I grabbed my bike to run bag and hustled into the tent. The ladies were completely awesome and I literally didn’t sit and chat. I did a complete change and was out of transition in 7:41. Well ahead of my estimated 10 minutes. Yips! Victory! (Dude, when your stomach hurts and you’re wondering how the marathon is going to happen, you take the small ones).

To say that I was excited to have completed the bike was an understatement. I was so happy to be heading out of transition and on the run course. But the time cutoffs had been chasing me all day and at this very moment, I began doing stupid math. You know what I’m talking about. Your brain is mush, you’ve been going for a very long time and you start having trouble carrying the one and counting backwards from midnight. It was 5:20. I had 6 hours and 39 minutes to complete 26.2 miles. And I had worn my Garmin on the run so that I could keep track of pace. No problem, right? That’s a 15 minute mile. Totally do-able. Ahem.

The first mile and a half of the CdA run course goes out on a little trail and back before you head through town and out towards Higgins Point. I ran a bit before I hit my first potty stop of the day. Gah? Really? I think so, but maybe I’ve just forgotten. The plan was to keep my HR in zone 2 on the run, and I was finding that impossible even running at my slowest speed. So I was dealing with a higher hr and when I did try running, the jostling made my stomach hurt. This made it incredibly difficult to want to put gel into my body. And gel was on the nutrition plan for the run. So, very early into the marathon, I switched up my nutrition plan. Cue foreboding music here. I don’t know, like I said, I was at the stupid math point, and apparently it seemed like a good idea to ditch the gel and try flat coke. I thought that might help my stomach. But what I think happened was that I was putting in too much liquid and not enough ‘other’.

Anway, I tried to continue a walk/run scenario through town in order to keep my HR down, but once I got to the turn onto the main road out to turnaround, I started power walking. My goal at this point was making the 9:00 PM cutoff at mile 14. Based on stupid math, that meant keeping just under a 15 minute mile pace, which felt very do-able. My stomach felt better when I power walked. Big mistake. Thinking back, I settled in too easily to this plan to manage my race and cut it way too close on the first loop.

As I came back through town, Fish saw me and ran with me. I told her that I didn’t think I could make it. That I wasn’t feeling well and couldn’t run. She just looked at me and said you can do it. Just keep running.

So I did. I ran the next mile and a half in a 13:30 pace and I could feel the hope coming back as I hit the turnaround and ran back to town. 14 Miles. 3:40:54. 9:01 PM. I suppose the cutoff was actually 9:30. But I’m not really sure. All I know is that no one took my chip and I continued on.

Which left me 3 hours to run the remaining half, an average pace of 13:44 (a turtle crawl to some, I’m sure, but this is about me). On a day where I feel good, do-able. I ran faster than that at Rev3. But that day? When my stomach hurt each time I tried to pick up the pace? I could feel it slipping away.

And here’s where it becomes not so pretty.

There was a cutoff on the run course that I wasn’t previously aware of, until the athlete banquet. We had to be at mile 21.75 by 10:30 PM. This was at the very top of a long uphill.
I had an hour and a half to go 7.75 miles. So, I ran and I walked. And when I got to the dark neighborhoods that came before the big turn out to Higgins, I walked. Did I mention that it was dark? The racers going in the other direction seemed surprised to see someone heading out, but they offered words of encouragement. And I kept going.

There were moments when I fought with myself about walking and even moments where I was really angry about the position that I’d put myself in. But in this hour and a half, I kept coming back to all that I had gone through to get to this point. This point where, in the dark, I was alone with my thoughts. And then, Ironman became something very different for me. I began to understand what I’d read others talk about. It’s about something deeper inside, beyond propelling your body 140.6 miles. It’s not so much about the actual race, it’s about the journey and how it changes you as a person.

And whether or not I wanted it to happen, I let go. I gave in to the emotional exhaustion that I’d been fighting for a very long time. And I walked. I thought about this race. This thing that had gotten me through a very difficult time in my life. The work that I had done over the past several months and the fears that I’d conquered. The huge PR that I saw at Rev3. The extremely difficult choices I’d made in my personal life in order to be happy. The things that I’d given up. The opportunities that I’d encountered. And an amazing and exciting future. And I let it all go. Literally and figuratively (did I mention that I tossed my cookies a few times on this 6 mile stretch)?. At that moment in time, I was absolutely positive that I’d gotten everything I needed from Ironman.

I got to the aid station around mile 20.5. I was a few minutes shy of 10:30 and I knew that I would not make it 1.25 miles in time. And I was ok with it. I found a race official, asked him about the cutoff, and sat down on a bench. I was feeling dizzy at this point, and knew it wasn’t a good idea to continue walking in the dark, along a pitch black lake at the side of a highway. I am a smart cookie, after all

So, I made it 134.9 miles. I’m a 134.9 mile man, I suppose. 15.5 hours. 134.9 miles.

After a few minutes, I got a ride back to the finish line and found my friends and family. I got lots of hugs. I am SO beyond grateful for my family coming out to Idaho and supporting me for this race. My parents ROCKED! It was so great to have my friends there also.

And then I watched from the stands as my tri club friends ran down the finish chute to Mike Reilly’s voice. And I smiled and cheered and hugged them. And then I hobbled back to the car and Fish drove us back to the condo. I wasn’t hungry AT ALL, so I climbed into bed and drifted off pretty quick.

The next morning? Oh you better believe I cried. As satisfied as I was with how things turned out, I was still sad that I’d missed the celebration of all that hard work by 6 miles. And you better believe I also considered going out to that spot on the course and running the last 6 miles. But I’d gotten a little wiser overnight, and I knew I’d have my chance again one day, if I chose.

I felt pretty coherent when I got out of the water. I was focused. Get my wetsuit OFF and get on the bike. I think I heard my friends cheering, and maybe I even gave a high five. It’s all a little fuzzy now . When I ran to the strippers, I pretty much had my choice. I picked some to the left that looked like they knew what they were doing and laid down immediately. They ripped my wetsuit off in one fell swoop and I was back up on my feet in no time. I ran and grabbed my bag, then ran into the change tent.

There was a volunteer waiting for me and she very quickly took charge. I sat down and she dumped everything out of my bag for me (I’d organized it with what I needed at the top first, but it didn’t matter, because she was super organized as well). I toweled off and stripped down to do a full change. I wanted to be comfortable on the bike and that meant dry clothes. She laughed when she saw my ‘over the head’ bra, but I managed to get it over my wet body pretty quickly. It was all business, she had my armwarmers up my arms and my socks unrolled, and I never had to think. It was incredible. Another volunteer came over and helped me load up my jersey pockets and sprayed sunscreen on (my wetsuit chafed my neck, and that sucker hurt when the sunscreen hit it!). The only thing I forgot was to put sunscreen UNDER my armwarmers. Since it warmed up pretty quickly, I ended up getting sunburned arms.

They were all set with my stuff, so I headed out and ran to my bike. There weren’t many bikes in transition, so it was really easy to find my rack Once I grabbed my bike, I was right at the bike out spot, so it was easy to get on and head out on the course.

T1: 9:26

I felt pretty good heading out on the bike. The goal was to stay in Z2 the first loop and see how I felt, and then maybe pick it up a little. Knowing that my swim was long put the looming thought in the back of my mind that I’d be fighting the cutoffs closer than I’d intended. But I knew that I still had a little bit of cushion. The goal became keep the pace steady, and focus on making the 1:30 cutoff at the halfway point. I headed through town and out to Higgins point. It was a really pretty part of the bike course, and very fun to ride through town through all of the cheering. As I was heading out, there were lots of racers coming back in, so there was always something to look at. We turned onto the main road out to the turnaround and I saw all of the Janus signs. These made me tear up a little. It was just such an amazing sight, rows upon rows of signs from loved ones. Even though there is just one meant for you, they all feel like little cheers. I took some time and thought about everyone that had supported me and gotten me to the start line. It was a very cool moment in the race for me.

I got to the turnaround and the volunteers shouted that they’d see me in a couple hours. This part of the race seems really fun because it’s only about a 12 mile ride round trip (I think?). So you come back through town and then head out to Hayden Lake. I had been drinking water and Infinit (every 15 minutes) right on schedule, but my stomach was bothering me a little. I wasn’t really sure why, since I hadn’t had anything else that was different. It wasn’t a sloshy feeling, just a sort of ache. I tried to put it out of my mind though and kept pedaling. The entire bike is a blur for me, but what I do remember is that I just settled in for what I knew would be a long haul. The ride out to the lake was pretty cool because I got to see and cheer for racers that were coming back in. They were pretty awesome and gave some great encouragement right back. When I hit the hills, I tried to just settle in and not expend too much energy.

But no matter what you do, you find yourself wondering what they will feel like at mile 80 . At some point along the lake, the pros started passing me. They were on their second loop. It was really fun to see the cameramen go by on motorcycles right next to the racers. I got to see some of my favorites!

Mile 34 – 2:26:38. 34 miles at 13.91 mph. I’d been hoping to sustain 14 mph with the hills, so I was fairly close to race plan.

I hit the turnaround and was heading back in and Bree Wee passed. I have chatted with Bree a few times via email and she offered me some incredible encouragement a few months ago when things were feeling tough and I was having trouble getting motivated. She called me by name and told me to keep it up. That moment was something that I appreciated beyond description. And even more so when I found out later on that she was having a tough race.

I came back towards town and saw my coach around mile 53ish. I told her that my stomach was bothering me, and she told me just to keep going. Smart one, that girl . I saw fish again as I headed towards town and then took the quick 1 mile jog before coming through town and hitting the half mats. I’d made the 1:30 cutoff by a half an hour or so, so I felt confident at this point that I could do it. The next focus was the 4 PM cutoff at Mile 90 (the one that I wasn’t aware of until the athlete banquet). I had somewhere around 3 hours to make 34 miles. And that became my mantra.

Coming back to Higgins Point, I rolled into bike special needs and stayed on my bike. Just straddled it and swapped out my bottles. I’d frozen them, so they were still nice and cold. I hadn’t frozen my special needs coke bottle, and it was warm. What a bummer. I’m still angry about that. Not sure what I was thinking there, but the cold pack didn’t work well enough. I drank a little bit and then headed out. I usually have to go to the bathroom by now, but I didn’t need to stop, so I kept rolling. I did toss my extra Infinit powder in the trash because I didn’t want to have to carry it any more in my jersey. Probably $20 in the trash, but it was worth it

By this time, I usually treat myself with a frozen snickers or something sugary from my bento. But my stomach wasn’t feeling great, and I figured it would be smarter to stick with just water and Infinit. I’m not sure if this was a good or bad idea. Maybe I could have used the sugar (see above, warm soda, ick). I was definitely dragging a little. But I made it back through town and saw my family (yay! my parents picked the best spot, and I got to see them multiple times as I came out and back). Saw Fish again and gave her a big smile and then waved again to my coach. I enjoyed the ride out to the lake and around the downhills before the long steady uphills began. There is a lot of shade at those points and the view was beautiful. There were decidedly less people to see the closer I got to the turnaround, so things got kinda lonely out there.

I just tried to stay positive and smiley and thanked everyone that cheered and helped out. The volunteers were amazing and the aid station handoffs rocked. I never stopped because I was worried about the clock, so knowing that I could easily get water and keep on going rocked my socks.

When I was on the road to the turnaround, I was stoked. At this point, it was a downhill to the turnaround point and I was chugging along pretty quickly because I wanted to hit the mat and send a ‘note’ home to everyone so they’d know that I was doing just fine. I came up behind someone pretty quickly and was getting ready to pass. I heard her say something, so I said ‘What?’ and she says ‘That’s drafting’. Um. Ok. What went on in my head – You weigh all of 120 lbs. And you think that I need to draft off of you on a downhill? I have 50 lbs on you and you’re in my way. What I actually said – ‘On your left’. I passed on the left and hit the turnaround mat and went back up the hill, happy that I’d made the turnaround cutoff with time to spare.

Mile 90 – 6:25:07 cumulative time, around 3:35 PM. This leg was 56 miles at 13.5 mph. The hills had slowed me down. But the goal? Stay in the saddle, and make it home

I’m going to be really honest here. The ride back to town from Mile 90 on was NOT FUN. It was hilly. And I was ready to be done with my bike math. And there weren’t many people on the course. I didn’t feel fabulous, but I kept a smile on my face and talked to all of the spectators that were out there cheering. My goal was to be back in town by 5:30, which was the bike course cutoff. It felt like forever, but I finally made the turn out to the main road that runs through town and started to pick it up. Coming back through, I was stoked to see everyone and made the final turn for the last mile of the bike course. I felt like a million bucks at this point because I was just happy to be done with the bike.

I rolled to the dismount line (which came up really fast!) and had no issues getting off my bike. I remember feeling surprised, because I thought I’d feel stiffer. They kept my bike and I ran to grab my T2 bag and was into the tent in no time. It was 5:12 PM. I’d made the cutoff by 18 minutes.

Mile 112 8:08:37 at 13.75 mph. Last 22 miles 1:33:30 at 14.12 mph.

It took a long time to get here, huh? That’s how it felt for me too . I’ve read countless Ironman race reports. Some very matter of fact, and some with a little fluff. I’ve waited this long because I needed to really understand how I felt about my race. To make sure that I could be as honest as possible, and give it the time that it deserved. It seems now, over a month later, that there might not ever be *enough* time, and so, here we are.

I went to bed the night before Ironman around 8, and I believe I was out by 9. I slept like a baby. No tossing and turning. I think I was just ready. Ready to see what my Ironman experience would be. Like unwrapping a Christmas gift after seeing it under the tree for a very long time.

3:30AM wake up. Alarm went off, and I was up. It was a little surreal. I’ve woken up very early for rides and races, but this one felt a little different. It was a feeling of Wow! I’m actually doing this! I made my PB&J bagel (which, by the way, was not my favorite race morning breakfast, but I knew it would be safe), and suited up. I started the day in tri shorts and a tri top, since that’s what I’d decided to swim in. Threw a LS shirt and long pants on over and I was all set. There wasn’t as much stuff to lug since my bike and transition bags were already at the race site.

Once I had everything together, Fish and I piled into the rental SUV and headed to the race. 4:13 AM.

It was already getting light out! Halfway down the mountain, there was a deer hanging out in the road. She didn’t seem to be in a big hurry, and walked in front of the car for a bit, before attempting to run up the rock wall along the road. Of course, she skittered back down and into the road a few times, and then finally made her way up. It was a pretty funny way to start the day.

Got into town a little before 5 and found parking with no issue (I think we parked on 2nd, near the CdA Brewing Co). I knew we wouldn’t have to move the car until very late that night, so I wasn’t worried about getting boxed in by closures. I stopped to check my bags and make sure I had all my nutrition one more time before I walked into the race area.

Shot of the swim course as they put buoys out:

Then it was time for bodymarking! I looked for a racer and someone who looked like they had good handwriting. I’m a bodymarking freak, I like nice, perfect numbers

Transition was buzzing, but it had a pretty calm feel, and matched my own mood. I dropped bottles off at my bike, got everything set up in my bento and glanced over at the pro rack a few times. Since I was pretty early, and got out of transition pretty quick, I didn’t see that many of the big names, but it was fun being a rack over. The video guys were busy filming around my rack, so I may make it into the race footage when it airs. One of the bike guys pumped up my tires for me, and then I was all set. I said goodbye to Cupcake and headed to check my transition bags.

Bags looked good, so then it was off to find my coach and tri club peeps. Everyone was hanging out on the grass just off the other side of the bike area. I was really excited to see everyone and it was fun to stand around and chat for a bit. My parents had arrived, so I got some nice hugs. Don’t ask why I’m standing up so straight, I have no idea.

At this point, the butterflies arrived. I decided it would be a good idea to drop off my special needs bags and take a moment by myself. I headed across the lawn and took a moment to just look around and think about the day. I was finally here. Finally doing it. This thing that I’d heard about, read about and dreamt about. After hitting the bathroom, I headed back to my group.

I think at this point, Fish asked us if we should get in our wetsuits. Oh! Ha! I guess so . We all suited up and coach zipped me in.

I hadn’t been paying much attention to the time, so I guess it was probably around 6:45 at this point. A few minutes later, we must have gotten our wits about us, because we headed to the beach.

There was a huge crowd of people lining the wall along the beach, but we found our way through to the path that crossed over the timing mats. The first time things felt crowded was when we were on the beach, working our way to the far right side (if you are facing the water). I wanted to seed myself to the back and off to the right so that I could swim diagonally to the buoys and avoid the maylay.

Once we got to our spot, there wasn’t much time. I remember wishing everyone luck and wondering why I wasn’t more nervous . I was just so excited to start the race! They had the National Anthem, and then before you knew it, the cannon blew.

My plan was to walk into the water and breaststroke for a little bit to avoid the adrenaline rush that sometimes causes me to panic. So I did just that. Waded in and once I was in deep enough, just calmly swam diagonally towards the third buoy.

The water had been pretty calm, but picked up a lot once all of us were in, along with the boats in the water and the helicopters above. I felt pretty good, but started to get more anxious the further out I got as the chop picked up. There were times when I just kept getting slapped in the face with the water and I’d have to switch up my breathing (thank you bilateral breathing!). I would stop and tread, collect myself and continue. Once I got to the turn buoy and swam the 100 before turning back to shore, the water was better.

I knew that I was taking longer than I wanted, but I was psyched to get out of the water on the first loop and head back in, knowing I was halfway there.

Shots of the swim course

Coming in off of the first loop:

Heading out for the second loop:

On the second loop of the swim, things got a little hairy. The water got choppier and it would just smack you in the face when you tried to breathe. I kept switching up my pattern, hoping it would get better. But there were moments where I felt like I wasn’t getting anywhere because I’d find myself pushed away from the buoys and off course. Once I got to the turn buoy, I started counting strokes. Just counting to 100 and then starting over. This helped me get over the anxiety of the choppy water and try to focus on good form. I also tried not to glance at my watch, knowing I was about 20+ slower than I wanted to be coming out of the water. Watching Endurance Nation’s 4 Keys DVD really reminded me to stay in the box of focusing on one event at a time. And so, I didn’t think about T1 or the bike, I just focused on my swim.

I was so freakin happy to feel the sand beneath my fingers as I came out of the water and ran up the beach to transition

Swim: 1:54:56. About 20 minutes slower than I’d wanted, but done. And I am very proud of that swim, because I can think of a lot of moments in my life where those conditions would have made me quit. And I never thought about quitting, I would have backstroked that sucker.

It was 8:54AM. I’d made the swim cutoff by 26 minutes.

Instructions from coach…take it easy! When Saturday came, that was the plan! Saturday is for dropping transition bags off and kicking back with your feet up, and it didn’t disappoint!

I woke up to another beautiful day, and got my stuff together to head over to the expo. I figured I’d take a few shots along the way so that I could document the drive in

Found a spot in town, very close to the expo area and unloaded.

Put my race number on the bike and double checked to make sure my rocket was still attached to the aerobars. The rocket was a gift from my friend, Iron-Wynne. She found it in the pool last year during training, and decided to hand it off to me. We have a little team ‘rocketpants’ joke, so it was only fitting that the rocket came to CdA with me. She really meant for me to have it as a reminder, but I wanted to have it with me on the bike course, so I found a way to make it work . Made me laugh a little..carbon fiber bottle cages, yet a big plastic rocket on my aerobars.

The quote on my stem was a last minute addition. We were indulging in some dark chocolate, and it felt like this one was meant for me. I ended up adding a second quote on raceday, but never got a shot of it. It said ‘Anytime something feels impossible, stop, breathe and remember that it’s only temporary’. I couldn’t have had better reminders if I’d thought ahead

I ran into my coach and another friend from our tri club at the entrance to the expo. Gave coach a big hug and we chatted for a bit. Then I went and dropped my bags off and racked my bike in transition. Man, that part was exciting. I was a rack over from the pros!

After I finished with all the drop-off stuff, I got another swim in with coach watching from the beach. To say that Saturday’s swim was calm was an understatement. The water was really really choppy. I was feeling pretty confident up until this point, but if we’re being perfectly honest, that swim scared the pants off of me. Not that I didn’t think I’d be able to finish it, but it was a wake-up call that my swim might be longer than I thought. I decided that I wasn’t going to be any more ready after about 20 minutes of swimming, so I headed back to shore while my mind worked it all out. I changed and then headed to lunch at the Brewing Co.

After a quick lunch, I said my goodbyes and headed back to the condo to finish working on my transition bags and relax. I stopped to take a picture of my nail polish on the way back to the car. ‘My Private Jet’ by O.P.I. It has a special meaning, and I wanted to make sure that my friends Debs and Chandra knew I was carrying them with me on race day.

The ‘rents came over to the condo and hung out with me, and made some signs. After awhile, they headed back to their hotel and I went and relaxed on the dock. Such a gorgeous day!

Fish and I headed back to Eddie’s for dinner and then hung out with the rest of our group by the water and listened to some music. It was a really nice way to spend the evening before we were off to an early bedtime.

Bedtime came around 8, and I think I was asleep by 9. Alarm was set for 3:30AM. And you know what? I was out like a light and slept like a baby. Nerves, what nerves?

Thursday was a crazy busy day, so I was hoping Friday would be a little more chill. I was feeling happy to have gotten a bunch of the big stuff out of the way, but really wanted to get a couple swims in and work on my special needs and transition bags (a job all on its own).

I headed over to the expo on Friday morning around 8 to do a practice swim.

Looking out at swim course:

The beach where the swim start/finish is:

The water was pretty calm and not too cold! It was somewhere around 60 degrees, and I knew that I’d be fine. My friend and I were out in the water and a couple guys asked us how long we’d been swimming. I think at that point it was about 30 minutes. Then one asked if it gets warmer. We just laughed and said yes, keep swimming. That moment of comfort in the water made me grateful for 52 degree Panama City Beach swims in February. (thanks coach!)

We poked around the expo a bit and then headed to Target to get some groceries and things that you always seem to forget (travel sunscreen, medicine for special needs bags, lots of water, cokes…). It was Fish’s birthday, so we also got some birthday goodies!

I spent the rest of the afternoon working on my bags. Man, from reading race reports, I knew it was a big job..but I can’t believe how much thought goes into prepping your bags.

Checklists for my checklists -

Bike Outfit:

My Giddy Up Armwarmers

Run Outfit:

Once I felt like the bags were ready ‘enough’ until Saturday, I went and hung out on the dock behind the resort next to ours. Sigh. So beautiful!

That evening, we headed to the Athlete’s Banquet. That’s when things started to get exciting, and the butterflies started .

We got there with enough time to grab some seats about halfway back for our group. The dinner was standard fare, pasta, salad, chicken. It was pretty decent. Mike Reilly was the emcee for the evening. He ran through the race rules, course information, told us about a couple new time cutoffs (yikes! 90 mile cutoff on the bike and 20.5 mile cutoff on the run) and introduced the youngest/oldest competitors and the biggest losers. It was fun and I felt myself really getting psyched up to race.

One thing that I really couldn’t get over about CdA is the atmosphere. I’ve only been to Panama City for IMFL, but the vibe in Idaho was so calm and relaxed. Everyone talks about all the testosterone and pre-race jitters that you get from other racers in IM Village and I never experienced that. Maybe because we stayed out of town about 30 minutes, but we did come in each day to get stuff done. Everyone just always seemed very low key and at ease. It was a really cool vibe to be around.

After the banquet was over, we headed outside and took some pictures of our group

Went to bed Friday night with a little more on my mind. The combination of new cutoffs, thinking about the swim and Sunday speeding at me kept my mind cranking as I fell asleep. Ah, well, one more day, right?

This is going to be a long one, so buckle up and hold on tight. Ok, ok..I always wanted to say that

Ironman CDA – Thursday, June 24th. Registration, Expo and Bike Course Recon.

So, this begins on Thursday, July 24th. We’d arrived late at night on Wednesday and didn’t get to see any of the beautiful scenery that we knew would await us the next morning. I’d seen some pictures and thought I knew what was in store. But when I woke up Thursday morning, I was blown away.

The view from the bedroom and the patio -

It is so beautiful in Coeur d’Alene. Just breathtakingly gorgeous. Our condo was in a building that overlooked the lake. Considering that we originally had a big house on the trail, this turned out to be a perfect backup plan. Our group of 5 racers and 1 sherpa shared 2 condos.

So after we’d picked our jaws up off of the floor, we decided to head into town to do all of our ‘administrative’ stuff.

Our group of racers!

After seeing the registration line, we decided to hit the Expo first!

It was a pretty small expo, but there was everything we needed We checked things out, got a few samples of yummy Erin Baker’s granola and some other goodies. We also pillaged the merchandise (um, who can resist?).

I bought a visor (the one on the very left) and tri top (which I LOVE, btw!) and by then, the registration line had died down. Perfect! We got in line and filled out our waivers -

Got a little card with info to continue through registration -

Talked to the ASI people (I didn’t pre-order pictures)

And then it was time to get our numbers! Since I’d raised money with Janus Charity Challenge and had a low number, I was told to check in at the Pro-Registration desk. Umm, how totally fun!

Shot of the packet (funny that ‘Sarah’ is the example in the picture) -

After we’d checked out our packets and stuff, it was time for lunch! We walked through town and headed to Coeur d’Alene Brewing Company. (Yum!)

Iron Sherpa

After lunch, we decided to pick up our bikes from Tri Bike Transport and go drive the bike course.

Empty transition on the way to TBT -

The TBT guys gave me crap about the size of my bag. I told them I’d gotten on the scale with it and it was well under 25 lbs, just unwieldy. Let this be your lesson, don’t send along a ginormous bag if you don’t want to get crap about it

Putting pedals back on -

Adjusting bars..then deciding to leave them as is..nothing new on race day!

Hiking back to the car..why did I pack so much stuff into this bag? Oh! Airline fees!

We piled back into our cars and headed out to drive (and ride a little bit of) the race course -

We parked at the 90 mile turnaround on the bike and did a short loop. I’m really glad we did this, because it gave me something to think about during the race when I got near this section. And it was just fun!

After the ride, we (finally!) headed back to the condos. It was a long day, but it was nice to get everything out of the way so that Friday and Saturday would be relaxing days.

I spent Thursday evening hanging with my awesome, rockin sherpa, Fish. We walked down to the little restaurant on the lake and had a nice dinner, enjoyed the sunset and pointed and laughed at the very large truck in the parking lot.

Eddie’s!

Sunset along the dock and lake:

On the way back to the condo, we spied a very large truck in the parking lot. Hee.

Looking towards the condo building as we headed to bed: