Ironman Lake Tahoe - Triathlon

Standing on the beach, looking up at the snow covered peaks (shivering a little) and watching the steam come off of the water was amazing. Simply one of the most beautiful starts to a race, ever.

I was really not very concerned going in to the water. I knew the water would be warmer than the air and I knew I could go the distance. I was ready to get started.

I lined up at the back of the 1:10-20 group. Went under the arch and waded casually in to the water. When it was about waist deep I went horizontal to start swimming......and......immediately had a cold-water gasp reflex. I could not catch my breath. My chest felt tight. I certainly could not swim. Holy cow that was weird. You want to panic in that situation but I KNEW that if I just stayed calm that it would pass. I just had to get through it. I started side-stroking along with everyone. I'm sure that they all thought I was some dork who way mis-seeded himself for the swim. What was really amazing to observe was how fast I was moving. The current created by a 1,000 bodies all moving through the water in the same direction is pretty significant. It took me about 100-150 yards to get everything under control. I put my face in the water again, no issue and so I got to work.

A bunch of us had drifted way to the left of the buoy line because the steam off the water made sighting difficult. It took me a few minutes to find the buoy line but once I did, sighting/navigation was not an issue.

I just got to work and swam my usual pace, which is slow. At altitude that is probably a good thing. I was so far from my threshold swim pace that I never again felt out of breath. The water was amazingly clear and quite comfortable. Every once in awhile I would look up at the mountains and appreciate the beauty. I was quite warm in my new wetsuit, a stark contrast from last year at AZ where the water was the same temperature and I felt like I was freezing to death for the whole swim. I even remember thinking that I was really warm. Made me very happy.

As I said, I wore booties for the first time. They were great on the beach in the cold sand but I did not like them for swimming. If I had it to do again I would skip these.

Skip the booties.

Get my face wet while wading in to try to avoid that gasp reflex.

Swim faster :)

Most of you have heard someithing about this T1 experience. Crazy is all I can say. When I ran in to the tent with my bag in one hand and my wetsuit in the other I encountered literally hundreds of guys, in various states of undress packed together, shoulder to shoulder, back to front. You had to find a sliver of room and get to changing, which is what I did. Most were in pretty good humor and you had to laugh about the whole situation. There were a couple (and there always are) who were unpleasant and yelling at those around them. Obviously this was not ideal but everyone who finished the swim between 1:10 and 1:30 had to deal with it so at least it was fair.

I did this in T1: removal of wet trisuit and dry off with towel. Dry tri shorts and top. Arm warmers. Leg warmers. Long sleeve lycra/spandex top. Tight fitting wind vest. Garden gloves, worn backwards so the rubberized palm would block the wind and with a chemical warmer in each glove. Shoes on with toe covers + a chemical warmer stuffed under the toe covers (done before the race started). I had also taped all vents on my helmet and actually placed tape around the front opening to reduce air intrusion. It made for really dorky race photos but my head and ears were warm.

I had measured it out the day before, it was almost 400 steps (at around a yard a step, almost a 1/4 mile) to my bike. When I got there my computer had fogged up and had a layer of ice on it so it was still darn cold. I couldn't see the screen....

Ran with my bike to the start line, jumped on and got to work.

I have got to learn to swim faster so I can avoid this crush at every T1.

I did the best I could with what I was presented. The longest transition of my life but at under 15 minutes I was one of the faster ones.

It isn't so much what I would do differently but rather, what WTC will do differently in the future. This was a standard size T1 tent but this was not a standard start to the race. Like triathletes need to adapt to the race conditions, so do the race organizers. They had enough forewarning about the weather conditions to plan better for this. Like I said, we all were affected by this so it was fair, just not ideal.

I was nervous about this ride, as were most, except the most confident of super-bikers. I had gone 5:26 at AZ last year and I had a dream of going around 5:45-50 at Tahoe. I knew it would be hard but it is difficult to appreciate how hard until you are out there doing it. That was definitely an unrealistic dream.

I already explained my clothing choices. I had one more layer in my bag that I chose not to put on. I don't regret not putting it on but I don't think I would have been too hot if I had put it on. I got on the bike and immediately felt great. As soon as I started I was passing people like they were standing still. My computer was iced over so it was hard to see power numbers but it felt very comfortable, and fast! I was cool but not freezing cold. I had two layers on my arms, one on my legs, four on my core if you count my tri top. My arms and feet were cool. My hands were freezing in spite of the chemical warmers and rubberized gloves.

The Carnellian Woods out and back was the only bad road on the whole course. Why they chose this totally crummy road to add a mile to the race is a mystery. It must have something to do with logistics/access/permits. I accept there must have been a good reason...... I knew Dollar Hill was coming and it was a mile of significant climbing--it is all cumulative and on this course there is a lot to 'cumulate. Once you crest Dollar Hill, it is darn fast all of the way to Truckee. There were stretches that I was doing 25-30 MPH and not killing myself to do so. I did drop an empty water bottle on this stretch because my hands were too cold to feel accurately where the behind the seat holder was. I was going about 25 at the time but dutifully stopped (stop 1) and picked it up to avoid a penalty or a slowtwitch beatdown.... Cost me some momentum and about 15-20 seconds.

Truckee. This is the other part that I have trouble understanding. This section of weaving around Truckee had a pretty good amount of steep climbing in it. You "burned another match" to get through this on each lap. I am not sure that on an already very difficult course, why they decided to add another fairly difficult section. We all had to do it, so at least it was fair. If I were a race organizer I would look for a way to avoid this section next year.

The Martis Climb. I had not done this or driven this. I just knew that it was supposed to be as difficult as the Brockway climb. It was different than Brockway. First, it was way prettier than Brockway. Tucked in the evergreens on the mountain. Beautiful views on many of the turns. Really spectacular. It also was not a straight up climb like Brockway. You would climb for a couple hundred feet and then descend some and then climb some more then descend, then do some switchbacks and on and on. It took a long time to get to the top. The descent took about four minutes. I had been concerned about the speed of the descent but I felt very in control and it went well. Passed several on the descent.

The moment you get to the bottom of the Ritz descent you turn right and start the 2.6 mile climb to the Brockway summit. This is not as pretty as Martis and is also relentless. There is really no let up. It keeps getting gradually steeper until you get to the top. I established a cadence and went to the top. It was hard but not quite as bad as I thought it would be. Passed many on this section. The compact crank and 11-28 cassette proved to be an excellent decision.

At the top of Brockway I had to pee so bad I made my first stop (stop 2) at a portajohn. Nobody with an ounce of brains was peeing on the bike. Too cold. Time penalty of stopping was much better than being wet and cold. I also picked up a water bottle for the first time (mistake!)

On both ascents I took off my gloves and rolled down my leg warmers to avoid overheating. As I got to the top I pulled up the leg warmers and put the gloves back on to prep for the windchill of the descents.

The Brockway descent was really fast. It is pretty much the same grade as the ascent but going down for 3 miles. I let it ride and just sat up to catch the wind a little bit if I felt like I needed to slow down. My water bottle did not fit well in the BTA holder and was bouncing around the whole descent. I was afraid the bottle was going to come out and cause me to crash but I was also afraid that paying attention to the bottle would cause me to lose focus and crash at 50 MPH. I wished I had not grabbed that bottle and made a note to not make the same mistake on loop 2. I jammed the water way back in the holder an unbeknowest to me, unlatched my Joule bike computer.

And so began loop two. My computer fell off the bike on Carnellian Woods, loop two, on all of the bumps. I stopped to pick it up (stop 3).

Dropped my vest at Squaw aid station and peed again (stop 4).

Had to pee right before second Martis ascent (stop 5).

Had to pee again at top of Brockway (stop 6).

I lost a little time and was certainly getting tired by the end of this ride. I also knew that I had blown my legs up in a way that I never had before on the bike. I knew with 20 miles left on the bike that this was going to be a very tough marathon.

I was obviously well hydrated. I had actually adjusted my nutrition/hydration plan on race morning. Normally I start with two bottles, 400 calories each on the bike. When I finish one I drop it and grab a water bottle. At Bike SN I get two more bottles of nutrition for a total of four bottles, 1600 calories. My coach had warned me that I would not feel like taking in nutrition in the cold so I was extra diligent to be sure I was drinking my nutrition. I made the decision to grab water bottles at the aid stations, drink as much as I could get down during the aid station and drop it at the last chance garbage. I did this because I absolutely wanted to be dragging the least weight possible up each of the climbs and an extra 20 ounces (1.25 pounds!) did not seem like a good idea.

I was sweating less because of the conditions. Even without taking in nearly as much water as I usually do, I peed a lot. (about what I have during previous IMs, it was just that we had to stop during this race). All of the stops added about 5 minutes over my rolling time.

Overall, happiest I have been with an IM bike split.

For the first time at an IM I decided not to take off my shoes on the bike. I was so far behind my time projection and my feet were still cold so I decided the 10 seconds in transtition would be worth it.

Again, my goal time had been blown up so I took a little extra time in T2.

This was hard. My legs were blown up from the bike and I knew it. I ran the first three miles then walked an aid station. From that point on I ran variable distances and then would walk 20-30 paces and start running again. I tried to walk fast. When I was walking I would look at the Garmin and when the lag on the Garmin had my pace fall to 10:00/mile I would start running again. This was my slowest, hardest, least satisfying 26.2 ever.

I keep asking myself if I had to physically walk or if I mentally broke. I don't know. What I do know is that I want to combine my Tahoe bike with my AZ run and then I would be happy. Gotta keep working.

I took coke and water at the first 10 or so aid stations. Then I started alternating broth or coke + water for the rest. Never done the broth thing before but it was ok. I had to pee about four times on the run too. At a couple previous 26.2 runs I might have peed once. Again, dehydration did not seem to be a problem :)

Managed to get it together and run most of the last 5 miles. I was doing a lot of mental math on the run and wanted to keep the run unde 4:00 and the total time under 12:00, which I did.

Not proud of this run but I did get it done.

Not mentally break.

Get just a little bit stronger on the bike and run so I can put in a nice showing in both events.

Saw my wife. Apologized to her for not putting in a performance worthy of the sacrifices of the last nine months. Whereupon she told me I was a dumbass. Which I am. I gave what I could.

We all commenced to freeze immediately upon finishing. The only warm place near the finish was the massage tent and it wasn't full so I got my first ever post-race massage.


Did I mention that this was hard?

Did I mention that I am still a work in progress as a triathlete?

Did I mention that I am actually pretty proud of this performance now that things have settled?

Did I mention that, after saying I would never do this race again, I am thinking I would like to come back some day and take another shot at it?


First year race. I have made my comments throughout the report.

I hope this did not come off as whiny or bad in any way. Again, I am proud of this race but as always, I want to do better. Type A personality, anyone?

Thank you to all of the people who volunteered for the race. Thank you also to the Tahoe community. I know this was disruptive but everyone I met was gracious and helpful and seemed happy to have us there. Some of the nicer people I have met in my travels.