Coeur d' Alene Half Marathon

My day started early... 3:30 to be exact, but I
had slept well and I was ready for what lay
ahead. My body felt good, nothing hurt, and the
only real question in my mind was if my sprint
distance triathlon training would be enough to
pull me through the 13.1 miles that I would face
later that morning.

It was an hour drive to Coeur d' Alene, and I
arrived at the race venue, North Idaho College,
at 5:30 for packet pick-up.

Coeur d' Alene (pronounced Core duh Lane) is
a really cool little town. It cuddles up to the shore
of beautiful Lake Coeur d' Alene and is the
setting for one of only 5 full Ironman
competitions in the continental U.S. It seems like everywhere you look, there are beautiful
buildings, sculptures and fountains... a sign that this little town is prospering... and growing up.

Coeur d' Alene is a special place for me. It's filled with memories from a "previous life"... one in which I was a little younger (ok, a lot younger) and a tad on the wild side. I spent a summer living in a cabin on this lake, driving the ski boat in and leaving it tied up at the public dock while I worked in town. Ahh.. what a life that was! When I parked the car and walked up to the Student Union Building at North Idaho College, it brought back the memory of how proud I was the first day I attended that school, it's buildings covered in ivy. I thought I was at Harvard! Life was so much simpler then!

Sorry about the reminiscing. Back to the race.

The race went off promply at 7am, with the half and full marathoners all starting together. The pack ran a loop around the college, then past "city beach" where the Ironman swim commences, then down the main street of the city. At each corner was a different artistic fountain, each one now filled with detergent, which caused bubbles to cascade into the street. At the end of the main street, the Marathoners headed North for a lap around the outskirts of the town, while us halfers turned South, for a quick run through an older residential area, which turned into the Idaho leg of the Centennial Trail. We followed this paved trail along the shore of the lake until we hit our turn-around. Even though it was raining, this large lake, which tends to have white caps with the slightest provocation, seemed calm and comforting.

It was an out and back route, 7 miles of which snaked along the lake. The turn around point was at the top of a mile long hill. I wasn't quite sure I was going to make it to the top, but I willed myself to shorten my stride and keep plugging along. If I made it to the top, I could rest. NOT! It's all downhill now! Time to make up for lost time! I motored down that hill and clocked my fastest mile ever! (7:38 baby!) While there were some other shorter hills, they only felt significant because they came in the later miles.

I really enjoyed the out and back course. After the turn-around, we got to yell encouragement to the full marathoners who were passing us on the way to their turn-around. Many of them had the energy to yell encouraging words to us! Lets see, they would have been hitting mile 19 at about here. Incredible!

I pretty much ran the race on cruise control. I went out a little faster than I had planned, but it felt good and I just stuck with it. I watched my splits, and seeing that I was performing better than I had expected, gave me confidence and strength. I am especially shocked that I could maintain an average heart rate of 172 for 13 miles, with very little discomfort.

At one point I realized that if I added a mile swim and a 56 mile bike, I'd be doing a Half Ironman!! I think I could do that..... someday! :)

My first goal was to finish. Since I had nothing to base my performance on, I figured at the worst, I could finish in 2:30. But when I hit mile 10, I started calculating whether I could beat my blogger friend JC's time of 2:06. I thought I could! I cranked it up a bit, and again at mile 11. Ok, only a 5k to go! No problemo! Mile 12 was also at a decent pace. Ok... I've got this one in the bag!

I don't know what happened on mile 13. I never saw the mile marker, but hit the split on my watch at the 25 mile marker for the marathoners. The last mile went on, and on, and on... for freakin' EVER! I kept pushing the pace, and really had to dig deep to keep it up through the last half mile. I don't know what happened to my mile 13 split. I didn't turn my watch off after crossing the finish line, so maybe I've figured my last split incorrectly? Maybe that last mile REALLY WAS longer than 1.1 miles! (It lasted forever!) It looks as though I blew up after pushing miles 10, 11 and 12, but it sure didn't feel like I had dropped my pace! I guess I'll never know!


Ok... here are my splits! Drum roll please......

1. 9:46
2. 9:32
3. 9:34 - missed the mile marker -
4. 9:34 - averaged with mile 3
5. 9:54
6. 9:40
7. 7:38 - down the big hill after turn around - hills are free speed - wheeeee!
8. 9:45
9. 10:56 - potty break
10. 9:25
11. 9:19
12. 9:29
13. 13:21 - What? Go figure!

Total time....... 2:08:12!!! JC's record stands by 2 minutes!

What a great day! Now... time to quit playing around and get back to triathlons! :)