Paula and I made the trip up to CDA Thursday before the race. The traveling went great, much better than the travels to Vancouver a few weeks before. We figured with that trip, we’d gotten all of the bad luck out of our systems, so we were feeling pretty good. We’d been training hard and consistent since Oceanside 70.3 and felt pretty good leading up to ironman. Or at least I did as Paula was really sick in Vancouver and ended up recovering only a few days before the race.

We arrived in CDA and met our home stays, Tiffany, Brian, Luci, and Charlie. Brian is a good friend of ours brother and the entire family were excellent hosts, making us feel great and right at home. They even posted good luck signs up in the yard! We slept in the kid’s toy room on one of the most comfy beds ever and I slept better than I had in months. Things were off to a great start. I even had one of the best beers of my life at a local brewery, I had to hold myself back till Sunday…Dan (Wheels On Wheels) had driven the bikes up and been caring for them all week so very little time had to be spent fusing over them. The shipping is a great service, not only do you eliminate the flying hassles, but you get a personal mechanic if anything goes wrong. Which can be a lot easier than dealing with the race provided mechanics. And it costs about the same as flying a bike these days.

We went to the pre-race dinner with Daniel D., which was fun, a little long, but filled with the typical inspirational moments. Daniel was a great friend to have at the race, as we are the same speed so we had fun plotting the race out together. The rest of our pre-race time was spent driving the course, experimenting with the cold water, and trying to stay away from all the IM hype.  Oh yes, and we cooked my fav. Pre-race good luck dinner, pasta, tuna, broccoli and parmesan cheese, the secret is out…

Race morning:

Woke up at about 3:30, started the coffee maker and started going through all my race stuff for the 15^th time. I woke Paula up at about 4, I could tell she was excited as she was up right away, even before I brought the coffee down. I think we both felt pretty good, not to nervous as I tend to get excited the morning of a race, after 2 days of nerves before the race! We got to transition by 5, pumped the tires with the help of few mechanics still drunk from the night before and stashed all of our bike and run gear. Last minute switch to remove my jersey for the swim and a quick power bar and we headed down to the water.
I kissed Paula goodbye wishing her all the strength in the world and then jumped in the water with Daniel.

Swim:

The water had warmed up to 59, improved from 49 a little less than a week ago. The sun was out and the nighttime rain clouds hung on the horizon. Daniel and I seeded ourselves up front and in the middle with a straight shot to the far turn buoy and the gun went off. The water felt awesome, perfect wetsuit swimming temp (for a race at least) I promptly got clocked in the head by a trashing dude next to me and lost sight of Daniel. The first 1/4 of the swim was rough, lots of elbows and swallows of water. By the first turn though things had mellowed out. I grabbed some feet and cruised a hundred yards, saw a group up ahead and decided to try and bridge the gap. I left my group but never really caught the others. I ran into 2 random swimmers, but they wouldn’t swim with me, or at least they thought they had the better line and we spent the rest of the race about 10 yards apart. I exited the 2-lap swim and saw 58 minutes on my watch. I was very happy with that as it was a PR and most importantly, I had swam by myself the majority of it and still felt strong getting out of the water. Sure, it would have been faster and easier if I had been able to reach the front group, but often when I race hard on my own, the mental boost I get pays off.

Bike:

Decent transition, I liked the wetsuit strippers, another new experience. Ran out of T1 with spectators cheering everywhere, it really makes you feel like a pro. Hoped on the Isaac and headed out. The bike felt great, new tires and a new Lightweight front wheel and the Cane Creek disc courtesy of Dan Plummer. I can’t thank him enough for all the help he’s given me the past 4 years. 
After the first turn around I saw Paula. She was smiling and safe! I was so happy, I busted out in tears for the first time. Okay, maybe the second, I think I teared up a bit before the swim.
Felt great the first 34 miles. Kept a high cadence and moved up to 4^th place in the amateur race. The hills felt awesome and the bike course around Hayden Lake was just beautiful, I told that to some of the spectators and they cheered me on even more. Things kind of started to fall apart as we turned back to town. We hit a 10-mile straightaway with a 15 mph headwind. Suddenly I was spent…I think I had taken in too many calories too fast. I had ignorantly filled one of my water bottles with about triple the amount of carbo-pro I usually use. Stupid IM mistake, always thinking I’ll need ‘more’. I got passed back by about 8 guys and I suddenly hated everything. Hit 56 miles and kept repeating to myself, ‘the race starts at 80 miles, must feel good at 80 miles’ as a way to trick myself into feeling good. After the special needs area, things or at least my spirit picked back up. I slammed a red bull and replaced my bottles. I passed back a few guys and settled in. We had a little tail wind for the uphill section out of town, but not enough to get that excited for. As soon as we turned towards the lakes and hills, the wind was all over the place. Crosswinds, headwinds, and a few tailwinds on the uphills. I was getting blown around quite a bit but feeling better and better. The rest of the bike was spent all on my own. I passed a few women pros and the slower age-groupers but other than that didn’t see anybody I was racing against. I grabbed a few bananas from the last aid station and finished off a bottle the last ten miles. I had definitely come around, but nervous to come off the bike. I didn’t really know what to expect. My time was 5:15. The first 1/2 was 2:30, so I had really slowed the second lap, not how I like to race.

Run:

Slow transition, took off my race belt for some reason and then had a long bathroom break. I popped a couple of Advil. Not sure why as I never trained with them, but as I ran out my foot was aching so I thought why not. I started the Garmin about a 1/4 mile from transition. Wearing the Garmin was one of the best decisions. Daniel had persuaded me to wear it and it was a great decision. Right away I looked down and saw the pace at 6:20 and it felt pretty good. Just like the training runs. A while ago I had asked Mac Brown how fast he does his training transition runs and he told me at race pace or faster. I guess I just was finishing the long rides and running aerobically. Since I got the Garmin, I’ve been paying close attention to the speed and found running 6:20 off a long hard bike ride doesn’t feel too different than running 7:20. So I’d been working really hard on the T-runs and it seemed to pay off. Also, Brian Scott had reported running 6:20’s off the bike in Arizona, so I thought I should give it a shot.
The run turned into one of the greatest runs, triathlon or pure running, I had ever had in my life. The first 13 miles were effortless. I popped salt tabs and drank coke at every mile. I was able to stretch out my stride and had many good cheering sections along the route. I passed a good deal of people in the 1^st half but still had no idea where I was, nor didn’t really care at the moment. I just knew I was running well and I was elated. I had a big goofy grin on the whole time. I hit 13 miles in 1:25. I knew then that this wasn’t going to last but I tried to hang on as long as I could. The highlight of the run came at about 14 miles when I passed back by the transition area and Paula ran out onto the course just in front of me. I was so excited, I was going to sneak up on her and surprise her but a friend came running by the other direction and said hi to both of us so I was caught. I guess I wasn’t sure what I’d do, but I was hoping to surprise her…I yelled out something about how great the run was and told her I loved her and picked it back up.
I wouldn’t say things started to fall apart then, but I had a steady 5 to 10 second per mile drop after 15 miles. But I was okay with that, I knew I had banked enough time during the first half to work my way up in the race and secure a Kona spot. I still didn’t know where I was, as the course was now filled with people going both directions. I saw the leading pros and Jim Vance who I shouted some encouragement to, but he was on his final miles and pretty focused. The rest of the run went smooth, I felt strong, but the glass shards in the quads started pretty quick. The downhill’s hurt; the uphill’s felt pretty good. Had some gel and tried to smile a bit and cruised towards home. On the final uphill at about 20 miles, I saw the lead amateur coming down about 45 seconds ahead of me. More importantly though he saw me…I should have hidden. I caught a look of fear in his face as he stared me down. At that point though, I knew I had a solid race and really just wanted to get home. But I did pick it up and actually thought I had passed him, as I couldn’t see him in front. But still, I was just happy with where I was, I do lose a little focus towards the end of the long races, something I should change. I saw Paula again shortly after that. I mustered a ‘Hola Munequita’ (Hey baby doll) but I was pretty zoned out and fixated on keeping up the pace.
At about 25 miles I came upon another amateur I hadn’t noticed, and he was in my age group! I sucked it up and ran strong past, though he was looking pretty woozy and I don’t think he noticed me. The run down the finishing stretch was awesome, I think it was the happiest finish of my life; I slapped high 5’s with everyone and jumped across the line. Run time 3:01.

Found out I had won my age division and placed 11^th overall as I was waiting to see Paula come by. I was so excited. I had trained my butt off for this race during a very busy and stressful time at work. Everything had come together. Paula and I had really enjoyed training and racing our first ironman together. And besides a slightly disorganized house, all had gone smooth.

Paula finished a short time later, just short of her previous IM time but she proved herself on a much more difficult course under much more difficult conditions. I was so proud of her yet again. We spent the rest of the night eating peanut butter (okay that was me) and sipping a few beers Tiffany and Brian had prepared for us, just awesome.

Thanks to all who helped make this race possible. Especially to Dan Plummer and Wheels On Wheels who keeps me riding fast and strong on the greatest equipment out there. Zoot sports for helping me look good and run fast. And powerbar for keeping me fueled.

Patrick