Ford Ironman Coeur d'Alene

The swim……
I hadn’t been spending any real time in the water for the past 2 months. My shoulder has been giving me trouble so I just stayed out of the pool. I figured I would not kill myself in the water. So…. The gun goes off and there I am standing on the beach and people are going apeshit to get into the water. Bunch of knuckleheads. I waited about 45 seconds and then made my way to the water. Best damn idea I ever had. No one was around me so I had plenty of time to try and figure out how my shoulder was going to hold up. After about 2 minutes I started catching people and then the fun started with getting punched, kicked and generally having my ass handed to me.
A big shout out to all the people who sign up for an Ironman that can’t swim for shit. You guys with that awesome frog kick in the water that has you kicking to the side. Learn how to swim for the love of god. I wonder how many people you kicked and pissed off because swim like you’re 3 years old. Big thumbs up to you….. d-bag.
Back to the good swim. The swim was 2 loops. Once you finished the first loop you ran back along the beach for about 20 feet and you jumped back in. This was a great place for me to take a break. I glanced at my watch and it said my first loop was 40 minutes. Not too bad I thought. So I am standing in waste deep water just chilaxing and my friend Charles does the turn around and comes up to me all worried about me. He’s asking me “Are you alright? All you alright?” I just look at him and let him know what’s really going on…..”Yeah dude I’m fine…. I’m peeing.” When you gotta go you gotta go.
I started the second loop and I totally enjoyed it. I just went my own pace and stayed out of the large groups of people. One thing I have to say about the lake we swam in, it was very very clear. I have done races where you couldn’t see your elbow the water was so murky but this was totally different. I could see close to 10 feet in front of me underwater. That was pretty cool to see the people in front of me. Except for the 3 year old frog kickers.

T1…..
Out of the water and into the changing tent. I love the changing tents at IM events. It’s pure chaos and insanity. I jump into the tent, change real quick and run out the other end to grab my bike. Once I get out of the tent my friend Michelle is exiting the ladies tent and she is a little upset (more like a lot upset). I ask her what’s wrong and she lets me know that she has had the worst swim of her life and she can’t figure out why. I tell her to get going since we have a lot of work ahead of us. She tried to control herself but her eyes are telling a different story. I think I am pretty hard on myself and I know Michelle is and she can handle the tough love so I look at her and with my sternest face I look her in the eyes and say, “Michelle….. take you head out of your ass, there’s more racing to do.” Like the trooper she is she stands tall, stops the damn crying and gets on her bike. Now that’s part of being an Ironman. When shit happens (oh and it will) you don’t dwell on it and get your ass in gear. This is a long damn race people!

The bike…….
Onto the bike and I was happy to be there. After a few miles of just getting used to my surroundings I start picking it up. At about mile 7 I decide that I am now Lance Armstrong and that I want to rip some legs off. I hit the first turn around and I hear bags pipes playing and that’s even more reason for me to just scare the shit out of people with my badass bike and serious attitude problem.
The bike course is a 2 loop course of 56 miles. Absolutely beautiful! Mostly flat at the beginning and then the hills catch you in the middle and smooth sailing on final miles. At one point you ride down main street and it totally crammed with spectators. It’s a slight downhill and you can just drop the hammer on it. I destroyed my boy Spencer at that point and I never saw him again. Sorry Spence but I’m in Lance Armstrong mode here and you never had a chance. After the first loop I am feeling pretty damn good considering I hadn’t been training like I had hoped to. At this point I know for a fact that the wheels will be coming off soon but I’m on a mission to catch Joe. I knew he was out there somewhere looking, plotting, waiting for the greatest tag team ever in the history of all man kind….. El Diablo and the Magic man were about the happen. I finally catch him at about mile 70. As my friend James once told me… the race starts at mile 80 of the bike. I was ready for the pain, the hurt, the doubts…..but unfortunately my legs had another idea and the rest of the ride was a mess. My back started killing me, followed by my neck and then finally my shoulder gave into the pressure I had been putting on it on the bike and it started popping and doing shit that a shoulder should not do. The last 30 miles I struggled but I expected this to happen. If I could hold up the pace I was doing I wouldn’t be sitting at this desk at work…… I’d be getting paid by people who want me to ride their bikes, wear their clothes and eat their food. Nope that’s just not in the cards for me.
One magic moment on the bike was the biker party at about mile 95. There was this guy with a bull horn and he was just ragging on a ton of people and I was no exception. The jackass saw me get passed by a girl and he gets on the mic and says “If my name were Logan (names are on the bib’s that we have to wear) and I got passed by a girl I would have a sex change.” I laughed my ass off not because it was funny but because the guy was shitballed drunk and it was maybe 1:30 in the afternoon. More about this guy later.
I don’t really remember getting off the bike but I am sure I did at some point since I was soon to be headed out of a lovely stroll of 26.2 miles.

T2......
Not much going on here. There only maybe 5 other guys in there with me and then the volunteers. These people are great by the way. Once you come into the tent one of them comes up to you and helps you get your run stuff out of your bag, packs your bag back up for you and then points you in the right directions. All of this is very helpful since when you come in off the bike you usually aren't working with a full deck.

The run.......
Oh good times. Right out of the gate I knew the run was going to kill me. I had no major expectations of the run so I just kept telling myself put one foot in front of the other and don't stop unless it's at a water stop. So I pretty much stopped 26 times on the run (water stop almost every mile). The first part of the run was great. It rolled through the downtown area and then into a nice neighborhood where everyone decided to hang out on the front lawn all day and cheer us on. Great people. The rain started coming about mile 3 of the run for me. The wind picked and it dropped about 10 more degrees. Did I mention that it was like 50 degrees out there? Add the rain, wind and the fact that my ass was dragging it made for good times. It's been over 100 degrees here in Texas for the past few weeks so I welcomed the cooler weather. It didn't work out for some people but for I was just fine. After the neighborhood ended we made our way onto a highway of sorts and that thing just sucked. It seemed never ending and there was this hill on it that you had to go 1/2 way up to get to the turn around point. Making that turn killed my legs.
During my run I saw a ton of my teammates and I said "good work" to almost all of them. At one point I was running with Matt Ruebel and we were running/suffering through one of the neighborhoods. We passed a group of people who had a microphone set up and they were calling out names of people and encouraging us to keep moving. At one point they guy with the mic says, "I think it's time for the Canadian National anthem." These guys were great but they only knew about 3 freaking words. I couldn't take it, so I stop running, turned to them and proceed to sing the rest of the damn song for them as people were going bonkers over the fact that I knew the words. Thank you NESN and Renee' Raincourt for having the Bruins games on when I was a kid. Renee' would always sing the Canadian National anthem first and do a great job but when it came to our national anthem he blew the roof off the place and always added the fist pump at the end. I swear if Cam Neely wasn't so much of a badass back in the day we could have put Renee' in there and he would have killed anyone.
After my one night stand with Oh Canada I continue with Matt until my legs had had enough. I started taking more time at the water stops making sure I thanked most of the volunteers. God bless those crazy bastards. It was wet, windy and cold. They weren't moving around like we were and most of them we sober..... I think.
Coming back in with about 1.5 miles to go I see a guy with a bullhorn. I think to myself, "let this guy be funnier than the last bullhorn assclown that I met on the bike." As I am running by I notice the guy looks strangely familiar. I then realize it's the same SOB that was on the bike course but with a change of clothes on. And yes...... he was still hammered drunk. I couldn't resist, so I stop again and ask him, "Hey aren't you the guy who told me I should have a sex change?" He replies, "Is your name Logan?" What an ass...... but funny I guess.
IMCDA has a freaking unbelievable finish line area. You can see the finish for about 1/3 of a mile and it's all down hill. People are lined 5 deep watching and screaming as you make your approach to finishing and the end of your journey for the day. I got to see all my teammates that were there to cheer and a few of them that had already finished in warm dry clothes out there screaming along. As I get within 50 feet of the line I hear Mike Riely's voice say my name and I cross with a good old fist pump for Renee' Raincourt and my family.

Post race.....
Once I crossed my chiropractor what at the finish line helping with medical stuff. Chris grabs me and says great job. I then let him know we have to stop meeting like this since he was there for me when I finished IMAZ 2 years ago. He said I looked a lot better this time around. I would have to agree. Next on my agenda was to find my coach Chrissie and say thanks but there was a couple of issues with that. My legs were not walking back up the hill I just came down from and I was also freezing now. So I made my way to the massage tent and found Michelle who finished not far behind me. A hug and fist pump later and we were all good. Once done with the massage my body started shutting down so my favorite Scottish personal driver, Mr. Gordon McGregor grabbed me, my bags and my bike and took my sorry ass to Mcdonald's. I hadn't been there in about 3 years and I couldn't believe all the stuff they had on the menu. I just looked at the kid behind the counter and I say to him, "do you still have McChicken sandwich's?" he lets me know they do and I tell him, "put that, a hamburger, a fry and a Sprite in a bag and get me the hell out of here cause I may puke." He knew where I had been so he didn't delay too much and off I went to the hotel where I ate my food, took a 30 minute shower and fell asleep in about 2 minutes.

Overall.....
Freaking great race from beginning to the end. The team did well and the event was top notch. I was happy with my performance and will possibly go back in 2011.

Thanks....
As always there are 3 couples I have to thank for their support, advice and general all around awesomeness. The Ryans, The Terranova's and The Egli's. These 6 people have inspired me to do things I would have never thought imaginable.
Thanks to my T3 coaches and my lifeline Chrissie. Pain you are what makes me coming back for more. I can never ever thank you enough.
Thanks to the boys and gals over at Jack and Adam's bike shop. These guys have put up with my hours of absolute craziness on Sat. and Sun. afternoons where I have had too much caffeine after a ride or to many beers out of the employee lounge.
Thanks to all my athletes and teammates that make my job a freaking blast.
Thanks to Haggs for the call the day before the race. I got you off the ledge girl but I think it was you who got to enjoy the race even more.
Thanks to my family for thinking that I am a rockstar for doing what I do.
and finally.......
Thanks to you Mr. and Mrs. Blackistone. I will miss you guys terribly and I can't wait until we can ride again El Diablo.

Race pics are here:
http://www.asiorders.com/go.asp?55303357