IM CdA Pre-Race Report

I arrived in Coeur d'Alene on Thursday afternoon with my TEAM, we settled into our hotel, where we were treated like celebrities. They even took pictures of us as we checked in :) Then we went down to the Ironman Village, where the magic happens. We picked up our race packets, which included a timing chip, swim cap, and a cool Ironman backpack. This was real, soon I was going to be an Ironman and there was no backing out now! It was not crowded yet, so we were in and out in no time. Everything was so well organized and the volunteers were so friendly and helpful. I then dropped some cash in the official IM shop. What's the point of doing an Ironman if you don't have some cool gear to show off?! We picked up our bikes and rode a couple of miles back to the hotel.




Friday morning we got up early and headed down to the lake for a swim, bike, and a run ... all short and easy. The lake was much choppier than anticipated and cold. We donned our wetsuits and everybody dove in and started swimming, and I followed. That was a big mistake. After about ten strokes I was freaking out. My breathing was out of control, I couldn't find any rhythm, and I was seriously doubting my ability to complete the swim in the 2:20 time limit. Coach Paul found me and talked me down from the ledge. We swam out a little farther and then over and back in. Then he made me get back in the lake and do it again. I was only in the water for a total of 30 minutes or so, but it seemed like forever. Better to have this kind of freak out today and not on race day. Next we got on our bikes and rode 1 loop of the run course -- mostly flat through downtown, some neighborhoods, and around the lake. It was beautiful, and I felt calm and peaceful. Which is somewhat amazing after that swim. But I felt my Mom there with me, and the tears began. It was a good cry, and it wouldn't be the last time I cried this weekend. Then we ran for about 20 minutes just to make sure everything's working okay. I had been having some pain in the ball of my right foot for a week now, and it was still there. I was worried, and I iced it that evening.


I had a much better swim on Saturday morning. I gave myself a minute to get use the water tempertature and went in at my own pace. I can do this, I thought, and I did! Some of my teammates went to free pancake breakfast in the village after the swim, but I went back to the hotel to get all my gear together. Unlike most triathlons where you set up your gear in the morning, we had to put our stuff in bags and bring it down the day before. I was a little nervous about this --- would I have everything I needed? I always set things up the same way so I won't forget anything. With everything a jumbled mess in the bag, would I forget to put on something important like my sunglasses? I laid everything out, and Paul checked it out for me. He suggested I put a long sleeve shirt in my Special Needs Run bag, and I'm glad I did. This bag was available to me halfway through the run, and I needed that shirt. We then dropped off our bikes, bike gear and run gear bags. This was quite an operation they had going, and everywhere we went, there were more helpful volunteers and more stressed out athletes. My stomach is doing tiny little flips right now. It was doing huge flips then.

My crew had all arrived by this point. Tomie and Jen flew in from San Diego on Friday. Liz, from Minneapolis, and Theresa, from New Jersey, got in Saturday afternoon. It was so great to have them there. Liz had a million questions for me and all four had lots of love and encouragement for me. Liz has a new philosophy and wants a magnet on her fridge that says "Abandon Hope". The basic premise is that we are perfect the way we are right now, and that we should abandon hope of ever becoming better. Correct me if I'm wrong, Liz. We had a lot of laughs over this new catch phrase of hers and it definitely relieved a lot of my tension.

After dinner with the TEAM and our family and
friends, and a last minute pep talk from coaches Paul and Kevin, I went up to my room alone, to face my fears, and hopefully get some sleep. I finally fell asleep around 10:30 and slept until my alarm went off at 3:45 am. Today is the day!!