coeur d'iron
the cannon goes off for an ironman at 7am. the finish line closes 14 hours later. some participants take 14.1 hours to finish. needless to say, racing an ironman is an all-day affair. so is watching one.
[...]
up at 5am to take everyone to the start. the water seemed even rougher that what was experienced the day prior. how rough? the director announced that morning that any participant could skip the swim if so desired and still participate. that's quite the decision to make for a collection of some of the most capable swimmers in the world. this option, however didn't seem to stop 2000+ white-capped athletes from the mass start. it was heard that the support boats were pulling people out of the water left and right. i ran ragged around the shore with barb, jockeying for camera position. although i didn't get much of the start, i perched well for the swim finish. the wind and mist coming across the lake made for a very cool, if not cold, morning. and that's on terra firma.
after seeing all my friends out of the water (still a standing room crowd, ~10,000 strong), barb and i made our way out to the northernmost turnaround point of the bike course (a 25 mile drive). we were now most definitely in rural northern idaho, with great views of mountains and evergreens at an effectively random spot along a rural road. the weather was nothing short of perfect for spectating, and we made good with some nearby shade. most everyone was relaxed as we watched them pass by--after all, they had 85 miles to go on the bike at that point. at various points, we met up with ali's parents and michael (mich's husband).
during the two hour wait for them to return back to this point for the second bike lap, barb and i hit a mom-and-pop burger stand for lunch. dirt road, handwritten menu items, 15-year-old super mario brothers coin-op in the corner... it was pretty sweet. "travel rural, eat rural" i say--this stand definitely fit the bill. we headed back to the course with our brown bag of bunyan burgers and fries.
the second loop took a bit longer to watch, now that the participants have spread themselves pretty thin by now. as michael and i were experimenting with camera shots, an old man came down the driveway in which we were standing. fearful he was going to scare us off with his musket, he actually came down with a chair for barb, freshly cleaned with the handkerchief housed in his back pocket. he told us how he's retired and lives with the mountains and his garage, and that he loves seeing all the visitors for the ironman. real hospitable fellow.
after a few hours up north, we headed back along lakeside for the run. the sun poked out, giving the runners temperatures in the 80s to deal with. it was here where you could see miles 2, 12 and 16 all at once. here where i saw all my friends run, walk, and hobble in all sorts of directions (at one moment, k, mich, myself, ali and i think joe were literally at the same intersection of the street, albeit at different stages of the run and moving in different directions, in a fantastically improbable nexus). here i donned the napoleon outfit for a little encouragement (how could i *not* take advantage of being in idaho with napoleon?!?).
after a few hours lakeside, barb and i made our way to the finish to see k and others come across. we stayed until the line closed down at midnight, accompanied by the first showers of the day. k, barb and i snuck into the coeur d'alene brewery moments before closing time for some hot chocolates and some huckleberry ale to bring back to texas.
i wound up hitting the sack at 2am. i briefly considered pulling the "watch an ironman, stay up 24-hours straight" bifecta, but thought wiser. k wanted to go for a farewell swim the next morning.
yeah, that morning swim didn't happen. that didn't really surprise anyone, not even k.
[...]
ali was the first of our posse to cross the finish line (i didn't see this for myself), and did so in fine fashion (3rd, possibly 2nd in her age?). rocksteady throughout, though she said she was in a little pain when i briefly ran with her at mile 16. she'll be at kona this fall, and now i know why. her parents get the award for most eager spectators... i speculate that they saw her about a dozen times over the course of the day!
ali's husband joe crossed next (didn't witness), seemingly strong in his own right.
mich crossed the line next (again, didn't witness). she hoped to do better, but had some struggles on the bike ("i'm just finishing" said a dejected mich at mile 85). on the run, however, she altruistically took on the responibility of pushing k in hopes of keeping k's sub-13 goal alive when k was in her darkest hour.
my friend jeremy followed after, running in strong. quite the feat, given that when i walked with him at 12, he was hobbling with some significant knee inflammation. quite the surprise all around, given that (a) i didn't know he was up here, and (b) i hadn't seen him around in a year or so.
k crossed next, getting the phoenix award for the day. walking at 12 because of nutritional problems (mich pulling her along), by 16 she was back on the run courtesy of bananas and chicken broth. after seeing her on the walk, i admittedly had her at a 16-17 hour finish. for her to finish 13:2x was simply a fascinating recovery to watch! although first out of the water of our group, it was "the roughest swim [she's] ever done."
susan finished her first ironman in the 15th hour, strong and happy at the finish. she seemed strong and happy when napoleon ran with her at 16 as well.
[...]
the whole day really felt like watching a 3 hour marathon. it hardly felt like i was up, on my feet, outside for 21 hours straight. i can only speak for myself, not any of the participants.
coeur d'alene was crawling with austinites. given our athlete-to-citizen ratio, it wasn't too surprising. the signature race singlets (texas iron, jack'n'adams, etc.) sure helped and made the day more fun.
i've seen my share of finish lines at marathons and what not. and i've seen my share of humanity at those finish lines (dizziness, fatigue, vomit, etc.). however, it was *amazing* how good everyone looked coming across the finish at the ironman. i figured that with a 10-17 hour event such as the ironman, you can't "just hang on" as with shorter/faster races. if you're having problems, you'll drop way before the finish. if you finish, you certainly seem to have enough reserves in the tank for a smile.
the late night finish line rocked. k was talking all week about "staying until midnight," and i was like "yeah, sure... sounds cool. whatever." k knew what she was saying--it ROCKED. with a dj and live announcer the bleachers jumped for hours, with each finisher bringing louder cheers as the midnight hour approached. how good was k feeling at the finish? some of her first words: "we're staying 'til midnight!" i'm sure glad we did!
although a massive project to manage (putting on an ironman), the actual pool of participants is reasonably sized (~2200 entrants). which means the expo is reasonably sized, which means traffic isn't all that bad, which means restaurants aren't all that crowded. so much nicer than the mega-marathon environments.
[...]
i've admittedly given grief to triathletes in the past: too brash, overly competitive, obsessed with their bikes. i don't necessarily take any of that back (*ducks*), but i will have to say that you really do have something special in an ironman. it was just fascinating to see first-hand and appreciate with my own experiences and knowledge. the crowds, the positive vibe, the friendships--maybe i'm the one that's missing out. coeur d'alene: you've given me good pause as to what i'm doing now and what i might want to do in the future.
congratulations to all who trained and started coeur d'alene. i hope your experience--finish or not--was as rewarding as my own. pictures soon to come.
[...]
up at 5am to take everyone to the start. the water seemed even rougher that what was experienced the day prior. how rough? the director announced that morning that any participant could skip the swim if so desired and still participate. that's quite the decision to make for a collection of some of the most capable swimmers in the world. this option, however didn't seem to stop 2000+ white-capped athletes from the mass start. it was heard that the support boats were pulling people out of the water left and right. i ran ragged around the shore with barb, jockeying for camera position. although i didn't get much of the start, i perched well for the swim finish. the wind and mist coming across the lake made for a very cool, if not cold, morning. and that's on terra firma.
after seeing all my friends out of the water (still a standing room crowd, ~10,000 strong), barb and i made our way out to the northernmost turnaround point of the bike course (a 25 mile drive). we were now most definitely in rural northern idaho, with great views of mountains and evergreens at an effectively random spot along a rural road. the weather was nothing short of perfect for spectating, and we made good with some nearby shade. most everyone was relaxed as we watched them pass by--after all, they had 85 miles to go on the bike at that point. at various points, we met up with ali's parents and michael (mich's husband).
during the two hour wait for them to return back to this point for the second bike lap, barb and i hit a mom-and-pop burger stand for lunch. dirt road, handwritten menu items, 15-year-old super mario brothers coin-op in the corner... it was pretty sweet. "travel rural, eat rural" i say--this stand definitely fit the bill. we headed back to the course with our brown bag of bunyan burgers and fries.
the second loop took a bit longer to watch, now that the participants have spread themselves pretty thin by now. as michael and i were experimenting with camera shots, an old man came down the driveway in which we were standing. fearful he was going to scare us off with his musket, he actually came down with a chair for barb, freshly cleaned with the handkerchief housed in his back pocket. he told us how he's retired and lives with the mountains and his garage, and that he loves seeing all the visitors for the ironman. real hospitable fellow.
after a few hours up north, we headed back along lakeside for the run. the sun poked out, giving the runners temperatures in the 80s to deal with. it was here where you could see miles 2, 12 and 16 all at once. here where i saw all my friends run, walk, and hobble in all sorts of directions (at one moment, k, mich, myself, ali and i think joe were literally at the same intersection of the street, albeit at different stages of the run and moving in different directions, in a fantastically improbable nexus). here i donned the napoleon outfit for a little encouragement (how could i *not* take advantage of being in idaho with napoleon?!?).
after a few hours lakeside, barb and i made our way to the finish to see k and others come across. we stayed until the line closed down at midnight, accompanied by the first showers of the day. k, barb and i snuck into the coeur d'alene brewery moments before closing time for some hot chocolates and some huckleberry ale to bring back to texas.
i wound up hitting the sack at 2am. i briefly considered pulling the "watch an ironman, stay up 24-hours straight" bifecta, but thought wiser. k wanted to go for a farewell swim the next morning.
yeah, that morning swim didn't happen. that didn't really surprise anyone, not even k.
[...]
ali was the first of our posse to cross the finish line (i didn't see this for myself), and did so in fine fashion (3rd, possibly 2nd in her age?). rocksteady throughout, though she said she was in a little pain when i briefly ran with her at mile 16. she'll be at kona this fall, and now i know why. her parents get the award for most eager spectators... i speculate that they saw her about a dozen times over the course of the day!
ali's husband joe crossed next (didn't witness), seemingly strong in his own right.
mich crossed the line next (again, didn't witness). she hoped to do better, but had some struggles on the bike ("i'm just finishing" said a dejected mich at mile 85). on the run, however, she altruistically took on the responibility of pushing k in hopes of keeping k's sub-13 goal alive when k was in her darkest hour.
my friend jeremy followed after, running in strong. quite the feat, given that when i walked with him at 12, he was hobbling with some significant knee inflammation. quite the surprise all around, given that (a) i didn't know he was up here, and (b) i hadn't seen him around in a year or so.
k crossed next, getting the phoenix award for the day. walking at 12 because of nutritional problems (mich pulling her along), by 16 she was back on the run courtesy of bananas and chicken broth. after seeing her on the walk, i admittedly had her at a 16-17 hour finish. for her to finish 13:2x was simply a fascinating recovery to watch! although first out of the water of our group, it was "the roughest swim [she's] ever done."
susan finished her first ironman in the 15th hour, strong and happy at the finish. she seemed strong and happy when napoleon ran with her at 16 as well.
[...]
the whole day really felt like watching a 3 hour marathon. it hardly felt like i was up, on my feet, outside for 21 hours straight. i can only speak for myself, not any of the participants.
coeur d'alene was crawling with austinites. given our athlete-to-citizen ratio, it wasn't too surprising. the signature race singlets (texas iron, jack'n'adams, etc.) sure helped and made the day more fun.
i've seen my share of finish lines at marathons and what not. and i've seen my share of humanity at those finish lines (dizziness, fatigue, vomit, etc.). however, it was *amazing* how good everyone looked coming across the finish at the ironman. i figured that with a 10-17 hour event such as the ironman, you can't "just hang on" as with shorter/faster races. if you're having problems, you'll drop way before the finish. if you finish, you certainly seem to have enough reserves in the tank for a smile.
the late night finish line rocked. k was talking all week about "staying until midnight," and i was like "yeah, sure... sounds cool. whatever." k knew what she was saying--it ROCKED. with a dj and live announcer the bleachers jumped for hours, with each finisher bringing louder cheers as the midnight hour approached. how good was k feeling at the finish? some of her first words: "we're staying 'til midnight!" i'm sure glad we did!
although a massive project to manage (putting on an ironman), the actual pool of participants is reasonably sized (~2200 entrants). which means the expo is reasonably sized, which means traffic isn't all that bad, which means restaurants aren't all that crowded. so much nicer than the mega-marathon environments.
[...]
i've admittedly given grief to triathletes in the past: too brash, overly competitive, obsessed with their bikes. i don't necessarily take any of that back (*ducks*), but i will have to say that you really do have something special in an ironman. it was just fascinating to see first-hand and appreciate with my own experiences and knowledge. the crowds, the positive vibe, the friendships--maybe i'm the one that's missing out. coeur d'alene: you've given me good pause as to what i'm doing now and what i might want to do in the future.
congratulations to all who trained and started coeur d'alene. i hope your experience--finish or not--was as rewarding as my own. pictures soon to come.
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