Idaho has more than Potatoes
May 27, 2012
For our 3 day weekend we not only remembered those that have sacrificed we celebrated their life by getting out there and living ours to the fullest. Although the start of our trip was a little anticlimactic that involved bungee cords and hooks and flat tires and damage to the car. Apparently someone lost a bungee tie down and it lodged itself into the tire of our HIlighander and ripped up the inside of the wheel well as the other end shot around with another hook on it until it broke off. It made horrible noises and as you can see did some damage.
So this provided a nice time to stop, eat lunch, get the tire changed, and then move on with our adventure. We ended up eating dinner our first night in Post Falls at a wonderful place called the White House which served delish Italian food with a TON of garlic. It was delish and thanks to our friends for the tip and directions on getting there!
Saturday we ended up sleeping in just a bit which was wonderful and then headed out to packet pick up and breakfast. Downtown Coeur d’Alene is a pretty small place so we hit the main strip and found some pretty good breakfast eats. After getting all carbed up and playing with some locals… picture below… it was off to ride the Ironman course.
Idaho apparently has potatoes and HILLS and those hills are on that bike and run course for Ironman!!! So we tried to take it easy and do 1 loop of the course but with the hills, and wind, CDA has some wind, it made for a pretty good ride out there. Jash did an amazing job doing the course on his mountain bike and as one of the other many riders out there told him- “he is an Ironman!” Thinking about it now I should have taken some pictures of the bike course, but I have a feeling in a month it will be burned very deep into my memory forever!
Post ride we went over to CDA lake and I got in to ice my legs. I was not feeling up to sporting the entire wetsuit and getting all the way in for a swim so instead we enjoyed the sunset and watched some water craft planes take flight which was pretty cool!
Sunday I was up bright and early at 5am for our 7am marathon start and it was harder than normal to head out for the race when Jash was at the hotel snuggled all warm in bed! The race started exactly on time which is always appreciated and we were off. About 2 miles into it I ran into Gary, fellow marathon maniac, and we caught up about races and life. I also ran into Orange gloves or orange socks, and we chatted as well- I at this point had to get his name because we run into each other at races all over and I only referred to him as orange socks in my head. Turns out orange socks is really Bill- if you are from the NW you probably know who I am talking to. Super nice guy and I was impressed how throughout the race he continued to thank everyone for being out there and supporting the race.
I was running pretty good until we hit our first big hill about 8 or 9 miles in. That’s when I really felt the bike from the day before… like really felt it. So I backed off and slowed the pace way down and got up and over it and kept on going, but at a slightly slower pace. I was not feeling great at the turn around just past mile 16, but I had been worse. So I carried on and tried to stay on top of water and gu but I felt bad like really off. I realized that I probably did not build back up enough sodium as I began to cramp pretty bad. I bent over to stretch at one point and every single muscle in my stomach just completely locked up in cramps to the point that I could not stand back up straight and just stood hunched over for a bit trying to see if they would ease up. I had to walk for a bit before they subsided enough that I could start running again. It was about this time that I realized that hey this was going to be a bad race- well it already was, but oh well I was going to finish it no doubt so just take it easy and enjoy what is around me. So that’s what I did, I enjoyed the lake views, the homes when we ran through town, and trying to figure out why people either wanted or didn’t want us to decline to sign for the recall. I thought about asking fellow marathon runners about it, but decided they may be on one side or the other of the issue and didn’t want to disturb them from their marathon running zen. The also may tell me I probably should be running faster if I have time to ponder all of these things during the race. So I waited till I got home then Googled it… Turns out they are fighting about plans for a park and having a say in the plans and that some govt officials are seen to have been granted exorbitant salaries for the project in some people’s minds. Good to know- you learn something new every marathon!
So finished the race with not my best time but not my worst but added marathon/ultra number 74 to the history books and lived to tell about it. Overall it was a great weekend and I am so very happy that I was able to spend it with my Jash having a blast and living life to the fullest. And we even got home in time to do a lot of gardening!
