Race Report - Ironman Couer D'Alene 2021

Lake side at the first bike turn around, with a crystal clear view of the shore under the water.

This was my first race post COVID shutdown and since Survival of the Shawangunks.  Check in was super easy and I think it might be nice for IM to permanently incorporate designated race & bike check in times.  Having fewer people around made things so simple - easy to check out transition layout, easy to mill about the merch tent...  I was also happy to be able to view the athlete briefing from the comfort of my air conditioned accommodations vs sitting in the sweltering sun to hear nearly all the same stuff said at every other race I've done.

Transition area was well-shaded, frankly a god send given the race day temps.  I had great rack location, 3rd bike from end of row, adjacent to the paved path through the park, & closer to bike in/out than to swim in/run out.  Since race #'s were given out based on order of check in, I was surrounded by dudes of various ages - kinda neat actually since for me there was no underlying urge to size them up as competition.

No changing tents due to covid, so this was my first full using a traditional transition area.  Not sure if this would have worked with another 1000+ competitors, but it was just fine for the ~2100 rack #'s the race had.  This setup also made the morning clothes bag unnecessary (just leave your things in your transition bag).

Sunrise on June 27th was ~4:50 am so there was plenty of light as I got to transition.  At bike check in I found the location of the pumps and confirmed they'd be in the same spot race morning.  Alas, they weren't.  Now rolling my bike around an active pre-race transition area, I found a guy with a pump strapped to his back & wearing a shirt that made me think he was race / bike support, but apparently only so for clients on the list, was I on the list?  Next pump I found wouldn't seat right and trying to use it deflated the tire.  Moral - enough of this nonsense, time to travel with a full sized pump and if I have to throw it out race morning (if I have no spectator to hand it off to), then so be it.  Thankfully the guy setting up his things right there let me use his pump and he even offered to hold my crack pipe in place, versus my usual method of holding it on with one big toe while standing on one foot to pump.  Thanks guy!

I started donning my wetsuit shortly before the age group start (5:35 am) and then joined the back of the 1:20-1:30 pack in the swim staging area.  This was also in a grassy and shaded area which was great b/c it took a long time to get us in the water.  I'm thinking people expecting slower races were maybe joining faster swim groups so they could get a jump on what was going to be a very hot day.  Whatever, I was just thankful we weren't waiting in the sun.

Our group was brought to the beach and this is where I got my first touch of the lake.  It was amazing.  Nice clear water, 70 degrees.  I was racing at +20 lbs vs my prior full at Vineman, so to ease disappointment I couldn't fit in my Roka from 2016, I picked up a Roka Maverick Pro Thermal wetsuit thinking it would be a good purchase for both CDA and St George next year.  With the high air temps heading into race week I had been crossing my fingers the lake wouldn't warm up too much, but 70 was perfect.  We entered the water 2 at a time, 5 seconds apart.  For me that was 6:41 am.

The swim was 2 loops with a short beach run to hit the mid-point timing mat.  The outbound and inbound buoys were 3' pyramids and the turn buoys were 5', so even with some sun in the eyes everything was easy to see.  The water was pretty calm and the spread out swim start made this as nice as it could be.  Still, I swam more zig-zagged a trajectory than most people would think was possible.  I'd somewhat blindly hoped I'd break 1:30 based on my pool paces but accept 1:39 (includes wetsuit removal) as what I get for not having any open water spotting practice in nearly 2 years.

Exiting the swim, I walked up the sand portion and then jogged a little to my rack.  Laid my wetsuit under my bike, put on socks, shoes, chamois cream, sunscreen, helmet, and rolled out for a T1 of 6:36.  I could have done better but I didn't care.

Once on the bike the impact of my having spent the past 5 months swimming almost exclusively with a snorkel became clear - my neck was killing me & I couldn't turn my head to the left.  Oh well.  My target for the course was 100 watts.  This is lower than I'd thought we'd go with but given the projected temp I was glad to consider it totally doable. 

The bike course is 2 loops: ~7 miles out & back through downtown, residences, & around the east side of the lake; then ~21 miles out & back on highway 95 west of the lake.  It has nice rolling hills and zero shade.  Initially I'd planned to race with only concentrated nutrition in my BTA, just refilling / diluting at every aid station, but I ended up adding a downtube cage to my frame so I could carry clean water for drinking and wearing.  I also brought salt (a pill per hr), additional chamois cream, and enough nutrition for a 7 h ride.

First lap, not so bad.  Target wattage had me in my granny gear and passed by several riders on every climb.  But on level ground I was surprised it was possible to pass some of them back and on descents I went flying by people (max speed ~40 mph).  Not sure why, maybe based on simple comfort / experience with my bike?  I watched for signs of cross winds on open parts of the course and did detect a little wind, but nothing very squirrely.  Great road quality and lips at overpasses were not too jarring.

I don't usually race with a down tube bottle, but extraordinary heat calls for extraordinary measures.

Second lap was slower and so much hotter.  My master plan was to not stop at all on the bike.  Remembering Vineman (which was only 80 degrees), I was already expecting it to feel like I'd stepped into an oven once I got off the bike due to loss of air movement.  This was sure to feel worse at 100 degrees so I wanted to delay that sensation as long as possible.  Thing is, the 1.5 mile climb up Cougar Gulch (5% grade) felt like biking in a furnace - full sun, no air movement, 100 degree air temp, 115 degrees coming off the road surface (as measured by bike computer, was 132 as measured by a different gauge outside of transition), I'd taken the last of my salt and my legs were cramping.  I had to stop and the aid station at mile 80 was the first source of shade I could find. 

My goal of surviving the day had me climbing
upright, in my granny gear - not very badass 

When I pulled over my legs cramped worse and I was stuck there like a tinman.  Thank god for the absolutely fantastic volunteers.  They got me ice - a shovel full on my chest and another one on my back.  They got me ice water - dumping I think two bottles of it down my front side, my back side, and on my head after taking my helmet off.  They helped me off my bike and walked me over - supporting me b/c I could barely move on my own - to where I could sit under the shade of a tent.  Then they brought me a bannana and more water to drink.  I thought my day was done.  Even if the worms crawling under the skin of my legs stopped squirming I wasn't sure it was wise to carry on.

They announced the bus was there to take people back but I wasn't even ready to move for that.  I sat next to a girl trying to wait out her spell of nausea, watched a paramedic respond to others, and contemplated whether it was worth making it to the next tent / timing mat (mile 90).  Just then my BTA burped open and the contents (my nutrition!) were pouring out since my bike was laid on its side.  I leaped up to reposition the lid and realized if I could move that fast without my legs seizing up that I may as well carry on.  I made it around the timing mat at 90 and stopped again at the "mile 80" aid station to restock on water and body ice, and then finished the bike leg in 8 h 5 min (moving time was 7 h 41 min, elevation gain 5174').

While closing out the bike segment, my plan for T2 was to transition to run shoes and leave the course for a short- to race-ending soak in the lake.  But Ed was there cheering me on, saying I had plenty of time to get the run in, the shade of transition actually was rejuvenating, and the early part of the run course was lined with fences & banners making it impossible to access the lake.  Whatever.  Guess I'm doing this then.  T2: 6:14, included reapplication of sunscreen and all the shuffle speed I dared to muster.

The run course is 3 loops around McEuen park, plus an out & back through adjacent neighborhood and down the Centennial Trail along the lake's eastern side (similar to bike course).  And thankfully due to the time of day, there was some shade. I was using my run / walk plan of 2 min jogging / 45 sec of walking.  The aid stations had plenty of ice & water, and there were sprinklers set up all over the place along with people willing to hose you down if you liked.  At first I was skirting these, hoping to keep my feet from getting very wet, but it was inevitable anyway since I was rolling with my usual strategy of keeping ice chips in my bra.  It was hot but overall I was really floored to be feeling as good as I did. 

My watch died shortly into lap 2 and my pace slipped.  My guts also started to feel a bit unsettled so I stopped at a port-o-john.  Closing out that lap, Ed asked if I wanted to know what my projected finishing time was.  I thought he said 16:57 and that I might want to quicken the pace a little.  At the time, I'd rather have quit with terrible leg cramps at bike mile 80 than to have pressed on to earn a technical DNF with a >17 h finishing time, so I gave it what I had.  I credit the setting sun (8:50 pm, I think) and the potty stop (aka confidence that I wouldn't poop myself) for being able to pull out some additional speed.  Run split: 6 h 28 min.

Honestly, the finish line didn't strike me as being that remarkable.  Maybe it would have been if temps were lower, as I'm guessing many spectators were pretty fried come this late in the day.  Or maybe I've done too many of these races (this was 140.6 finish #8).  I had wanted to join the crowd that welcomed the final finishers, but I didn't have it in me.  My priorities were to find Ed, get out of my fully saturated clothing & shoes (= deck change in transition), and to eat some real food.  Thank you CDA for the brauts and quinoa salad.  Yum!

(Final time, 16 h 25 min)

The good:

• I was actually *never* uncomfortable on my bike saddle.  Even pushing stupidly low wattage & therefore sitting a bit heavier, no issues at all.  An absolutely unheard of & frankly unimagined outcome for me.
• My neck was less sore on the 2nd bike lap.  Or maybe I just forgot about it while my legs were cramping and my brain felt near boiling.
  
• Despite the heat, despite the lower training volume, I felt pretty ok at the finish line.  Definitely better than I did at Lake Placid where I was 11 years younger, 5 lbs heavier, w/ finish time 16:36.
• I completed a marathon post hip surgery and don't feel like I've destroyed myself !
• Back in our room with a good look at my urine color: very light.  Actually more light than in everyday life. 

The less good:

• 
  My left foot is bruised, badly blistered, and I'm certain to lose my big toenail.  Note to self, these are not marathon-worthy orthotics.
• I hope it wears off but I feel like I've spent a year's worth of points from my "sun exposure tolerability" card in a single day.

The indifferent:

• The scale says I lost 6 lbs.  I don't know if that's good or bad since I've never captured my post race weight before.

Notes about CDA as a venue:

• 
  This is a great location for a race.  Reasonably-accessible by airport (fly into Spokane, then 45 min drive).
• Plenty of places to get in shake out rides, either on or away from the course.
• Fantastic swim venue, right up there with Lake Placid for accessibility (free public beach).  Clear water, can see the bottom for much of the swim, & much shorter run to transition than LP, Tremblant, & Wisconsin.
• Family friendly hub location.  Not just the lake, but other parks (yeah, plural) all right there - grassy parks, swing-set & water spout park, dog park, skateboard park, hiking trails, surrounded by several restaurants.  Also the adjacent roads still allow some ability to get around so you don't have to be pinned down there all day if you don't want to be. (Contrast w/ Placid & Mt Tremblant, both really hard to get around on race day.)
• 3 loop run (& pretty flat, too) means loads of fan & race support on the run.  Even as a late finisher, the far end of the course didn't feel lonely.  (Contrast: Lake Placid, Boulder.)
• Fantastic, friendly race support, from both official and unofficial race volunteers.
• Nice rolling bike course, reportedly subject to shifting wind conditions but instead I got HEAT.  Good road quality, and ample space for 2000 racers.  Another 1000+ though may have made it seem crowded and as it was, there were some accidents.  One involved a truck w/ trailer that pulled through ahead of an approaching cyclist, who was hit.  A remarkable shame and unfortunate reminder that pricey race fee or not, we all need to keep our heads on swivels around intersections in case someone makes a bad decision.  There's also a long-seeming (~1 mi?) no passing zone  - these always bring about some duche-baggery - and sure enough a rider was taken down by some A-hole clipping her handlebars while illegally passing (on her right !!).  

Here are some race stats (taken from sportsstats.ca):  

The Kona slot allocation graphic I saw in the FB group showed DNS/DNF rates of 31% & 27% across F / M participants, respectively.  The DNF rate for my age group was 40%!  

Ironman only reports placements relative to finishers, which drastically under-represents
the tough conditions on the day.