IRONMAN Coeur d'Alene
		In the months, weeks, and days leading up to my first Ironman there was a lot of preparation.  (Boy is that an understatement)  I thought I had planned for just about everything.  I had done the 6 hour bike rides, the 2 hour runs, the 4400 yard swims, restocked my PowerBar Endurance drink weeks before, and bought all the PowerBar Gel packs I thought I would ever need or want.  My hotel had been booked 6 months in advance and I had scheduled my flights far enough in advance to get a really low fare.  On the Thursday night, 3 days before the race, my friend and I began arranging to meet in the Ironman Village on Friday afternoon.  My flight was to land in Spokane at 2:30pm and I knew that registration for Friday ended at 4:00pm, but if I missed it I thought I would just register on Saturday.  However, my friend informed me that the Friday 4:00pm cut off was the last time I could register, Saturday is reserved for bike and transition bag drop off, not registration.  I panicked and went into survival mode, well needless to say I found an airline that had some expensive seats left open just for me that arrived in Spokane at 10:30am Friday.  I learned a great lesson from this, but I certainly had to pay for it. Registration went smoothly and afterwards I picked up my bike at Tri Bike Transport, which was very convenient, at the Ironman Village.  On Saturday, after a little bike/run to make sure everything was in tip top shape, I dropped off my bike and transition bags in the transition area and off I went for a relaxing pasta dinner. Early Sunday morning I went to the transition area, made sure my tires were pumped up, my computer was on the bike and then to the lake for my first Ironman. SWIM 1:01 Ironman North American events are one of the few, if not only, USAT sanctioned races where you'll find a mass swim start and IM CDA did not disappoint.  I decided to line up a little way down the beach, my plan was to swim at a slight diagonal to the first buoy in the open water and try to avoid the washing machine of arms and legs as long as I could.   I knew that I would have to swim slightly further, but I would be able to move faster and be more relaxed with less people in the way.  Inevitably rounding the first buoy I collided with 2,199 other triathletes all trying to occupy the same space as myself.  From the first to the second buoy there was a continuous churning of arms and legs until rounding the second buoy, when the field spread out on the way back to the beach.  Once at the beach we got out, ran around a pole and started the process all over again.  I tried to conserve energy on the swim because I knew the bike was next. BIKE 6:02 The ride started off great!  It was still fairly cool, I had just been for a nice swim and my legs were fresh.  The 2 loop bike course takes you through the majestic hills of Coeur d'Alene.  The roads are lined with pine trees, a picturesque lake, and did I mention the HILLS.  I rode with an 11-23 DA 10 spd cassette and in hindsight maybe a 12-25 or a 12-27 would be better suited for this course.  I was rarely in the 11 and having the 25 might have saved my legs a little.  The first loop passed fairly smoothly in 2:52.  After getting my special needs bags around mile 60, which had my frozen waterbottle filled with 1,200 calories of PowerBar endurance drink and Carbo Pro cocktail, I was on my way.  On the second loop the heat of the day had set in and this was the beginning to my end.  My concentrated nutrition bottle was designed to deliver approx. 350 cal/hour for 6.5 hours.  The plan was to take 1 big gulp of cocktail every 20 minutes then  drink as much water as I wanted/could to reduce the overall concentration.   During the second loop, however, I began to slow the water consumption.  BAD IDEA!  My stomach started to feel bloated about mile 80.  Even though I was starting to feel bloated I thought it was important to continue the intake of nutrition and water, so I did.  By the time the ride was over the second loop had taken me 3:10 and my stomach felt like a balloon about to pop.  Here was another great lesson of the trip and with a marathon left to go, I pressed on. RUN 6:23 I made my way quickly through transition and felt surprisingly well.  I started the run with the first mile at about a 9:15 pace followed by the second mile at about a 9:30 pace.  I could feel my stomach starting to catch up with me and began to do a little run/walk.  I would walk until my stomach felt like I could run and then I would jog until my stomach told me to stop.  I walked the aid stations, tried to stay cool in the 96 degree heat by dumping water over myself and continued the intake of nutrition and water.  This new race plan was going quite well until about mile 18 when my stomach tried to tell me to stop.  I decided I could walk the next 8 miles at a 15 min/mile pace and be done in 2 hours.  Well 2:20 later I ran across the finish line to a crowd of thousands of spectators and my wife.   One of my friends had finished before me and one was still to come.  After he crossed the line we took a quick photo to commemorate the experience.  It is a great feeling that I will have forever!  Congrats Boys!