Racer: David Cascio
Race: Ironman Coeur d’Alene
Date: 27 June 2010
Distance: 2.4 mi. swim, 112 mi. bike, 26.2 mi. run
Location: Coeur d’Alene, ID
Time: 10:04:49
Place: 4th Mens 45-49
Comment: Qualified for Ironman World Championship #8
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It’s been a real good spring of racing for me with good results in Cherry Blossom, Triple-T, and the Reston Sprint Triathlon. I did my best to get the work done and deal with the aches and pains of training at maximum load - all to be ready for June 27th with the intent of qualifying for Hawaii. I felt a huge amount of pressure to perform at the required level. To come up short would be a major disappointment. One of these times I’ll have a bad day or something will go terribly wrong and I’ll have to deal with it. Not this time, as I executed well and had a very solid race. So I am very happy indeed.
My age division was stacked, big time. Scoping the field out the best I could I saw 3 other athletes as the big guns. Michael Hagen, multiple times military National Champion and USA Triathlon ranked #2 in 2008 (M45-49), Albert Boyce #2 ranked last year, and Mike Llerandri (M45-49 Eagleman winner last year). With 6 expected slots I was confident, but realizing that if I had a bad day I could easily not be top 6.
Getting out to Coeur d’Alene turned out to be a nightmare as my flight out of Dulles was late and there was no way to make the connection in Chicago. With virtually no other flights into Spokane available, I had to take a circuitous 30 hour trip with 4 connections and a sleep over in the Seattle airport to finally get to the race site 20 hours later than planned. To relax I listened to some of my favorite tunes on my ipod.
I started the carbo loading process Thursday night. After driving over from Spokane Friday morning, I checked into the Holiday Inn Express about 3 miles from race sight. I put my bike together and rode for 40 minutes on the trail in front of the hotel and ran for 20 minutes. Then I went down and registered, stopped by the Blue Seventy tent and saw Mike Orton working, then went for a swim in the lake. Finally I did my bike course recon. To recover from the extra stress I did not pre-ride any of the bike course. I did pre-drive most of it and glad I did as there are a few tricky corners and a couple of round abouts. I was so tired from the travel and long day I blew off the carbo load dinner.
Saturday I organized my gear bags, checked my bike over once again, did a quick run and ride, then racked the bike and bags early. Was back in the hotel by 11:00 with the rest of the day free to rest up for the big day ahead. I listened to my ipod to get me in right state of mind for the big day ahead. I’ve done a lot of these races and I know what’s coming. I’m going to have to smash myself to get the job done.
Equipment selection: Cervelo P4, Zipp 303 front, Zip disk (tubulars), profile aero bottle, one behind the seat bottle along with spare tire/C02. Zipp 303 front was a good selection, climbs well great handling in any wind condition. It was either that or an 808, and I chose the safer selection. 53/39 front chainrings, 12-27 rear cogs. Good choice. There are some steepish climbs (used the 27 once or twice). About 5000 ft. of total climbing. I’d say very close time wise to the Lake Placid course. Not as easy as ImLoooo.
Nutrition: I’m a little old school and like to keep it simple. Started with 2 powerbars, 2 bottles of Gatorade, 1 gel flask of Hammer Gel. Special needs bike bag had another Hammer Gel flask. In my bike-to-run transition bag I had a stash of endurolytes, and another stash in my run special needs bag.
My whole strategy in this race was to keep an eye on the 3 previous mentioned athletes along with Brady de Houst and David Glover. And to be patient until the run. Go steady on the swim and bike to set up a strong run. I put a huge amount of work into my run over the winter and spring. That was going to be my ace card.
Swim: 1:01.19, 7th in age group. 61 degrees, a bit choppy, full sleeve wetsuit and thermal cap. No issue with getting cold. Pretty uneventful, some contact but nothing too severe.
Bike: 5:31:19, 26th age group. I really like this bike course. Some parts are pancake flat which is terrible for me. But out by Hayden Lake there is a loop with some great hills and spectacular scenery. Took it steady on the uphills and worked the downhills. I had my moments when I dropped the hammer and bombed some downhills and corners, so that was fun. A good amount of draft marshals out there so that was good to see. Only a few times did I get into a situation where I had to soft pedal to keep legal distance. At mile 45 or so Brady caught me and we fist knocked and wished each other well. A great course all in all, but the winds did pick up a bit for the last 20 miles or so. It seemed to be a head wind. My back was getting a bit uncomfortable the last hour and it was a struggle to stay aero. I was ready to get off the bike and looking forward to running a marathon if that makes any sense. Consumed the powerbars and gels, 3 handup bottles of Gatorade and some water. Right around 1300 calories total or 235 calories/hr for 5.5 hours. Might seem low to some but remember I weigh 117 lbs.
Run. 3:26:46, 5th in age group. The first 5 miles or so my legs were not so good but I was confident I did not overcook the bike. I started picking off guys in my age group. Sure enough about 5 miles in my legs came around, and I felt really really good and started to push. It was at this point I saw a few more guys in my age group at the 6 mi. turn around and realized I would be catching them soon. I also saw David Glover near the turn. He was very close to the front of the race and we hand slapped as we passed each other. Each aid station was an explosion of some combination of coke, Gatorade, sponges, water, ice, and gels. One rough spot was around mile 12 when I took a gel that did not sit to well in my stomach. Drank some water at the next aid station and all was well. At mile 14 the best I could tell Hagen and Boyce were the only two up ahead. At that point I was just going to keep it steady the rest of the way. Did not walk a step the whole way. The downhill after the 19 mi. turn around was brutal on the quads. In the last couple of miles one guy went by me with what I thought was a 44 on his calf. I just let him go. As it turned out he was 45 and in my division and finished about 1.5 minutes ahead. Didn’t matter in the end. Llerandri had a bad run and faded to 11th place.
Finish: 10:04:49. Pushed it really hard the last 2 miles and almost caught Hillary Biscay, female pro who started 35 minutes ahead. After a quick stop into the medical tent for some cool towels, I chatted with Brady and David G. who told me he thought I was 4th. I then went over to massage for 20 minutes. Finally got my morning swim bag that had my iPhone. I had already gotten some text messages which was nice. Thank you. Pulled up my result. Replied. “4th. I’m going to Kona again.”
Awards: 4th got me on the podium and I was able to meet Michael Hagen and Albert Boyce. Really nice guys. Albert’s family part owns Coffees of Hawaii and invited me to visit while in Kona in October. Hagen said he turned down his slot to Hawaii. His words, “That race is too hard.” Brady placed 10th in the super competitive mens 35-39 and snagged the last Hawaii slot. WTG Brady!
Post Race: A sense of relief and accomplishment. I sacrificed and suffered a lot in preparation and on race day. Of course now is the time to relax a bit and recover mentally and physically. Not for too long though.
