IMLT Race Report

Ironman Lake Tahoe 2015 is in the books:  Net time, 13 hours, 30 minutes, 54 seconds.

Lake Tahoe is beautiful.  That's the main takeaway from this race - sure, the lake is chilly to swim in, the bike has tough hills, and the run is rolling - but MAN, you sure can enjoy the time out on the course.  

Coach Brian and I arrived in Tahoe on Tuesday before the race, with the idea being that we'd work from the business center of the hotel / the room, and acclimate to the altitude a bit before race day. We stayed at Squaw Creek Resort, at mile 3 on the run course, which was . . . fine.  Pricey for 7 nights stay, but central to events.  Maybe it was the beds, maybe it was the long flights into Reno, but my lower back, which hadn't really been a problem all summer, began to tighten up. 

Over the next several days we scouted all aspects of the course - swam in the lake, rode %90 of the bike course (in two stretches, the hard bit and the easy bit), biked the entire run course, and ran the harder bits.  This was great, I knew what I was getting into on race day.  On Friday, we went to the mandatory check in:

Athlete Briefing

Where I took my clothes off for a good cause.  Look forward to upcoming posts about Cupid's Undie Run in February!

Athlete Briefs

Race morning, we got up at 4:30, had coffee and oatmeal, loaded all the bags/supplies we needed to drop off, and headed down to King's Beach, where the swim began.  I topped off my bike bottles with Gatorade and water, variously, and had ~8oz of Gatorade in the car on the drive over.  It was not as cold as it had been earlier in the week - no need to scrape ice off the windshield of the car - but still brisk, in the mid-40s at race start.  There wasn't much traffic to the start - most folks took the shuttles, I imagine, but we had a rental car and a secret weapon - Coach Brian was only doing the swim.

I quickly went in to the swim-to-bike transition (T1), put my shoes in my pedals and bike bottles in their cages, wiped down the bike seat, and hit the port-a-loo line,   Once essentials were sorted out, I got into my wetsuit and headed down to the beach. Unlike the "mass starts" of other Ironman events, where everyone starts in the water together or runs down from the beach into the water together, they had us line up by predicted finish times.  This is a good idea in theory, but in execution was kind of a mess.  Mainly, they didn't have the corrals clearly marked - and I ended up with folks who either thought they were swimming 100 minutes, or didn't care enough to push through the teeming mass of wetsuited, nervous triathletes to get to the right spot.  But, at 6:40, the cannon went off, and we sloooooooowly walked across the timing mat and into the water, where we sloooooooowly waded in until it was deep enough to swim. Based on my net finish time, I think I crossed the mat at 6:45 - but it was probably closer to 6:50 before I began to swim.  

The water was 61 degrees - a good temp for a wetsuit swim. I didn't feel great during the first lap; swimming at the intensity I normally swim at requires a bit more oxygen than I was getting, I guess. So, lots of breathing on two strokes instead of my normal three, lots of feeling out of breath in general.  But, by the time I turned the corner for the second lap, I'd settled down, and found my stroke.  I regularly passed people the entire swim, which is how I like it anyway.  As is normal for us triathletes, I peed as much and and as often as I could - especially in the last quarter of the swim.  I didn't want to carry any of that with me on the bike. Soon I was heading out of the water. I'm told the swim course was a bit short - lots of people swam faster than they expected - I came out of the water 1 hour and 12 minutes after I crossed the mat, just about exactly as predicted.

Exiting the Swim

The transition had us run up a sandy hill, grab our bag containing everything we need for the bike, run up the sandy hill some more, have our wetsuit removed (thanks volunteers!), and run inside to changing rooms.  I made the decision early to change into bike clothes, including tights and arm warmers, at this point. It cost me some time, but no regrets.  I called for 10 minutes in T1, and was out in 8:49.

Biking - somewhere before mile 40, when I ditched the tights

The bike course was, functionally, two loops 52-mile loops with a short stick at the end heading to T2.  At first, riding in the sunshine, I wondered if I'd made the right call on the extra clothes.  Then we turned the corner, and rode in the shade for an hour, and I was VERY VERY Happy that I made the decision to dress warmly - I shivered in sympathy for the folks in shorts and tri-tops that rode past me.  Lots and lots of people rode past me. I did my level best not to let this bother me.  For some reason, I was still sloshing, and I stopped at the 1st aid station to pee.  This became a common refrain for me on the bike, I think I stopped four times over the 112 miles.  Better to be too well hydrated than underhydrated, I guess?  

One of the big issues, I knew, would be riding the bike course to my fitness, and not the fitness of the people around me.  Plenty of people swim 15-30 minutes slower than me, and ride 30-60 minutes faster.  So I was going to get passed a lot on the bike.  It was in the early stages of the ride that I really felt my lower back ache.  Consequently, I didn't spend too much time in "aero" position - as you can see in the picture above, I rode sitting up most of the time, saving the aero time for the steep descents and hard headwinds.  This slowed me down a little, but better a little slower than unable to ride at all.

On the bike, after mile 40 - no tights/arm warmers

Right around the two hour mark the group I was riding with came to the serious, slow, steep climb. I had been thinking about ditching my warm clothes at some point, and lo, I saw ahead of me several people off of their bikes on the side of the road, removing jackets and vests and tights.  I joined them, and said goodbye to a pair of tights I've owned for eight or nine years. You served me well and faithfully!  The arm warmers - Merino Wool, purchased for this race especially, and Verrrra Nice, thankyou - went into a back bike pocket.

The hill was a beast. The first time.

The mass of people struggling up this hill at 5 miles per hour was amazing. I wish I had a picture of that to share, but I can't find one. I kept it steady, in the next-to-smallest-gear, right up to the really steep last 1/2 mile. The plan was to just keep steady, with the heart rate below 150 BPM, and bomb down the other side.  Near the top, I started a sequence of 50 pedal strokes seated alternating with 10 strokes standing - that kept my back from getting too tight, I think, and was a big help when I made my push over the summit.

Well, that's hard to read, but basically the blue line is my speed over the segment - I basically rode the hill between 8 and 6 mph. The red is my heart rate, nicely in the 140s until I pushed over the top.  Then, the descent!  I didn't quite hit 50 miles per hour, but it was close!  The second lap was pretty similar, with my HR going over 150 a bit earlier.  But on the second lap, I saw a lot more people walking their bikes up the hill.

Aside from the fairly nasty headwind over the last 12 miles of the course, it was a beautiful day for a bike ride.  It was beautiful, the course was challenging, and I rode what I thought was fairly conservatively.  Despite that, and all the pit stops, I finished in 6 hours 41 mins - nearly 20 minutes faster than my prediction. 

T2 was a quick in and out. I kept my tri-shorts on (though I had bike shorts in the bag in case I decided I wanted them) because I've had Basque-related chafing issues over long distances in the past.  2 minutes 50 seconds in T2, quicker than predicted as well.  My legs were a bit wobbly, but I didn't feel awful leaving transition.

On the run, Mile ~2

That being said, I quickly realized that I was tired. There was nothing really specific I could point to - my back hurt a little but not terribly, my quads were sore but not screaming, but I was just beat.  I only mention this because it was unlike my other two IM experiences, I can hear someone saying "of course you were tired, dumbass," but, in all seriousness, in both of those other races I came out of T2 ready to GO.  Not so much this time.  And, within the first two miles, my watch battery died!  So, my plan to run based on heart rate went out the window.

At which point, I made the decision to just get through the run, and not worry too much about the time. I ran, I walked, I ran again.  Coach Brian tells me I kept a pretty steady pace, that declined from 11 minute miles to 12:30s at the back end of the course, but that wasn't my experience of it.  I definitely walked the one hill on the course both times I hit it.  Although I started doing the math on just completing the race before midnight - "If I start walking NOW, and I am walking, say, 20 minute miles, then I'd finish around 10:30" - I never really got to that point.  In fact, by the time I came through mile 19, where we went back onto the course for the second loop, I felt a bit better, and pretty much ran it in.  I walked every aid station, getting gatorade, water, and pretzels. I had some BASE salts a couple of times, my big fear being cramps in my legs around mile 22/23. Thankfully, they never materialized.

On the run, Mile ~19

So, I sucked it up and ran it in.  It got dark, they gave me a reflective light stick, and I had some trouble seeing where I was going in the last two miles, but I brought it in, 5 hours and 24 minutes later.  60 minutes slower than I had hoped, but definitely a win considering how many people I saw walking from mile 1.  Seriously, I've NEVER seen so many people walking on the course straight out of the gate.

Woot!

 So, once again, I are an Ironman!  I have some takeaways.

1) In the previous attempts at IM glory, I did a marathon in the Spring.  That meant that my long run training throughout the season was always over 15 miles. This year, I didn't get to a 15 mile long run until August, LATE August, and my run over that distance went 15/19/20/11/13/RACE.  I didn't have enough miles in my legs to run the marathon at marathon+20min pace.

2) Previously, I had trained to run the marathon in 3h40, and ended up in the 4h20ish range.  This time, I trained to run 4h05, and went 5h25.  But, see above.

3) I've always had trouble with cramping in the last miles of the marathon, with or without the bike/swim. I paid way more attention to that, and solved it.  Good!

4a)  I came out of the water in 76th place in my age group, and 484th over all; Off the bike 78/482, but finished in 70th place in my age group, 440th over all. Despite the awful run, I moved up 8 places in my age group and 42 places overall - lots and lots of people walking.   I advanced by keeping the run/walk thing going, and moving forward.

4b) In my age group, 151 people finished the swim, 148 finished the bike, and 141 finished the run. First place in my age group was 9 hours 46 mins - 1h04 swim, 5h04 bike, 3h26 run. 5 hours on the bike on THIS course?  Dude is a monster.

4c) I also like to see what it would have taken for me to move up or down a few places - 50th place was 12h48; if I had run my predicted 4h05, I would have finished in 39th. If I fell apart a little more, 80th place was 13h51, and 100th 14h30.

5) I went to the medical area after the race - trouble breathing - got some albuteral and chicken stock, and felt better. Who puts the medical area for an Ironman at the bottom of a flight of stairs?!?

6) Perhaps because of the leisurely pace of my run, I did not feel so beat up this week as in previous IM efforts.  In fact, Coach Brian and I went out West Coast Swing dancing on Monday night.  There was ostensibly a lesson at a social dance in Carson City, but in fact they were practicing for a "flash mob" - they had been working on the routine for about eight weeks.  Coach B and I picked it right up.

I'm the IMLT Ballcap, Coach B is under the light on the left  

Not too shabby for barely being able to walk. :)

Finally, I want to say thank you to everyone who made this journey possible.  My family, first and foremost, for putting up with all the training and crazy hours and finding of bikes to ride whilst on vacation. Then Coach Brian, for the invaluable support he almost gave me at several points along the way.  :)  Everyone who loaned me a bike, or went out on a run with me, or biked with me while I was on travel all over the country this spring/summer.  The DCTC Masters program, without whom I would certainly not have swum 1h12. Finally, a big shout out to my Sister-in-law Ruth, and C.O.R.E. Personal Training and Pilates Studio - thanks for all the help!