mental relief. It broke the swim up into bite size pieces that I knew I was able to do, Swim out to the end of the buoys, swim back to the mat, and then repeat and done. It still sounds like a lot, but when I was in the mode, I tried never think of the next leg. If you do that it starts to look like a mountain of a day. At any rate, I left the swim feeling great. I caught a glimpse of red Vardo-Klein fans on the steps next to the swim and heard the cheer go up once they realized it was me! It was an even greater boost.
Swim: 1:10:10
I started stripping on the way up the shore and saw the volunteers peeling off wetsuits. Looked left, then right, no one available, screw it, and started taking it off myself. Got it to my ankles and had someone finally yank off the last bit and off I went to the tent. I don't know how but I also suddenly had my transition bag in my hand. Sweet. The tent wasn't packed, but there were people everywhere. I found a spot and tried to take a moment to remember everything before scrambling out. Thank goodness there was a communal stall in the corners cause, damn, I always have to go after swimming. (Sorry, not hard core enough to swim or bike and pee at the same time...) Ran out of the tent and accepted the slathering of sunscreen. As I was leaving, Erin called out that she was the one applying sunscreen to my legs! Quick hug and I was off. I clopped awkwardly to my bike as well as one does with road bike shoes and knobby cleats sticking out. En route I heard dad call out that I had nearly missed him too! Sheesh. No time for a hug, as I had passed him already, I waved and then ran to grab my bike. Now running with a bike and clopping, I made it to the mounting line and clipped into my bike. It was like returning home! What a feeling! I think I even yelled at someone, "So much better than swimming!" and it really was.
T1: 0:06:53
I felt great on the bike. Downtown Coeur d'Alene passed by quickly and I turned onto Coeur d'Alene Lake drive before I knew it. Looking down at my cyclometer to read 28 mph surprised me. I felt good but tried to reign in my excitement as I had a long way to go yet. The one big hill out near Higgin's Point was the first place I was able to see other people climbing and gage myself next to them. It was left side of the lane the whole way up (On your left, quickly became simply "LEFT!"). I will just take this moment to point out that people with tricked out aero-bikes with fancy tear-drop shaped helmets and super-expensive wheels are the sweetest people to pass. Sure a lot passed me, but that was to be expected. The other way around was just Sweeet.
Quick turn around and I was on my way to having a nice dry suit. If only I could get my heart rate monitor to register a pulse. I was barely reading 100 bpm if at all (too dry! or something...). I tried to stop fiddling with it and get my head into pedaling.
The volunteers were simply great! With little access to the bike route out next to the lake, only a handful of people were out to cheer us along and the aid station staffers filled in mightily. When they weren't trying to hand off a drink or gel pack they were cheering wildly.
A quick dash back through downtown, a mass of crowds screaming and clanging cowbells, a hairpin turn and I was out into the real meat of the course. The flats leading up to Hayden, I was able to work past a few more people and only a few worked past me (yeah they had tricked out bikes).
Hayden was the beginning the real hills and started out with a nice shot pitch up through the neighborhood near the golf course. I heard someone ask if the first hill was one of the more vicious on the course. I tried to break it to them nicely.. "Not at all".
Lakeview has a couple great shots of Hayden lake, but the really remarkable ones were off English Point Rd. You ride above the glass smooth lake framed with mountains covered by thick pine. The day was simply gorgeous and the morning crisp. I was so thankful for the weather.
Having ridden and driven the course, I was waiting for the hard hairpin turn on Lakeview and the climb up to the English point. At this point we are still in neighborhoods and it seemed like everyone that could be out was out watching and cheering us on. Still high on being on out on the bike I would thank people and was able to read the occasional sign. Of particular note was one held by a guy casually sitting on the edge of the road on the hill up to English Point rd: "Don't Suck" was all it said. I laughed the whole way up. It was great!
One more downhill leading to a hard hairpin and we would drop down to the lake. I checked people in my immediate vicinity going into the hill so I would be aware of my spacing if I needed to brake. I had a guy up to my left and a couple farther back. I felt comfortable and road into the curve. The road had a nice 3 ft wide patch of newer asphalt on the inside of the curve. I drifted out to avoid the seam an noticed the guy ahead of me take the sharper inside track. He must have hit the brakes hard as he realized he couldn't hold this line on the curve. His brakes chattered, I barely caught a fishtail, and he flopped down hard on his left side skidding off onto side road where finally came to rest.
I was braking hard once I heard the chattering and cringed at the impact. The mental decision took only a moment. I had to stop as my race time wasn't really going to matter in the long run. Another biker also stopped and we called out a chorus of "Are you OK's". Literally a whimper was the response. The other stopped biker stayed at the crash and I road back up to the neighborhood to find someone. Why wasn't this corner staffed like the last?! I puffed up the hill I had just ridden down (ARG!) while warning bikers to Watch the Corner! I screamed at the first person I saw to call the medics and get down to the corner and then turned to head back down. By the time I returned a car had stopped and the victim had moved to a sitting position. I heard 911 had been called and decided that I wasn't going to be of any more use and funneled back into the flow of bikers. Never heard anything more the injury.
A little shaken, it took me a little bit to settle back into riding again. English point curved along the lake over some incredibly expensive houses and finally turned north for a mile of hill climbing. Dropping into a lower gear and increasing the cadence I started passing people on the hill again. Some people worked hard and other simply chatted on their way up. Nearing the top I noticed the familiar Vardo-Klein shirts and pedalled harder. Mike Beard was the first of a long line of exuberant fans. Even though I was right next to them before they noticed me, I was still grateful for the familiar voices and cheers of doing great. It was definitely one of the harder climbs, but it was muted. The best way to make it up a hard climb is having people up there cheering you the last little bit.
The hills started rolling at this point and each one took just a little more off what was once a fountain of energy. I tried to stay evenly paced and not race up any hills. We passed one more aid station. At this point I had been trying to take down 2 Gu packs and a Powerbar in an hour. I grabbed another pack and a Gatorade as my Powerbar drink was nearly gone. It was hard to remember exactly when I took what but I tried to keep enough food and drink to last to the next aid station 10 miles.
A few more miles and I ticked off the final outbound turnaround on Ohio Match and started my way back in. The roads frustratingly zigged and zagged to gain mileage before finally passing Hayden. Once on flatter roads the dreaded nemesis of biking showed and began to blow directly against any forward progress. The ride back into Couer d'Alene was a struggle and I concentrated on my riding and trying not to worry about anyone around me nor the fact that I really had to pee again! (thankfully the course is stocked with porta-potties).
I picked up my special needs bag grabbing the Gu and Powerbars while ignoring the once thought appetizing PBJ sandwich. Oh, and Fig Newtons are like eating a handful of Saltines; not the best idea. The second lap was oddly similar to the first with the exception that I was not nearly as able to talk to bystanders. I kept a decent pace. Unfortunately it wasn't the reverse split that I had wanted. The second time by the corner on English Point showed a marked improvement with full support should anyone careen off again. Even more welcome than the first pass was the sight of the Vardo-Klein cheer squad atop English Point. Some tired high-fives and encouragement and I was left to battle the remaining miles into T2. I began to think about having to run after biking and was worried a little at my my tired state. I was grateful to see Royce and Lori, one last pack of cheer squad, when riding down Garwood. The last 20 miles were again into the wind but at least it was the last time. Coasting into the finisher lane was a relief.
Bike: 5:38:50
I hopped off my bike handed it off, was handed my bike-to -run transition bag and made my way to the transition tent. Legs felt a little rubbery but would have to see once I started running. The changing tent was pretty empty. I took my time enjoying being off the bike for a few moments and had a couple volunteers ask if I needed help. Just taking my time... Shoes on jersey packed with Gu and Powerbars, I finally handed over my transition bag with my bike gear and started out of the tent, only to remember that I hadn't taken off my biking gloves. An extra bag 281 later (since the T2 bag had already been pitched into the pile) and
Now I was ready.
T2: 0:04:14
To my surprise, running felt pretty good, considering. The start of the run heads west along the lake through the park which was completely lined with spectators. It was pretty cool. I was almost excited to get out and run. At least when I didn't think about how much longer I had. I didn't see any Vardo-Klein spectators to send me off, but knew they had to be out on the course bringing Julie in. I took a few miles to get into a stride, and eventually found a person that I forced myself to latch onto. It was quite a challenge at times, but it was about the pace that I wanted to run and seemed close to what I trained at, mind you not having swam and biked for the prior 7 hours. We traded places for a while and once I got out to the end of Coeur d'Alene Lake Dr. I was getting tired. I convinced myself that I wouldn't stop until the half way. Oh the little voice was getting to me. I managed to keep pace until the special needs station and had to make a pit stop. No one needs shifting tatoos (if you don't know what I am talking about, trust me, you don't want to know!).
I took my time at the aid station and it was the only one I walked the entirly through. Getting going again was not the most fun prospect. It is so much easier to keep running rather than have to start up again. After finally lurching into a trot, jog, then finally "run" I was off. I tried a number of times to start pacing again, but couldn't hold onto anyone anymore. Could be that they were first lapers or I was simply tired! Aid stations were my friends and I could focus on getting to the next one a mile away where I might be able to choke on some water or coke, chomp a powerbar and nearly hurl at the prospect of any other food. Again it was easier to just keep running.
The most emotional moment of the whole day was finally seeing the cheer squad on the second lap heading out of town. It was a huge boost and I nearly lost it when meghan ran with me for a while cheering me on and telling me she loved me! It was a great feeling to have such support. I don't know what it would have been like without such great people keeping me going.
Coming up to the last hill and turn around on Coeur d'Alene Lake I finally saw a familiar face on the course that I was hoping that I wouldn't miss when we passed... Julie! She was on her way down and I up. She saw me first and got out coherent chear of encouragement and then we passed. I on the other hand couldn't formulate my own name much less a logical chear, "Way, to.. keep ru.. Go Julie..." Which is still probably much more than reality... After making up the hill and proclaming that I never wanted to nor would I see these gate keepers again, I was off to catch Julie. Having about five minutes to formulate a suitable cheer, I pulled up alongside Julie for a moment and wished her well.
The last few miles I couldn't even consider any sort of solid food and attempted the Ironman's version of Crack... Coca Cola. I also doused the head at every chance with the plentiful cold water sponges held out for runners to cool down. I passed Lori while turning off CdA Lake Dr. and was pumped to whittle the miles off one by one though they now took an eternity even though I tried to really kick. I didn't know exactly what the time was, but I knew I was much faster than my 12 hour estimate and very close to finishing around 11! I tried to give er all she's got! The best moment of the run was hearing the words directing 2nd lapers to the left and 1st lapers to the right. I was outta here! I found myself turning onto Sherman Ave with the street lined with people. The next person was a couple hundred yards away and too far to try to catch and a glance behind me told me that I didn't have to worry about anyone catching me. Thank goodness! The last few blocks were so cool. I could hardly believe that I was finally finishing such a long day. I found cheerers in the bleachers and was elated to cross the finish line.
Run: 4:07:23
Total Time: 11:07:30
What a rush. I helped off the line by some finsh line catchers and soon found Meghan. I was tired and sore, but at least I was still under my own power! I was soon guided to the rest of Vardo-Klein clan where many a picture was taken and hug was delivered. Such a great time.... Now!
We slowly made our way a block north to watch Julie finish her first lap while I began rehashing the day. A brief trip back to Mike and T's race central for a shower and back out we watched Julie cross the finish line beating her goal of 14 hrs!
2 Ironman ready for a nap andsome much needed beer (tomorrow). What a great day. I couldn't have done it without all the support from Family (near AND far!) and friends. I thank everyone who offered encouragement, aid, and advice along the whole journey training and racing.
Thank you Thank you Thank you all!
The super burrito
Half Dome at Yosemite
Hike near Lake Tahoe with Lea
Our hike in Castle Crag State Park, CA
Refreshed at a natural spring on the way back down
Crater Lake, OR --brrrrr cold that day!
The front
From the front door in through the living room
Finally crossing the finish
