Racer: Chuck Potter
Race: Ironman Coeur d’Alene
Date: Sunday, June 24, 2007
Location: Coeur d’Alene, ID
Race Type: Triathlon - Ironman
Age Group: Male 35 - 39
Time: 12:39:07
Overall Place: 842 / 2196
Age Group Place: 171 / 344
Where to begin? I was going to start this from the moment I registered last summer but I don’t want this to be a novel! So, in summary, I’ve never had more fun training for a race! I’ve met incredible people/athletes along the way and can’t imagine triathlon not being apart of life for years to come! I look forward to tackling this challenge again! Dave MacKendrick and I spent many days/weekends together in prep for this race (I think his wife was beginning to ask questions). Dave’s been truly a great friend which made it almost as tough for me as it was for him when he crashed 3 weeks out from the race. We were optimistic that Dave would be on the starting line, but it wasn’t to be…but I must say he/we did everything possible to try to make it happen! So Dave, this one was for you! I’ll be there when you cross the line, whenever or wherever that might be!
Dave and I left for CdA on Tuesday, June 19. It was a long day of travel both to and from CdA. Getting out there in advance definitely paid off since it took us a few days to get on a somewhat normal sleeping schedule. The first night we were in bed by 7 and up at 3:30. Coeur d’Alene is a GREAT venue for an IM, plus staying at the resort was very convenient. You could see the swim start out of the window from our room!!! The days leading up to the race consisted of 3 days of swimming, and 1 short bike ride, plus lots of good food and a few beers!!! With this being my first IM I wasn’t really sure if I trained properly, tapered properly, etc…this was unchartered territory. I tried to follow a plan as best as I could but about 2 months out I had a nagging hamstring/glute issue so my run volume was very lite leading up to the race. Oh well, I kept telling myself it’s ALL about the bike! After competing in the Kinetic Half back in April and having a horrible race, I vowed to live on my bike for the next 2 months. This plan seems to have paid off!
Race Morning:
Woke up at 4am to another choppy day on the lake…funny thing is the lake was calm the day we arrived and the day we left, go figure! However, the day after the race was worse than the day of the race…so I’ll consider myself lucky. Pre-race fuel was only 2 bottles of Boost Plus (720 calories), thru training I knew I felt much better on just liquid calories so that’s what I stuck with. Dave and I walked down to the lake and got my nutrition on the bike…not only was it windy but it was cold! I think it was about 48 degF at the swim start??? Tried to relax but it wasn’t happening! Sean, Sue & Thomas arrived…which just made me even more emotional. Sean gave me his pep talk, gave everyone a hug and down to the beach! It felt better in the water than on the beach…water temp was 60degF, I think? After swimming in 54deg water in Lake Anna, I was fine with it! About 10 min. before the start the announcer came on and said “listen carefully”…our boat support says it ROUGH out there (I said NO SH!T)…you have the option to skip the swim if you want! I thought for a split second and said to myself, $&^% that, I didn’t come here to do a Duathlon!!! Well, there were two ladies standing next to me…one crying and the other happy as hell to hear the news. The one happy lady didn’t swim and I tried to calm the other down and get her head in the game. Hell, I was scared too, but I tried not to show it! As far as I know, she swam??? finished? I don’t know?
Swim - 1:25:02 (avgHR 135)
The gun goes off and I just stand there…but that was the plan. I read somewhere that said the best strategy was to line up close to the bouys but wait 1 minute and then get in behind everyone. This paid off as I felt better swimming up on others rather than them swimming up/over me. At the first bouy I saw a group of folks screaming for help, kinda freaked me out so I put my head down and got away from there as quickly as possible. The first loop had it’s moments, rough at times, but overall better than what I expected. The worst part was at the turn bouy where everyone converged on the bouy and then for 75-100 yds or so you had the waves at your side and they tossed you around like a rag doll. Came out of the first loop in 42:30…hmmm, I had swam that same loop 2 days before in 40 min (still rough conditions)…so considering the delayed start and the crowds I thought it was decent. On the beach, see Sean screaming at me, took in a gel and waded back into the water to pee! Had to pee the whole way back on the first loop but have never mastered the peeing while swimming technique. Second loop was a little better as far as the crowds but actually the waves felt a bit worse? I think the mass of people helped knock some of the chop down on the first leg out? Out of the water in 1:24 something (had to run across the mat yet) and happy to have that over with!!! My thoughts, first IM and the swim’s over, ROCK THE HELL ON!!!
T1 - 8:57
Into the changing tent and I couldn’t find a seat…damn it was crowded! Finally found a seat and took my time getting everything off and back on. Changed completely after each leg. The volunteers were awesome, wanted to help in anyway possible. Out of the tent and into the porta-pot again! I was definitely well hydrated! I stood there forever but thought better now that once on the bike!
Bike - 6:06:44 (avgHR 139)
On the bike and feeling good to be there! Like I said this is where I spent the majority of the previous 2-3 months, I was happy to be home! The first 20-25 miles are relatively flat, one climb to speak of out near the turn around but it’s not very long. My plan was to keep my avgHR at or below 140. I put my computer on total time and HR, never looked at my speed! This is not typical for me…I like to know my speed! But I learned over the past couple months of riding hills, hills and more hills that HR was much more important. I knew what effort I could sustain for the distance. Got thru 20-25 miles and then the hills started. Had only driven the course and it’s hard to get a feel for the hills in the car. I had a 27 on the back and planned to use it as much as possible on the hills. I was amazed at how many people I saw mashing a big gear up the hills??? I passed 487 people on the bike, many which appeared much more fit than I??? hmmmm…guess I’m better shape than I give myself credit for. ROCK ON! Hit the 56 mile mark at exactly 3 hours! Oh no, did I go too hard? I was expecting somewhere between a 6:15-6:30 bike split, there are hills out here! I’m from flat as a pancake Cambridge, MD! I took a quick glance at avgHR…139…ok, let’s stick to the plan! Hit bike special needs, grabbed my other bottle of nutrition, ate a few pringles and away I went. I actually stopped to get my special needs bag and the volunteers kinda looked at me funny…like why are you stopping? What’s a couple minutes over 6 hours??? Once again, the volunteers were AWESOME!!! Onto the second loop still feeling good. I kept waiting for the moment when I would feel like hell and what to get off the bike so desperately. That has always happened at some point on long rides! It never happened??? I was shocked!!! The taper must’ve worked perfectly? Heading back to town I took another glance at avgHR…139, now that’s sticking to the plan! remember that this year at the Baltimore Marathon Jellyfish!!! Off the bike in just over 6 hrs, with the special needs stop probably only about a 4 minute difference between each loop…cool!!!
T2 - 6:53
This time the tent was not as crowded…whew, I wanted to sit down! Took my time to change clothes completely again, wanted to maximize comfort as much as possible. Out of the tent and stopped to have Mark (Active Release doc) work on me for a minute to help straighten me up from being hunch over on the bike for so long. Mark recommended that I do this…he was the doc that worked on Dave all week so we got to know him pretty well, great guy! So out on the run course!
Run - 4:51:32 (avgHR 139)
Here we go! 26.2 frickin miles! In prep for this race I ran my first marathon at MCM last fall. I had prepared for that race about as perfectly as I thought I could…under the guidance of a couple veteran runners. I had good results leading up to the marathon and expected I could run somewhere between 4:00-4:15 for my first??? Yeah right! At mile 21 the wheels came off and I struggled in at 4:50…with numerous injuries to go along with it! I spent the next couple months doing very little running, seeing chiropractors, physical therapists, etc…what a let down! I had hopes of building on that mileage with an attempt at the HAT 50K later in March but just couldn’t get the volume back quickly enough. So instead I started back with the 1/2 marathon distance and did a string of 4 1/2 marathons in 7 weeks…ending with a PR in a snow storm at the Ocean City 1/2 marathon…followed that up with the Kinetic 1/2 IM 2 weeks after OC, hoping to crush my run PR for a 1/2 IM and fell apart once again??? Man this is a crazy sport, you just never know??? So, after the Kinetic 1/2, my hamstring/glute issue reared it’s ugly head and I was never able to completely get rid of it? So, 14 miles was my longest run going into CdA. Oh well, I had read that its best to be over prepared for the bike and a little under prepared for the run…rather than vice versa! That’s where I was!!!
Back to the run…out on the run course and felt good! Except I had put new lock laces in my shoes the night before the race (stupid, I know) and they were too tight, my feet were numb after 2 miles. So I saw Dave and asked him to go back to the room and grab my other shoes so when I came back thru town again I could switch (yeah I know I’m not suppose to do that, but damn I wanted to be as comfortable as possible). Well I didn’t see Dave coming back thru and my laces had stretched out and felt better anyway. So I’m thinking, how long am I going to feel decent? Can’t last very long, I don’t have enough miles in my legs! My plan was to walk for a minute or two at each aid station, get in what I thought I could stomach and then head off to the next one. That went pretty well for the first half! By mile 10 my quads were feeling some discomfort, by mile 15, my calves were feeling some discomfort, by mile 18, I was NOT comfortable!!! Everything from the waist down hurt! But it hurt just as much to walk as it did to run. So, I thought, I can end this pain quicker if I run!!! I felt my hamstring issue within the first 3 miles of the run but it never got any worse…I was just cautious and kept my stride fairly short to adjust. The run course is mostly flat with a decent hill at the turn around and another slight hill on your back from the lake section…manageable for me! I walked those hills out of concern for my hamstring…oh yeah, and the pain! Back to town after the first loop…running thru town was AMAZING! Definitely felt like a rock star! Having your name on your bib it great, everyone is screaming your name, encouraging you to keep going, etc. Each time I saw Sean, who ran next to me for a hundred yards or so to see how I was doing…He was FIRED UP!!! which in return fired me up. On the second loop, he’s running beside me, letting me know to expect the low points to come and that they will pass. He says 12 miles to go…oh no, I had already seen the 15 mile maker…I was like, ONLY 11, I can suffer thru 11 miles!!! Heading back out of town on the second loop is a daunting feeling. Seems so close, yet so far away! It was here that I pulled from every thought, person, prayer that I could to keep me running. The pain threshold was at it’s peak but I just kept thinking of everyone that was pulling for me…saying to myself, YOU’RE STRONG, YOU CAN DO THIS!!! My goal for the day was to finish close to 13 hours…anything with a 13 in front of it was going to be satisfying. At the 20 miles mark, I saw 11:25 on my watch…I couldn’t believe my eyes! I was like, I have 1:35 to run a 10K and break 13 hours…SWEEETTTTT!!! Here’s where I started to run numbers in my head…although it didn’t work out too well…but with 1.2 miles to go I was under 12:30 and started looking for numbers on the calves around me. Yeah, this was a personal race within myself…but if I could pick off a few in my age group, I was certainly gonna try!!! By now, I was running on emotion and could care less about the pain! Turned onto Sherman Ave to my buddy Bob Shebest (22nd overall by the way…heading to Hawaii, kick a$$ Bob!) running beside me taking pictures, screaming, etc…awesome! Then a little further up the road, there’s Sean again going absolutely beserk! I’ve got some awesome friends! and then finally Dave along the finishing shoot who hollered at me (I was focused on the finish line) to give me a high five! All I can say is that that last stretch down Sherman Ave (1/3 of a mile maybe) was out of this world…coming thru the shoot…i heard it…Chuck Potter from Cambridge, MD - You are a IRONMAN…that was cool! Whew, what a day!!! A good day!!!
for those that like data here are my run splits:
Run Splits - pace (avgHR)
Mile1 - 8:56 (143)
Mile 2-3 - 18:39 (149)
Mile 4 - 10:47 (141)
Mile 5 - 9:55 (143)
Mile 6 - 10:08 (143)
Mile 7 - 10:53 (140)
Mile 8 - 13:24 (133) - Hill at turn around!!!
Mile 9 - 10:57 (139)
Mile 10-11 - 21:46 (140)
Mile 12-14 - 33:44 (138) - first half, 2:19:02
Mile 15 - 11:44 (135)
Mile 16 - 10:23 (145)
Mile 17 - 11:57 (135)
Mile 18 - 11:17 (139)
Mile 19-20 - 23:46 (137)
Mile 21-22 - 25:51 (132) - a little more walking at this point!!!
Mile 23 - 10:25 (138)
Mile 24 - 12:54 (132)
Mile 25 - 11:12 (136)
last 1.2 - 12:53 (139) - second half, 2:32:31
It was definitely a day that I will remember for a LONG time. While the swim was rough, the lower temps played to my liking! I do much better in cooler temps! It’ll be tough to pick another IM as beautiful as Coeur d’Alene…Lake Placid is a close match. BUT, I WILL do another IM! I know I have a better marathon in me. Not sure if it’ll be next year, but I will be back!!!
Sorry to be so long winded…but a lot goes on in your head throughout the day!!!
To those that helped me get to the FINISH line…MANY, MANY, MANY Thanks!!!
-Chuck
