This past weekend, 24 Endurance Nation athletes tackled the Coeur d’Alene course. Coach Rich was on hand to coach and lead the race weekend festivities for the members and their families. It was such a big weekend with so many good stories, that we’re going to break it up into two parts. Part I is Rich’s description of the weekend, with photos and video he recorded to capture this special weekend for the Team. In Part II we’ll display the results of our athletes, give you some excerpts from their race reports, coming in fast and furious in our members-only forum, and finally share with you the podcast interviews that Rich is in the process of recording with 8-10 athletes.
Thursday
We kicked off the race weekend festivities with our traditional Team Dinner, this year held at The Wine Cellar on Sherman Drive. Over 35 members, friends, and families joined us downstairs for an intimate dinner and an opportunity to add a physical dimension to the solid internet friendships formed over the months of training together, virtually, in our forums.
Friday
Next, the Team assembled on the “Grassy Knoll” at 8:30am for a open water swim, followed at 10am by our signature Four Keys of Race ExecutionPre-Race Talk. Rich assembled the audience at the K-Swiss booth in the expo (special thanks to TeamEN member and K-Swiss biz director Bryan Ogle for the meeting space!) and then moved everyone to the grassy knoll for the talk.
25 athletes in attendance quickly became 70+ within the first 10 minutes of the talk. Rich delivered 9+ years of IM racing and coaching knowledge in about 60′, sticking around for another 30′ to answer questions. Everyone at the talk even received a FREE Four Keys DVD, to review our guidance in their downtime before the event.
Rich rode the bike course both Friday and Saturday, promising to deliver a swift punch in the nose to any EN athletes found out in the hills riding when they should be resting. He then set up camp at either Calypso or Java coffee houses to answer questions from any TeamEN or other athletes who needed to be peeled off the ceiling before the race. He also made a special friend.
Race Day!
Race day dawned with perfect conditions! After finding EN athletes Lisa McCauley and Selina Carpenter before the swim start
And a random IronSherpaBaby
Rich scored a primo filming platform (10ft tall dumpster) right at the bike mount line to record this video. If you’ve never seen the bike mount line of an Ironman…watch this video, you’re in for a treat!
Coeur d’Alene Bike Mount Line (about 17′ long)
Next, he went out on the bike course to cheer on the Team (and get their minds right) at the start of hilly loop.
Video: Rich Getting Minds Right
Video: FUNNY kids on the bike course!
Next, Rich manned the Team tent we had placed at about mile 2 of the run course, a place where EN families could gather together and support their athletes. While they cheered on their Ironmans, Rich delivered some quick guidance to each TeamEN athlete, usually to slow down, run steady, and wait until The Line at Mile 18.
Finally, at about 6:30pm, Rich relocated to the finishline to congratulate our finishers, snap some pictures and record a few interviews, until about 10pm, when he moved over to the CDA Brewery for more stories, and more videos, before finishing up the night at 12pm at the finishline. An awesome day!
Post-Race Interviews
A Few of Our Proud TeamEN finishers
Paul Hough
Greg McCullogh
Selina Carpenter
Carrie Larson
Peter Carroll
Tom Nelson
Michele Moreno
Jorge Geronimo
All Truscott, 60-64 AG winner and course record holder
Carly Morse
Matt and Sandra
Wendy Price
Next: Team results, race report podcasts, and a final word from Coach Rich
Want to achieve the same results and have a similar, high quality training and racing experience as these TeamEN athletes? Join our Waiting List to receive an invitation to become an Endurance Nation member!
Wes1030m
Yay Wendy! That's my goal for IM AZ. I want to finish in the daylight 🙂