About to get on the plane back to SoCal, but a brief rundown....
Ho...Lee...Shit! That was F*&%$ing HARD! My IM PR is 11:28 and my slowest ever was St. George in 2011 at 13 hours flat. I went 16:19 yesterday. The course was beautiful, stunning, and the bike was insanely tough, and they shouldn't change a thing...EXCEPT, make the T1 changing tent about 4 times larger!
More later after I get home. It was below freezing this morning, so everyone who stayed for the athlete breakfast must be freezing their asses off in that tent!
Photos of the week here:
https://www.facebook.com/...681736084&type=3
Okay, here's my official RR:
I figured out long ago why I love endurance racing. It rewards two of my worst traits- Impatience and stubborness. Impatience gets me to the finish line faster and stubborness keeps me going when my body says "no".
First, I did everything wrong and went against all conventional ST wisdom for this race. I signed up for this race 14 months ago stoked on the idea of racing in such a beautiful place, and the fact that I could do it on the cheap relative to some other IMs I've done that cost way too much (IMLP, for example) since I live in the same state as the race.
I have now gotten to the point in my "endurance racing" career that I realize that I am not a cyclist. I have never been one and will never be one because I simply don't enjoy it. I have always trained alone in my 8 years in triathlon (I prefer it that way), and doing 6-7 hour training rides wasting entire weekend days sitting on a bike just isn't my idea of fun. However...I do love punishing, long events like Ironman. Like most of us, I'm super-busy with work, kids, life, etc., and I've grown to the point where I don't really care about getting faster...I just like participating in long endurance events, so for this IM, I decided I would do the minimum swim and bike training possible and rely on my 8 years of base to get me through my 8th Ironman in Tahoe.
My longest training swims were 45 minute efforts once a week, with two more swims of 20 minutes and 30 minutes all following either bike or run sessions. I have a community pool across the street from my house and I always swim alone and never do anything other than straight freestyle swimming- no intervals, no "sets", etc. I also surf nearly every day, so swimming is not a problem for me, though I'm not fast as you can imagine.
My bike training is laughable by ST standards. I live in warm, sunny SoCal, but I stopped bike training outside about a year ago after seeing too many ST threads about people getting tagged by cars, and found that training in the garage was easier (I could ride at 5am when it was still dark outside, no clothes to put on, nutrition to pack, no traffic lights/stop signs, etc. to deal with). Two years ago, I bought some eMotion Rollers. I rode them as they were meant to be ridden for a while, then found that I couldn't watch TV/movies and stay upright, so I bought a fork stand to use with them. I train on that exclusively (with the odd mountain bike ride outside thrown in). I watch TV and movies on a laptop with headphones and just get on there and ride. No intervals, though I do switch to harder gears every few minutes and do some standup climbing simulation during the commercials. My longest rides leading up to IMLT were 4 1/2 hours which I did 3 times and a few 3:30 rides also. My rationale is that 4 1/2 hours of non-stop pedaling was the same as start/stop pedaling for 6 hours on the road. Flawed logic? Maybe. In any case, not ideal IM training for a hilly course, but it's about as much as I wanted to do and it allowed me to be done with my long Saturday workouts by 11am ("ride" from 5:30am-10am and run from 10am-10:45am) which works for my family. I figured it would be an interesting experiment to say the least to see if it worked. Watching movies, that 4 1/2 hours went a lot faster than you could imagine and when I needed something to eat/drink, I'd just get off the bike for a minute, grab something from the fridge and hop back on and continue my movie.
Run training was no problem since I love running and had done five 50k trail races between March and June and was able to keep the run miles going through the summer.
In the month leading up to the race, I had some obstacles to my training including an August 20-25th visit to the east coast to see family (no cycling/swimming that week), followed by one week at home and then a 9-day trip to Brazil for business that involved no cycling from Sept. 1-10th when I should have been peaking my bike training. I was able to get in tons of running and some swimming there though. Then, to make matters worse, one week before leaving for Tahoe, I got food poisoning, rendering me weak and running to the toilet for 5 days. I continued to train through that, except the first day after it hit as I was puking my guts out. Finally, the day before I was leaving for Tahoe, I felt normal again.
I knew the course was going to be tough and since I tend to enjoy adversity, difficult courses, etc., I figured this was going to be an epic day. I have done some races at elevation and have struggled a bit, so that was a concern as well. I flew up to Tahoe on Thursday and grabbed my bike, which is the same aluminum Cervelo Dual that I bought in 2006 and have ridden in all my IMs. I don't own another road bike and don't own racing wheels. Just me and my trusty Dual that my mechanic Hank Iglesias fitted with an 11/32 mountain bike rear derailleur to go with my 50/34 compacts. By the way, I never train with a heart rate monitor and have never used a power meter, and my bike computer is one I bought at "SuperGo" before it was Performance Bike for about $20 8 years ago.
I don't have any triathlete friends other than here on ST and triathlon doesn't "define" me though it is an important part of my life. As I said, I defy all conventional ST wisdom. One bonus, my wife surprised me and flew up to Tahoe on Friday to be there for me. Our wonderful friends watched the kids so she could come. I've done my last few IMs alone because it's just no fun for the family, so this was a treat for me to have someone there for support.
Another thing I never do is preview the course. I did run 2 miles out and back of the run course on Thursday afternoon and I rode 15 of the easiest miles of the bike course on Hwy 89 on Friday just because they were outside my hotel door, but never drove to Brockway or Martis and simply expected them to be really tough. I paid very close attention to the weather leading up to the race and had brought all my warmest gear. On that 4-mile run on Thursday, I got about 25 yards and had to walk as I went hypoxic. I knew from experience to just "reset" my breathing and take it VERY slow and work my way up to speed, and that worked. Same deal with my one practice swim on Friday at King's Beach. Once I got my heart rate under control, I was okay.
RACE DAY:
I woke up too early. 3:15am and the first bus wasn't leaving the Village until 4:30am. I had some food and then basically sort of sat around in the hotel trying not to wake up my wife and checking the IMLT Facebook page to kill time. I felt like I didn't want to get to King's too early and then stand around in the cold, but worried I'd fall back asleep, I left the room at 4:15am. I got on a shuttle to the Village and caught the first bus to King's.
Things were bustling once there. I was toasty in my down jacket, hood, beanie, gloves, etc. I was prepared. I did all the normal prep but my old bike computer didn't survive the sub-freezing temps overnight. There was ice inside the plastic and it wouldn't turn on. So, I would have no measure of my speed or distance. My Garmin only tells elapsed mileage from the start of the race, but no speed. Not a big deal as I had zero time goals with this race knowing my minimal preparation and the difficulty of the bike course. Got my gear on and especially enjoyed seeing the nervous excitement of all the first-timers who picked a doozy of a first time Ironman and remembering how scared and excited I was for my first back in 2006. You only have one first Ironman and as the eastern sky began to light, we all caught the first stunning views of the snowcapped peaks from the day before's afternoon snowfall combined with the mist from the warm lake waters to produce the most scenic IM venue I've ever encountered. The air temp was around freezing, but everyone was ready for the day!
SWIM:
The rolling start worked perfectly for me. I am typically a 1:09 or so IM swimmer, but figured I would go ten minutes slower due to the elevation and seeded myself accordingly. I wasn't far off. I had an uneventful swim after the first 6 or 7 minutes where I had to alternate freestyle and breaststroke to get my heart rate in line with my breathing. I came in at 1:17 and never felt tired and had little contact. I was not pushing it at all. It's amazing how clear the water is in this lake. Nearly unlimited visibility. It's crazy how some people don't kick at all and some kick like crazy when they swim. I try to avoid the "Kicky McKicksters" as I name them in my head so I don't break a finger or get kicked in the teeth. FWIW, I wore my DeSoto First Wave suit, neo cap and booties, though I could have done without the cap and booties as the water was in the low 60's, but I knew that I needed to keep my feet sand-free after getting out so I wouldn't have sand in my socks for the bike and run. That turned out to be a good call for me.
T1:
I don't have much to add that others haven't already mentioned. My 25-minute transition is in line with what others have reported. I came in with the meat of the pack and there was a line to get into the tent. Normally, I would have found a spot on the tarmac outside, but I had nothing on under my wetsuit and didn't want to flash the twig and berries to the world, plus the temps in the low 30s I would have been in sad shape pretty quickly with all that skin exposed, so I waited in line to get into the changing tent, again, not worrying about times in this race.
"Musty" is the word that comes to mind. There was not 8" of spare space in that tent. Literally nowhere to go to dump out your bike gear bag, barely any room to simply stand up. Somehow I came upon a chair right as a guy was getting up and sat down and slowly peeled off my wetsuit with zero elbow or foot room in front of me. I was very conscious that if I dropped something I would likely never find it, so I was very slow and methodical. Also had to watch for guys walking by with bike shoes on so they didn't step on my bare feet. Lots of fart smells, body odor and nakedness in that tent. I would kill to see a minute of video of the mayhem and how absolutely chaotic it was. The volunteers are heroes in my book for being in there.
So, I finally managed to get my gear on. Injinji socks alone took about 3 minutes to put on, but I love these socks, particularly for running, so it was worth it for me. I put on my dry tri shorts and top, tights, a short sleeve cycling jersey over the tri top, arm warmers, a fleece-lined cycling jacket, a light beanie under the helmet and winter cycling gloves with lighter weight ones in my back pocket, and then had a small hydration backpack with the bladder removed to carry the layers when I peeled them off. I didn't want to use the clothes drop in case I needed the layers again later.
BIKE:
Finally out on the bike, it was cold! I don't have toe covers, so as expected my toes were cold, but the rest of me was perfect. My clothing setup, though not aero, was warm and I was off and riding. My plan was to be very conservative on the first loop to save some juice for the second, and basically just take my time. I saw all different sorts of clothing setups on other riders from the very prepared to the "what the hell were you thinking?". One guy had a sleeveless tri suit and arm warmers. I saw him pull over ahead of me obviously frozen looking bewildered pretty early in the bike. Others went with their wet tri shorts and I know they must have been freezing as temps were still in the 30s at that point.
Nutrition on the bike for me consists of Perform and water (I start the bike with just one bottle of water and pick up Perform at Aid 1). I have two Bonk Breaker bars and about 6 gels, and take bananas at many of the aid stations.
I got to Truckee and the climbing began. I didn't know if the first little climb was Martis, or Brockway or just some little climb since I hadn't really studied the course at all. I spun up the hills pretty well and then we entered "Martis Camp" Beautiful subdivision no doubt of the rich and famous with giant log cabin-style homes and many plots still unsold with ski runs going through it. I remember thinking if I were a multi-millionaire, I'd like to have a home here! I still didn't know the magnitude of climbing until we got into the meat of it. Switchbacks where you could see riders still chugging uphill levels above you was mentally tough, and then you'd have a bit of descent, and then another tough switchback climb. I was overheating on the climbs and freezing on the downhills, so I would peel off the gloves on the climbs and unzip the jacket and then zip back up and re-glove for the descents. That worked pretty well and I saw others removing layers and putting layers back on for these ups and downs. After all the Martis climbs and descents, we ended up coming out on the Brockway summit climb which was demoralizing because it seemed to go on and on, right after you had just been punished with the Martis climbs. The only thing that kept me going was the thought that once to the top of Brockway, it was a net downhill all the way back to Truckee with only one significant, but more benign climb along the lakefront called Dollar Hill. Plus, the goddam thing got steeper as you went up mindf$#%@ you even more!
The descent to King's from there is pure downhill coasting. I am conservative on the descents and topped out at what I estimated to be (remember, my bike computer wasn't working) around 35 mph, but some guys blew by me doing probably 50mph easily. Once back there, the mental games began. "I have to do that all over again, plus another 1/3 of a bike loop!" My neck was hurting from being in aero with restrictive clothing on, and I now had a headache, so every time I rode past some kind spectator screaming words of support or clanking a cowbell, my head pounded. I figured the headache would work itself out at some point which it eventually did, but I found myself riding the horns a lot to alleviate the neck pain. I was already 3 1/2 hours into the bike after one loop and knew I had 1 1/3 to go and started doing the math and realizing that I was cutting it close to stay on pace to make the bike cutoff. Never in my years of triathlon did I ever even have to consider that, so once again, I was humbled.
I stopped at SN and really needed to get off the bike for a bit, so I sat on the hillside and drank the Coke and Pop Tarts I had packed and stretched out my neck and just enjoyed ten minutes of downtime. I hadn't done that at Special Needs since my first IM, but really needed it. I took off my winter gloves and beanie as well as my jacket and packed them in the backpack and continued on the ride feeling a new energy (probably from the Coke and Pop Tarts!) and headed back to Truckee. I was on a high, but knew from years of experience, IM is full of highs and lows, and by the time I hit Truckee, doubts began to creep into my brain. I was facing 1,500 ft. of tough climbing and was already smoked from nearly 70 miles and 5 hours of cycling. My longest bike ride ever in an IM was at St. George where I rode something like 6:45, but here I was looking to go WAY beyond that. I started thinking about how easy it would be to drop out. I'd see people sitting in chairs relaxing on the side of the course and think, "man, that would be nice to be doing that right now", or just to lay down under a tree and go to sleep... The thought of another 42 miles on the bike and THEN a goddam marathon were almost overwhelming. Then, I'd think about how much I would regret quitting and knew I had to ride out the low and eventually I'd come out of that deep mental valley. The stubborness was serving me well. Somehow I made the climbs again, but was really hurting by the time I descended to King's for the second time.
Now the math was turning against me. I knew I was close to the cutoffs, and made it past the last one with, I believe, twenty minutes to spare. This IM was going to be unlike anything I could have imagined. In my head, I thought I'd go 7 hours on the bike, but my 8:23 was horrendous and burned every last match I had. I waddled off the bike and told the bike handler to sell it to the highest bidder.
T2:
In complete contrast, T2 was a ghost town. I sat next to a few other guys and we were all taking our sweet time in there, enjoying a bit of rest. I sat back in my chair contemplating my options and a volunteer asked me if I was okay. I told him I was just trying to mentally prepare for the torture ahead. I knew I had about 6 1/2 hours until midnight, but also knew I didn't have a marathon "run" in me. I had read somewhere on ST that a decent walking pace could get me through a marathon in 6 hours or so, so I set out figuring on running when I could, but realizing that the bike had zapped any run I had in me at the time.
RUN:
So, the death march began. I could see people finishing their day as I walked out of transition knowing that this was going to suck beyond words. I have always been able to run most if not all of every IM marathon, but knew it wasn't happening and again, threw away all pride and concerns about what I've done in the past and focused on something that had never been an issue being typically a 12 hr. IM finisher- making the midnight cutoff. I was a bit confused about that since I had really started the race at 6:45am, technically giving me 17 hours and 15 minutes to finish, but at any rate, I started monitoring my walking pace, which averaged a bit under 15 minutes/mile figuring if I could cover 4 miles in an hour, I'd get to the finish around 11:30pm. Not much cushion, but it was very doable, and when I felt up to running, I would improve on that.
My wife met up with me around mile 3 at the Resort and mercifully walked with me for a mile and a bit and let me vent about my suffering, but also buoyed me and kept my mind off things by talking about what she did all day. I briefly wondered if I'd get DQed if someone deemed she was pacing me, but at that point, didn't give a shit. She wasn't by the way!
So, by now, the sun was down, and I had set out on the run in my shorts, tri top, cycling jersey and arm warmers. I also had my beanie on and gloves. I was feeling okay, but once out by the Truckee River Trail, it started to get cold FAST! The upshot was that I HAD to keep a brisk walk pace for risk of hypothermia. I grabbed my long sleeve tee at SN 10K into the run and that helped a bit, but the temps were already in the upper 30s by this time. In hindsight, I should have ripped a hole in my SN bag and put it over my head for my insulation! My stomach no longer had a tolerance for Perform or gels. My IM nutrition strategy is to eat/drink what my body craves or can tolerate. For this power-walk, it was pretzels/chips, Coke and chicken broth. I was drinking broth at nearly every aid station. It warmed me up, and the sodium was a godsend. I'd drink Coke when I needed some energy. I had something happen on this "run" that I've never experienced. I would drink the broth, and within 2-4 minutes would have to pee. I would stop at a tree, pee, and then press on only to have to pee right after the next aid station. I must have peed 15 times on the run. I think the cold combined with the intake was doing it. Pee was nice and clear, so I knew I was hydrating well.
It seemed to take FOREVER to get to the Tahoe City turnaround, but heading back the other way meant a general downhill. So, I was able to run in small bursts of several hundred yards before having to walk again. It got so dark on the trail that the only time I could see was if someone in front of me had a light. Many people did. I brought a flashlight to Tahoe, but opted not to use it...wish I had in hindsight. So, I finally got back to the Village and in a cruel irony, you walk right down the finish chute before turning off for your second shorter lap 100 yards from the finish line. You see other racers finishing their day, but you still have 7 or 8 miles to go.
I got to the Resort loop and saw my wife again. She seemed genuinely concerned, but I assured her I was nearly there and would meet her near the finish. Told her I was freezing, but doing okay. She was going to walk the rest of the course with me, but she had Uggs on and I told her I planned to run the last few miles, so she bowed out.
By now, the end was in sight, and I was walking at as fast of a pace as I could muster. I actually passed a couple of folks that were "running". With light at the end of the tunnel, the mood shifts and you start to find something deep inside to get you that last few miles. I was doing my alternating running/walking and knew I would make the cutoff and me and all my fellow zombies were encouraging each other to get there. We were all excited that we'd make it. One woman I was walking with claimed to have heard (incorrectly) that there was a 50% DNF rate. That actually made me feel better for having such a slow bike time, even though it turned out not to be true. I have never been a back-of-the-packer, but kind of enjoyed the comaraderie that we all shared trying to get to the finish by midnight. The aid station folks were hanging in pushing us through and once the finish line was in earshot, all the pain and agony of the day began to melt away.
Once to the Village parking lot, I mustered a full-blown run through the Village, high-fiving people lining the chute and whipped out a couple of cartwheels and my signature leap across the line as Reilly called my finish. That guy and Tom Z are amazing at keeping the energy flowing for every single finisher! One of the things I love about Ironman! My run time was 6:04 with an overall finish time of 16:19, three hours and 19 minutes slower than my slowest IM ever in St. George.
FINISH:
I was a bit wobbly, but quite lucid and went to hug my beautiful wife. She then took off to get my gear bags while I headed for the massage tent. Being on the verge of hypothermia I knew I had to get somewhere warm fast, so I signed up, went over to get my food, and quickly got back to the massage tent to warm up while I tried to choke down the food. The food was GREAT, but I never have much of an appetite after long endurance races, but knew my body needed something. When my massage time came up, I was shivering so violently, that I didn't enjoy my massage at all, and the girl giving it was actually grinding into me so hard it hurt. Just one more challenge to end the day.
My wife showed up with my bags and helped me get all my warm clothes on, and we went and caught the last 5 minutes of the race and saw a few come across the line and then headed back to the hotel. I drew a bath back at the hotel and fell asleep in the bathtub! Flew home this morning and landed to temps in the low 80s, more than 50 degrees warmer than what we left in Squaw Valley this morning!
EPILOGUE:
So, I claimed my 8th and by far most humbling IM finish one the most scenic and tough courses I've been on, with weather that challenged and inspired. As with all first-time races, there are a few logistical issues for WTC to work out, but from my perspective, community support was incredible with great fans/cheering, unbelievable volunteers who hung in there until the bitter end for us, and as always with WTC, a first-class operation. Yes, more heated areas for finishers are needed, more room in the changing tents given the cold and need for people to spend more time in there to put on layers, etc., but WTC generally gets it right, so I wouldn't be surprised to have those things ironed out for next year. I would be disappointed if they modified the course to make it easier. We have to have some TOUGH Ironmans. There are plenty of "easier" courses out there. Ironman is supposed to be hard...it's not "Pantyman". I take full responsibility for my tough day and knew going in that my training regime would be barely enough to get me through, and that this was going to be more mental for me to get to the finish line, and that was certainly the case.
My hat is off to everyone who started on Sunday, even the many that didn't make the cutoffs. Better to be pulled from the course while trying than to just give up because it's tough out there. What kept me going was thinking that I didn't want to have to tell my kids I quit because it was too hard. A life lesson for them...do not give up just because you are facing adversity.
As far as my future with IM...I am not signed up for an IM for 2014. First time in 8 years I don't have one on the schedule. I am doing a couple of trail ultras which I have been really enjoying due to the simplicity, easy logistics/training, cheap prices, and more suffering per dollar :) and the HITS Palm Springs 1/2 iron in December. I'm also in for Oceanside 70.3 next year. Training for 70.3 is much more "doable" for me given my lack of love for cycling, so I may have a bit of a break from IM...unless they throw up another one within driving distance of SoCal, and then it's game one again!
So again, congrats to all the finishers and would-be finishers yesterday, and to those thinking about signing up for IM Tahoe, be ready...be VERY ready!
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My business-eBodyboarding.com
Ho...Lee...Shit! That was F*&%$ing HARD! My IM PR is 11:28 and my slowest ever was St. George in 2011 at 13 hours flat. I went 16:19 yesterday. The course was beautiful, stunning, and the bike was insanely tough, and they shouldn't change a thing...EXCEPT, make the T1 changing tent about 4 times larger!
More later after I get home. It was below freezing this morning, so everyone who stayed for the athlete breakfast must be freezing their asses off in that tent!
Photos of the week here:
https://www.facebook.com/...681736084&type=3
Okay, here's my official RR:
I figured out long ago why I love endurance racing. It rewards two of my worst traits- Impatience and stubborness. Impatience gets me to the finish line faster and stubborness keeps me going when my body says "no".
First, I did everything wrong and went against all conventional ST wisdom for this race. I signed up for this race 14 months ago stoked on the idea of racing in such a beautiful place, and the fact that I could do it on the cheap relative to some other IMs I've done that cost way too much (IMLP, for example) since I live in the same state as the race.
I have now gotten to the point in my "endurance racing" career that I realize that I am not a cyclist. I have never been one and will never be one because I simply don't enjoy it. I have always trained alone in my 8 years in triathlon (I prefer it that way), and doing 6-7 hour training rides wasting entire weekend days sitting on a bike just isn't my idea of fun. However...I do love punishing, long events like Ironman. Like most of us, I'm super-busy with work, kids, life, etc., and I've grown to the point where I don't really care about getting faster...I just like participating in long endurance events, so for this IM, I decided I would do the minimum swim and bike training possible and rely on my 8 years of base to get me through my 8th Ironman in Tahoe.
My longest training swims were 45 minute efforts once a week, with two more swims of 20 minutes and 30 minutes all following either bike or run sessions. I have a community pool across the street from my house and I always swim alone and never do anything other than straight freestyle swimming- no intervals, no "sets", etc. I also surf nearly every day, so swimming is not a problem for me, though I'm not fast as you can imagine.
My bike training is laughable by ST standards. I live in warm, sunny SoCal, but I stopped bike training outside about a year ago after seeing too many ST threads about people getting tagged by cars, and found that training in the garage was easier (I could ride at 5am when it was still dark outside, no clothes to put on, nutrition to pack, no traffic lights/stop signs, etc. to deal with). Two years ago, I bought some eMotion Rollers. I rode them as they were meant to be ridden for a while, then found that I couldn't watch TV/movies and stay upright, so I bought a fork stand to use with them. I train on that exclusively (with the odd mountain bike ride outside thrown in). I watch TV and movies on a laptop with headphones and just get on there and ride. No intervals, though I do switch to harder gears every few minutes and do some standup climbing simulation during the commercials. My longest rides leading up to IMLT were 4 1/2 hours which I did 3 times and a few 3:30 rides also. My rationale is that 4 1/2 hours of non-stop pedaling was the same as start/stop pedaling for 6 hours on the road. Flawed logic? Maybe. In any case, not ideal IM training for a hilly course, but it's about as much as I wanted to do and it allowed me to be done with my long Saturday workouts by 11am ("ride" from 5:30am-10am and run from 10am-10:45am) which works for my family. I figured it would be an interesting experiment to say the least to see if it worked. Watching movies, that 4 1/2 hours went a lot faster than you could imagine and when I needed something to eat/drink, I'd just get off the bike for a minute, grab something from the fridge and hop back on and continue my movie.
Run training was no problem since I love running and had done five 50k trail races between March and June and was able to keep the run miles going through the summer.
In the month leading up to the race, I had some obstacles to my training including an August 20-25th visit to the east coast to see family (no cycling/swimming that week), followed by one week at home and then a 9-day trip to Brazil for business that involved no cycling from Sept. 1-10th when I should have been peaking my bike training. I was able to get in tons of running and some swimming there though. Then, to make matters worse, one week before leaving for Tahoe, I got food poisoning, rendering me weak and running to the toilet for 5 days. I continued to train through that, except the first day after it hit as I was puking my guts out. Finally, the day before I was leaving for Tahoe, I felt normal again.
I knew the course was going to be tough and since I tend to enjoy adversity, difficult courses, etc., I figured this was going to be an epic day. I have done some races at elevation and have struggled a bit, so that was a concern as well. I flew up to Tahoe on Thursday and grabbed my bike, which is the same aluminum Cervelo Dual that I bought in 2006 and have ridden in all my IMs. I don't own another road bike and don't own racing wheels. Just me and my trusty Dual that my mechanic Hank Iglesias fitted with an 11/32 mountain bike rear derailleur to go with my 50/34 compacts. By the way, I never train with a heart rate monitor and have never used a power meter, and my bike computer is one I bought at "SuperGo" before it was Performance Bike for about $20 8 years ago.
I don't have any triathlete friends other than here on ST and triathlon doesn't "define" me though it is an important part of my life. As I said, I defy all conventional ST wisdom. One bonus, my wife surprised me and flew up to Tahoe on Friday to be there for me. Our wonderful friends watched the kids so she could come. I've done my last few IMs alone because it's just no fun for the family, so this was a treat for me to have someone there for support.
Another thing I never do is preview the course. I did run 2 miles out and back of the run course on Thursday afternoon and I rode 15 of the easiest miles of the bike course on Hwy 89 on Friday just because they were outside my hotel door, but never drove to Brockway or Martis and simply expected them to be really tough. I paid very close attention to the weather leading up to the race and had brought all my warmest gear. On that 4-mile run on Thursday, I got about 25 yards and had to walk as I went hypoxic. I knew from experience to just "reset" my breathing and take it VERY slow and work my way up to speed, and that worked. Same deal with my one practice swim on Friday at King's Beach. Once I got my heart rate under control, I was okay.
RACE DAY:
I woke up too early. 3:15am and the first bus wasn't leaving the Village until 4:30am. I had some food and then basically sort of sat around in the hotel trying not to wake up my wife and checking the IMLT Facebook page to kill time. I felt like I didn't want to get to King's too early and then stand around in the cold, but worried I'd fall back asleep, I left the room at 4:15am. I got on a shuttle to the Village and caught the first bus to King's.
Things were bustling once there. I was toasty in my down jacket, hood, beanie, gloves, etc. I was prepared. I did all the normal prep but my old bike computer didn't survive the sub-freezing temps overnight. There was ice inside the plastic and it wouldn't turn on. So, I would have no measure of my speed or distance. My Garmin only tells elapsed mileage from the start of the race, but no speed. Not a big deal as I had zero time goals with this race knowing my minimal preparation and the difficulty of the bike course. Got my gear on and especially enjoyed seeing the nervous excitement of all the first-timers who picked a doozy of a first time Ironman and remembering how scared and excited I was for my first back in 2006. You only have one first Ironman and as the eastern sky began to light, we all caught the first stunning views of the snowcapped peaks from the day before's afternoon snowfall combined with the mist from the warm lake waters to produce the most scenic IM venue I've ever encountered. The air temp was around freezing, but everyone was ready for the day!
SWIM:
The rolling start worked perfectly for me. I am typically a 1:09 or so IM swimmer, but figured I would go ten minutes slower due to the elevation and seeded myself accordingly. I wasn't far off. I had an uneventful swim after the first 6 or 7 minutes where I had to alternate freestyle and breaststroke to get my heart rate in line with my breathing. I came in at 1:17 and never felt tired and had little contact. I was not pushing it at all. It's amazing how clear the water is in this lake. Nearly unlimited visibility. It's crazy how some people don't kick at all and some kick like crazy when they swim. I try to avoid the "Kicky McKicksters" as I name them in my head so I don't break a finger or get kicked in the teeth. FWIW, I wore my DeSoto First Wave suit, neo cap and booties, though I could have done without the cap and booties as the water was in the low 60's, but I knew that I needed to keep my feet sand-free after getting out so I wouldn't have sand in my socks for the bike and run. That turned out to be a good call for me.
T1:
I don't have much to add that others haven't already mentioned. My 25-minute transition is in line with what others have reported. I came in with the meat of the pack and there was a line to get into the tent. Normally, I would have found a spot on the tarmac outside, but I had nothing on under my wetsuit and didn't want to flash the twig and berries to the world, plus the temps in the low 30s I would have been in sad shape pretty quickly with all that skin exposed, so I waited in line to get into the changing tent, again, not worrying about times in this race.
"Musty" is the word that comes to mind. There was not 8" of spare space in that tent. Literally nowhere to go to dump out your bike gear bag, barely any room to simply stand up. Somehow I came upon a chair right as a guy was getting up and sat down and slowly peeled off my wetsuit with zero elbow or foot room in front of me. I was very conscious that if I dropped something I would likely never find it, so I was very slow and methodical. Also had to watch for guys walking by with bike shoes on so they didn't step on my bare feet. Lots of fart smells, body odor and nakedness in that tent. I would kill to see a minute of video of the mayhem and how absolutely chaotic it was. The volunteers are heroes in my book for being in there.
So, I finally managed to get my gear on. Injinji socks alone took about 3 minutes to put on, but I love these socks, particularly for running, so it was worth it for me. I put on my dry tri shorts and top, tights, a short sleeve cycling jersey over the tri top, arm warmers, a fleece-lined cycling jacket, a light beanie under the helmet and winter cycling gloves with lighter weight ones in my back pocket, and then had a small hydration backpack with the bladder removed to carry the layers when I peeled them off. I didn't want to use the clothes drop in case I needed the layers again later.
BIKE:
Finally out on the bike, it was cold! I don't have toe covers, so as expected my toes were cold, but the rest of me was perfect. My clothing setup, though not aero, was warm and I was off and riding. My plan was to be very conservative on the first loop to save some juice for the second, and basically just take my time. I saw all different sorts of clothing setups on other riders from the very prepared to the "what the hell were you thinking?". One guy had a sleeveless tri suit and arm warmers. I saw him pull over ahead of me obviously frozen looking bewildered pretty early in the bike. Others went with their wet tri shorts and I know they must have been freezing as temps were still in the 30s at that point.
Nutrition on the bike for me consists of Perform and water (I start the bike with just one bottle of water and pick up Perform at Aid 1). I have two Bonk Breaker bars and about 6 gels, and take bananas at many of the aid stations.
I got to Truckee and the climbing began. I didn't know if the first little climb was Martis, or Brockway or just some little climb since I hadn't really studied the course at all. I spun up the hills pretty well and then we entered "Martis Camp" Beautiful subdivision no doubt of the rich and famous with giant log cabin-style homes and many plots still unsold with ski runs going through it. I remember thinking if I were a multi-millionaire, I'd like to have a home here! I still didn't know the magnitude of climbing until we got into the meat of it. Switchbacks where you could see riders still chugging uphill levels above you was mentally tough, and then you'd have a bit of descent, and then another tough switchback climb. I was overheating on the climbs and freezing on the downhills, so I would peel off the gloves on the climbs and unzip the jacket and then zip back up and re-glove for the descents. That worked pretty well and I saw others removing layers and putting layers back on for these ups and downs. After all the Martis climbs and descents, we ended up coming out on the Brockway summit climb which was demoralizing because it seemed to go on and on, right after you had just been punished with the Martis climbs. The only thing that kept me going was the thought that once to the top of Brockway, it was a net downhill all the way back to Truckee with only one significant, but more benign climb along the lakefront called Dollar Hill. Plus, the goddam thing got steeper as you went up mindf$#%@ you even more!
The descent to King's from there is pure downhill coasting. I am conservative on the descents and topped out at what I estimated to be (remember, my bike computer wasn't working) around 35 mph, but some guys blew by me doing probably 50mph easily. Once back there, the mental games began. "I have to do that all over again, plus another 1/3 of a bike loop!" My neck was hurting from being in aero with restrictive clothing on, and I now had a headache, so every time I rode past some kind spectator screaming words of support or clanking a cowbell, my head pounded. I figured the headache would work itself out at some point which it eventually did, but I found myself riding the horns a lot to alleviate the neck pain. I was already 3 1/2 hours into the bike after one loop and knew I had 1 1/3 to go and started doing the math and realizing that I was cutting it close to stay on pace to make the bike cutoff. Never in my years of triathlon did I ever even have to consider that, so once again, I was humbled.
I stopped at SN and really needed to get off the bike for a bit, so I sat on the hillside and drank the Coke and Pop Tarts I had packed and stretched out my neck and just enjoyed ten minutes of downtime. I hadn't done that at Special Needs since my first IM, but really needed it. I took off my winter gloves and beanie as well as my jacket and packed them in the backpack and continued on the ride feeling a new energy (probably from the Coke and Pop Tarts!) and headed back to Truckee. I was on a high, but knew from years of experience, IM is full of highs and lows, and by the time I hit Truckee, doubts began to creep into my brain. I was facing 1,500 ft. of tough climbing and was already smoked from nearly 70 miles and 5 hours of cycling. My longest bike ride ever in an IM was at St. George where I rode something like 6:45, but here I was looking to go WAY beyond that. I started thinking about how easy it would be to drop out. I'd see people sitting in chairs relaxing on the side of the course and think, "man, that would be nice to be doing that right now", or just to lay down under a tree and go to sleep... The thought of another 42 miles on the bike and THEN a goddam marathon were almost overwhelming. Then, I'd think about how much I would regret quitting and knew I had to ride out the low and eventually I'd come out of that deep mental valley. The stubborness was serving me well. Somehow I made the climbs again, but was really hurting by the time I descended to King's for the second time.
Now the math was turning against me. I knew I was close to the cutoffs, and made it past the last one with, I believe, twenty minutes to spare. This IM was going to be unlike anything I could have imagined. In my head, I thought I'd go 7 hours on the bike, but my 8:23 was horrendous and burned every last match I had. I waddled off the bike and told the bike handler to sell it to the highest bidder.
T2:
In complete contrast, T2 was a ghost town. I sat next to a few other guys and we were all taking our sweet time in there, enjoying a bit of rest. I sat back in my chair contemplating my options and a volunteer asked me if I was okay. I told him I was just trying to mentally prepare for the torture ahead. I knew I had about 6 1/2 hours until midnight, but also knew I didn't have a marathon "run" in me. I had read somewhere on ST that a decent walking pace could get me through a marathon in 6 hours or so, so I set out figuring on running when I could, but realizing that the bike had zapped any run I had in me at the time.
RUN:
So, the death march began. I could see people finishing their day as I walked out of transition knowing that this was going to suck beyond words. I have always been able to run most if not all of every IM marathon, but knew it wasn't happening and again, threw away all pride and concerns about what I've done in the past and focused on something that had never been an issue being typically a 12 hr. IM finisher- making the midnight cutoff. I was a bit confused about that since I had really started the race at 6:45am, technically giving me 17 hours and 15 minutes to finish, but at any rate, I started monitoring my walking pace, which averaged a bit under 15 minutes/mile figuring if I could cover 4 miles in an hour, I'd get to the finish around 11:30pm. Not much cushion, but it was very doable, and when I felt up to running, I would improve on that.
My wife met up with me around mile 3 at the Resort and mercifully walked with me for a mile and a bit and let me vent about my suffering, but also buoyed me and kept my mind off things by talking about what she did all day. I briefly wondered if I'd get DQed if someone deemed she was pacing me, but at that point, didn't give a shit. She wasn't by the way!
So, by now, the sun was down, and I had set out on the run in my shorts, tri top, cycling jersey and arm warmers. I also had my beanie on and gloves. I was feeling okay, but once out by the Truckee River Trail, it started to get cold FAST! The upshot was that I HAD to keep a brisk walk pace for risk of hypothermia. I grabbed my long sleeve tee at SN 10K into the run and that helped a bit, but the temps were already in the upper 30s by this time. In hindsight, I should have ripped a hole in my SN bag and put it over my head for my insulation! My stomach no longer had a tolerance for Perform or gels. My IM nutrition strategy is to eat/drink what my body craves or can tolerate. For this power-walk, it was pretzels/chips, Coke and chicken broth. I was drinking broth at nearly every aid station. It warmed me up, and the sodium was a godsend. I'd drink Coke when I needed some energy. I had something happen on this "run" that I've never experienced. I would drink the broth, and within 2-4 minutes would have to pee. I would stop at a tree, pee, and then press on only to have to pee right after the next aid station. I must have peed 15 times on the run. I think the cold combined with the intake was doing it. Pee was nice and clear, so I knew I was hydrating well.
It seemed to take FOREVER to get to the Tahoe City turnaround, but heading back the other way meant a general downhill. So, I was able to run in small bursts of several hundred yards before having to walk again. It got so dark on the trail that the only time I could see was if someone in front of me had a light. Many people did. I brought a flashlight to Tahoe, but opted not to use it...wish I had in hindsight. So, I finally got back to the Village and in a cruel irony, you walk right down the finish chute before turning off for your second shorter lap 100 yards from the finish line. You see other racers finishing their day, but you still have 7 or 8 miles to go.
I got to the Resort loop and saw my wife again. She seemed genuinely concerned, but I assured her I was nearly there and would meet her near the finish. Told her I was freezing, but doing okay. She was going to walk the rest of the course with me, but she had Uggs on and I told her I planned to run the last few miles, so she bowed out.
By now, the end was in sight, and I was walking at as fast of a pace as I could muster. I actually passed a couple of folks that were "running". With light at the end of the tunnel, the mood shifts and you start to find something deep inside to get you that last few miles. I was doing my alternating running/walking and knew I would make the cutoff and me and all my fellow zombies were encouraging each other to get there. We were all excited that we'd make it. One woman I was walking with claimed to have heard (incorrectly) that there was a 50% DNF rate. That actually made me feel better for having such a slow bike time, even though it turned out not to be true. I have never been a back-of-the-packer, but kind of enjoyed the comaraderie that we all shared trying to get to the finish by midnight. The aid station folks were hanging in pushing us through and once the finish line was in earshot, all the pain and agony of the day began to melt away.
Once to the Village parking lot, I mustered a full-blown run through the Village, high-fiving people lining the chute and whipped out a couple of cartwheels and my signature leap across the line as Reilly called my finish. That guy and Tom Z are amazing at keeping the energy flowing for every single finisher! One of the things I love about Ironman! My run time was 6:04 with an overall finish time of 16:19, three hours and 19 minutes slower than my slowest IM ever in St. George.
FINISH:
I was a bit wobbly, but quite lucid and went to hug my beautiful wife. She then took off to get my gear bags while I headed for the massage tent. Being on the verge of hypothermia I knew I had to get somewhere warm fast, so I signed up, went over to get my food, and quickly got back to the massage tent to warm up while I tried to choke down the food. The food was GREAT, but I never have much of an appetite after long endurance races, but knew my body needed something. When my massage time came up, I was shivering so violently, that I didn't enjoy my massage at all, and the girl giving it was actually grinding into me so hard it hurt. Just one more challenge to end the day.
My wife showed up with my bags and helped me get all my warm clothes on, and we went and caught the last 5 minutes of the race and saw a few come across the line and then headed back to the hotel. I drew a bath back at the hotel and fell asleep in the bathtub! Flew home this morning and landed to temps in the low 80s, more than 50 degrees warmer than what we left in Squaw Valley this morning!
EPILOGUE:
So, I claimed my 8th and by far most humbling IM finish one the most scenic and tough courses I've been on, with weather that challenged and inspired. As with all first-time races, there are a few logistical issues for WTC to work out, but from my perspective, community support was incredible with great fans/cheering, unbelievable volunteers who hung in there until the bitter end for us, and as always with WTC, a first-class operation. Yes, more heated areas for finishers are needed, more room in the changing tents given the cold and need for people to spend more time in there to put on layers, etc., but WTC generally gets it right, so I wouldn't be surprised to have those things ironed out for next year. I would be disappointed if they modified the course to make it easier. We have to have some TOUGH Ironmans. There are plenty of "easier" courses out there. Ironman is supposed to be hard...it's not "Pantyman". I take full responsibility for my tough day and knew going in that my training regime would be barely enough to get me through, and that this was going to be more mental for me to get to the finish line, and that was certainly the case.
My hat is off to everyone who started on Sunday, even the many that didn't make the cutoffs. Better to be pulled from the course while trying than to just give up because it's tough out there. What kept me going was thinking that I didn't want to have to tell my kids I quit because it was too hard. A life lesson for them...do not give up just because you are facing adversity.
As far as my future with IM...I am not signed up for an IM for 2014. First time in 8 years I don't have one on the schedule. I am doing a couple of trail ultras which I have been really enjoying due to the simplicity, easy logistics/training, cheap prices, and more suffering per dollar :) and the HITS Palm Springs 1/2 iron in December. I'm also in for Oceanside 70.3 next year. Training for 70.3 is much more "doable" for me given my lack of love for cycling, so I may have a bit of a break from IM...unless they throw up another one within driving distance of SoCal, and then it's game one again!
So again, congrats to all the finishers and would-be finishers yesterday, and to those thinking about signing up for IM Tahoe, be ready...be VERY ready!
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TriBodyboarder: Sep 24, 13 1:05