Coeur d' Where?

Since Ive been asked several times today when Im leaving for Hawaii, I thought I should take a moment to make sure everyone knows where Im going. In stark contrast to Hawaii, Im going to northern Idaho!! But wait you say, you swear you saw the Ironman on TV last year and your sure it said something about Hawaii and volcanoes....

Yes, what is on TV every year is the Ironman Triathalon World Championship. It is the original Ironman race held at Kona, Hawaii in early October. There are really only two ways to get to do the Ironman in Hawaii. The first way is to qualify for a race spot by placing in the top spots of your age group at one of the qualifying Ironmans Races around the world. The race Im going to in Coeur d'Alene Idaho is one of the official Ironman qualifiers, put on by the Ironman Triathlon Corporation. How hard is it to qualify? Lets just say, we are talking about finishing in the nine hour or less range. That would break down to something like a 1 hour swim, a 5 hour bike, and a 3 hour marathon. In other words, its ultra hard. Im predicting 14 hours.

The second way is to simply win one of the 250 lottery spots that are available each year. There is no rhyme or reason to selection, its purely random. Some people go their whole lives hoping to win a spot in the lottery, and some never do. Somehow, by sheer luck, my brother got a spot the first year he entered it. With some luck, I might get my own chance some day too.

So for my first Ironman, I chose Coeur d'Alene, because of its good timing in the season. In addition, my bro is going to race also. And believe it or not, its actually quite a beautiful location. Its about 30 minutes from Spokane Washington in the mountains. You can check out the race venue and where we are staying here: http://www.cdaresort.com/. Not to shabby I must say.

Well, tonight Ive finally finshed the packing checklist. 87 items total. Unbelievably, it all fits in one bag. Tomorrow, I have half a day in clinic, and then its off to Baltimore. Were going to stay there overnight, and fly out of BWI on Wed morning. Kids cant wait to see the airplanes.

Oh and most importantly today, my foot no longer hurts!