Razors, Hacksaws and Ironman Coeur D' Alene 2008

Stay tuned just a *little* bit longer for that big announcement I mentioned in my last post - it's coming! Hint: it involves a boatload of free training and nutrition content from yours truly.

So anyways, before I layout the itinerary for Ironman Coeur D' Alene 2008, I promised I'd elucidate my plan for carrying 9 GU Roctane packs on each half of the bike loop. I'm using a Profile Design Razor bottle that I viciously assaulted with a hacksaw and a roll of duct tape. Here are the gory results:



Geez. That worked out pretty well. Let's look at this just a bit closer.



and yes, that's a perfect little tube-shaped portal in front for my salt tablets. Isn't that cute?



Total cost: Two hacksaw damaged fingers and $70 (yeah, that's a special little expensive carbon cage necessary for the Razor bottle).

For you doubters, I've performed ample beta-testing on rough and undulating terrain with varying amounts of GU Roctane tucked inside, and no casualties to date. And yes, that is one of the fastest bikes in the world - The Specialized Transition Pro, sans Zipp wheelset, courtesy Wheelsport East of Spokane.

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OK, moving on...so here is the official itinerary for those of you who want to know where I'll be on the course and when. Of course, you can also track me on Ironmanlive.com (my race # is 78).

Swim Start: 7am.

Show up early. Parking is tough. The pros start at 6:35, so if you hear a cannon boom around that time, don't freak out and think you missed the age grouper start. Just keep your pants on and hustle to Coeur D' Alene City Park, where us age groupers will be shuffling out to the beach. Bring your stilts, as it's tough to see over the teeming masses, but if you get there on time and get a good seat, it's worth it. I'm the guy in the light blue swim cap and the Blue Seventy Helix wetsuit. It's like playing Where's Waldo, but every person on the entire page has striped shirts and reading glasses.

I'll slam 1 GU Espresso Flavored gel just prior to race start and then swim hard. I'll swim pretty consistently both loops, but push harder on the way out, because there's a bit of a current that brings you back in.

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Swim to Bike Transition: I plan on coming out of the water around 7:50 to 7:55AM. It will take about 5 minutes to strip my wetsuit, suck down 200 calories of GU Roctane and slam a bit of water and Hammer Gel Endurolytes. I'll be munching on 1/2 of a Powerbar as I go easy on the first 5 minutes of the bike, then I'll bump up the intensity and be taking a GU Roctane every 20 minutes. Pretty straightforward. I've got CeeGees aero bottle full of clear water from which I take in 24-28oz/hr, refilling with water from aid stations.

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Bike: First loop should take me around 2.5 hours, putting me rushing back down through Coeur D' Alene sometime close to 10:30am to start the second loop. Use your cell phone or laptop to find me otherwise, the tracking system is pretty good. If you really want to triangulate and GPS the hell out of this race, then estimate that I'll be traveling 21-23mph.

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Bike Special Needs at 56 mile mark (Higgins Point), around 10:50AM: I'll grab a little baggy with 9 more GU's (the extras are in case I drop any out on the course) and another little canister full of salt tabs. Also, some pain pills for my back if I need them (I threw it out last week and it's been acting up).

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Bike to Run Transition: Should be rolling into City Park again and off the bike around 1:00PM. You'll know I'm on pace if that's when I arrive! I'll take another 3-4 minutes in Transition to change into my Avia racing flats and grab a flask with 500 calories of GU Roctane in one hand and a bottle of salt tabs in the other hand. My goal is to finish off much of those 500 calories by taking a small 50-65 calorie sip at every other aid station and chasing it with a bit of water (I put extra calories in because it's hard to squeeze the last little bit out of that flask). I'll be taking E-caps at the other aid stations, so it'll be a gel sip at miles 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, and a salt capsule at 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12. That will come out to about 230-300 calories per hour and 4 E-caps per hour.

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Run: Should be about 1 hour and 30-40 minutes on that first loop, so I'll be running back by city park sometime about 2:30 or 2:40 in the afternoon. It'll be just under 7 minute miles, hopefully. At special needs, halfway through the run, I'll grab another flask of GU Roctane and another tube of salt tabs.

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Run to Finish: Second half of the run, I'll be pushing for closer to 1:30 than 1:40. About a 6:45 minute mile. Same plan for fueling, although for that last 10K, I'll start grabbing the flat Coke from aid stations, just because hey, it's Coke. And it's flat. What a tasty treat.

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So that will put me at the finish line sometime close to just after 4pm. Best case scenario 4pm. Awesome race 4:05-4:15pm. I'll be happy if I roll in around 4:15 to 4:30pm. If it's gets too far after 4:30, keep looking for me, but it means I'm probably struggling a bit. Unless something goes very wrong, I'll for sure be there by 5:00pm. Same as the starting line, get there early or you might miss it!

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It you still need a Team Greenfield t-shirt, let me know. I can probably hook you up with one sometime Saturday (I'll be around Coeur D' Alene). Thank you to all my sponsors, friends, and family for their support. Time to go kick ass.

Ben