Coeur d’Alene 2011 was my first Ironman. It was an amazing experience and I knew I would return. After racing the inaugural Ironman Lake Tahoe, I was mentally and physically beaten down. I had already registered for Coeur d’Alene 2014, and I was really looking forward to getting back to that “manageable course” concept. This year I arrived in Coeur d’Alene on the Wednesday of race week and the weather was overcast with light winds and some occasional drizzle. Remembering the cold water from IMCDA, I was relieved to get into the water and find a little warmer than 2011. It was in the low 60s and I even swam without a wetsuit on our Friday practice swim. I was also eager to see the new portion of the bike course. We rode the biggest (and toughest) hill on the course and determined that it was very manageable. After Tahoe it was a relief. As the days and hours drew nearer to race morning, we watched the ever changing weather forecast. We had seen a pattern of increasing wind and occasional rain. On the Saturday before the race, the forecast showed mild wind and great conditions for race day. We were excited. I stayed at beautiful rent home, directly on the lake… within view and walking distance of the race start / finish. I was invited to stay with some of my great friends and training buddies Kristina Large, Melissa Carter, Chris Lopez and their coach, Liesel Streich. We also had a tremendous team of sherpas helping us the entire stay. Kyle Large, Tracy Carter, John Pinkstaff, Blanca Lopez and Marissa took great care of us and allowed us to focus all our energy on race preparation. We were truly blessed to have them with us and I am so thankful. Being my third full Ironman, I was thinking some of the butterflies would fade, but it turns out they don’t ever seem to go away. Our house was full of nervous energy, preparing for race morning. I offered my observations and recommendations from my previous Ironman races. I don’t know if it was truly helpful, but sharing my perspective helped ease my own nerves. Then, race morning was upon us. There is nothing like the electricity in the air preparing for a race like this. All of us crammed into the kitchen… preparing our food… the smell of fresh coffee… conversations we create to distract ourselves from our nerves. It’s all magic! I LOVE race morning! With a fresh cup of coffee, I stepped out on the front porch and couldn’t help noticing a strong cold wind and white caps on the lake. That wasn’t in the forecast! That was curve ball #1 of our day. With that, we resorted to singing “I’m on a Boat” and other ridiculous songs, in hopes of a distraction from the elements. We walked to transition to drop our transition and special needs bags… get body marked… fill our tires and load bottles on our bikes. We went back to the house and put on our wetsuits. “I’m on a Boat” was a big player by this point! We made our way to the swim beach and the wind was even stronger. Mike Reilly’s voice was booming through the sound system and the lake was full of support boats and paddle boards. The Star Spangle Banner played and the pros launched. Several of us held hands, made a circle and offered up a prayer. With that, we made our way to our respective swim time slots. Kristina and I both kneeled on the sand, in the midst of 2800 swimmers, and offered up one more prayer for the day. The age group canon blasted and we were on our way. I fist bumped Kristina, and dove in. Immediately, the chop was pounding us. I chose to fight both the chop and the crowd and made my way to the inside of the buoys. It was a beating getting there, but worth it. I never encountered too much traffic there. Of course, I had to swim outside of the turn buoys, and it was the usual grinder there. I’m glad I found a less crowded path, but there was no denying the extra effort required to fight the chop. When I started the 2nd swim loop it was clear the wind and chop were even stronger. Again, staying inside the buoys proved to be less crowded, and I am glad I tried it. I wound up with a PR 1:18 swim! T-1 went much better than my last IMCDA adventure, and I never needed the warming tent. Heading out on the bike, everything felt great. The road along the lake was gorgeous and welcoming. I was at the Bennett Bay climb quickly and it was the first reminder that this course still had mountains. After Bennett Bay, we returned back into town and out to HWY 95. As we tuned to the southwest, the wind reared its ugly head again. The first big climb of that stretch was markedly tougher than our practice run, with the addition of the wind. It was over 20 miles into that wind with more significant climbs along the way. I was thrilled to see the turnaround, and tried not to think about the next loop. Heading back into town, we had the tail wind, and I felt like I had rocket boosters on the descents. At times it was unnerving when the wind came across the rear disk wheel, and I was already holding 47mph. Heading back into town I passed the half-way point, and proceeded to Higgins Point for special needs. I was able to grab my special needs bag, reload my Pop Tart supply and refill my liquid nutrition bottle in under 2 minutes and I was out of there like an Indy car from a pit stop. Climbing the shallow side of the Bennett Bay hill again reminded me that I still had a LONG day in front of me, including 20 miles of climbs and gusting wind on HWY 95. This time I began to viscerally HATE HWY 95! The sustained wind seemed higher and the gusts were definitely more severe. I ticked down the miles by singing in my head…. You guessed it… “I’m on a Boat” repeatedly! I threw a lot of AC/DC, too, for good measure. As I was climbing the last headwind portion of 95, I started seeing many of my buddies in the oncoming lane. That signaled that I was fairly close to the turn. By this point, my legs were on fire. The hills and climbs had taken their toll. I made the turn and gladly road the tailwind back into town and T-2. At T-2 I gladly handed my bike to a volunteer, and really did not want to see it again! In the changing tent, my friend, Arnold Fikkert greeted me and helped me get my run gear together. Then… my buddy (and president of FW Tri Club), Bob Kilinski, joined me long enough to put on running shoes, and commiserate with me about the wind. Bob took off, and I followed shortly after. Heading out on the run, my legs were TRASHED! I didn’t feel my groove. The music was loud, though… and the crowd was motivating. I also saw many of my Sherpa friends heading out on the run. Going through the neighborhood, I saw my IM Tahoe buddy, Carly Tu, and I was suddenly finding a groove. Within two or three miles I made a new friend, Trevor Terry, he was wearing an Austin Marathon T-shirt, and it gave me an excuse to start a conversation and take my mind off the pain. We walked through water stops and up the Bennett Bay hill. He’s a great guy and it was fantastic to have a buddy to pace at the same speed. In the oncoming lane I saw Chris Lopez, Russell Nobles and Bob Kilinski near Higgins Point. I wanted this to be a foot race with these guys, but I was hurting. Ironman always throws curve balls at us, and this was no exception. Trevor and I made the half way turn and headed out. As we passed the House where Bob was staying, he was in the front yard… unable to drink and take in any nutrition and in pain. I stopped, and thankfully, two of our sherpas (Will Rogers and Rachel Hale) were there and able to get a medic for Bob. I don’t know if this makes me a lousy friend, but I continued on my run. I pressed on and eventually caught up with Trevor again. At this point I was seeing more of my friends on the course. Many of my first timer buddies were running and looking so strong. Approaching the last turnaround, I saw Russell and Chris, KILLING it! I was closer to them that I thought I would be, but too far back to make a charge at them. On the return from Bennett Bay, I then met another new buddy, Nikki Muller wearing an LA Tri kit. Turns out we have a mutual friend Alison Chavez) who is also an LA Member, cancer survivor, and incredibly inspiring human being! So, my pack of new friends and I made our way back into town. I made a point of running any time I was not at a water stop. Finally, I was at the neighborhood near the resort. There were live bands and rowdy parties rocking the course. The energy was contagious. Then, I saw Kristina, Melissa, Jered Mansell, Linda Truong, Jason Hill, Troy, Steve Greig, Myrna Garcia, Jenn Thomas, Christie Morris Crim and Robert all running. It was great to see them running and I was in a groove. A college kid offered me a shot of tequila, and I almost took him up on it… ALMOST. Then I was at Sherman Ave!.... It is the main drag of Coeur d’Alene, the crowd was big and loud from both sides of the road and it was a gentle descent into the finish. There is nothing like the finisher shoot at an Ironman event! The music was booming, and Mile Reilly was calling out the names of the Ironmen who were crossing the finish. I high fived every hand I could on both sided of the shoot, and heard my name… “Steve Holstein, you are an Ironman”! That never gets old. At the finish line, my friends Arnold and Chimene Willis Fikkert were there to catch me! It couldn’t have worked out better. The only thing I needed to make my race day a complete success was the news I heard next…. Bob was okay! Finally, I want to thank all the volunteers and my great Sherpa buddies, who made this such a great event!
Posted on: Thu, 03 Jul 2014 12:19:10 +0000
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