Mission Accomplished!

Getting on a plane to fly home now.  It was quite the epic experience on the 22nd.  It was by a long shot the hardest single day athletic challenge I've ever faced.  We had a close to 25% DNF rate.  It was 25 degrees at the start and the water was somewhere between 58 and 62 degrees.

I had a fantastic swim....my third fastest IM swim.  The bike was amazingly difficult...it took me 7:23--over an hour longer than my previous slowest.  I thought I did really well on the bike...so many people were not even able to make the bike cutoff.  Despite being conservative on the bike, my legs were dead on the run.  I persevered with quite a bit of walking and finished in 14:53, which is about 70 minutes longer than any other IM I've ever done.  Despite this, I finished in the top 35% or so of my AG and I did manage to snag the XC Kona slot!  So the miracle has happened again and I can look forward to toeing the line in Kona for my third time next October (2014).

It was a humbling experience...so difficult, but so beautiful and rewarding!  I'll file is full race report in a few days....

It was great having my Mom, Judy and Anders with and helping me.  I feel pretty good right now...sore for sure, but happy to have number twelve in the books....very satisfying!

Here we go!

Back at the hotel around 8pm and pretty much ready to go.  It rained and rained and rained all day today.  the winds blew.  The waves were enormous.  Horrendous conditions.  the water temp fell all day and is now 57-58 degrees.  We picked up Anders at the airport and stopped in Truckee for some Pasta--a bunch of cars in the parking lot had snow on them--the snow level was apparently between 7,000 and 8,000 feet.  The top of our highest climb is 7200 feet.

Forecast for tomorrow is 27 degrees air temperature at race start with no precip and little wind.  By 10 it should get into high 30s/low 40s.  Looks like its a go at this point.

I've done I can do.  It's going to be very cold but I think I'm ready for it.  I'm going to be very conservative--especially for the first 5 hours of the race.  My objectives are:

1. Stay safe (this is the prime objective)
2. finish and be grateful
3. do as well as I can
4. Qualify (if I do the above three then I think this fourth one takes care of itself....)
5. Have Fun (if I hit 1-4, then there is a good chance for 5...)

Beam me positive vibes!

Under 60 hours till go time

Cruising along here in Tahoe.  I've been joined by Judy and my mom, which is a real plus!  The Expo opened today--they seem less exciting as time goes on....still, I did buy a shirt....

I got out on my bike at 7:15am this morning to test out some of my bike clothing--it was 27 degrees!  There was frost on the golf course....So it was cold but I think I have things figured out.  Toe warmers for the feet.  I have a thermal layer and a wind jacket up top--this seems to do the trick--although I was still a bit chilly.  This combo will be too hot at some point--maybe as early as the end of the first lap (around 45-50 miles in).  I'll probably have too shed a layer at some point.  I'll either do knee warmers or a light outerpants on the bike.  The key will be all dry clothes in T1 (will be a long one) and taking time to get fully dressed for a winter bike ride before I leave T1...

Swim was again 59 degrees.  The first 300-500 yards are pretty rough but then I do settle down reasonably well.  I've only been swimming 20 minutes so it's hard to gauge how cold I'll be for the full 2.4 miles.  I'm going to probably swim with a neoprene hood to try to keep my core temp up during the swim.

I ran 2 miles from the T2 exit and hit the first mile in 7:25, which is either a good sign or evidence of a mis-marked first mile...I'll let the reader form his or her own opinion...I felt pretty good--I do feel the altitude for the first few minutes but then my HR does seem to settle a bit.

We had our XC dinner tonight...great to see many friends....some interesting developments from a competitive perspective...more on that later.

Confronting What You Fear

I spent a bunch of time this evening cleaning out my e-mail account.  I went from 1,432 e-mails to 926 e-mails.  Alas, it would seem that I'm as bad in the E-World as I am in the "Real World" at cleaning out my closets!  Maybe by the end of the week I can get down to 500 or so.....

Anyways, I took a break from this no-fun task and spent the last 30 minutes or so just thinking about how I feel about IMLT....here is where I came out:

- This course really concerns me.  Not the swim nor the run--even though if you know me, you would think that would be where I should have concern.  But its the bike--not the climbs but the fast descents....I'm a wimp on this and I'll have a hard time getting my concern about this out of my mind until I finally hit the flats after Dollar Hill the third time around 100 miles into the ride...

- That said, I've consciously and with a lot of fanfare chosen a path with my life to periodically put myself into a place that is physically uncomfortable, that causes me some fear and entails some risk--IMLT it is now clear is definitely one of these things.

-I know many others in this race and not in this race will look down on this fear I have of going fast downhill on the bike but I'm fine with that

-I'm going to leave my ego at the door and race MY RACE.  This will, because of my timidity, include some pretty conservative descending on the 7 significant descents in this race.  That said, I'm going to push it (a little bit--I'll seem slow but I want to get out there at the edge of what I'm comfortable with--I'm going to confront my fear, a bit.  I'm not going to go crazy but I'm going to trust my preparation and skill.)

-I have confidence in myself and my preparation.  I have done 136 triathlons to date and a bunch of gnarly bike rides (including RAAM) so I know that I have in the past and I will on Sunday make it work.  I can do this and I'm going to get behind the positive mental momentum that comes with confronting what you fear and knowing you can overcome....

-Of course, I'm racing too and I want to get to Kona.  But hear this, it's all secondary at this point to being safe, to finishing, and to feeling good about what I do over those many hours come sunday.  I'm comfortable that I'm prepared for that and I'm optimistic I can do it--and I'm going to bring that optimism to eveything I think and do until I cross that finish line on Sunday night (probably pretty late--lol!!!!)....

More on the racing and the Kona thing later....

Tuesdays at Tahoe

Settled in here in Tahoe.  i would say about 5-10% of the athletes are here--the lodge I'm staying at is mostly deserted and it's very easy to walk into a restaurant and sit down.  The WTC gang is building IMLT City right outside my window--it's fascinating to watch it grow.  They set up the merch tent and a massive tent structure that I gather will be the pre-race pasta/mtg place.  Transition is set-up as well.  It looks somewhat smallish but the bib numbers go up above 2800 so I guess it's the usual IM thing.

Today was a challenge.  Last night I could hear the winds picking up and this morning i awoke to major gusts and sustained wind--20-35 mph!  I went down to King's Beach around 8 am or so to see about swimming and decided against it.  It could have been done and several folks did it but the waves were huge and it didn't seem like it would really help me--I hope the winds die by tomorrow morning.  The winds were so strong that they had issued a small-craft advisory for lake--If this had been race morning I'm pretty sure they would have cancelled the swim--I think it would have been impossible for the safety kayaks to stay upright.

I decided to ride up from King's Beach to the Ritz up at the base of the Northstar ski resort up around 7200 feet.  To get there I climbed up the Brockway descent and then descended the Brockway climb.  the later was terrifying--they are paving the road in preparation for the race and there are lane closures and lots of traffic.  I then climbed up to the Ritz and turned around to do the 2 major descents of this race (which we have to do twice each).  The Ritz drop is about 800 feet or so over about 2 miles or so, which works out to about an average grade of 8%.  It's full of twists and turns and is exposed in many parts of it so I was fighting some gusty crosswinds, which is not a calming experience with an 808 front wheel.  I stayed on the brakes a lot--I'm sure I'll be one of the slower ones in the race--I'm just too chicken.

At the bottom of the Ritz descent I then did the 4+ mile climb up to the Brockway Summit.  This I found fairly manageable in my 34/27 although it spikes up to 9-11% at the top and for a short period of time I was thinking a 34/29 might be nice.  My NP was 202 watts btw, which indicates that I was working at an intensity facor of 75-76%, which is above the target of 70-72%.  there's not much to be done about it however.  I was careful with my power spikes--the physics of this climb (and I suspect the one that leads up to the Ritz) are such that for at least 4 times (and probably 7 if you throw in the 1-mile climb up Dollar Hill), I'll have to be burning more matches than is optimal for an IM bike--I suspect even if I try to recover on the flatter sections and average down my NP and AP that the variability of the ride will come back to get me on the run....nothing that I can see to do about it however.

The drop from Brockway was once again unnerving for me.  I just really dislike high speed sustained descents on my bike.  I was very conservative again.  This second descent is about twice as long but it has less technical challenges and it is modestly less steep.  Bottom line, I'll be a lot happier after I get to mile 95 or so and I have these 4 mothers behind me!

I do seem to be handling the altitude pretty well although when I went for a 2.5 mile run this afternoon, I was a bit short of breath for the first 4-5 minutes and then I seemed to settle in....

More tomorrow.....

On the ground in Tahoe.....OMG!

Super nice trip on the way out here to Tahoe.  I got up at 3:45am and was on the road by 4:05 to PHL.  all checked in with my bike coffin and my wheel hardshell by 5:00am.  Flight was aloft at 6:55am and I was on the ground at 8:45 PST in PHX hacing slept for 3 hours.  Off again, after a short delay to Reno and landed at 11:55 PST.  all my bags out promptly and in the rental by 12:30pm.  At the Squaw Valley Village at 1:15.  I did a quick unpack to see if any major damage occured to bike and equipment and the initial prognosis was all good!

I proceeded to head down the 15 mile trip to King's Beach with the intent of determining how much of an impact would the 6200 feet of elevation have on my swim.  I arrived there and was confronted with the physical reality of a very strong S/SW wind blowing towards the northerly shore that King's Beach resides at.  I saw another IM soul exiting the water--she was about 28-30 and heavily tattoed.  she surely could kick my ass--for sure on sunday IM-wise, but moreoever if a general hand-to hand battle were to break out.  I asked her about the swim and she was waxing eurphoric about it.  She was from Marin and she swam all the time in San Fran and thought this was lovely water to play in.  No wetsuit for her.  I asked here if she had ever done another IM and she said yeah--just one, St. George, which she had done 3 times, and she also told me she was 1 of only 80 or so folks who had ever done so.  She told me that IMs were not that interesting from a challenge perspective generally to her and that is why she only picked the hardest.  I asked her about IMLT and she seemed geneuinely enthused....great!

Anyways, I did make my way down into the 3-4 foot waves blasting up on shore and absolutely loved my swim.  Of course, the wind chop was a challenge but on race morning this should be gone.  The lake itself was delightful, about 63-64 degrees which I think is perfect for an IM.  The water spectacularly clear.  And the biggest discovery is, at least for the 15 minutes I swam, the altitude was pretty-much a non factor.  Maybe I was swimming too easy because of the waves but I'm pretty confident I can swim a descent time and keep the whole O2/altitude thing under control.

I then proceeded to drive a lap of the bike course.  OMG!  all bets are off after seeing this.  My objective in this race will have to be to be safe and make sure I finish.  This will be unquestionably the hardest IM bike leg I've ever had to deal with--by quite a bit--it may even be the hardest single bike ride  I've ever had.  Tremendous cimbing and scary desents combined with 6000+ altitude.  I could be looking at close to am 7-hour bike leg....

Back at the hotel, i was successful in seting up my bike and I intend to get up tomorrow on the two major climbs (which we do twice) and see how much of a challenge they will represent to my bike riding skills...also, an early morning swim and a bit of the run-course on tap for tomorrow.

I'm well positioned and very pumped.  I'm also convinced that this will be the hardest triathlon that I've ever competed in....ok--fair enough, bring it on!!!!   I'm ready!

Taper time

One week out from IM 'Hoe!  Tapering away--mostly IM intensity workouts of modest duration--the longest thing I did was a 2:10 bike mid-week.  I've got the ususal I feel wierd taper thing going.

I leave tomorrow morning early and should get to Reno around 11 their time.  I hope to be in Squaw Valley at the hotel by 1.  Tomorrow my plan would be to drive the bike course and head down to the lake for a short swim--I want to get a sense of how much I'll need to dial back my swim effort with the altitude.  Tomorrow night, I'll put my bike together.

I'll ride a fair amount of the course on Tuesday--my last ride of any real significance as well as another swim and perhaps a short run.  I'll take at least one full rest day on Friday and I made add another one on Wednesday.  We'll see how things unfold.

Weather forecast is improving.  It's going to be cold in the morning for sure but the latest forecasts are nonlonger calling for rain/snow, which is of-course a relief.  Right no it looks like a high of 61 and a low of 38 on race day.  I'm bringing several options for clothing on the bike.  The water temperature is currently an ideal 64-65 degrees.  I'm happy with this forecast--I'd much rather deal with cold than heat for sure.

The Rim fire still burns but it looks like the smoke problems in Tahoe have largely abated!

More from California as the week unfolds.....