Training Log Archive: silkychrome

Event: Ironman Couer d'Alene
 

IMCdA swim. started kinda in the middle of everyone and was totally unprepared for the canon! the first 100-200m were a struggle as I was unable to put my face in the water...nerves. after i got over myself, the first loop was fine. second loop the wind picked up and the chop made sighting and going 'fast' more difficult.

overall i was surprised at the LACK of contact. sure, it was crowded, but i never felt like i was getting beat up or abused as I have heard from others' race reports. it was just a bunch of fairly polite people swimming in close quarters.

IMCdA bike. found it difficult to eat for the first 45 minutes trying to recover from the swim. but no worries, IM is a long day and i knew i would get the calories in later. spun pretty easy for the first loop, HR stayed in my range and i pushed the downhills (big gear no fear! <-- my fav sign on the course). about 40-50 miles in i started feeling some left ITB pain in my knee, it gradually got worse throughout the ride and as it did i lost some climbing power, had a big pity party for myself, and let HR drop. miles 70-90 were low, i was struggling to stay focused on keeping HR up into the headwind and not worrying about my ITB. after the turnaround i perked up a little bit in the tailwind and tried to hammer home.

overall i loved the course, the traffic was managed really well and views were great. it's a super profile too, enough climbing to keep everyone honest but not punish the flatlanders.

IMCdA run. first mile = pain. second mile = more pain. i was begging at aid stations for ibuprofen but they were not allowed to officially dispense any. so i broke the rules and started asking spectators. managed to find 2 tablets near aid station #2, another 2 tablets near aid station #5, and a huge handful after the turnaround. continued munching on those throughout the run, knowing it would probably be bad for my kidneys later but willing to take the risk. saw lots of friends on the course and knew i was still staying close to my time goals. hauled ass on the last 10k to bring it home under 12 hours.

overall, also loved the run course. great mix of views, flats, and hills. perfect weather. gave a lot of high fives in the finish chute and felt super strong.

T1 = 5:02
T2 = 3:07

IMCdA stats: 11:55:10 total finish time, 6/76 AG, 67th OA female.

felt i was most limited by mechanical issues...left ITB pain. same issue as Vegas, only this time i pushed through it harder. after some post-race chat, i think it's a weakness in my left glute that gets masked during training with tightness (i'm always tight there) but with a taper things get relaxed and then races are painful. good news is i can strengthen it to hopefully eliminate this issue in the future.

missed 5th place (and the podium) by 30 seconds. would have been fun to get a trophy but im not beating myself up about it.

there was a Kona roll-down in my AG but only went to 3rd. i'm really happy i didn't have to choose because a) i broke the rules during the race and b) i want to do non-triathlon things this fall.

totally humbled and appreciative of the support from my family and friends at the race, and virtual spectators here and on FB. you guys rock.

C • "You are an Ironman" 2

Day of gear packing, bike drop off, watching movies, and eating pizza.

Fun swim with the taters and Katie. Practiced beach start which was manageable and the water seemed to be warmer. Or maybe that was the acclimatization and bodyglide I put on my face.

After the swim we met Robert from First Endurance who gave out free stuff! New trucker hat holla!

Easy ride on the new part of the course with Katie. The highway is no fun to train on, logging trucks and traffic. Rode the first big climb which is not hard just long (for this MO girl). Legs feel good, now it's just hurry up and wait.

Event: SLOC - Lafayette Park Evening-O
 

Easy swim in Lake CdA. Yup, definitely cold! Gets better after the first 200m or so

Easy run with the boys after they arrived. Noticed it's super dry here, will need to hydrate on the upper end of my planned race volume.

travel

easy run with 6x striders. gettin on a plane tomorrow!

C • CdA IM 8

5x(4x100 descend). and that's a wrap for ironman prep in st. louis! next stop: CdA.

easy ride but with a few HIM pick-ups that were hard! last ride before the bike gets loaded up and shipped out this evening. race week is here!