Ironman Coeur D'Alene 70.3 2016

Coeur D’Alene 70.3 was more of a training day (planned) than an “A-Race”, so I’m going to take more of a general reflective take on this recap. Seeing as I just did Victoria 70.3 two weeks prior, CDA this past weekend, and Great White North Half this weekend, the question- ok, more like comment- that I’ve been getting: “Are you insane? Why on earth would you want to do three half Irons in 4 weeks?!” I could be crossing that line, but I look at my training right now as a “work in progress”. Reality is, if I want to go to Kona and do well, it is going to take A LOT of work to get there. That’s why I believe that “training races” offer much more than just a race. Every race that is added to the resume is full of all kinds of experience and learning. These races offer a bit of a mental break as there isn’t as much pressure to do well or win. It allows me to step back down from the competitive side of things and have fun. Not that racing isn’t fun all the time, but it’s definitely different when there is pressure to do well. And I am really good at putting too much pressure on myself. So that being said, CDA was a low pressure race with a decent result. So the question: “Why?” The answer: As long as I am having fun, learning, recovering properly, and most importantly, have the continued support of my family (Which I cannot thank enough- none of this would be possible without you guys!), then Why Not?! If you truly love what you do and really want to do it, your mind and mental strength will take you place you never thought you could go! Life’s not easy, but hard work has its rewards. It might take a while to get there, but I will.

A very quick recap of the race:

The swim was cold, so of course I had a panic attack (again), so my swim was nothing to write home about. I survived. Onto the bike in 8th place, I knew I could make up time. My plan was to push the watts a little higher than Victoria IF I was feeling good. It took me a bit to get my legs to come around, but they did. I had a solid bike (second fastest) to pull me into third. As I headed out onto the run, my legs didn’t feel awful, but they definitely felt used. I was pretty much expecting this, so I tried not to look at my watch and get comfortable. I knew I was in a position to place, but I wanted to make sure I didn’t destroy myself for Great White North as this was the more important race. I held onto third until into the second lap, and then with only 4kms to go, was bumped back to 6th. I pushed the last mile as I knew I was getting caught and didn’t want to lose a paycheck at this point. I managed to hold onto 6th, which in this field with an unrested body, I was VERY happy with. As I said earlier- every race is an experience, and a different one at that! This one had a few moments (swim), that I am not so happy about, but also had plenty of things that I was happy about.

Next up: Great While North!