First and foremost, I have to thank my cousin Scott and my friend Luke, because I doubt I would have been in CDA to watch the race if it had not been for them. So, thank you so much!! I had one of the best trips I've had in a long time over the past weekend and I just had an absolute blast (maybe because I wasn't racing?? and not really "in charge" or worrying about anything but cheering and volunteering?)
My trip began bright and early Friday morning with a 7:25 flight. I flew Southwest, so had no idea where all I'd be going on my way to Spokane. I landed in Denver and took back off again on the same plane and then switched planes in Salt Lake City before arriving in Spokane just after noon. After having issues with the rental car place, I finally ended up with a super cool minivan. Someone gave me hell for that and later said it was a good thing I had one...that wouldn't be the first time over the weekend I was given hell for something that turned out to be a good thing!!
As soon as I got to CDA, I met Scott and Tammy and the boys at the boat dock at the CDA resort and headed out on a ski boat for most of the afternoon. It was so nice to be in a boat again - it has been way too long for me. The water was too cold to ski, but I did jump in for a bit. They were shocked I got in, but I told them I couldn't possibly spend the afternoon on a lake on a beautiful day and not get in. After the boat ride I met up with Luke and did a short run on the path along the lake. It was very pretty, but my still-lingering bronchitis wasn't so pretty.
Tammy and the boys and I went to dinner at a pub downtown and it was sooo nice to just be able to sit outside and not sweat to death! We met up with Scott afterwards and went to this awesome grocery store that was part store/part ice cream shop/part bar/part live music venue. We ate ice cream while Tammy had her wine and we listened to a one-man band. It was an awesome night!
I had packed my wetsuit with the intention of going for a swim Saturday morning. Luke asked if I was really going to swim, since he had no intention of doing so, and I said "of course!" The only issue was that I couldn't find the rental car keys. I had left them in Tammy's car which was up in Hayden lake. Oops. Luke's parents came to rescue us and I just laughed because it was so unlike me to lose things, but I was totally off my game considering I really had no responsibilities through the whole weekend! Luke decided he'd swim too since I was going but once I got my wetsuit on and put my big toe in the water I wondered why I had thought the swim was such a good idea. Even funnier is that I originally thought I'd swim 1 loop of the course. Ha! I think I swam 10 minutes. My feet were ok first, then my hands were ok, but my face just wasn't ok. I couldn't swim more than 10 strokes at a time without stopping and hanging out. My face finally felt a bit better, but I didn't stay in long enough for it to totally get better. I am glad I got in though because I know if it is like that next year it wasn't absolutely awful and that I can make it in the cold water. I also didn't have booties or a neoprene cap on which most everyone else did. My ears hurt really bad and I learned ear plugs can take care of that. After the swim someone said they were glad I made them swim...hmmm....
Saturday afternoon I just passed out and took a long nap and then drove the bike course on the way to stay at Scott's cabin in Hayden. The bike course looked challenging, but not awful. There wasn't anything I saw that made me think "no way would I want to do that." Granted I was in a car...The views were amazing and the course goes through both CDA and Hayden - both quaint little towns with lots of support.
Sunday morning began at 4:45am when I woke up and flew out of bed because it was completely light outside and I was afraid I had overslept. Nope - that's just the way the sun is there! I had offered to drive Scott in because I wanted a decent parking spot, so we left around 5:15 and scored an awesome parking spot (so good I had it all day because it was right on the bike course and shut off until 5:30pm!). I walked with Scott over to body marking and then wished him well as he went into transition. I found Luke and Jennifer not much later and we hung out for quite a while. The pros started at 6:25 so there was some time between their start and the age-group start at 7. I noticed things I hadn't noticed before - like how good the music was! Once they left to line up Luke's parents and I found some awesome real estate to watch the swim - literally right at the swim exit. We got splashed a few times through the morning, but it was ok. I watched the pros finish their first lap and then watched the age groupers start. The swim looked crowded through the first turn, but then not too bad after that. It was so fun to watch everyone come in and head out for lap two. Then the pros came in and I got to cheer up close for all of them.
Chris was the first person I saw out of the water, then Luke, Scott, Greyhound (Kendall), and Jen. They all looked awesome. I think Luke and Greyhound were the only people who saw me even though I was right there screaming my head off any time I saw someone I knew. After I had seen everyone come in on the swim I walked around a bit and headed to a part of the bike course that was the end of both loop 1 and loop 2. It was a very short out-and-back so I could see everyone twice in about 3-5 minutes. Just a few minutes after I got there, the first pros came blazing through. It was so awesome to see. The lead cars came through blaring their horns, then the motorcycles. I could hear cheers from around the corner, so knew when they'd be coming. It was before 10am that they finished the first half of the bike. Crazy! At this time I realized I was actually watching the "race" part of Ironman that I'd never really been a part of. What happens at the front is sooooo far from what goes on around me it was like a completely different event. I sat on the bike course long enough to see everyone come through their first lap and then I headed over to the run course. Again there were awesome places to watch at the start/end of the loops where there was an out-and-back and you could see runners once and then again in about 20-25 minutes.
I went to the finish line to watch the pro men and women winners cross. The finish area was just amazing. It is at the end of about a mile stretch of road, downhill. The crowds were several people deep on both sides of the street stretching several blocks from the finish line. How cool and so much better than IMAZ where you just turn the corner and the finish line is 100 feet away. IMCDA is like finishing the race after running a mile down 6th street.
Later I met back up with Tammy and the boys and scored more prime real estate on the porch of the visitor's center. They had clean, empty bathrooms inside and a Baskin Robbin's cart outside! They also had patio furniture, so we could sit in chairs which was nice. We were on a part of the run course where runners went both ways so we were able to see a lot of people. I saw Luke heading to finish his first lap and he looked good, then I saw him heading out for lap two and he came over and said his garmin died and he had no way of timing. He was around mile 15 and I just told him to keep running and that I'd see him at the finish in an hour and a half. Before him, I'd seen Grant who was just cruising. I never saw Greyhound, Jen, or Scott because I had head to my volunteer job at 6, but I was getting updates about them on my cell phone from then on.
Volunteering at the finish line was soooo much fun. Grant was the first person I knew to come through and he came through around 11:04 I think. Holy cow that's fast!! I caught a few first-timers that were ecstatic, some veterans who wanted nothing to do with me, and some others who didn't know what to do with themselves or me. Chris was the next person I knew who came through and I could see his polka-dot suit coming down the chute and ran up to get him. I could tell he was disappointed in his race, but it was till under 12 hours, so gees! He said Luke wasn't far behind, so I kept an eye out for him and said I'd catch the next guy who came through in polka dots. He came through just after 12 hours and was happy. Thank God. Next, a beautiful girl, dressed a green top, came down the chute high fiving everyone and just broke into tears when she crossed the line. I went over to her and gave her a big hug and started my catcher schpeal and she said immediately "I know you. I read your blog - I got it from Greyhound." How funny!! I asked her if she needed another hug just to cry it all out. She finished in just over 12 hours and it was her first Ironman. She ended up in the paper the next day with one of the coolest pictures I've ever seen. It truly embodies this crazy thing we do called Ironman.
One by one I caught people as they came in, anxiously waiting for Scott to come in. I got a call saying he was almost to the line and to watch for an orange long sleeve shirt. I was soooo excited and ran up to the line so he could see me as he was coming down. He crossed and I ran over and have him a huge hug. He thanked me and said it was all because of me that he was here and I said not so much - he had to do the training! He looked great and had an absolutely fabulous race, especially his first time out. I walked him through the finisher area, we got a picture together, and then we went to meet Tammy and the boys. It was great seeing them all meet back up again. I went back to the finish area only to find out I'd just missed Greyhound's finish. I looked all over for him and couldn't find him. I was so sad! He didn't think he's finish under 14 hours while I was still working the finish line, but sure enough he did.
After my shift, I walked down Sherman a bit (the road the finish line was on) and it was just one huge party. I met Luke and his family for dinner and we were able to to sit outside and eat and watch finishers run their last steps before becoming an Ironman. It was so cool (and freezing by then, for that matter!). I looked up at one point and saw Jen and bolted from my chair and we ran out in the street and cheered her on and ran with her a few steps. She looked great, with a huge smile! After dinner, we headed home and I passed out cold. Watching an Ironman is tuff stuff!
Monday I woke up long after the rest of the world and finally made it down to the Ironman Village to sign up for next year. I got there around 10 and there was no line at all, so that made it super easy. I also talked someone else into signing up as well - it was too easy not to! We went back to the Ironman store after that and shopped around. CDA has way cooler stuff than AZ did! Someone bought an "Ironmate" shirt for someone else (NOT ME! - don't get the wrong idea here) and I'll be giving him hell about that one for a long, long time.
Luke, Jen, and I were all on the same flight back that changed planes in Las Vegas. We got off the plane and apparently tweedle dee and tweedle dumb (I won't say who is who, but I'm one of the guilty parties) didn't know how to read the board. Somehow we ended up thinking our next plane was delayed 25 minutes and that we had 2 hours before it left. So we all sit down to a nice meal in a mexican restaurant (ok, not really good, but it was food). A few bites into our meal, I hear "Kathleen W, Luke K, Jenniger W..." over the loud speaker. Uh oh. Luke got up and ran to the gate they were paging us to. It was only then that we found out none of us could read the arrival/departure screen in the Vegas airport. Luke calls us and said they are closing the plane doors, but we hadn't paid for our food. Jen and I were scrounging for cash and couldn't come up with enough so we had to wait for the guy to run a ticket and pay with credit card. We bolted through the airport and Luke said it was quite entertaining to see us come barrelling around the corner. He said he was sure we were pulling 7:00 minute miles. Needless to say we didn't exactly get the best seats on the plane. At least we made it on though. Oops.
To sum it all up, CDA is a beautiful place. The community gets behind Ironman like you wouldn't believe. The weather was awesome and the people were awesome. I was by myself a good part of the day Sunday while I was watching and I was 100% content. I met all sorts of people cheering on their own friends and family and really enjoyed meeting people from all over. I will advise to anyone doing an Ironman to dress as differently as possible. You are way easier to spot that way! Chris and Luke were the only racers wearing polka dots, Kendall was one of the few wearing the bright green Janus Charity Challenge jersey, and Jen wore a white jersey with big red flowers across the front. Scott, on the other hand....not sure what he wore because he blended in so well with everyone else!!
My trip began bright and early Friday morning with a 7:25 flight. I flew Southwest, so had no idea where all I'd be going on my way to Spokane. I landed in Denver and took back off again on the same plane and then switched planes in Salt Lake City before arriving in Spokane just after noon. After having issues with the rental car place, I finally ended up with a super cool minivan. Someone gave me hell for that and later said it was a good thing I had one...that wouldn't be the first time over the weekend I was given hell for something that turned out to be a good thing!!
As soon as I got to CDA, I met Scott and Tammy and the boys at the boat dock at the CDA resort and headed out on a ski boat for most of the afternoon. It was so nice to be in a boat again - it has been way too long for me. The water was too cold to ski, but I did jump in for a bit. They were shocked I got in, but I told them I couldn't possibly spend the afternoon on a lake on a beautiful day and not get in. After the boat ride I met up with Luke and did a short run on the path along the lake. It was very pretty, but my still-lingering bronchitis wasn't so pretty.
Tammy and the boys and I went to dinner at a pub downtown and it was sooo nice to just be able to sit outside and not sweat to death! We met up with Scott afterwards and went to this awesome grocery store that was part store/part ice cream shop/part bar/part live music venue. We ate ice cream while Tammy had her wine and we listened to a one-man band. It was an awesome night!
I had packed my wetsuit with the intention of going for a swim Saturday morning. Luke asked if I was really going to swim, since he had no intention of doing so, and I said "of course!" The only issue was that I couldn't find the rental car keys. I had left them in Tammy's car which was up in Hayden lake. Oops. Luke's parents came to rescue us and I just laughed because it was so unlike me to lose things, but I was totally off my game considering I really had no responsibilities through the whole weekend! Luke decided he'd swim too since I was going but once I got my wetsuit on and put my big toe in the water I wondered why I had thought the swim was such a good idea. Even funnier is that I originally thought I'd swim 1 loop of the course. Ha! I think I swam 10 minutes. My feet were ok first, then my hands were ok, but my face just wasn't ok. I couldn't swim more than 10 strokes at a time without stopping and hanging out. My face finally felt a bit better, but I didn't stay in long enough for it to totally get better. I am glad I got in though because I know if it is like that next year it wasn't absolutely awful and that I can make it in the cold water. I also didn't have booties or a neoprene cap on which most everyone else did. My ears hurt really bad and I learned ear plugs can take care of that. After the swim someone said they were glad I made them swim...hmmm....
Saturday afternoon I just passed out and took a long nap and then drove the bike course on the way to stay at Scott's cabin in Hayden. The bike course looked challenging, but not awful. There wasn't anything I saw that made me think "no way would I want to do that." Granted I was in a car...The views were amazing and the course goes through both CDA and Hayden - both quaint little towns with lots of support.
Sunday morning began at 4:45am when I woke up and flew out of bed because it was completely light outside and I was afraid I had overslept. Nope - that's just the way the sun is there! I had offered to drive Scott in because I wanted a decent parking spot, so we left around 5:15 and scored an awesome parking spot (so good I had it all day because it was right on the bike course and shut off until 5:30pm!). I walked with Scott over to body marking and then wished him well as he went into transition. I found Luke and Jennifer not much later and we hung out for quite a while. The pros started at 6:25 so there was some time between their start and the age-group start at 7. I noticed things I hadn't noticed before - like how good the music was! Once they left to line up Luke's parents and I found some awesome real estate to watch the swim - literally right at the swim exit. We got splashed a few times through the morning, but it was ok. I watched the pros finish their first lap and then watched the age groupers start. The swim looked crowded through the first turn, but then not too bad after that. It was so fun to watch everyone come in and head out for lap two. Then the pros came in and I got to cheer up close for all of them.
Chris was the first person I saw out of the water, then Luke, Scott, Greyhound (Kendall), and Jen. They all looked awesome. I think Luke and Greyhound were the only people who saw me even though I was right there screaming my head off any time I saw someone I knew. After I had seen everyone come in on the swim I walked around a bit and headed to a part of the bike course that was the end of both loop 1 and loop 2. It was a very short out-and-back so I could see everyone twice in about 3-5 minutes. Just a few minutes after I got there, the first pros came blazing through. It was so awesome to see. The lead cars came through blaring their horns, then the motorcycles. I could hear cheers from around the corner, so knew when they'd be coming. It was before 10am that they finished the first half of the bike. Crazy! At this time I realized I was actually watching the "race" part of Ironman that I'd never really been a part of. What happens at the front is sooooo far from what goes on around me it was like a completely different event. I sat on the bike course long enough to see everyone come through their first lap and then I headed over to the run course. Again there were awesome places to watch at the start/end of the loops where there was an out-and-back and you could see runners once and then again in about 20-25 minutes.
I went to the finish line to watch the pro men and women winners cross. The finish area was just amazing. It is at the end of about a mile stretch of road, downhill. The crowds were several people deep on both sides of the street stretching several blocks from the finish line. How cool and so much better than IMAZ where you just turn the corner and the finish line is 100 feet away. IMCDA is like finishing the race after running a mile down 6th street.
Later I met back up with Tammy and the boys and scored more prime real estate on the porch of the visitor's center. They had clean, empty bathrooms inside and a Baskin Robbin's cart outside! They also had patio furniture, so we could sit in chairs which was nice. We were on a part of the run course where runners went both ways so we were able to see a lot of people. I saw Luke heading to finish his first lap and he looked good, then I saw him heading out for lap two and he came over and said his garmin died and he had no way of timing. He was around mile 15 and I just told him to keep running and that I'd see him at the finish in an hour and a half. Before him, I'd seen Grant who was just cruising. I never saw Greyhound, Jen, or Scott because I had head to my volunteer job at 6, but I was getting updates about them on my cell phone from then on.
Volunteering at the finish line was soooo much fun. Grant was the first person I knew to come through and he came through around 11:04 I think. Holy cow that's fast!! I caught a few first-timers that were ecstatic, some veterans who wanted nothing to do with me, and some others who didn't know what to do with themselves or me. Chris was the next person I knew who came through and I could see his polka-dot suit coming down the chute and ran up to get him. I could tell he was disappointed in his race, but it was till under 12 hours, so gees! He said Luke wasn't far behind, so I kept an eye out for him and said I'd catch the next guy who came through in polka dots. He came through just after 12 hours and was happy. Thank God. Next, a beautiful girl, dressed a green top, came down the chute high fiving everyone and just broke into tears when she crossed the line. I went over to her and gave her a big hug and started my catcher schpeal and she said immediately "I know you. I read your blog - I got it from Greyhound." How funny!! I asked her if she needed another hug just to cry it all out. She finished in just over 12 hours and it was her first Ironman. She ended up in the paper the next day with one of the coolest pictures I've ever seen. It truly embodies this crazy thing we do called Ironman.
One by one I caught people as they came in, anxiously waiting for Scott to come in. I got a call saying he was almost to the line and to watch for an orange long sleeve shirt. I was soooo excited and ran up to the line so he could see me as he was coming down. He crossed and I ran over and have him a huge hug. He thanked me and said it was all because of me that he was here and I said not so much - he had to do the training! He looked great and had an absolutely fabulous race, especially his first time out. I walked him through the finisher area, we got a picture together, and then we went to meet Tammy and the boys. It was great seeing them all meet back up again. I went back to the finish area only to find out I'd just missed Greyhound's finish. I looked all over for him and couldn't find him. I was so sad! He didn't think he's finish under 14 hours while I was still working the finish line, but sure enough he did.After my shift, I walked down Sherman a bit (the road the finish line was on) and it was just one huge party. I met Luke and his family for dinner and we were able to to sit outside and eat and watch finishers run their last steps before becoming an Ironman. It was so cool (and freezing by then, for that matter!). I looked up at one point and saw Jen and bolted from my chair and we ran out in the street and cheered her on and ran with her a few steps. She looked great, with a huge smile! After dinner, we headed home and I passed out cold. Watching an Ironman is tuff stuff!
Monday I woke up long after the rest of the world and finally made it down to the Ironman Village to sign up for next year. I got there around 10 and there was no line at all, so that made it super easy. I also talked someone else into signing up as well - it was too easy not to! We went back to the Ironman store after that and shopped around. CDA has way cooler stuff than AZ did! Someone bought an "Ironmate" shirt for someone else (NOT ME! - don't get the wrong idea here) and I'll be giving him hell about that one for a long, long time.
Luke, Jen, and I were all on the same flight back that changed planes in Las Vegas. We got off the plane and apparently tweedle dee and tweedle dumb (I won't say who is who, but I'm one of the guilty parties) didn't know how to read the board. Somehow we ended up thinking our next plane was delayed 25 minutes and that we had 2 hours before it left. So we all sit down to a nice meal in a mexican restaurant (ok, not really good, but it was food). A few bites into our meal, I hear "Kathleen W, Luke K, Jenniger W..." over the loud speaker. Uh oh. Luke got up and ran to the gate they were paging us to. It was only then that we found out none of us could read the arrival/departure screen in the Vegas airport. Luke calls us and said they are closing the plane doors, but we hadn't paid for our food. Jen and I were scrounging for cash and couldn't come up with enough so we had to wait for the guy to run a ticket and pay with credit card. We bolted through the airport and Luke said it was quite entertaining to see us come barrelling around the corner. He said he was sure we were pulling 7:00 minute miles. Needless to say we didn't exactly get the best seats on the plane. At least we made it on though. Oops.
To sum it all up, CDA is a beautiful place. The community gets behind Ironman like you wouldn't believe. The weather was awesome and the people were awesome. I was by myself a good part of the day Sunday while I was watching and I was 100% content. I met all sorts of people cheering on their own friends and family and really enjoyed meeting people from all over. I will advise to anyone doing an Ironman to dress as differently as possible. You are way easier to spot that way! Chris and Luke were the only racers wearing polka dots, Kendall was one of the few wearing the bright green Janus Charity Challenge jersey, and Jen wore a white jersey with big red flowers across the front. Scott, on the other hand....not sure what he wore because he blended in so well with everyone else!!
Comments
Yes, dress so that you stand out in the crowd. My TNT kit got me noticed in Switzerland and I got a "Go Team in Training" on the run leg! Very Cool!
You were like an angel to me when I crossed that line. Seeing that beautiful smile in person!! It was so nice to have a semi familiar face catch me.
Thank you again!! I can't wait to follow your CDA journey. It is the best race on earth, not that I have anything to compare it to :) But I would do it again in a heartbeat (sshhhh, don't tell anybody)!