Last year I missed qualifying for Kona by one place or 43 seconds at IM AZ. I had re-occurring nightmares about those 43 seconds. During hard workouts, I thought about those miserable 43 seconds. When my morning alarm went off sometimes as early as 3:00AM, I thought about those 43 seconds and got busy. Nothing better than chasing a dream.
I found an amazing triathlon coach (Elizabeth Waterstraat) who pushed me in just the right ways. My swim, bike, and run performance metrics all improved significantly throughout the spring and summer. I approached Tahoe feeling pretty confident.
The swim started at 6:40AM as a rolling start. Each athletes' chip timer (warn around the ankle) triggered the race start as we ran over an RFID mat located at the edge of Lake Tahoe. Until recently, most Ironman races were mass starts where everyone starts at the sound of the cannon. For me, the rolling start meant a much easier swim start because I didn't have to swim elbow-to-elbow with hundreds of other athletes all starting at the same time. I started out at a good pace to set the tone for the rest of the swim. Good advice from my friend Fred.
Lake Tahoe is crystal clear. I could see the bottom of the lake for much of the race. I could also see the swimmers around me. At one point, I was swimming with a group and suddenly felt someone tap my back. I looked up and found a friendly swimmer tell me we had swam slightly off course. I tried to swim at the upper edge of my comfortable level for the entire swim. A good honest effort without going too hard. It's a long race to burn-out in the swim.
Many months prior to the raced, I determined I would not look at my swim time until after the race. I didn't want a potentially slow time to set me back mentally (IMAZ 2015). However, when I exited the water, the race clock was right in my face. My swim time was 1:05:03. That is a PR for me by three minutes and seven minutes faster than my swim at IMAZ in 2014. I learned how to swim as an adult so this swim split made me ecstatic!
The ambient air temperature was 39 degrees as we exited the water. I changed completely into dry clothes and even put on a polar fleece vest and full-finger gloves. As I pulled out of transition, I yelled to my family and friends something about my swim time and started the 112 mile bike. I deliberately tried to take the first segment of the bike easy. I felt fantastic, my heart rate was low and my watts kept drifting up. I kept trying to take it easy. In retrospect, I should have taken it even easier. It is so hard to go easy when you feel so good and people were passing me. I suspected I would see most of them later in the race.
I dropped my vest and gloves at a designated location ~10 miles into the bike. I was glad to get rid of my vest which felt like an aerodynamic drag. Unfortunately, the drop was located in a canyon so the temperature was still cold. It was cold for the next 30 minutes until we got into the sun.
The Ironman Lake Tahoe course is two and a third loops so we hit one 4.3 mile mile climb with an elevation gain of 1200 feet twice. The first time up, I followed my watt and heart rate targets. Several people passed me. I knew I would see them again later in the race. The second loop was a blur. Unlike IMAZ, the string of riders thinned out pretty good so there was lots of space between riders. On the second climb, I maintained the same watt targets and passed a lot of people this time. As I neared the end of the bike, I felt really good. I drank well, nailed my nutrition, and hit my heart rate and watt targets well. My bike split was 5:30 but my average watts (NP actually) was 15 watts higher than IMAZ where my bike split was 5:06. Probably a reflection of the climbing and course structure (no-pass zones, tight corners, and out-and-back elbows).
Time for a marathon. As I left the transition area (T2), my son told me I was in 15th place in my age group. That took a minute to get over mentally because I had hoped for better. I found solace in the fact that I was in 20th place when I got off the bike in IM AZ last year and still managed to get 7th by the end of the race. From the first few steps, I could see that the run would be a challenge. I started off easy and then tried to hit my well practiced pace targets but just couldn't get my legs to move faster. The course had a lot of little rolling hills and some short steep climbs. Usually not a problem for me, but I sure felt these hills. I was religious about my nutrition and water. I also felt like I was in good control of my brain. I picked off a few athletes within the first few miles trusting I would pass more later in the race. Around mile 18 I could tell that simply running was key as many of the folks on the course were starting to walk/jog. I was moving up but not fast enough.
In IMAZ 2014, I was passed in the last half mile losing my Kona slot. I've relived that nightmare so many times. One of the hardest things ever is to complete 140 of 140.6 miles and have to sprint against another competitor to the finish. At about a half mile from the finish line, I could see a guy that looked like he might be in my age-group. We were lapping people by now so I wasn't sure if he was about to finish or start his second lap. He kept looking back over his shoulder which indicated that he was about to finish. We both started to speed up. I felt bad for the guy honestly. There is no way in the world that I would let someone ever, ever, ever finish ahead of me in the last leg of a race again. I passed him, he surged hard for awhile then tapered off. I kept going. I finished the race knowing that I had given it my all even if my run wasn't as fast as I hoped (3:40).
I finished 8th in my age group or 35th overall. My overall time was 10:25 (race clock above shows time-of-day). I suspected I wouldn't qualify for Kona but still felt good about my race because I knew I had given it my all for that day. My brother analyzed all sorts of data about my competitors and my splits. We concluded that this was by best Ironman race thus far so no regrets. I will get another chance to qualify for Kona at IM AZ 2016. Life is good chasing a dream.
It was great to have my family and several friends at the race. Two of my friends, Tony and Kristy completed the IM Lake Tahoe 70.3. We all agreed that the course was a combination of amazingly beautiful and brutal, especially the run. Kristy is a survivor of the 2013 IM Lake Tahoe when it snowed the day before the race. She was also on the start line in 2014 when they cancelled the race due to smoke from a nearby forest fire. The third time was indeed a charm. It was a wonderful day.
My super hero family:
Third time was a charm for Kristy:
Nice splits Sharkey: Thanks for the laughs Tony & Lana!
