TriAptitude Coaching

I probably should have written this race report on Monday morning as my husband was taking conference calls from the hotel before check out. But, honestly, I was so excited the night of the race that I barely slept. I kept waking up- so many thoughts going through my head- but also the usual over dose of caffeine from the race course no doubt kept me stirring as well. So, I went back to sleep for two hours after breakfast and napped while Greg took calls with his clients until check out time. I’ve had a few days to process the day and thought I would share the race with others who might be considering Ironman 70.3 Couer d’Alene in the future. I had heard fabulous things about not only the IM 70.3 race in Couer d’Alene, Idaho but also the community in this beautiful area. There is tremendous community support for this race and it is certainly one of the most spectator friendly courses I have raced on and this showed throughout the event from swim to finish.  I was supposed to race the full Ironman here in 2021 as one of my postCovid events. Sadly, I never made it to the start line as eight weeks prior, I ruptured my plantar fascia in my left foot and was sidelined for an entire year. I am grateful that I finally made it to Couer d’Alene this summer to be a part of the magic here.

Leading into the race, the weather forecast told athletes that we were not going to have the weather which we had hoped. There was a storm system coming through Idaho and as luck would have it, it was bringing with it winds, colder temperatures and some rain on Friday and Saturday and leading into Sunday, race day.  I processed this fact, made preparations for what this would mean for my gear choices and race plan for Sunday and then tried to just not dwell on the “what ifs” of colder, wetter temps.  I controlled what I could- my preparation and then moved forward mentally. I’ve learned over the years that worrying about things out of my control sucks a lot of emotional energy from me and distracts me from what I need to focus on- the moments that matter for a successful finish. So, before I even left Denver, I had a new plan and arm warmers, a cycling vest, hand warmers, throw away gloves and mylar packed in my gear bag.  Greg and I flew to Spokane on Thursday night and drove 30 minutes to CDA to check into the hotel. We arrived without any extra excitement and the bike looked safe from transport. I went to bed and slept well that night knowing that everything was physically in place.

Coach Audra had planned a run and ride for me on Friday, so I woke up at my normal time and rebuilt my bike to get it ready for a check out ride. Once that was done, I suited up for a short run to explore the area and get a feel for the town. It was an easy run down to the lake and around transition and Ironman Village. One look at the lake told me that a practice swim was going to be an adventure as there were strong winds, waves, white caps.  I had planned to meet several of my Cupcake Cartel teammates for a swim at 10am and I was wondering if anyone was willing to brave the cold air temps and crazy water. It was only about 50 degrees outside but surprisingly for CDA Lake the water temp was lovely at 68 degrees. In the end, we all decided to go for it and had a fun check out swim of about 500 meters. It was not a long swim as the water was rough. But, it was enough to settle any prerace jitters I had going into the event as I knew that I could handle the conditions- albeit not ideal- if this is what we were given on Sunday. We jumped out of the water to dry off and were making a plan for our ride on the f bike course when a reporter for the CDA Press asked us if she could interview us for the newspaper. We chatted with her a bit about our team, the camaraderie we feel together, our impressions of CDA and our goals for the race. Fun enough, that was published the following morning.  The rest of the day, the temps seemed to be getting colder and the skies darker and it was hard not to worry about the weather as we completed our check out ride and gear prep. The rain started to fall that night and I knew that we were in for a cold Saturday but I held out hope that things would brighten for Sunday. In the meantime, Greg and I went to the sporting goods store and bought him a new jacket as he had not planned as well for the weather as his wife had  😉 He was going to need something warmer out on the race course to spectate.

Saturday was an easy day. I slept in a bit, Greg and I went to a team get together at the lake, I checked my bike into transition and made note of position and all of my entrances/exits for faster splits there, we wandered around downtown and got a coffee and did some window shopping, and then we went back to the hotel so I could get off my feet. Greg and I had an early dinner with my friend Cami and her husband Dusty and then I was off to bed!  It was a mellow and easy day and I loved having Greg with me at this race. It was the first time we had traveled to a race together without the kids so it was really nice.

Coming Up…..Race Day

CDA is on the far east side of Pacific Standard Time so the sun rises early and the race starts early as well.  The weather turned a bit for us and after a night of rain, the skies started to clear and although chilly outside at 4:30am, I had a good feeling that we were in for favorable race conditions, especially for the run.  My alarm went off at 3:00am and I let Greg sleep until 3:45am while I got ready, rechecked my gear bags, ate breakfast, etc. We left for transition by 4:10am and easily found a parking spot right in downtown CDA about two blocks from transition. It was all so easy.  Greg hung out and chatted with others while I went into transition and set up my bike and run gear, pumped up my bike tires and put all my nutrition on my bike.  I decided that I would wear a vest and arm warmers on the bike.  I brought a larger pair of arm warmers with me so I could get them on over wet arms- not ideal as they are not very aero- but I felt like being warm on the bike trumped being aero. If I was shivering and could not stay warm, I would not be able to ride well so warmth had to be the priority.  I stuck hand warmers into my cycling shoes so that they would warm up while I was swimming. The plan was to take them out when I came into T1, dump them down my jersey for extra warmth and ride without socks- just shoe covers over my cycling shoes. I headed to the beach with Greg after putting on my wetsuit feeling confident in my gameplan.  I kissed my husband goodbye after he took a quick photo of the two of us and I lined up with my friend Brenda in the 33-35 minute corral for the swim. This was my expected pace and close to the front so I entered the water in the rolling start at about 6:08 am and the race was on!

Water temperature on race day was measured at about 65 degrees.  It felt fantastic and I found my rhythm quickly as well as some fast feet on which to draft for the first few hundred meters.  This was fantastic as it allowed me to not overexert from the start and to find a sustainable pace for myself without fear of my heart rate spiking early in the swim and throwing off my breathing. I just settled in and sighted well and swam straight out the nine yellow buoys to our turn around.  I felt calm, I felt happy, the water was the perfect temperature and I had enough swimmers around me that I had a nice draft but did not feel overly crowded. I simply stuck to my pace and saved energy for my bike and run. As I headed toward the last orange buoy on the return on the swim, I sighted on the exit arch, kicked a little harder to get more blood flow to my legs for my pop up on the shoreline to vertical, swam until I could easily touch the sand below my body, raised to my feet and started to run. As I was grabbing my wetsuit strap to begin pulling my wetsuit down to my waist, I heard Greg’s voice calling for me and he was right there at the swim exit taking a video. I yelled hello, kept running, found the first wetsuit strippers and already had my wetsuit down to my thighs so it was a quick pull, off it went, and I ran straight to my bike in T1.  If there is one thing I have learned recently while racing the 70.3, it is that I am fast at transitions. So, I take full advantage of that!  I may not be the first out of the swim but I am usually not more than 45-60 seconds back. My past three races, I have made up all that time in transition by making it FAST. This day was no different. Wetsuit put down, vest put on, arm warmers pulled on, helmet on and clasped, I grabbed my cycling shoes in my hand, I unracked my bike and I ran out of T1. It was a long run to the mount line so I knew that I would be faster running barefoot and then putting my cycling shoes on at the mount. Plus, the road was still a bit wet and slippery and I did not want to run in my cycling shoes and risk slipping. It paid off. I moved up from 4th place coming out of the swim to 2nd place on my transition alone. I did not know all this at the time but going into the bike, I was in 2nd place to Deanna Newman- one of the fastest women in my age group nationally and also worldwide.

Swim Time: 35:02 (4th place swim)

Transition 1: 3:49  (2nd fastest transition)

In the past two years, I have really focused on staying in the moment while racing.  What is happening right now, how is my mind processing, how is my body responding, how are they both working together for efficiency, speed, best decision making and reactions on the race course. For this reason, when I mounted my bike at “Bike Out”, my only thought was to clip in safely, navigate that first left hand turn uphill into downtown easily and ease into my pace and power knowing that I had some turns and bumpy roads coming up in the first few miles before I could settle fully into aero position on the fast out and back on Couer d’Alene Lake Drive.  This early section of the bike course is fast and fairly flat. There is one smaller climb around mile 5 which was perfect- I was a little chilly on the first few miles but once I powered up that hill, I could feel my body responding well and warming. My legs felt fresh and I was easily holding my target power for this section of the bike course. That being said, I was very aware of the elevation to come on the far side of the course once we turn onto US 95 to the west side of Lake CDA.  There are four significant climbs to come and pacing effort while working at my highest sustainable power was going to be key for success on this course. This was definitely a bike course which played to my strengths- I am a strong climber and descender on the bike. I live in the mountains of Colorado and I train on Squaw Pass in the summer.  I am used to climbing 20 miles at a time with 2500+ feet of elevation gain and then descending quickly on the back side. I love descending- it does not scare me and I am confident in my bike handling skills- so this played in my favor on race day. Coach Audra and I had a plan- I needed to know for World Championships in Marbella just how hard I can push on the bike- what is that max effort I can hold and then run off the bike well. To dial that in for IM70.3WC in Marbella, I had to risk pushing too hard on the bike and possibly blowing up on the run this time around.  There was nothing for me to lose in the long run as my main goal for this race in CDA was to use it as an opportunity to dial in race efforts, perform well for the fitness I have in the tank in early summer and have some fun in a beautiful location.  But, I have that competitive streak in me so , of course, I always want to be the best that I can -I would be lying if I did not want a spot on that podium. LOL. However, my thoughts in the moment were about how I was performing, how I felt, what my body was telling me and how that related to the data I saw on my bike computer. I stayed within myself. That’s not to say I did not give shout outs and smiles to other athletes on the bike course- I tried to yell encouraging words whenever I could to familiar faces and any Cupcake Cartel race kit I saw!  What’s the fun in racing if you are not enjoying and being a positive light for others on course? As I came back through downtown CDA at mile 15, I was feeling strong and could hear all the cheers coming from the sidewalks. The spectators are amazing in CDA and you feel the energy at every moment.  I wondered if Greg was there somewhere but I could not take my eyes off the road as there was a sharp right hand turn onto Northwest Blvd. Even knowing this, I almost took that turn too quickly, caught up in all of the excitement of the moment and all the cheering. Luckily, no wipe out but that was a wake up call to me- the roads were still wet, I had to FOCUS. 

The next 40 miles of the bike route is basically an out and back along US 95 which is a highway on the other side of Lake CDA. It is more open and exposed so wind can be a factor. Lucky for us, on race day, the winds had calmed down tremendously and it was not a huge factor except for a bit on the return. I could tell at this point in the race that I must be towards the front of the race. I was passing a lot of people on the bike and few were passing me until we were at miles 35-40. Then, the younger faster men started cruising past me on the left. LOL. But, only a few women caught up to me on the bike as far as I could tell, and this told me that I must be in a fairly good position.  The final 15 miles of the bike I could feel some fatigue creeping into my legs and I knew I had fallen behind on my nutrition a bit – I quickly tried to grab my bottle of Infinit on my downtube and take in more calories on the last climb so that I could top off my fueling needs going into the run. There was a group of 5 riders in front of me who had clumped up together on the downhill in the “No Passing Zone” – instead of dispersing again and spreading out, they decided to ride in a peloton back to town. This was annoying and there were no officials on the course here to give drafting violations. The road narrowed as we came back into town and prepared to turn right back onto Northwest Blvd to head to T2. At the last minute, some lady passed me on the left outside of the traffic cones and cut me off. Geez, what the absolute….That could have been a disaster. Luckily- I jumped out of aero and slowed in time. There was a quick last mile on the flat to the dismount line of T2 and as I rolled in and jumped off my bike, I heard a familiar voice, looked up and there was my wonderful friend Sandi Lusk there cheering and giving me a high five. That was such a fantastic surprise to see her right there. Quick run into T2, reracked my bike- helmet off, vest off, cycling shoes off, I sat down for a brief 30 seconds to get my socks and running shoes on.  I grabbed my race belt, hat and sunglasses and put all of these on as I was running out of transition. I briefly thought, “I wonder what position I am in?” but then refocused on the task at hand- running the fastest pace I could sustain over 13.1 miles to that finish line. 

Bike:  2:47:32 (1st place in AG, 19th Female)

Transition 2:55 (2nd place AG)

The Run and Finish Line

It’s a real challenge for Ironman athletes to come off course and feel like everything in the day has gone to plan. There are several reasons why this is true. One, by nature, most of us who compete in this sport are very specific and intentional with our training and goals. We are Type A personalities (for the most part ;)) who strive for perfection and are driven by big goals. We thrive on the idea that we can pull together a great race given three different sport disciplines, varying weather and water conditions, and race courses which change state by state, country by country and year by year.  No two races will ever be the same. No two performances by a single athlete will ever be truly comparable. Yet, our minds drive us to perform for a best time, a personal best, competing against ourselves for the finish of our dreams.  That’s a lot of pressure to put on ourselves. That’s the type of pressure that can crush the joy out of triathlon for many of us. The other big reason that it is hard to have a day that meets expectations is that there are a lot of puzzle pieces which have to all come together to create that scenario for an athlete. This is a hard sport- there is a lot of everything!  Training in three sports, a huge amount of gear to maintain, nutrition to dial in, a race plan to follow and a pacing strategy to refine. Any deficit in these efforts and your day could fall lackluster. Or so it can seem for someone who prioritizes a finish time over the experience of triathlon as a whole.  That used to be me. Pressure pressure pressure. Wow, was I hard on myself after the race. I would pick apart my efforts and find everything wrong, what I could do better, make excuses why my day wasn’t faster. I came away feeling sad and not accomplished.  

I took a year off from triathlon in 2018 partly for this reason. I needed a break from chasing results. I had lost the thrill and happiness for the process of just being an athlete. The sport which had brought me joy and boosted my self-confidence was now starting to feel like a chore. I needed a mental and physical break. So, it was the perfect time to schedule a pelvic floor repair surgery I had waited 8 years to have.  That is a long story for another time but know this- one of the reasons I waited so long to have the surgery was because I feared that I would not be able to race afterwards.  Many told me that I would not be able to lift weights, run, train in the way I had grown to love. If you do, the surgery will fail, they told me.  That was a scary prospect for someone who had grown to identify and love the thrill of triathlon.  But, something just felt right about the decision and I knew in my heart that it was time.  I raced internationally in both an ITU World Championship and an Ironman 70.3 World Championship in 2017. I was blessed to have had amazing experiences in the sport. Time would tell if I would be able to return to it and regain the excitement after recovery.

All that said to give some background info and to explain my mindset on the Ironman 70.3 run course since then.  I simply stopped believing in myself on the run.  All the what ifs always got in the way- what if I run too fast, too hard and my repair fails from high impact; what if I overload volume and my body just falls to injury; I am too old to run fast anyway; Oh, I have a history of foot injury so being an efficient and strong runner is off the table now.  Yes, I talked myself out of running well off the bike for years.  I made up excuses- it was easier than to just be brave enough to say to myself- “You are scared to put in the hard work to be a solid, strong runner again. You are scared to fail so you would rather not try.” That negative mindset dictated how I felt about myself as an athlete and also my performance in training and on the race course.  Please do not do what I did. Don’t talk yourself out of trying.  

Back to the run in CDA- From the start, my legs felt really strong and I had a great pace, cadence and feel for my run. The temperature had warmed up to the high 50s/low 60s by this point in the morning and it was perfect running weather.  I did not know leaving T2 that I had gained time on the bike and was now in 1st place in my age group. I did not know where anyone else in the W55-59 age group was located on course and I did not ask my husband or friend Annie that question either from the sidelines. Maybe I should have now that I reflect back- but I stand with that decision for myself and how I choose to race.  I will always be happiest racing my own race and focusing on the process for me. And, on this particular day, I knew by mile 5-6 on the run that I was going to have one of the best days of my triathlon career.  I was holding a solid pace of 7:55 min/mile and continued to feel strong in my body and mind.  I did have one pit stop in a port a potty at mile 4- that cost me about 90 seconds- but could not be avoided if I wanted to have a strong pace for the following miles. I consider that a strategic decision which paid off in the end- 90 second cost at mile 4 for a consistently fast run pace to the finish.  My goal pace for this race was 8:15-8:30 min/mile and I felt confident that I would finish the course with a much faster average than that. So, I continued to cruise along, cheer out to friends on course, take in my sodium and nutrition on schedule, sing to myself and keep myself focused on cadence and leg turnover.  I have no recollection of Deanna passing me around mile 9-10. I had never met her in person and although I knew how competitive an athlete she was, Ironman no longer publishes athlete rosters before the race.  So, I had no idea who I was racing against in my age group unless I recognized athletes on course. I just kept running merrily along- well maybe not merrily by mile 10-11 ;)…..but running along at pace just the same, feeling so happy that I was believing in myself and that I could have a great run off the bike!  That power of BELIEF, friends!!  It is so extraordinary!!  I saw teammates on course and there were many high 5s and hand slaps, I saw my husband and friends on the sidelines cheering, I saw little friends lining the walkways with their parents waiting for athletes to wave and give them a hello. It was fantastic. What a thrill. I was fully invested in MY race, my experience on course, in every stride I took and every “You’ve got this!” I said to fellow athletes along the way.  Before I knew it, I was smiling and waving at Kaitlyn at The Cupcake team tent as I took the left hand turn for the finish. I knew that my husband was somewhere at that finisher’s chute waiting for me.  Those last 200 meters running down Sherman were a little painful- those last steps to the red carpet always are as you accelerate with excitement and the anticipation of hearing your name called for the finish and seeing your loved ones.  I glanced at my watch and saw that I was coming in on the run at 1:43:54, a personal best half marathon run time for me at a 7:50 min/mile pace. Granted, my official IM70.3 run time that day is recorded as 1:45:28 because the IM clock does not stop for the porta potty LOL.  I saw Greg in the chute at the last minute and had sadly already passed him by the time I heard his voice call out to me. I usually try to stop and give him a kiss before crossing the finish line. But, I promise I gave him a happy one when I found him after!

Run Time 1:45:28 (2nd AG)

Total Race Time 5:14:44 (2nd AG, 22nd OA Female)

I’ve had a few people ask me if I am disappointed that I did not win my age group. Of course, it is always thrilling to come in 1st in a race!  Who does not want to do that??!!  LOL  Honestly though, I gave it my all out there last Sunday and that was definitely a run for the Courtney books after my pelvic floor reconstruction in 2017, so I am and will always be especially happy with this race and coming in #2. Deanna ran a 1:32 half marathon that day- that is a pace of 6:56 min/mile. I definitely had her on the bike and came out on the run with a lead, but there is no way I could hold it with her running that fast. That is an incredible run and one much deserving of the win. So, huge congratulations to Deanna for a spectacular race and to every one of the athletes who I shared the course with in Couer d’Alene. As athletes, we all race for different reasons and we all have a variety of goals for ourselves. It was incredible to see so many people out there realizing dreams for themselves and inspiring others to do the same. It’s a wonderful feeling to be back in the excitement of the sport for the process and adventure of it all. There’s nothing better!