Monday, June 24, 2013

Ironman Coeur d'Alene 2013!

Yesterday was Ironman day here in Coeur d'Alene!

I biked down to watch the swim start early Sunday morning.  We intended to go down and cheer at the finish after dinner, but M got sick, so I ended up cuddling him all night, the poor thing.  There was a live feed on the internet of the finish, so we still got to watch the finish line craziness, even though we weren't actually there.  I hope I can volunteer next year, I'd love to be a part of the Ironman party, and not just an admirer.  =)

Ironman is super inspiring to watch!  It is amazing to see what the competitors go through (working out for almost 17 hours!!) and to think about all the distance that they cover. 

This year they held a wave swim start rather than a mass start.  A lady from my running group was competing, and she told me about a month ago that she really likes the mass start.  I think she felt like going through the chaos of a mass start is the 'real' Ironman experience, but the wave start (Smart Start, I think they called it?) still looked like "controlled chaos" to me.  The first age-groupers jumped in the water around 6:35, and it was a steady flow of swimmers entering the water until 7 am.  Still looked like they were swimming in a dishwasher to me!

Congratulations to all of the finishers!  YOU are an IRONMAN!

Ironman CDA start  by photo:

Looking down the beach toward the start area.  The morning started off very foggy - but the fog cleared by 7 am, when the pros were exiting the water.

Pro Men in the water, age groupers milling around waiting to start.

Age groupers in the water!  Get after it!

The long wave of swimmers starting off their first lap!
 

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