Went for a dip in Lake Coeur d’Alene this morning…and yes, it was cold. However, not as cold as Arbour Lake was last week! I donned my wetsuit, two swim caps, and jumped right in. No wussing around my fellow Ironman triathletes!
It wasn’t super cold, I think they said it was 56F (I have no idea what that is in Celsius), but it was cold enough that I couldn’t catch my breath for a moment. When I opened the neck of my wetsuit to let some water in, there were a few choice words mumbled under my breath.
Once I let the water rush through my suit I started swimming.
Today’s swim didn’t go as smoothly as Arbours, which is amusing considering Arbour was Arctic cold. I had to roll on my back twice in order to try and get my breath. It took me a good eight minutes before I got into a groove with my swimming. I wasn’t too worried though, at least I know how long I need to be in there for my warmup before the race!
As I was swimming along I thought to myself, ‘damn that last buoy is a ways out! Oh, I have to do two laps of this don’t I?! Nuts, I forgot just how long this dang swim is.’ All very good thoughts to have going through your head. Heh heh.
I swam for about 12 minutes straight out, then cut over and swam back. I still wasn’t sure if I needed booties for the cold; however one thing made me decide to get them. The beach here is made up of wee pebbles, and I’d have to run a distance to get to transition. If I was hopping about cause I had bare feet, this was going to slow me down. Lots of others had them on, and the water was still cold enough they were recommending them, so I decided to jump on the bootie band wagon.
Later on Greg, who’d ridden the bike course today, took us for a drive to show me and the parental unit what I’d be doing on Sunday. One word springs to mind when I think of the bike route ‘Gorgeous!’. It is so beautiful here. Okay, there is one long bit that you ride out of town where you are passing some big box stores and such, but once you get out near Hayden – holy hannah it’s stunning. I am going to love this ride. There are huge pine trees, farmland, a really spanky golf course (not that I like golf, but it’s still a nice area) and at one point you ride amongst the trees overlooking Hayden Lake. Oh, and did I mention the trees?! Love trees. Yes, I’m a tree hugger. The other section of the bike follows Lake Coeur d’Alene, which is just stunning.
Okay, let’s think about this, lots of trees and water – I must be in my happy place!
The course itself is quite technical, as I’d been hearing. There are a few sharp corners, one 180 degree hairpin turn at the bottom of a hill, and lots of rollers in the north section. Driving in the car they didn’t seem too intimidating. In fact, they remind me a lot of the routes I ride at home. I guess I’ll find out on Sunday what they are really like.
The ride back into town is sweet – it’s just straight with a slight downgrade. A very nice way to recover for the second loop of the bike and the first bit of the run I should think.
Sunday will be a good day.
Peace out my friends!!
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