It's not often that Jeremy and I get to go experience a new race at a new venue. But the way things worked out this year, Jeremy headed up to Coeur d'Alene to compete and I got to tag along, turning it into a couple's trip. The nice thing about a couple's trip is that we can kind of take things as they come. Things such as the fact that Jeremy's suitcase got lost in Oakland, California. We had to hang around Spokane for awhile waiting for his bag to catch the next flight out. We walked down to the waterfront and found a fabulous park. It was really hot, but we wandered long enough to find a beautiful waterfall running through the middle of town. The water looked so tempting to go swimming in.
Ultimately we decided to go check into our hotel while we waited for his bag. We had specifically chosen a small unique place out of town a little ways. When we checked in, The owner informed us that we were in one of her favorite rooms, the Hawaii room. We got excited... at least until we walked through the door. This hotel was definitely showing signs of age. The carpet was worn through to the subfloor. The shower had been repaired with six different types of tile. The shower didn't drain, nor did the toilet flush. They had tried to make it fun and unique with Hawaiian decorations. But what that amounted to was random palm tree prints hanging on the wall, a Hawaiian shirt attached to the wall, grass mats screwed to the wall, and foliage stuck anywhere they could think to stick it. We had a hot tub in our room which they assured us was nice and clean. It made the whole room smell like chlorine, but we looked forward to a good soak at least once during our stay. The problem was the whole weekend was just so hot! It made it hard to enjoy the one perk in our room.
The murder room next door...
The view from the back was pleasant.
This is my, "I just want a shower!" melt down.
Race prep day is one of my favorite days. We headed down to the venue and swam in Lake Coeur d'Alene. The water was so clear. The lake itself was gorgeous! I really wish that we were there just spending time at the lake. I didn't take my bike, so while Jeremy rode, I ran around the course making sure I had my bearings on where the race was going to be. It looks like it was going to be a pretty course for him to run on, and I hoped that the race was going to go well for him.
I was also able to meet up with Team SFQ during the afternoon. I haven't had many chances to talk with these ladies, so it was a nice opportunity.
After race prep we wanted to stay off our feet as much as we could and stay cool. Hanging out on the hotel all day wasn't really an option, as I wasn't super comfortable there. So we found a couple short easy walks around the lake. I can see why people like Coeur d'Alene so much. The pine trees, the clear water, the mountains were all amazing.
We ended up having a quiet picnic in the park during the afternoon. The park was definitely a popular place to be. Local families had set up volleyball nets, were having birthday parties, and were just hanging out and enjoying the day.
We had to wake up really early for race morning. We were up around 3:30 to get everything ready and get down to the course. The race started at 5:30, which seems crazy early but the sun was rising so it makes sense. It was supposed to be a scorcher of a day. I had hoped that I packed enough water for me to stay cool, and we had hoped that Jeremy had his nutrition squared away for what was going to be a real trial. I was able to see him get in the water for the swim and he looked excited and ready to be there.
He came out a few minutes slow from his first lap, but I wasn't terribly worried. His second lap was about the same speed, so a little slower than we normally would like. But he hopped on the bike and the weather still wasn't super hot yet so we counted that as a good sign. While I waited for my volunteer shift to begin I hung out around the swim exit watching the final athletes come out of the water. I haven't had a chance to do that before, and it's pretty emotional when you see those few athletes who don't make that first cut off.
By then I made my way to my volunteer station on the bike course. I was able to watch Jeremy pass four different times on the bike. The first two times he was looking good. The third time I saw him he was not feeling so well. He had slowed down a little bit, and was saying that the heat out on the main road was really really bad. His stomach was feeling off already which was a bad sign since they were still so much of the day to go. It's a pretty hopeless feeling when you watch the Ironman tracker but you can't see the athlete. Jeremy's speed dropped to 15 mph which is really slow for him. I saw on the tracker that he made it into transition but started getting worried as the minute started ticking by. He finally came out of transition around 12 minutes, It was the first time I thought he might have his first DNF. I didn't know what to expect when I met him on the run. He said that the bike was so exposed and with the heat radiating off of the pavement it was close to 140° on the bike. That is outrageous! He was pretty frustrated with how the bike had gone, and had spent some time yelling, screaming and crying while out there. I was worried that the run wasn't going to go much better.
I went to my aid station to watch for him there. I got to see him pass by six times through my station. I could tell that it was a very different day for most of the athletes. I've helped at enough of these to know what a competitive day looks like compared to a survival day. All of these athletes were in survival mode. Most of them were walking, they were trying to keep food down, and they were all trying to stay cool.
Every time Jeremy came by he looked worse and worse. At one point he sat down next to me and said he didn't really want to finish. I didn't blame him one bit, it was so hot and it was such a long day. Ultimately we got him up and moving and I walked with him for a little while trying to keep his mind off of the pain. But on his last lap I started to get nervous. I didn't see him pop up on the tracker for nearly 40 minutes. Come to find out medical had pulled him off the course because he was not looking good. He was able to convince the nurse to let him continue only because he had kept down some chicken broth, he knew what salt deprivation felt like, and because I was there the next aid station to help him if he needed it. I was so relieved when he finally came through for the last time. It was about 5 hours later than I had planned, but at least he was coming through. For the first time we got to be part of team glow stick. Those are the athletes that make me cry. Those are the athletes that come through crying because they're so proud of themselves for continuing even when it gets hard. Those are the athletes that still have a smile on their face because they're going to actually finish. Those are the athletes that don't mind if you walk next to them for a little while talking to them hearing their story and cheering them up. I walked with Jeremy the last mile and a half towards the finish line, since that's where I was going anyway. He was tired, chafing, and just felt so ill. He had thrown up five different times on the run. We were finally able to breathe a sigh of relief when we knew he was going to actually finish the day. Then we looked at the clock and realized that we we're not in the clear yet. We started calculating what time he got in the water and counting down from there. He had to cross the finish line 17 hours for this to count, and he was getting very close to not making that cut off. So even though he didn't want to, he had to run that last half mile. And I say run but I mean side shuffle as much as possible to help with the chafing. He was able to find it in him somewhere to run down the finish chute. He crossed the line at 16:46. That's the closest he's ever come to the cutoff, and 5 hours slower than he had hoped. Coeur d'Alene had 200 spots to Kona, which meant that his age group had about 21 spots. If he had just been able to pull off a normal day he would have earned a spot to Kona and I think that was weighing on him most of the day. When he finished third to last in his age group it was not exactly what he was hoping for. But ultimately what matters is that he was able to make it across during a very, very, very hard day.
The athletes started coining the race the Coeur d'Flame and I thought it was accurately named. The temperature most of the day was above 103°. I don't think we'll ever willingly race in those temperatures again. By the time we got back to the hotel it was close to midnight, we both crashed as soon as we walked through the door. It had been a 22-hour day, and the only way I survived was with a cup of Red Bull and a couple Pepsis. Ultimately we're both grateful that Jeremy never had to go to the ER like some of the other athletes. The next morning I had a flight fairly early back to Utah to pick up the kids, while Jeremy was supposed to fly out about an hour after I did. But since our whole trip was fraught with difficulties, it should come as no surprise that Jeremy got bumped off his flight because it was too full. He ended spending the day in the hotel across the street and catching a flight the next day. I guess that's one way to finish recovering from a race like that. The best part about it all is that he's now completed 11 full Ironmans. Just one more to go before he gets that Legacy spot!
Swim 1:13:11, T1 1:17:12, Bike 6:23:09, T2 12:02, Run 8:53:44, Final 16:46:07
