Race Reflections: Inaugural Ironman Lake Tahoe
“All things are ready, if our mind be so.” ― William Shakespeare, Henry V
Participating in endurance events has more to do with what you can convince your mind to endure than what your body can achieve. With experience we learn that we can push our bodies as far as our mind will allow. It was never more evident at the inaugural Ironman Lake Tahoe where the weather conditions took an already challenging course and made it tougher for competitors.
I signed up for IM Lake Tahoe even before I completed the inaugural Ironman Mont Tremblant more than a year ago. This would be my first time competing in an Ironman distance event on consecutive years after having completed Ironman Western Australia in 2005 and Ironman Brazil in 2010. In 2008, I completed the swim at Ironman Austria, but a bike accident 8 weeks before the race kept me from doing the bike and run for the race.
I did not have an opportunity to preview the course like so many athletes did over the past year and all I could do is prepare for the race in a logical manner. In 2011, I participated in the Death Ride, just south of Lake Tahoe. The ride consisted of 130 miles with 5 mountain passes and 15,000 feet of climbing. I knew that the mountainous region would have some challenging hills in IM Lake Tahoe. Knowing that the race would not take place around the perimeter of the lake and knowing how much the World Triathlon Corporation rarely provides accurate elevation gain information for the bike courses, I decided to prepare for this race as if it had over 7000 feet of climbing on the bike.
When I met with the athletes who were preparing for IMLT, I highly recommended that they choose the toughest trail races they could find for their base training on the run and the toughest centuries on the bike. I also suggested they choose events at altitude to practice racing. Racing at altitude was as important as training so we did Ironman St. George 70.3, June Lake Olympic Triathlon and Ironman Boulder 70.3 as our main races. For cycling, we trained for the Mulholland Challenge--a 120 mile ride in the Santa Monica Mountains with over 12,000 of climbing, L'Étape du California with 10,000 feet of climbing and Ojai Hammerhead Century with over 7,000 feet.
We have the luxury of training in the Santa Monica Mountains every weekend and had the ability to drive less than an hour to the Angeles National Forest and San Bernardino Mountains to get our climbing and some altitude.
RACE WEEK:
I arrived in Lake Tahoe on Monday of race week with some teammates to get used to the altitude. Although there are no performance benefits to arriving at altitude only seven days before the race, there definitely is the benefit of adjusting to the difficulty we would have breathing at altitude. In addition, it gave us an opportunity to preview different sections of the course throughout the week. The toughest days were days 2 and 3 as we were very thirsty, hungrier and more tired. Being there early allowed us to take our time, enjoy the area, and get extra rest. We rented a condo only half a block away from the "hot corner" where we would ride 3 times through on the bike and run 4 times through on the run. It was only 2.5 miles from the finish so it made travel and logistics much easier.
Every day leading up to the race we experienced different weather conditions. One day the winds were so strong they produced 2-4 foot waves in the lake and we avoided swimming that day. The most important thing in the swim we did was arriving at 6:45 a.m. to King's Beach for our practice swim on two consecutive days. On the first day it was 27 degrees and the water temperature was approximately 64 degrees. The hardest thing was keeping warm during preparation. I took it easy on the swim and once we got going experienced no issues swimming. I only struggled to catch my breath when I would forget to take a breath, mesmerized by the clarity and blueness of the water. 500 yards and we were out! The next day I swam half a mile out and back with booties and it turned out that the booties slowed me down too much. I averaged 20 seconds per 100 yards slower than usual. Since the water was not cold enough, I decided to do the race without booties.
Arriving early also gave us a chance to preview the run course and determine how close we would be able to run at our normal pace. It was clear that the "flat course" advertised by the website was also not true--in an Ironman race 750 feet of elevation gain on the run is not flat. The toughest section would be the final 2.5 miles as they would be uphill and we would have to do it twice. We also noticed how quickly the temperature dropped as the sun began to set behind the mountain almost an hour before sunset.
I took a big gamble getting a bike so close to the race. My new Trek Speed Concept was not ready for me to ride until 4 weeks before the race. The longest ride I did on the new bike was 56 miles two weeks prior at the Ironman 70.3 World Championship. I had some brake issues and front derailleur problems during training. During the first practice ride I also had a dropped chain that ripped my power meter magnet off. The one thing I did learn during the practice ride was that taper had worked well and my power was exactly where I wanted it to be.
Once my bike was ready I took it for a spin from Donner to Martis Camp to see more of the bike course and make sure everything worked. I had a chance to visit Martis Camp, but opted not to do it.
The two weeks between Vegas 70.3 and IMLT, I ended up taking it mostly easy allowing my body to recover. I am very grateful for having Ironman provide ART Specialists at the Expo and I took advantage of these the therapy. With a 50 mile month of swimming in August, my shoulders, deltoids, and pectoral muscles were shot and getting this attention made a hugh difference in my swim. In addition, they helped loosen up my right hip that had been an issue for the past two months.
We decided to take it easy on Friday and Saturday and just got ready for the race doing the pre-race rituals of attending the pre-race meeting and dinner and getting everything prepped at home. We enjoyed some leisure time shopping, walking around Squaw Valley Village and going out on a kayak excursion.
On the Saturday before the race, a huge storm dumped a lot of rain and snow above 7000 feet. We had an amazing breakfast prepared by one of our teammates, Austin and his family. We spent the entire morning enjoying a huge brunch and just sitting around chatting and enjoying the stormy weather from a huge house on the lake.
When it was time to take our run gear to transition and drop off the bikes at King's Beach, the temperature dropped dramatically, the winds picked up, and snow began to fall as we set out to preview Martis Camp on the bike course. There was nothing we could do with the weather except prepare and hope for dry day. We made sure our bags were secure and triple bagged them to ensure they stayed dry. It was still raining and snowing when we went to bed.
RACE MORNING:
Woke up at 3:30 a.m. expecting rain or snow to be falling, but it had stopped. It was still 37 degrees but I knew temperatures would start to drop as dawn drew near. I had a huge breakfast that included a black bean/rice/egg burrito and a cinnamon raisin bagel with almond butter and honey. I always aim for approximately 1000 calories before the race. At 4:15 we headed to the shuttle at Squaw Valley and by 4:45 we were boarded on the bus and to King's Beach on the 30 minute drive. There was some traffic as we got closer to King's but it didn't delay us by very much. I noticed that the roads were already drying and when we got off the bus it was noticeably colder with the roads mostly dry. At that point I looked over at the Lake and it was calm and that's when I knew we would be doing the full 140.6 miles. The temperature was now 32 degrees and once the sun came up that would drop to 27 degrees.
We dropped off the special needs bags and that would the last time I would see my teammates in the morning. I checked my bike gear and most of the items were dry. I pumped my tires, towel-dried my chain and lubed it, and put my nutrition in my bento box and my water bottles on the cages. It was important to take my nutrition out of the package and empty it directly into the bento box since I knew I would have no fingers in the cold to open up packages. I wiped the ice off my frame and saddle, but it didn't matter--it would return before I went out on the ride.
I made my last visit to the porta potty and then headed to the Events Center--a heated conference room next to the beach bathrooms and waited there until it was time to put on my wetsuit. I applied Jack Black's Dragon Ice on my legs, back, shoulder, arms, neck, hands and feet to help keep my body warm during the swim. The balm works perfectly when it is exposed to cold air or cold water. I kept my wool socks on my feet to walk out to the sand and left all my morning clothes in the bag provided. I took one last photograph of the most amazing morning swim start I have ever witnessed in an Ironman: Blue skies, with steel-gray clouds and white fluffy clouds in the distance, white snow-covered mountains to the east and to the south and steam rising above the lake. I could barely see the buoys, but I knew they were there.
SWIM
IM Distance: 2.4 Miles
Actual Distance: 2.71 Miles
Actual Pace: 1:36/100 yards
Overall Time: 1:16:53
Overall Place: 751/2748 Top 28%
Age Group Place: 146/464, Top 32%
Water Temperature: 58-62 degrees.
I walked to swim start, feeling calm, relaxed and ready for the day. I knew it was gonna be a cold day, so I kept warm thoughts and the lyrics to U2's Yahweh came to my head as I prepared to jump into another Ironman journey. "The sun is coming up on the ocean"--the lyrics that I remember from doing my first Ironman in the Indian Ocean at Western Australia.
My first time really experiencing a challenging swim start was last year when I did Mont Tremblant and started close to the front and it took me almost 1000 meters before I was comfortable. This time, with the new rolling start, I lined up with the group going 1:10-1:20 and entered within 3 minutes of the start. I moved my way up to the front and entered along with the 1:00-1:10 group. It was a one minute walk in the shallow water of the lake and wasn't deep enough to start swimming until we reached the first red buoy. I skipped in the water and took it easy hoping to avoid rocks--there was one big rock I almost hit, but later on would find out many people hit pretty hard. Having raced at June Lake in July at over 7000 feet and at Boulder 70.3 at over 5000 feet, I had no problems breathing and starting my swim right away. It was difficult to see the buoys in the fog billowing above the water. With the air temperature in the 30's and the water temperature in the 50-60's, it's exactly what I anticipated. I tried to stay as close to the buoys as possible and after the first loop I was on track to swim my predicted time of 1:12 with a 36 minute split. Unfortunately, I was unable to swim as straight on the 2nd loop and finished at 1:16. I ended up swimming an additional 3/10 of a mile and according to my Garmin I didn't stray too far off, so my guess is that the course was a little long. I was satisfied with my actual pace of 1:36/100 yards after struggling the previous two weeks with some shoulder pain that kept me from doing my last few swims. In looking at all swim times, I am very pleased with result since I improved my overall place from Mont Tremblant from top 40% overall to top 28%.
T1
16:05
I ran from the swim exit to the change tent as fast as I could trying to warm up. I never got cold in the water, but as soon as the air hit my naked torso, I could feel the chill in the air and my hands instantly cold. The ground was ice cold, I used the wetsuit strippers to help me move more quickly and I went to the tent expecting it to be very crowded. I remained calm and moved slowly, used the towels provided to wipe my feet and then my own towel to dry off completely. I was fortunate enough to find a chair right away and I took my time changing into my cycling gear. Having trained in cold weather through the winter what I decided to wear on the bike saved my day.
BIKE:
IM Distance: 112 Miles
Elevation Gain: 7356 feet
Overall Time: 6:35:26
Average Speed: 16.9 mph
Overall Place: 412/2748 Top 15%
Age Group Place: 86/464, Top 19%
Temperature: High 60 degrees, Low 27 degrees, average 51 degrees.
Here is what I decided to wear for the ride:
Assos FI Mille S5 Bib Shorts
Pearl Izumi P.R.O. Barrier Short Sleeve Base Layer
Fortius Racing k-Swiss Cycling Jersey
Fortius Racing K-Swiss Fleece Winter Cycling Jacket
Head and neck Buff
Fortius Headsweats Beanie
Bellweather Knee Warmers
Endura Thermolite Wool Bike Socks
Pearl Izumi Toe Covers
Louis Garneau Triathlon HRS Shoes
Nike Glove Liners
Pearl Izumi Cyclone Cycling Gloves
Heat Treat Hand and Feet Warmers
(in my pocket I had a windvest and arm warmers in case I decided to ditch the Fleece Jacket)
Bike Equipment:
Bike: 2014 Trek Speed Concept
SRAM Red Components
Wheels: Zipp Firecrest 404 in front and 808 in the back
Rear Casette: 11/28
Compact Crank: 50/34
Powermeter: Quarq Elsa
Computer: Garmin 810
Saddle: ISM Time Trial
The bike ride started with temperatures in the low 30's. Just before sunrise it had dipped into the upper 20's and the weather report showed that it would not get into the 50's until about noon. I dressed for the coldest day of riding ever and I was not disappointed. A year before I had raced at Boise 70.3 on the day they shortened the ride from 56 miles to 14 miles because there was snow on the course. That was the coldest I have ever been in the 3 hours before the race just waiting for the race to start. I never wanted to be that cold again.
I was glad to be out of the water and riding. Just before the first bike split, at mile 4, there was a right turn onto Carnelian Bay Road and that's when I found out that my front tire had no air. I kept riding until it was safe to pull at the turnaround. I attempted to use my Pit Stop to seal and fill it up with air and it didn't seem to work very well. I figured it was because of the freezing temperatures. A volunteer came over to help me and he also let me use his Pit Stop, which didn't work either. I was hoping to catch up to a SAG motorcycle I had seen just minutes prior. I was out of luck. I kept going for another 35 miles taking it easy on the descents and the turns until I would eventually find SAG. The ride on highway 29 toward Tahoe City was rolling with one short, steep climb up Dollar Hill. After Dollar Hill it was mostly downhills and flats toward Truckee past Squaw Valley. This is where I really felt the cold and I did everything to keep warm as possible. The best purchase I had made in Las Vegas two weeks prior was the full buff around my neck that I was able to pull up and cover my mouth and nose to keep from breathing the cold air. Averaging 25 mph on highway 89, the windchill had to be in the teens and my hands and feet felt it. I kept calm and knew that as soon as I got to Truckee we would start a series of climbs that would warm me up.
I didn't have any problems eating or drinking. I took a new water bottle at all but two aid stations. I lost a total of 10 minutes trying to fix my flat early and then just before the first Brockway climb. I used the porta potty once and stopped to get my nutrition at Special Needs.
Bike Nutrition:
2 Hammer Cashew Coconut Nutrition Bar-- 440 calories
1 Bonk Breaker- Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip-- 270 calories
1 Gu Chomp Package--90 calories
4 Scoops of Skratch Raspberry--320 calories
4 ounces of honey-- 320 calories
Total Calories on the bike: 1440
The bike for an Ironman race was a little hillier than most Ironman races on the calendar. Knowing that the race was taking place at a ski resort in the mountains in early fall we all knew that we had to be ready for any conditions on challenging hilly roads. Though they kept the private section a secret from the athletes, I prepared the team for climbs that included 10-18 percent grades. The snow that had fallen the day before made the surrounding mountains look spectacular and it kept us considerably cool on the climbs. I only unzipped my jacket for the climbs and took off my beanie. The rest of the day I kept everything else on including the long gloves. I finally was able to feel my toes and fingers when we were climbing Brockway the first time. The ride was beautiful and the wind from the storm had blown most of the smoke away from the nearby fires and made the sky bluer and the mountains more clear.
I don't know if I rode the bike course too hard or too easy as I would end up running my fastest Ironman marathon in four tries. My powermeter stopped working at about mile 25 and later found out that my magnet had fallen once again. The good thing about training with power is that you learn to feel the proper wattage. My two week taper was right on target and during the week I could feel that I would be pretty close to my 180 watt average goal for the day. When the powermeter stopped working I was averaging 171 watts. I didn't panic and just enjoyed the day. The bike ride was no more challenging than what I trained to ride. Since my last Ironman I rode over 5000 miles and made sure most of the rides had plenty of climbing. The early season training of Mulholland Challenge was ideal for this ride. My only surprise was the additional 1500-2000 feet of cumulative elevation gain that we ended up doing. Finishing 86th in my age group on the bike and top 15% overall made me realize that I did the right amount of work to be where I expected to be. The year before at Mont Tremblant I finished in the top 30% overall and top 38% in my age group on the bike. At Lake Tahoe I finished in the top 19% in my age group. When I saw that I was not going to finish anywhere near my goal on the bike, I decided too salvage my overall race by running my fastest marathon possible. I had a slight cramp and tightness in my left hamstring while climbing Dollar Hill for the third time and was also a little sleepy. I was looking forward to getting off the bike. I was happy to have survived my longest ride on the new Speed Concept by 55 miles and the new saddle was never an issue. In analyzing my Strava segments, the Speed Concept lived to its name as I was able to go faster on descents and flats than I had gone in training. Once I get used to climbing on it, I should start seeing faster times.
Overall, I was happy with my bike speed and perceived power. The strength I gained through my strength program allowed me to push harder, go faster and be ready to run fast!
T2
6:32
I arrived into transition to an almost empty change tent. I did a complete wardrobe change removing all cycling gear except my wool socks and ran with compression shorts under my running shorts, a singlet and my Adidas AdiZero Tempo shoes I used earlier in the year at St. George. I ran with a singlet for the first time in an Ironman and made sure I rubbed a generous amount of Aquaphor on my nipples to make sure I didn't chafe from my singlet. I put gloves and arm warmers in my shorts back pocket and put a beanie inside my compression shorts at my waist. Transition times were the only time during the day I lost any significant places, but it was well worth it.
RUN:
Distance 26.2 Miles
Elevation Gain: 775 feet
Overall Time: 3:47:41
Average Pace: 8:41
Cadence: 87 SPM
Calories Burned: 1397
Overall Place: 234/2748 Top 9%
Age Group Place: 39/464, Top 8%
Temperature: High 59, Low 39, Average 49
Run Gear:
Adidas AdiZero Tempo Shoes
Endura Thermolite Wool Bike Socks
Nike Dri Fit Singlet
CEP Compression Shorts and Saucony 8' Running Shorts
Watch: Garmin 910xt
Cold Gear: Nike gloves, Nike arm warmers
Life Saver item: Aquaphor Oinment for nipples
Over the last 13 months I ran over 1500 miles including a 50k, a 50 miler, a 30k, and 3 half marathons to go along with my 3 half ironman races. I spent very little time working on speed focusing more on running longer in tempo and feeling very comfortable running a 7:15 pace on flat courses. With my great base on the run and running over 10 pounds lighter while carrying approximately less fat on my frame, running felt lighter and better than ever. My 2 longest runs in my training for Ironman were 18 and 20 miles that I ran over a 3 week period in August prior to this race. I ran nothing else over 13 miles since last March. Most of my running consisted of short, faster trail runs and track sessions focusing on tempo intervals with very short anaerobic efforts in between.
After racing hard at June Lake and Boulder 70.3 earlier in the summer I knew I would not have a problem running my normal 8:00-9:00 pace for a marathon off the 112 mile bike. I had nothing to lose by starting aggressively so I started running around an 8:15 pace. I ran much faster on descents and slowed to about 10:00 pace on climbs. The course felt much hillier than it looked. I started passing people early and often. Every chance I had I ran on the dirt along the asphalt bike path along the Truckee River. The altitude had little to no effect on my breathing and my HR monitor was all over the place so I started ignoring it. The section along the river felt much longer than I expected and it seemed like the turnaround would never come. This was about the time I was my slowest. It didn't matter, though, every negative thought that came to my head quickly vanished. Everything I experienced in my first Ironman run in Western Australia made an appearance during this run, but I didn't let it change my goal. I still wanted to run a 3:45. When I felt sleepy I drank coke at the aid stations. I started drinking coke from mile 1 and whenever I started to feel like I was getting bloated I would skip it. I took potato chips or pretzels with water at almost every station until chicken broth made its appearance around mile 11. I had the broth at every station after mile 11 and only took water when I felt thirsty and coke whenever I felt sleepy. Every once in a while I would eat some grapes. My favorite was adding the potato chips or pretzels to the broth. I didn't carry any nutrition or hydration on me except for one pack of Honey Stinger Lemonade Chews that I consumed at mile 20.
Although I would have preferred two 13.1 mile loops for the run, I didn't mind the longer loop with the shorter loop. I was able to take advantage of seeing all the people I knew on the course and it gave me an extra push to see others on the course including Mike Nguyen, Eddie Salazar, Cindy Kramer and others.
The later it got on the run the colder it got. I put on my arm warmers and gloves at special needs and I applied Jack Black's Dragon Ice on my legs, calves, shoulders and neck to help keep me warm. The colder it got past mile 20, the faster I ran. I didn't expect to pick up the pace as much as I did on the final 7 mile loop and when I thought I could possibly break the 12 hour mark I ran even faster. The last mile on that course felt like I was winning the race. I knew everyone had a tough day and I knew that even with a slower finishing time, I would still be able to appreciate having a great day and having the most balanced day while executing race day as best as I could. The village at Squaw Valley was rocking and it felt great to come through with all the cheering people. I high-fived kids and celebrated my fourth Ironman finish enjoying the finisher's chute and happy to see my girlfriend, Kelly and my brother, Ray in the stands.
Ironman Lake Tahoe was definitely one of the toughest races I have ever done and arguably, the toughest race in North America. The swim was almost perfect, the water temperature was ideal and the location was picturesque. The bike had a little more climbing than you would expect in an Ironman race, but it was doable. Riding in the mountains, along the Truckee River and along the Lake made for a beautiful ride and even going through the small town in Truckee and along the bike bath for a short time was nice to break up the course a little bit. The run could not have been more scenic and was just challenging enough to make it fun. The support was just right. You had enough cheering at the right moments and there were a few sections where it felt great to be on your own. The aid stations were adequate and the overall race organization was great. For an inaugural event, Ironman Lake Tahoe hit a home run! I would recommend this race to anyone looking for a challenging course in one of the most beautiful locations in the world.
How to Succeed Racing Ironman Lake Tahoe:
Train properly: Lots of hills, increase V02 max, lots of base training
Have the right gear and equipment
Race several times at altitude
Train at altitude as much as possible
Be mentally strong and ready for adjustments during the race
Keys to my Successful Race in Lake Tahoe:
Increased power to weight ratio on the bike
Increased overall strength thanks to Fitamorphosis
3-4 month blocks of specific training for each of the 3 Disciplines
Preparation for Mulholland Challenge
Racing St. George 70.3, June Lake Triathlon, Boulder 70.3
Thanks to Fortius Racing Team for a great year of training and racing. I also want to give special thanks to my swim coach, Francois Harris, who helped me improve my overall swim during the summer. If it wasn't for Corey Enman of Fitamorphosis providing my strength training I would not have improved my strength, power and speed. I lost 13 pounds and reduced my body fat percentage from 21 to 13 percent in 8 months and he also helped me avoid injury with targeted strength training.