One for the Thumb

Well, we got 'er done.

I was able to see Rae, Owen, Lynn, Thomas, Maureen, Lisa and Mark Kendall out on the course several times.

I got to see Tommy twice on the run, speed demon that he is.

Basically, I feel like Indiana Jones in the first Raiders of the Lost Ark movie when his girl asks him, after trying to kiss him, "Well, where doesn't it hurt?" He points to his cheek "Here." And to his elbow "Here." And finally to his lips "Here."

I'm chaffed, I'm sore, I'm tight and I'm a five-time Ironman. Time to get some breakfast. I'll post The Big Race Story after I've composed it, probably Friday night when we're back from Priest Lake.

Thanks for all of your support this year.

We're All Together Again, We're Here

Remind You of Anyone?

Well, we're all here now. After a minor hiccup at the airport (Maureen didn't have her cell phone on), the ladies and the babies showed up.

Arrive Families

It definitely was good having them finally get here; many hugs and kisses were passed around. We took their stuff to the room at the Shilo Inn (bigger and cheaper than ours at the Best Western and like one block down the road, mind you--keep this in mind for all you would-be IMCDA participants), and immediately hit the pool.

Lynn and Owen Having Fun in the Pool

Well, I should say that Lynn and Maureen got in the pool. Tommy and I stayed dry and supervised. Hey, we're doing this race thing tomorrow.

The Little Fam

OP Working His Backstroke

After the swim, we headed to Tomato Street here in Coeur D'alene. Really good food. I couldn't even finish my dinner. Tommy got the same thing and managed to finish his though. We highly recommend this restaurant for athletes and families.

A great atmosphere, ideal for kids, and this, honestly, was the first dinner Tommy and I experienced this week where the wait staff was actually prepared for the onslaught. We only waited 30 minutes to get seated after our due diligence work form Wednesday night.

I Finished 2/3 of My Baked Lazonni

Now were back at the hotel. We just finished getting our water bottles and special needs bags for the bike and run together. A little reading and early to bed. We're up at 4 for breakfast and then it is off to the lake by 4:45.

If you want to follow along, go to www.ironman.com. My race number is #581 and Tommy's is #655. There should be lots of splits based on what they said at the pre-race banquet last night.

We go at 7AM PDT.

Good night. I might post a little something before I collapse tomorrow night, but no promises. I'm going to make it a good day. It's going to be my last one like this for awhile.

Cheers,
~JG

D Minus 1 and It Is Starting to Get Cloudy

Transition Area Beginning to Fill Up

Woke up with a pounding headache. Had a little coffee. Felt a little better. Went for a 15 minute run; felt a little worse. Hopped on the bike for 30 minutes and felt great. Came back to the room, and we packed up our swim-to-bike and bike-to-run transition bags with shoes, helmets, race belts, hats, sunglasses, fanny packs of food and electrolyte tabs.

We put race number stickers on our bikes and put them back on the rack to take down to the transition area. First we hopped in for a quick swim. The water felt a couple degrees warmer than Thursday--was still A$$ cold, but manageable. It's about 57 now they say. We swam about 11 minutes and hopped out.

One couple was taking pictures of Tommy and I getting our suits on (and laughing at us). Tommy wondered who's blog we were going to end up on. She asked for our race numbers, so it's possible we gained a couple more fans today.

After the swim, I went back for another round of ART while Tommy picked up some more water bottles. I had this big bloke named "Matt" from St. Louis helping me this time. Dude ripped into my right hamstring and abductor like nothing else. Then he went after my neck a bit.

My body is kinda happy/mad right now about the whole bit, but my range of motion is a ton better than it was during the run this morning thanks to Matt.

Turns out they DID have an underpants run. We saw them run through the Ironman village around 10:30. They were a smallish band, but lets say they were, Ahem, high quality.

After ART we headed back to the car, dropped off our swim gear and grabbed our bikes and gear we packed and proceeded to check them in.

On the Rack

It turned out I was missing my run special needs bag, so I had to get another one from the race volunteers when we went to drop off our Transition 1 (T1/swim-to-bike) and Transition 2 (T2/bike-to-run) bags.

Would You Place Your Behind Here for 5.5 - 6 Hours?

Before we headed to lunch, we walked the transition area. It was, unfortunately, still kind of a cluster in there--we'll have to determine the flow, we will have to figure it out tomorrow.

For lunch we meandered back up the main drag in town and ate at Toni Macaronis--an Italian place that is going to be a mad house tonight. We both had an enjoyable lunch, then headed back to the hotel for naps.

No More Basketball This Weekend

Must Remember ... Row 12

It's almost 3PM as I write this--Thomas and Maureen should be touching down in Spokane soon, so I'm presuming they'll be in CDA with my Fam around 4:30.

Our pseudo-reservations for dinner are set for 6 tonight, so that should give them time to get checked in and settled before we head off to eat.

Baseball Field Full of Volunteers: I Got Juiced Just Walking By Them

I must say, I'm a bit sad to have missed Rae's Kindergarten graduation. Those pictures are awesome.

Final disclosure: I do love having a "vacation" with just one of my buddies centered around when is the next workout and when do we eat? I owe my Redhead pretty big for this one.

Ironman Interrupted.....

Mrs. Steelsmith awarding Rae her Diploma

1st grade here we come!

Rae graduated from Kindergarten today, she is officially in 1st grade!! Her class celebrated with a great party and then a picnic at the park. Now we are off to Ironman to cheer on Jeremy; Ironman the race, not the movie. All of Rae's classmates thought it was so cool that she was going to Idaho to see 'Ironman'. :-)

The rest of the graduation pictures are up at http://flickr.com/photos/gerking/

In This Post: Bike Course! Mini Chickens! Waiting in Line!

And just in case you're wondering, this is Jeremy posting, not Lynn. I'm just using my wife's info to get the goods up on the ol' Blog, see. Just got back from Walgreen's. Tommy needed some reading material as I think he was getting sick of me reading hilarious passages from Sedaris' latest When You're Engulfed In Flames.

Is that a Gatorade Bottle in your pants, or are you just happy to see me?

Rule #1: Respect the Course.

We drove the bulk of the bike course this afternoon, listening to the CDs we made for the event. The nice thing about a 2-lap bike course is, obviously, you only have to drive 50 miles or so to see the whole thing.

In keeping with the report style I established for while depicting the run the bike course is A) Beautiful and B) Hilly as heck from miles 21-45 or so x2.

There are some nice flat parts in and around town, but once you get out toward Hayden Lake, it's up-we-go-down the whole time. See the bike and elevation maps here. You'll see that the total elevation gain/loss isn't insane, but it is up/down like it was in Wisconsin.

For those of you who don't know me and my racing style, this means I cannot be a total fanatical lunatic jackass on the first loop of the bike. If I hang in there and let the dudes and chicks and the grandmas go by me the first time around, I'll be just fine come the run. (Three Sport Race. Three Sport Race.)

If you see my splits coming in at 21.8 MPH for the first loop, you might as well make a sandwich because it's going to be a long night waiting for my punk-A$$ to get home ...

Only serious business here.

We waited in line in the heat to get into the Big White Tent where all the athletes and their families chowed down on some watered down noodles and red sauce and the smallest chicken breasts to be discovered in America since before the invention of Steroids for Poultry.

Tommy and I were both still full from the Nachos and sandwich luncheon, so the Mini breast was just fine for our palettes. Tommy couldn't stop eating the free bags of organic peanut granola (??) that adorned the banquet folding tables, so I removed them from the premises while we watched inspirational films about the Hawaii Ironman and such.

A couple guys lost 86 pounds training for this thing. I lost 21 and I'm pretty stoked. One of the guys STILL weighed 260, and was about 6'6". He's gonna have a good, long day on Sunday. I wish him the best.

Feeding time at the carbo trough.

The fam arrives tomorrow. They're picking up Tommy's wife Maureen and his son Thomas at the Spokane Airport around 3 and then heading over. We're hitting the water in the morning for about 10 minutes, riding for 30 and running for about 15. Then its the last round of ART, and back to the hotel to stuff our bags full of goodness and get everything ready to rock.

Until next time,--the Milk Duds are going down easy and my body actually feels better than it has in months. I've slept more in the last few days than I have in years (I'll take my family over the sleep though).

Ciao.

Mark Kendall Sighting

Do you recognize this man?

My old college chum from Bellingham who I haven’t seen in nearly 8 years, and only corresponded with a few times was at the swim beach area this morning. We ran into him when we were waiting for Drew to finish his swim after we had our massages.

Mark runs speedshot racing and is certified USAT coach, USA Cycling coach and Masters swim coach. He knows his stuff (at least I still think he does). Anywho it was good to see him.

My Finish Line is Almost Ready

Drew, Tommy and I had lunch at Cricket's Bar and Grill this afternoon after we drove the course (more on that later) and watched the Turkey vs. Croatia second half + extra time. Holy cr@p, what a match.

Off to the pre-race carb extravaganza.

"I Woke Up This Morning with the Cold Water"

Well, in true Tom Waits fashion, we just got back from the Liquor Store.

I don't think the guy sees to many dudes with Ironman wristbands moseying through there that often. Tanqueray, Don Julio Blanco, Tonic and Roses Lime juice. It is going to be a good week in Priest Lake next week.

It's Fine Once Your Face Turns Numb

Tommy and I woke up late (7:30 ish), ate a light breakfast in the room, geared up and drove down to the race start area for a swim.

Holy cr@p it is cold. I haven't had a swim as cold since 1999 at Pacific Grove (in the Pacific Ocean) in California. It's about 54 they tell me.

This guy doesn't like to be cold.

Just before the swim, we ran into Tommy's buddy Drew who is doing his first Ironman here. Right after, Tommy nudged me and said, "I know that guy." It turns out he knew two of the guys: JC, a Pro from Mexico who Tommy has been helping to coach swim and the one, the only, Clint Lien from Victoria, B.C. Turns out Clint has a few athletes he is coaching doing the race here and he's here to support them (JC Ramirez and a Pro gal named Heather Wurteli).

I haven't seen Clint a couple years, but we've emailed a couple of times. He knew I was racing out here and hoped he would see me. Totally good to see him.

It's a small, strange, world after all. Just out of the swim, checking his BlackBerry.

After our swim, we headed out on our bikes to see part of the run course. We headed out of town and caught up with some other like-minded folks. They knew where they were going, so it was good we ended up on their wheels for the first part through town.

Once you get out on the trail along the lake shore it is A) Beautiful and B) pretty flat. There is one decent hill that includes the run turn-around. We are going only part-way up the hill though, and I hear the distance up the hill was shortened a bit from last years course.

There are a couple more hills through town and it is a two-lap run course, so I'll probably change my tune a bit come Monday. ;-)

We luncheoned outside at the what I'll call The Burger Pit. I spied it last year, as it is a hot-corner for bikes coming in and out of transition. It has a great selection of beer (we had water) and live music on weekend evenings. Total dive and a hoot. Saw that Germany had just gone up 2-0 on Portugal and devoured my Jamaican Jerk Burger and potato salad. Nummers.

After lunch we picked up a couple of souvenirs and had some ART work done. We cruised back up to the hotel, had a quick snooze and headed back out to the registration tent for our mid-afternoon, non-hectic registration.

A nice older dude named Terry helped me out. He has Pro Heather Golnick staying at his place for the week. My wife would kill for Heather's bike. I'll see if I can grab and post a picture of it before the weekend is over.

The Resort is tall and, during race week $500 a night

There are a few folks that get wayyyyyyyyyyyyy keyed up for an Ironman as you might expect. Cases in point: The Guy from Chicago who was walking with us to the swim area and could barely communicate he was so geeked up about the water temp. The lady with the #2 buzz-cut and pink shorts yelling at her comrades about how "the 60mm one is TOO SHORT!" and that she'd have to take the bike back.

She goes lope-jogging off, bike over her shoulder, toward the bike support area, while I look at Tommy and say "Dude, it's Thursday." He looks back and says, "Yeah, I know. It's going to be a long few days for her."

Just in case you were wondering, the song for the week is "Handlebars" by the Flobots. I guess it is getting some play on The End of late. Hadn't heard it until Tommy played it on a CD he made for the drive.

Finish Line

There are 407 guys in my age-group, roughly 20% of the race. 2390 total athletes in the guide.

It's in the upper 70s currently, but feels kinda hot given we've been sulking around in 55 and rain for the last forever.

We're gonna hit the hot tub, shower up and go to dinner here at the Hotel. Prolly read some David Sedaris after that and hit the hay early. That's just how we roll.

Dinner and 400 Feet in Coeur D'alene

Through the sunroof.

Well, it is a lovely town. It's supposed to be 72 on Sunday. My bike, and particularly my tires are ready to go.

I put my hand in the lake. It be cold. The Race tents are up. We'll be visiting tomorrow.

Dinner was eventful. We went to Brix right on the main drag in Coeur D'alene. It was recommended by my cousin Aaron and his sous chef, Emily. They said ask for Aaron. Aaron wasn't working tonight.

They were down a couple of bodies at work, and the Athletes have started their descent in town. This happens in all smaller Ironman towns. The services love the influx of cash, but have no idea, year-to-year how to deal with the sheer magnitude of people in town for the week.

One group of hoity-toity's left Brix after one of the wait staff offended them. I asked the gal who had done the offending and she had no idea what the heck just happened.

After ordering our meal and receiving the first two courses of the Chef's Choice 6-course meal, our waiter (doubling as the bartender--or vice-versa) came to us and said the chef had to leave due to a problem with his child at home. Would we like to order something else off the menu?

It was the longest 2 hour dinner of our lives. Food WAS good though.

After leaving dinner we looked for a place with pasta, that was kid friendly and that would accept reservations. No dice. We did find a place up by our hotel called Tomato Street. They put our name on the list early. We show up at 6 and our "wait is cut in half." I'll let you know what that translates into. If we don't get seated until 7, I'm ok with that ... its the 9pm business that's bad.

Start of 400 ft. of insanity (all with Tommy on the phone):

Heading back to Tommy's car, I was shown a tatoo on a young man's derrier that stated "Your Name." I didn't ask to see it. He asked me if I wanted to see his tattoo. I said "I've seen a lot of Tattoos." I think he was just going to show me anyway.

We pause and see a giant buffalo sculpture. I instruct Tommy to stand by the head while I take a picture.

Is that a dookie dish under your Tatonka?

We proceeded on. We were about to cross the street at the cross walk, when we were almost run down by a skate boarder. "Sorry," he said. As we crossed the street, I guy riding his mountain bike while walking his dog, just about bit it on the curb, as his dog took off a direction his bike couldn't go.

Then Tommy got off the phone. Just another night in Coeur D'alene.

Green? They're recycling the boat-load of bottles. It's a start.

Proof that my wheels and tires are ready to go.

Special thanks to Arby's for their free wi-fi. Makes me want to buy that 5 roast beef sandwiches for 5 bucks (or whatever the deal is this decade).

Almost Done Packing

I've got all my gear finally. Perhaps I'll list that out later. Tommy picked me up some Contiental Tyre Glue. I picked up the last piece of the puzzle today when I finally got my hands on a large size Blue Seventy Neoprene swim cap.

I talked to the massage therapist I'm going to see over in Coeur D'Alene on Friday and she said the water warmed up 4 degrees in the last couple days. It's at 55 now ... We'll see how it goes.

It's supposed to be 74 with a chance of thunderstorms on Sunday. We'll see if that changes. It usually is nice most of the morning, with the thunderstorms hitting later in the afternoon. I don't expect my finish line photo to have lightning in the background. I'm not that lucky. But if it does happen, I'll be flashing the Horns just to make sure the picture is super-sweet.

Friendly reminder you can track me at http://www.ironman.com/ on Sunday. I'm number 581. My racin' buddy Tommy is 655.

I'm a tired dude. It's 9:30 and there are still a few more things to do before sleep.

Tomorrow with more postage.

~JG

Jeremy's 35th Birthday

This past weekend was spent celebrating Jermey's 35th Birthday and Father's Day. We had a great weekend.

We had a Birthday party Friday night and then had dinner at the Space Needle on Saturday night.

On Sunday we went to Gas Works Park for a bit to play around. Mema and Grandpa were with us and they loved it there, they had never been.