COEUR d'ALENE - Swim, bike, run, nutrition.

Add a blast of heat and you're cooking Ironman Coeur d'Alene, which is all day Sunday.

However, a nearly atomic heatwave cannot deter the men and women of iron.

"I've made mistakes here in these conditions before, so I'm going to try to learn from those. I think I'll take a slightly more conservative approach," said Dede Griesbauer of Boulder, Colo.

Griesbauer and three other Ironman pros fielded questions and shared their Ironman experiences Friday afternoon during the athlete panel held in the Coeur d'Alene City Park Bandshell.

Surrounded by a buzzing Ironman Village, hot sunshine and an occasional dragonfly swooping through the air, they talked about beating the heat, why they love Coeur d'Alene and the indescribable feeling of belonging to the Ironman elite.

"I really do enjoy the support from the community," said Andy Potts of Colorado Springs. Potts has more than 20 Ironman competitions on his resume and is the returning champ of Ironman Coeur d'Alene 2014.

"I pick races where I'll be well-received in terms of the event is supported, we're not fighting with the community in closing roads," he said. "I think with the new layout for this race, we're goofing up fewer people's days and fewer people's driveways and out on the highway, but with the ability to ride through downtown we're allowing more people to come and watch the race, support the racers.

"I enjoy the sport out there and I chose it because it's in Coeur d'Alene and Coeur d'Alene's awesome," he continued. "I didn't come here for points, I came here for a great challenge."

Griesbauer is the 2015 champion of Ironman Taiwan and she competed in Ironman Coeur d'Alene in 2006. She has several other Ironman titles on her list of accomplishments, many in warm locations such as Brazil and Puerto Rico. But she does remember Coeur d'Alene being pretty toasty the last time she was in the Lake City, and she's ready to face it again.

"I've prepared myself as well as I could and have raced enough that I have some good experience in dealing with the heat," she said. "Hopefully, I'll just make smart choices all day."

German competitor and three-time Ironman champ Maik Twelsiek described the glory of first place.

"Every Ironman is special, every win is such a great experience," Twelsiek said. "You will always remember this moment."

Three-time Ironman champ and Ironman 70.3 top finisher Heather Jackson of Bend, Ore., also shared some Ironman insight. When it comes to changing nutrition to accommodate for the heat, Jackson said to "stick to what you've been practicing."

"Hopefully you've been practicing something that will include the heat that we're going to face on Sunday," she said. "I'm doing on Sunday what I've been practicing over and over and I've done it four weekends in a row, every long ride. It's shifted a bit from solid foods to more liquid now, just because you can digest those easier. More salt than I was taking, just looking at the specifics that I needed."

Griesbauer said she's going to take advantage of the cooler temperatures in the early part of the day. Weather reports expect temperatures to reach 106 degrees.

"I'd certainly like to make hay while the sun is shining - or maybe before the sun is shining in this case - and while I'm still feeling comfortable before the temperatures get too crazy, take advantage of that but certainly react to the conditions of the day and how I'm feeling as the day progresses," she said.

Ironman Coeur d'Alene begins with the swim portion at 5:30 a.m. Sunday and continues with biking and running until midnight.