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Grams, shoots and random musings...what we've been up to recently

It’s been a busy couple of weeks at Coeur and we wouldn’t have it any other way. To the extent that it is interesting, here’s what we have been up to.

Hey…I’ll take a gram. Not that! Instagram. If you haven’t checked it out lately, hop over to the Coeur Instagram site (instagram.com/coeursports). Andrea is one of our Ambassadors and she has taken over management of the site. Andrea has an amazing eye and her talent comes through in the pictures she takes.

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Reginald Holden

IMAZ Coeur-se review

 Course Review – Ironman Arizona

Ironman Arizona (“IMAZ”) has a unique place on the Ironman Circuit.  It was originally an early season race that was held in April.  Despite the flat’ish terrain, it was an absolute terror.  Temperatures frequently soared into the high 90’s, winds howled and sand storms of haboob caliber were known to rise up on the Beeline highway. 

Mercifully, the organizers moved the date to November and now it is a race of a different flavor.  Rather than a sand encrusted death march, it now viewed as a great venue for your first assault on the distance or an opportunity to set a new PR.

But don’t for a minute think it is easy.  It is still an Ironman and 140.6 miles is a long ways even in a car!

So with that as a backdrop, let us give you our thoughts on the course. By the way, we have a few semi-secret tips that we can share.  Shoot us a note at info@coeursports.com and put IMAZ tips in the title.  We’ll be glad to send them your way.

The Swim

Heart and Courage at Ironman Hawaii

I think we have mentioned it enough but Coeur is French for heart and the root of the noun courage. Or more precisely the abstract noun “courage” since I suppose you can’t actually touch it. While we’re on a definitional/grammatical tangent, I’ll go on to mention that courage is defined as the ability or willingness to confront fear, danger, uncertainty or intimidation.

 

So, why does that matter? To answer that question, we’ll have to go back a couple of months.

woman in wheelchair

Coeur's Kona Race Report Part I

Laura Sophiea & The Duffield Twins

2013 Race Re-cap Ironman Kona #23!!

I have to say that Kona 2013 showed me that I truly love my life's journey through this sport of triathlons and I was truly blessed to be on the starting line in Kona for #23!

Michelle Duffield and her sister

One Coeur-ageous Athlete

We looked over to our left and happened to see one of the Challenged Athlete Foundation ("CAF") competitors in her race chair.  She was a petite woman and was at a dead stop about halfway up a hill.  For the most part no one was watching and it was apparent that her arms were about to give out.  Before I go on to tell the rest of this, I have to just say that I have re-written this next section twice and I just can't find the words to convey how incredible, inspiring, emotional and moving we found this to be.  

Minda in Kona

Talking Kona with Kristin Schwieger

Meet Kristin Schwieger!
Kristin at finish line of a race
Coeur: How many times have you raced in Kona?
Kristin: This will be my second time in Kona and hopefully there will be more to come! Coeur: What age group will you be racing in?
Kristin: Well, I will be turning the big 4-0 at midnight of the race, so 40-44. 

Woohoo! HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Coeur: What's your bib number?
Kristin: 1384 Coeur: What's your favorite thing about this course or if this is your first time what part of this course suits your strengths?
Kristin: When I did the race in 2011, there were parts of the bike course that I loved and parts that I hated. Typically the bike meets my strengths, so I really want to have a strong bike this year.

Talking Kona with Laura Sophiea

Laura Sophiea is getting ready to compete in tomorrow's Ironman World Championships! We thought it would be fun to ask her a few questions leading up to the race!

Laura Sophia Running a race

Coeur: How many times have you raced in Kona?

Laura: I have raced 22 times beginning in 1987, this is #23 for me! I have 8 AG wins, and currently well at least until Sat. 2 AG records in Kona.

Coeur: What age group will you be racing in on Saturday?
Laura: AG:  55-59

Coeur Shares Thoughts on Conscious Capitalism

Excerpt from First Coeur Team Meeting....

“What else? What else do we need to define in terms of what we stand for?”

“Well…I think that one of our guiding principles has to be that we associate with & support people courageous enough to have a strong moral compass...that do the right thing. I think that is inspiring. In other words, let’s build a team that not only has amazing technical skills but are the type of people even kids look up to.  Kids have such a good B.S. detector! They have to be someone others can respect and really get along with. Our brand begins with us.”

“Kind of like Google’s “Do no evil” policy.”

“Exactly!”

“What else? What about giving back?”

“Challenged Athletes Foundation.  We definitely want to support CAF. Talk about athletes with heart. And Courage.”

“Absolutely! One percent of sales. Done.”