Ironman Lake Tahoe - TriathlonFull Ironman

Good swim for me. Lots of cramps, but managed to hold them off with flexed feet. Fastest IM swim for me, so very happy with the swim. Water was cold on 2nd lap, very cold.

Nothing, except continue with Masters because it really helped me. I usually stop swimming over the winter and have to start all over, so I plan to swim over winter this year.

Wetsuit stripper was awesome. Slow T1 because I did a full change into dry clothes. And the ties on my T1 bag were frozen in a knot. My hands were not working, and my volunteer was having a hard time. I didn't panic though, knowing it was going to be a long day. The tent was packed but I did find an empty chair with a dry towel.

Nothing, did the best I could considering the circumstances. Oh wait, I would be better prepared for the cold temps with real leg warmers, toe covers, and a full jacket. I only had some cheap long socks that I cut the toes off of, and was so glad I decided to put them on for some lower leg coverage. I never took them off and would have been a lot worse off without them.

Details in my BT Blog, but here are the highlights -
> Cold most of the ride, toes numb entire ride
> Private neighborhood very hard, hilly, steep, seemed to never end
> On Hwy 89 a guy got a penalty for drafting off of me - heh!
> In private neighborhood a nice guy complimented me on my strong bike skills - I was too loopy to respond or even smile, and regret not acknowledging him (sorry)
> Brockway Summit was nothing compared to the freaking hilly neighborhood > I would have rather done Brockway 5 or 6 times and skip the damn neighborhood!
> Truckee was awesome, great crowd support

Ride the Gaps in No GA more than just 2 times. Otherwise I think I paced well, stayed in my box, didn't let people passing me bring out the Honey Badger.

So happy to be off the bike. My left sock was soaked with blood from a cut I had on my big toe (hiking earlier in the week in my Keen shoes cut me pretty bad). Cleaned it up and volunteer gave me a bandaid.

Nothing - did a full change again into dry clean clothes (although my bike clothes were not sweaty).

More details in my blog but here are the highlights -
> Running out of tent was really awesome, crowd was so excited and motivated me to get going!
> Course was rolling, not flat, with some hills
> Mostly shaded and cool
> Seemed to get dark pretty fast and seeing the headlamps bobbing along towards me was really cool in the dark sections
> Lots of walking by me and most everyone around me
> People were quiet, not much talking out there
> Chicken broth is now my best friend!
> Lots of people farting and burping - I've never heard so much gas going on out on a run course (maybe because it was so quiet?)

Continue with hill repeats and mile intervals because I think it helped my running.

None, walked a lot.


Difficulty of course probably, but I'm pretty happy with my race.


For an inaugural race IM did a fantastic job. I heard lots of comments on problems with T1, but I think they did a great job. Sure my bag was frozen closed, the tent was packed with not much room, but so what. Everyone had to deal with the same issues, we are Ironman after all, suck it up! I loved this race - looking back now I would for sure do it again. If you asked me during the race I would have said HELL NO!, but it really was an epic day, one I am very proud of.