IM CdA Race Report Part 2: Swim and Bike

Swim (1:38:21)

Well, my sister was excited.

Dad and my Uncle George

 Course overview: This was a two-loop, counter-clockwise swim, with athletes starting on the beach at City Park.  In between each 1.2 mile loop you ran out of the water briefly and passed over a timing mat.  There were volunteers everywhere! People in kayaks and on surfboards cheering (which I could hear while I was swimming, surprisingly), people standing waist-deep in the 57 ° water (without a wetsuit) helping athletes onto the beach at the end of each lap and many others that I couldn’t see (the divers below the surface) or can’t remember.  Thanks to all the spectators and volunteers, you were awesome! 

I get goosebumps just looking at these

But good "I want to go it again" goosebumps

As planned, I started at the back left of the pack and walked slowly towards the water when the canon went off.  Between the adrenaline and getting into the water several times, I didn't feel too cold or panicked when the race started. There were still a lot of people around me for most of the swim, but no one ever tried to swim over me and I never got a direct kick or punch.  A few glancing blows but no harm done.  I tend to veer right as I swim, so my plan was to pass people on the left when necessary and hope that I would end up going in a straight line.  It seemed to work pretty well, as I was close to the buoys the entire way and finished the first lap in 43:36, just under my goal split of 45 minutes.  As I suspected would happen, my calf cramped up halfway through the second lap.  There weren’t any kayaks close so I just let my wetsuit keep me afloat and stretched it out for a bit.  By this time the water had gotten fairly choppy, but fortunately the waves were pushing me towards shore on the last long stretch.  Around this time my right fingers got so cold that they wouldn’t close into an efficient paddle, so I ended up veering even more to the right than usual.  Between all of these things, the second lap took a lot longer (54:35).  

T1 (11:56)

After getting my wetsuit peeled off me by 3 efficient volunteers, I entered the really crowded women’s change tent, found an empty chair and dumped my stuff on the ground.  I had worn my tri shorts and tri top for the bike and run under my wetsuit so I just had to dry off a little and load up my pockets with some chews.  Rene (Nate’s mom) was volunteering putting sun screen on athletes and gave me a huge hug to warm me up as soon as I came out of the tent.  With all the excitement of transition I forgot to get in a hot tub in the warming hut, so I wore arm warmers, a vest and gloves (a volunteer had to help me put them on because my fingers still weren’t working) on the bike.  I got on the bike cold and soaking wet, but really excited that I had finished the swim without panicking, backstroking or doggy-paddling (or drowning, quitting or getting hypothermia).

Bike (7:50:19)

Course overview: a 2-loop course with a short and mostly flat out-and-back along the north side of Lake CdA and a 20 mile out-and-back heading south on Highway 95.  The longer out part had a net gain in elevation with one deceptively long climb (1.7 miles, 4.6%) followed by a nice long downhill and then a really long gradual climb to get to the turnaround (oh, and a headwind).  The way back was great: most of the downhill was gradual enough that you could be comfortable aero while trying to max out your speed.  There was some pretty good entertainment on the course.  There were bagpipers (which I love) and a Zumba dance group on the northern section and random people with speakers set up along Highway 95.  The downtown area was packed with spectators, providing a nice adrenaline boost during the 3 trips through town.    

I almost wiped out going around a corner right before this...

As was the case for both my century rides, I completed the first half of the bike course a lot faster than the second (they didn’t record bike splits for some reason but I remember my speed being faster in general).  In retrospect I think I went too fast on the first loop; when going downhill I would shift into my highest gear and push it until there wasn’t any resistance (generally around 32 mph).  This was great because I got to make up time, but I later realized that my legs weren’t getting a chance to recover from going uphill.  I felt so tired on my second trip through town that I worried about making it up the two big climbs.  Worst case scenario I figured I could stop and rest or walk my bike, but that would have been rather embarrassing.  At the special needs pick up at mile 65 I switched my vest, gloves and arm warmers for my sandwich and Snickers.  As before, my mood improved and I felt more positive about the next 57 miles; I did contemplate taking a nap a couple different times though. I figured that I could curl up on the shoulder for 20 minutes and still be able to make all the time cut-offs, but knowing my "gift" for sleeping pretty much anywhere, it would have been a much longer nap... 


By the time I reached the turnaround on Highway 95 I could barely stand being aero.  I could be aero on the downhills and keep my weight in my legs but it was too painful to pedal so I had to sit up for that.  If I’d been completely honest with myself about how long the bike would take me I probably would’ve chosen to wear fully padded bike shorts.  The longest I’d been on my bike before the race was 6:45 and the extra hour really made a difference in discomfort.  After 7.5 hours of actual riding time (according to my watch, which stopped automatically the 3 times I stopped to go to the bathroom) I made it back into town.   I've never been so happy to see the bridge crossing the mouth of the Spokane River in my life.

T2 (5:33)

Getting off my bike without tipping over was probably the hardest part; otherwise, I was so happy to be done riding that I pretty much sprinted out of the transition area.

Yay! Done biking!

This was my happy face, I promise.