The Race Report - Finally...

Ok...3 weeks after Coeur d'Alene and finally my race report. I've had a lot of time to think about and pick apart the race so here goes. I awoke around 4 that morning and ate my bagel with peanut butter and took in some coffee as well. Same as I eat and drink before every training day and race. I went through my usual race morning routine and was out the door around 5. We made our way down to the lake and found a parking spot, relatively close actually. Then we made the very quiet tense walk toward where it all happens. I got there, got body marked, then headed to transition to set up my fluids and my nutrition, do one last checkover of my bike and air up the tires. After this there was nothing really left to do, so I made my way out of transition and found Leah, and the only thing left was portapotty line, waiting and getting the wetsuit on and getting ready for the swim. So after about another 45 minutes, I had the wetsuit on, hugged and kissed my number one fan and made my way across the timing mat down to the beach, right in front, just like last time. About 5 minutes before the race the voice of ironman Mike Reilly shouts out "who's gonna be an ironman today!!??" and every one gets excited. Before I knew it the cannon went off and off I went. The swim is always rough for the first bit until I got clear of the slow people :-). After a while my heartrate came down and I settled in to a good pace. I managed to keep a fairly straight line, even more so on the 2nd lap. I came outa the water right under 59 minutes, about the same as last time. I went through my transition much quicker than Florida, and was off on the bike. The bike... The first section of the bike course is pretty flat and fast and so I was feeling relatively good after my heart rate settled down and I found a good rhythm. After a while I started to feel the knee issue I have been experiencing creep up on me so that was a bit annoying. The second or "back" half of the course is where the hills are found. There is nothing that I would really call a monster climb, but some pretty good rollers. My fluids and nutrition went well. I did have to improvise bit when I dropped one of my own bottles and was without any fluids for around 20 minutes. I did stop at the porta potty once and I also grabbed my special needs bag as well. Coming to the end of the bike I was worried that my knee was going to be a problem on the run. Lets just say that it wasn't my knee that was the "problem" on the run. The run... After I got off the bike I discovered that I had a very annoying pain on the bottom of my right foot. It was very difficult for me to run for any significant time or distance without walking. Nutrition and fluids were ok on the run. I just shoved water, gel, cola, gatorade and salt down and it kept me going. I knew I was going to finish. That was never in doubt. I was not going to stop just cuz my foot hurt. I did take a few advil throughout the day as well for my knee and my foot. I ended up finishing in 12:43 which is around 45 minutes slower than Florida. Much of that is due to the bike which is significantly less flat than Florida. I was disappointed with the run. I felt like I could have run much more of the time and faster as well had my foot not been bothering me. All I can do is train harder and try and correct the problem, whatever it was. I was very blessed to have 15 people there supporting me and it felt amazing that they all came that way to watch me do this. It wouldn't mean as much without them there.

As of right now, my recovery is coming along well and I am training for an olympic distance race in Detroit Lakes, on August 21. I will be done with racing for the summer after that. The week after that I am going to Louisville to watch and support Matt as he competes in his first Ironman. He and his family were in Coeur d'Alene to support me. And then the second week in september I am going to Madison, WI to volunteer at Ironman Wisconsin and then sign up to do the race in September, 2011. That is all I have for now. Thanks for the love and support everyone!!