Race Report by Nicole Pignatelli
IM Coeur d’Alene, Idaho
June 21, 2009

As I watched Paul struggle thru one of the longest rainy days at IM Lake Placid I told myself I had absolutely no interest in putting myself thru that distance……ever! I was good with my upcoming 70.3. I later raced Muskoka 70.3 on another rainy day (trend happening) and enjoyed the challenge. I figured if I could do that maybe I did need something bigger, so I started looking at IM dates and worked out which one would be best for our lives and schedule. IM Coeur d’Alene seemed perfect, all of my training could be done while the kids were at school and my race would be finished just before the kids were out for summer, also it would free up time for Paul and his build to IM Canada at the end of August. Coeur d’Alene it was. And so in November my training journey began.

Thank goodness for indoor cycling, I am not sure I could or would have completed many of the 3 and 4 hour workouts on my own so I owe a huge thanks to Spencer and the other fellow ducks who stuck it out those long hot sweaty Saturday morning sessions all winter and got me ready for the road in April.

My training went really well, I avoided injury and stayed healthy and for the most part the weather cooperated. With 3 weeks to go until the race I followed the weather in Idaho. 3 weeks of +28 weather, uh oh this heat may become a problem as we were barely getting over 20 in Aurora. Luckily for me I do not struggle with cold water as this was a race known for frigid water temps.

We arrived in beautiful Coeur d’Alene on Wednesday afternoon and settled in for our 1st vacation from the kids.

The talk of the race was the weather. The water had reached all time highs but the forecast for Sunday was not looking good. I prepared for the worst (especially after Lake Placid)

Race Day

We got up around 4 am, ate breakfast and double checked my special needs bags, we left for transition around 5 am. It appeared to be a nice day, slightly overcast and not too chilly, although there were strong winds coming off the lake….. I dropped off my bags, checked my bike, got body marked, said goodbye to Paul and headed to the beach. Coeur d’Alene lake is huge and a huge lake makes for some huge chop. I stood near the back of the crowd and took it all in, the helicopter, the boats and planes lining the swim course and the thousands of spectators. I was ready for this and before I knew it I was swimming, sort of. The waves were really bad but the congestion of people was worse. I think all the non swimmers ran out and created a dam in which those at the back of the crowd had to swim over. (Honestly there were people doing back stroke by the 1st buoy) I eventually got into some open water and had an okay first loop. The winds were picking up, and to start the 2nd loop you swim on a weird angle to get to the 1st buoy again. This felt like it took me forever, after this point my sighting went way off. I began a nice large zigzag pattern of swimming from buoy to buoy. Although I felt calm and strong in the water my less than stellar time did not reflect how fantastic a swim I had. OOPS!

I headed thru transition, visited the very good looking wetsuit strippers (should have spent a few more minutes there) got my bag and had a seat in the change tent. I decided to wear my arm warmers, smart move. I grabbed my bike and headed out. This town loves IM. The spectator and town support was incredible. There was barley a mile stretch without cheering dancing spectators. (they were there for both loops) The bike course is shaped like a T. The first section is the same as the run course along the lake. The winds coming off the lake were pretty fast and really cold. HMMM that could be interesting later. The course was challenging, I believe the 2nd place pro stated there was 6000 ft of climbing, but the scenery was so beautiful that the bad hills really did fly by. I was very happy with my 1st loop and remembered thinking that you should ride your 1st loop a little easier, not having any experience I hoped I hadn’t screwed things up. The second loop was great, the winds were picking up and the temp was dropping, I didn’t struggle with the wind like others but I think every training ride I had done in the spring was windy and so I was used to it. I cannot believe how fast 180kms goes by….they never seem to fly by like that during training! I maintained the same pace on loop 2 and felt good coming into T2.

I love how you get off your bike and someone takes it for you, someone passes you your bag and someone else helps you undress and redress, this IM race business is great, they do take the guess work out of it. I decided to keep my arm warmers on but I did change all my other clothes. As I headed out for the run I thought I should use the washroom, I waited for one right beside the clock. It read 8:16, not thinking I could just use the next one I waited and waited, for 4 minutes! Dumb I know. 8:20 into the race and I was off for my run feeling pretty good actually.

Long before the race I had decided to walk the aid stations, by the 5th one I was feeling so good I thought to skip it, my smarter brain convinced me to stick with my plan and that the reason I was feeling good was because of my walks. I walked.

From mile 4 to 7 (the turn around) and back to mile 10 you run on a paved path beside the lake. It had started to rain (thank God….we have a streak going) and the winds were picking up more, I think the temp was dropping. It was getting cold, and so was I. I spotted Paul around mile 12 and we walked together for a few minutes. I had lost my salt somewhere at the beginning and along with the cold my calves were starting to cramp. He pep talked me, checked I had salt at special needs and sent me along. (he looked cold and wet too – spectating in the rain…..been there done that…not fun) As you run back into town there is a Y in the road with a volunteer on a mega phone shouting 2nd loop to the right and finishers to left. That was going to taste real sweet in a couple of hours.

Heading thru town you could hear the crowds cheering the finishers. It was both exciting and a little depressing knowing it would be a few hours before I would be 1 block over. It was getting a lot colder and I really was happy to see special needs – you run by but can’t use it until 14.5 miles….another mile until my warm long sleeve shirt and my salt. That may have been the longest mile of the whole race. I pulled off my shirt and put my long sleeve one on, over my arm warmers, put my other shirt back on and finally felt warm. I grabbed my salt and 2 red bull shots and back out for my final 11.5 miles. The cramping in my calves started to ease a bit thru the subdivisions but I knew by mile 18 I would be back at the lake and the cold would strike again. I was right the cold rain and wind was worse than I thought. The hill at the turn around is pretty long and an older lady was cheering us up it. She told a man in front of me that a cold beer was only a few miles away. I piped up saying that sounded fantastic! She hugged me and told me to enjoy. I walked the hill and saw many shuffle up. I jumped on the timing mat and started running for home. I passed all the “shufflers” and didn’t see them again. I think mile 24 – 25 was miscalculated as it went on forever but alas I heard the mega phones guiding the 2nd loop to the right and the finishers to the left, you run up a small hill and turn onto the downtown strip at 7th Ave. 7 blocks of restaurants, bars and wild cheering crowds. I high 5’d the kids, pumped my arms and totally enjoyed the moment I became an Ironman. What a day!

Its true the day does fly by, but many times I forced myself to step back and take a moment to take it all in. It really was awesome. Even with the weather I had a really good time and definitely want to do it again!

I could not have done any of the race without my family support and coaching team, and these people I thank. Karen another goal accomplished!

The next day some stats came out from the race.

2153 started
2032 finished
94% success
891 first timers
696 women
In the races 7 year history, 2009 had the warmest water temperatures but the coldest air temperatures. The last finisher came in to temps in the low 40’s.

My Times
Swim 1:32:39
Bike 6:30:37
Run 4:51:10
Total 13:09:03