Ironman Coeur d'Alene race report, by Landon

I guess the adventure really started 12 months ago when I was sitting in my office at the Steinmann Law Firm in the Woodlands. I’m not really sure how the conversation came up, but since Aja and I were doing so much running, through a conversation with a co-worker, James, I somehow found myself looking at Ironman competitions. One thing led to another and all of the sudden I found myself registered for one of the greatest athletic challenges in the world, Ironman Coeur D’Alene. Now we have done a lot of running and triathlons since then to get ready, but at the time I signed up it was 100% out of naivety. Aja and I were in the middle of our Marathon training for Chicago Marathon, but we didn’t even have a full marathon under our belts. The only medal hanging on our respective nails was our Houston half marathon… and we had walked a good chunk of that. I had never done a triathlon of any length. I had never been on a road bike, much less a triathlon bike, and I hadn’t swam a single lap in the pool since I was 13 years old, yet somehow I had the audacity to believe I could complete one of the toughest feats of athleticism available to the everyday athlete… thus I was signed up.

Over the next couple months Aja and I slowly began accumulating all of the necessary items needed to compete in triathlons… The Bike, The Wetsuit, The Goggles, The Speedo, The Bike Shorts, The Helmets, The Aero Bottle, The 6 Insulated bottles, The two Bento Boxes, The 1000 Gels, The 3 Gel Flasks, The Tire repair kits, The Replacement Tubes, The Race Wheels, The Second Speedo, The Tri Shorts, The Tri-top, The Shoes, The Bike Trainers, The Bike Computers, The Sodium Capsules, The Endurance Formula, The Halo, The Prescription Sunglasses, The Race Tires, The Cold Weather Sleeves, and other things I can’t come up with at the moment. We also got our confidence up by racing… and racing a lot!!! From October 11, 2009 to May of 2010 we competed in: Chicago Marathon, San Antonio Half Marathon, New Orleans Half Marathon, Disney Half Marathon, Disney Full Marathon, Pflugerville Sprint Triathlon, Gateway to the Bay Sprint Triathlon, Ironman Texas 70.3, and CapTex Olympic Triathlon.

Slowly but surely I was getting there. Starting in February of this year my attention turned strictly to Ironman training. If you have commitment issues, this is not the sport for you. Tuesday through Friday Aja and I, without fail, would be working out well past 9:30PM every night. And a weekend workout of less than 9 hours was a rarity. It was nuts. But as the summer months drew nearer we hit a different level. 100 Mile rides Saturday followed by 18 mile run brick workouts on Sunday. Life was getting hectic. Luckily I had Kenna and James’ wedding, and my new job to give me a something a short attention reprieve, but as soon as the wedding had passed, and the first couple weeks were behind me at work, I looked up and realized that the race was two weeks away. Reality had just caught up to me, and the monster known as the Ironman was coming quick.

We left on Wednesday, which was plenty of time before the Sunday race. We had booked a Lake house that was actually in Washington State, on a different lake, 30 minutes outside of Coeur D’Alene. It was absolutely gorgeous up there; the weather was between 60-81 the entire time we were there, and the vast majority of the time we were somewhere in the 70s. My last couple training sessions went rather well. On Wednesday Aja and I got in an hour run on the race course to scout out some of the terrain. On Thursday and Saturday Aja and I got up early in the morning, donned our wetsuits, and swam a good portion of the swim. This really gave me a lot of confidence going into the swim… which as you will see in a bit went quite well. And on Thursday afternoon, the whole crew (Mom, Dad, Aja, and myself) jumped in the minivan and drove the course. When we got to the big hills… and there were a lot of them, I would get out and ride them on fresh legs. The hills were my biggest concern going into the race. The bike is my weakest leg of the race and I had had very limited experience on hills, and some of these hills were serious climbs for me. The training session went well, and I guess I was as ready as possible for the big day.

The rest of the week was both restful and annoying at the same time. Tapering down to four very small workouts in 5 days was almost painful, and staying indoors, sleeping in, sitting around and watching TV was nice for the first couple days, but by day three I was getting a little stir crazy. When you take away a man’s way of releasing his stress, working out, and the put one of the most stressful experiences of his life in front of him, it is a bad mixture. I undeservedly snapped at Aja once or twice, but overall I think I held it together alright and got to race morning, rested, as ready as possible, and with minimal stir crazy casualties.

Race morning was rather nuts… Now we have done a number of triathlons, including an Ironman 70.3 which actually had more participants overall than the Irnoman did, but nothing compared to the craziness that awaited us in CDA. We woke up around 4:30 and quickly grabbed the race bags that we had had been packing for the past week. We had everything, which was a minor miracle, and we were good to go. I downed 850 – 1000 calories for breakfast and we were on the road by 5:15. We showed up around 5:45 for a 7:00 race which would have been fine for anywhere other than Ironman CDA. I got body marked, aired up my bike and put all the nutrition (over 2600 calories) and sodium capsules on my bike, aired up my tires, dropped off some more food in my nutrition bags, and went to the bathroom. That all went well, but the problem was the crowd. Because CDA is a beach start, and it is in a tight space, the spectators and athletes all piled into a tiny area which made moving around almost impossible. When I finally got out of the restroom I was supposed to meet the family on this peninsula that they were going to watch the swim from, but getting there was dang near impossible. I inevitably ended up jumping a couple barriers and screaming Aja’s name as I was walking through a crowd of thousands. I’m sure it was only 5 minutes, but when the race starts in 15 minutes, 5 minutes feels like an eternity. I had to find them because I had to give them my morning clothes, and get help putting on my wetsuit. I found them right before I was about to hang my bag in a tree, and they helped me quickly squeeze into my wetsuit. Unfortunately, because we were so rushed, and both sides were flustered we forgot two crucial things at this point; sunscreen and Body Glide. If you don’t know what Body Glide is, don’t worry about it…. just know that it really sucks to not remember it. So from there I moved through the throngs of people to the start line, and arrived moments before the national anthem started. If you know me, and you know race morning, you know that this is a lot later than I generally arrive, but at that point it was too late to worry about it. I threw on my goggles and swim cap and lined up. Coeur D’Alene is a mass beach start, which means that when the clock hits 7:00 a cannon goes off and 2400 people all hit the water at once. There is a lot of strategy that goes into where you position yourself on the beach, and I chose the inside line. The swim course is a 1.2 mile rectangle that you have to go around twice. The only buoys that you have to actually go around are at the corners. Many of the weaker swimmers line up on the far right of the beach in hopes of making wider turns and having more open water. Many of the stronger swimmers try to hug the line as close as possible to ensure the shortest distance, but you are almost guaranteeing yourself a fairly brutal experience. So I chose the inside line. I lined up about 8 people deep in a line of 30 or so and I was in the water within 4 seconds of the gun going off. I was actually the best swim I have ever had. I found a lot of open water to the inside of the buoys and I was able to get around the corner buoys without too much mayhem. But as I knew would happen when I chose the inside line, I did get blown up three times. About three hundred meters in I got rocked by an elbow to the nose which dislodged my nose clip, and about 0.8 miles in I took the hardest kick to the left eye socket I have ever experienced. My goggles suctioned to my face so tight that I had to stop for a second a correct them. I think it’s a miracle that I don’t have a shiner. Toss in a nice blow to the back of the head and I had the swim I expected to get when I lined up inside. What I didn’t expect to see was a 35 minute first lap and then a 38 minute second lap. I knew I was capable of those type times in a pool, but my other race experience up to that point had let my expectations to be closer to 1:30 swim time, not a 1:13. So, I was really happy with my swim over all.

Transition 1 was rather good overall; the wetsuit strippers were great and I was quickly in the tent. I did a full change, got some ill-applied sunscreen, and used the restroom before heading out, completing a very slow 8 minute transition. But there I was, unfortunately on the bike, and that is where I would be for the next 6 plus hours…

The bike was a little long. The first thing you have to understand about CDA is that it is just gorgeous. I am impressed that there aren’t more people that bike off the cliff because they are looking at the beautiful scenery. Being my weakest leg of the race I was slightly disheartened when I realized immediately that I didn’t have my Garmin with me leaving transition. I had done 100% of my training concentrating on cadence and perceived exertion. Perceived exertion was going to be hard enough to calculate on some of the climbs that I was about to go over, but now I was going to be without my cadence all together. I knew it was going to be an interesting few hours. The first lap went really, really well. I put together a 3:05 first lap (56 miles) and was ecstatic, but I knew I had paid a price for the good time. My bike was ‘squeaking’ and ‘moaning’ at me when I put too much torque on the crank up hills, my body had started tightening up early because of the fast swim + hills and my legs were getting tired. At mile 70 I decided that I would take it easy in the second lap in order to save some legs for the Marathon and because I wasn’t really sure if I had the legs or the bike to repeat the 3:05 performance. I brought it in at a 3:30 – 3:35. I was a little disappointed with the lap, but knew that I had done the right thing for the good of the race. I had an overall time of 6:40 which is a little slower than I would have liked, but since 7 hours was my “I have to be under this” time, I left the bike happy… saddle sore, but happy.

Transition 2 was good. The volunteers in the transition area were great. I got my gear bag, changed, chatted up my volunteer, was poorly reapplied with sunscreen, used the restroom, and was off again. It really had never hit me that I was going to have to run a freaking marathon until that moment. I am actually pretty good at denial, and putting off reality, and I guess I had done a good job of doing just that until mile one. It was a really something of a revelation to know that I had an entire marathon in front of me, but it was also at that moment that I knew that I was going to be an Ironman that day. I didn’t have any moments in training that I thought that I couldn’t make it, but at that moment, I knew that I was going to finish, and that I was going to achieve my number 1 goal… to finish with the sun up. The first half marathon went quite well. I was able to plod along around a 10 min 30 sec pace, but as I started doing the math in my head and looking at some of the hills in my way, I realized that a sub 13 hour Ironman was probably not in the plans that day. I didn’t have a time goal for this race, I had a range. When people asked where I wanted to finish I would say somewhere between 12 hours and 15 hours, and definitely have the sun be up. So the 13 hour mark was not something that I had to break, and allowing it to slip by was probably one of the best things I could have done. I used a speed walk the inclines at a 13:30 pace, run the declines at a 9:00 to 10:00 min pace, and split the strait-a-ways (like there were any) approach to everything after mile 17. This worked out perfectly for me. I was able to keep myself together extremely well. I had about as much gel as I could stand, and my stomach was a little watery so for the first time ever I tried food on the race course. I started with bananas which was ok but didn’t help much in terms of the watery stomach, and then I found that potato chips (which they actually hand out at aid stations) really helped. I only had 5-6 per aid station but I would grab them almost every time the last 10 miles. Every aid station I would grab 4 ounces of Gatorade, wash it down with 4 ounces of water, throw down a handful of chips, wash it down with water, grab two cold sponges, drench myself and get a move on. I was very happy with my nutrition over all. And on the run I passed a ton of people… actually over 200 people. I was extremely happy, even though I walked in a race, which I had never done before. At mile 23 I found that I had been alternating positions with one gentleman for a couple miles, and I decided to strike up a conversation and I actually found a running partner for the next couple miles. He was on his first lap, but he had plenty of time to finish so he was in fairly good spirits. It was his second attempt at an Ironman and he was going to finish this one. We talked about this and that, until I looked down at my watch and saw that it said I had gone 25.4 miles. I turned a corner and I saw the sign that said finish line turn left. Now I had not run this portion of the course, but I knew I had to be getting close. I said good-bye to my new friend and jogged to the left. About a minute later a spectator said… just two more turns… now this was not exactly welcome. You have to understand that in races people start telling you that you are almost there about half a mile into the race… no matter whether it’s a marathon or a 5k. So I took his statement with a grain of salt and kept up the jog. I turned the corner, jogged a block and a woman said, “you are there; it’s just around that corner”… and I knew it must be true. I turned the corner and they had in fact been telling the truth. There about 600 meters away was in fact the finishers shoot. At that moment I was running rather close to a girl in orange, and I made the decision that I wanted the finishers shoot all to myself. This was my moment, and I wasn’t about to share it. So I started to kick. I was immediately ahead of her, and I started to experience one of the most distinct moments/feelings of my life to this point. As I got 400 meters out I was alone. It was just me in the shoot. It was a gauntlet, 400 meters long of fans, and one by one they started clapping, saying my name, calling me an Ironman, screaming like a fan, but it wasn’t for a crowd, it was only for me; I was the only one there. It hit me before I even got in the shoot. The support was overwhelming. I have never gotten emotional in a race, but there I was on the brink of tears at the outpouring of affection from the crowd and it was rather disorienting. As I crossed a timing mat and entered the final shoot I heard them say Douglas Speights, from Houston Texas… (Something I don’t remember)… YOU ARE AN IRONMAN. I was excited but confused because I hadn’t seen my parents and Aja. I found them right before I crossed the finish line, gave Aja a high five and proceeded to jump over the finish line. That wasn’t the original plan, but it sure did seem right at the time, so there I was, up in the air, smile on my face, AN IRONMAN. I finished the run in 4:59 which I guess is one minute under my must finish by time, but at the end of the run I was not really worried about what my run split was. I knew that I was over 13 hours and I really didn’t care if it was 13:02 or 13:09.

The final time was 13:09 and I am extremely happy with it for a first attempt. My nutrition was great, I held up well, and I think that if I had more than 6 months of training on a bike, I might have been able to make it closer to 12:30. I have no regrets about the race I ran, and I would highly recommend Ironman CDA to anyone, especially first timers. I was surprisingly okay after the race as well. I went out to Applebees with Aja and the parents and I was in good enough shape to go back to the finish line and cheer on the last athletes to cross the finish line at 16:56; wow. No major issues afterwards. We got a cool Christmas ornament and Ironman/Finishers gear. Thanks Aja and Dad for going up early Monday and snatching some for me. We left Monday afternoon after the perfect weekend.

Special Side Notes:

Thanks to Aja for being amazing. There is no way I could have pulled off this weekend without her help in training, packing, and being my motivation. You are the best.

Thanks to my parents who took of 5 days of their summer to come and be my cheering crew. It means a lot to have people in your corner at a race like this. You are constantly looking forward to seeing them, and they were awesome, all week. So thanks again.

FYI: Aja was so inspired by the atmosphere that she signed up for her own Ironman 70.3 in October. She will be doing the Austin Ironman 70.3, so if you want a “Team Speights” support crew T-shirt, let me know.

FYI: I will be doing Ironman Texas May 21, 2011. It is the first full distance Ironman in Texas, and that is about the only reason I am going to be doing it. It is going to be freaky hot and I think my time is going to be a lot worse, but hey, who can pass on the opportunity to complete the first Ironman in Texas. Apparently not me. It is in the Woodlands, so if you want to come or volunteer mark it on your calendar.

And I guess lastly it sounds a little cheesy but I will say that this is a major goal/achievement in my life and this adventure really does change things for me. It changes what I think is possible, and my outlook on life is completely different. It’s not that the title Ironman means anything, but the culmination of setting my sights on an impossible goal, training and achieving that goal over some hurdles has really changed my mentality about quite a few things. Ironman is not a title that is given out, it is a title that has to be earned. I earned it, and thus made a dream of mine into reality. My athletic ability stopped me at High School Football, JV Baseball, and Middle School Basketball. I always wanted to be an athlete though, a childhood dream that until last year was lost. As I sit here writing this, I write this as an athlete. I might not win the race or get an endorsement deal, but I belong there. I deserve to toe the line of the water with every other athlete and that in and of itself is enough. One of my dreams has been achieved and today I am a greater person than I was this time last month.