Triathlete Dad

A race report for Ironman Coeur d'Alene 2007

Submitted by shall on Tue, 07/01/2008 - 06:42.

Year of Race:

2007

Overall time: 11:15:24

What’s it like to swim 2.4 miles, then bike 112 miles, and then run a marathon, 26.2 miles? Here’s the story. Photos, here.

Well, after my first Ironman, (2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, 26.2 mile run) — in temperatures soaring into the 90s. . . all I can say is it was quite a race. This was also the first time I swam that far and the first time I completed a full marathon. The water temp was only 62 degrees so practice swimming in the lake on Friday and again on Sat was really good to get a feel for the cold water. However a mass start was something that I hadn’t experienced before. My strategy was to just try to keep my head down and pulling forward. As many of you know I worried about the swim the most but it went by very quickly for me. With a sunny blue sky and amazing landscape I just focused on being in the moment. I think I was actually smiling as I look up for my sight line and saw so many competitors all around me. I was so pumped up to just be living the dream of doing an IM. My 2.4 mile swim time was 1 hour 21 mins (1470 place out of 2227)
Then I jumped out of the water and cruised through T1, got on my bike and greeted 5,000 CDA spectators lining the streets. I was flying on the bike until about mile 45 when I first felt my first leg cramp, so I backed it off a bit. The first 56 mile lap was 15 mins faster than my second lap. Also for those that have not been to northern Idaho, there are real mountains out here. Plus the temp was pushing 93 degrees and it was a technical bike course with lots of turns and some fast descents…we actually went around a greyhound dog track on mile 50. I worked hard to keep my pace and fluid levels up. Thanks to E-caps that kept my sodium levels in balance! (In extreme heat your body looses sodium and then cannot absorb water, which causes dehydration, or what’s called bonking and you cannot continue.) The aid stations were 10 miles apart so we did have plenty of support and opportunity to pick up fluids.
The last 10 miles on the bike was painful. There was a flat stretch finally but a stiff headwind…very difficult. I mostly ate Gu or PowerBars every 25 mins and had a bottle of Gatorade Endurance every 30 min. My final 112 mile Bike time was 5 hours 45 mins — 19.4 mph average (368 place out of 2227)

As I got into T2, I jumped off the bike and someone racked it for me and then several other volunteers put cold wet towels on me and helped me change my shoes and repack my T2 bag, very nice. The cold towel felt so good. Did I mention that it was hot out there? Temp was about 95 now. As I started the run I wondered how my body would react to the long day and heat — and this was my first marathon! Temp was now 98 according to the bank time/temp sign. But I got into a rhythm quickly and kept my leg turnover going. Again the crowd was just awesome with people cheering most of the 2 lap 13.1 mile course. The locals also had garden hoses out spraying down the runners. That was really great. At first, the miles just went by very quickly and then I got to the halfway point and felt the onset of a few more cramps so I backed it down a little. Finally I reached mile 20 and saw my son Zach’s poster that said #1 Dad and IM. I said to myself only 10k to go, I can do this. I only walked through a few of the aid stations that were 1-mile apart and kept pressing forwards.
When I got to mile 24 and 25 I felt this overwhelming since of finishing just over 11 hours in incredibly hot conditions. When I reached the final stretch, 1000s of people were lined up all along the last half-mile and were cheering so loud that I didn’t see or hear my family, so my two older boys started running after me when I saw them. So I stopped, turned around, went back 25 meters and picked up my 2 year old Josh and took my 4 year old Daniel by the hand while Zach - 10 and Andrew - 8 ran a long with me the last 200 meters into the finishing area. Then announcer said those words that triathletes all dream of hearing…DAVE OWENS…YOU ARE AN IRONMAN!!! Then my wife Susie came over and said “YOU DID IT and you look great!” It was amazing that felt really good. 26.2 mile run 3 hours 58 mins 9:06 min mile pace (136 out of 227)
My training buddy Sean finished just 15 mins behind me and I cheered him on into the finish. He experienced a lot of leg cramps at mile 15 of the run when I caught up to him and did awesome to finish the final 9 miles.
In the end, it was quite an amazing experience to say the least. I have to say it was the hardest thing I have ever experienced and I had to dig very deep to finish strong. I gave 100% effort the entire day and I think I had some help from above too. I learned the next day that I finished in the top 10% overall (233 out of 2227).
It’s been said that doing an IM is the hardest test of human endurance…I would completely agree. But it is worth it. While my bike leg us usually my strongest I was able to put together a really good run.
Now it’s time for a vacation here in Idaho with some rest and relaxation with my family…for a few days
I personally want to thank everyone for their support of the L&LS. Together we have raised over $7,000 that will benefit research to cure Leukemia. Thanks very much for your donations!

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