Musings on Marathon Swimming

Warning:  I have no idea where this post is going to end up.  I have had thoughts rolling around in my head all week about last weekend.  For those of you that haven’t been paying attention—I was crew for a good friend of mine, David Livengood as he attempted to complete his triple crown of marathon swimming by completing MIMS (Manhattan Island Marathon Swim)—he as previously swam both the English Channel and Catalina Channel – and on Saturday became the 89^th person ever to complete all three swims.

Marathon swimming is a little different than some of the other ultra-type events – those you can do unsupported (though may choose not to).  But I don’t think that anybody ever completes a marathon swim unsupported—you are much more dependent on your crew than in most of the other endeavors.  

 Your mission as the swimmer is to just keep swimming and follow the kayak where ever it goes.  Meanwhile the crew (in this case we were 2 kayaks, motor boat with driver, chief crew, communications person and official observer) spend the entire time making sure the swimmer is safe, taking the best course (in the case of a swim with strong currents this is super important), properly fed, reporting to the outside world what is going on and occasionally doing a little sight-seeing.  It is surprising how much time all of this takes—there was actually not much time left for sight-seeing at all.  I have now participated in a marathon swim from the perspective of a kayaker.  We were on the water for a total of about 10.5 hours.  David took 9:54 for the swim but we were on the water before the start due to the logistics of swimmers, boats and kayaks around Manhattan.  

  

What did I learn from being a kayaker? 

1. The borrowed sit on top kayaks that the event organizer provides are definitely not comfortable—especially for over 10 hours straight.  
2. 10 hours passes surprisingly quickly when focusing on all of the jobs noted above. 
3. There is definitely a lot of teamwork involved in getting your swimmer safely around the island.  David picked a great crew—and Darrell was a great leader.   
4. The world continues to rock up and down for quite a few hours after you get out of the kayak.

Thinking about the swim—I know the longest I have swam in open water is about 3 miles—or about 1.5 hours—I have to give all marathon swimmers a lot of credit for the mental aspects of swimming that long-I think that that part is actually harder than the physical act of swimming for that long.  Unlike other ultra-sports the time is not spend looking at incredible scenery (or even boring scenery)—you are heads down ,in likely brown water, that you can only see a couple feet in front of you.  Your entire interaction with people during the swim is for about 20-30 seconds every 30 minutes when you stop to feed.  And that interaction is usually about how you are feeling, any adjustments to pacing, food etc.

 

My best memory of the swim is from somewhere in the 7-8 hr. mark.  We were out on the Hudson River—it was still fairly calm (it got really choppy as we went further south) and David had a feeding.  He pops his head up and announces to us:  “I’m having fun!   Are you having fun?”  downs his Perpetum and then right back at it.  Even though our butts were extremely sore by that point, we answered the question correctly.

Where is this leading?  I’m not sure.  I’m incredibly proud of what David has accomplished.  Does it make me want to become a marathon swimmer?  Not so sure.  Obviously I spend a lot of time pushing myself to limits—but somehow changing sports part way through seems to do a reset on your body and it’s like starting all over - - doing one sport for a really long time?  Hmm.  I guess it’s not just swimming either as I really have never done a really long bike or a really long run---looking at all those communities and many of my friends that do ultra-distance racing makes what I do seem just a little less crazy somehow.

IM 70.3 St George Race Report

So life has been a whirl for the past several months.  Professionally, things blew up and I have been beyond busy.  I have managed to get most of my training in -- but everything else has suffered.  I am not going to use this to whine about work -- I see a light at the end of the tunnel and hopefully things will return to somewhat normal in the next month.  I am glad I have not been trying to train for an Ironman through this.  I also need to apologize to my family for the times I have gotten a little testy in the past few months.

In the midst of all this IM St George came.  We were able to get down there, not just for the race but a few extra days to enjoy the area.  This was an early season race for me and I know my fitness is not where it will be as we move into the summer.  I have also had some niggly injuries that have prevented me from getting in the run training that I was looking for.  So going into the race I had expectations of a good swim and bike and a not so fast run--I just don't have the miles in to do a decent half marathon.

Race day managed to hit a short hot streak--the days leading up to the race and just after the race, the highs were comfortably in the mid 70's -- but that would be make the race to easy so mother nature scheduled 93 for race day.  Obviously there were a lot of us that have not had a single day of heat acclimatization going into the race.  Oh well--just adjust the race plan to accomodate the heat.
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The day before the race I was finally able to meet up with a friend that I had never met in person -- we have been online friends for probably 5 years now but had never managed to be in the same location at the same time.  It was wonderful to finally be able to put the real face to the name

Race day we were graced with a beautiful morning and calm waters at Sand Hollow reservoir.  There were a ton of waves for starting and I was in the last one -- 1 hour and 8 minutes after the first wave - -that is a long time to wait for your race start.  Hung out with friends and watched the pros.  My start time finally came.  We got into the water and swam the 100 or so m out to the start line.  Nobody had much time to hang around waiting for the start since they don't let you into the water until the wave before goes off and there are only 3 minutes between waves -- I know many of the slower swimmers did not even make it to the start line before the gun went off.  It was a beautiful swim - -the field was spread out so there were no crowding issues, the water was a great temperature (about 64) and the rocks around the resevoir were beautiful.  I settled into a comfortable stroke and just swam my race.  I came out of the water in 33:07 - -which I am happy with for this time of year.  Transition went smoothly and I was off on my bike.

The St George bike course is tough.  It is also super beautiful so that helps for you to forget that there is pretty much nothing flat on the entire course.  None of the hills are steep -- they just keep coming.  I was aiming to do this as a very controlled race so I spent the entire ride checking my power meter.  This of course means that I got passed a lot going up the hills and then passed a lot of people on the down hills as I tried to keep my power in a fairly narrow range.  Don had changed my rear cluster so I had 32 teeth on the back--enough to be able to spin and keep my power in range on all the hills.  The heat was not too bad on the bike since it was still early enough--though I did start to feel it on the final 8 mile climb up Snow Canyon (very beautiful).  Rolled into transition at 2:55 with my legs feeling quite fresh.  I will definitely be able to up my power target for the next race. 

So now the fun begins--the run at St George is no joke.  There is also nowhere flat on the run course--and in fact some pretty big hills that are also reasonably steep.  As I mentioned before I was pretty sure that this was not going to be my fastest half marathon due to lack of run training--and I was right.  I ran out of transition and aimed to set myself at a sustainable pace--also aware of the heat.  The first couple miles are up--at a reasonable grade and I was able to do an ok pace for that.  At about mile 2 you make a right hand turn--and the hill gets quite steep.  At this point I opted to powerwalk the hill - -most people around me had made the same choice.  Once you get to the top at about mile 3 the course settles into rolling hills--no flat.  They did a great job of having frequent aid stations, well stocked for a hot day--lots of sponges and ice.  I made my way to the turn around point running the whole way--just walking the aid stations.  On the way back there was one steeper hill that I chose to walk.  Then it was the 3 miles down back to the finish line.  Down is maybe easier on your aerobic system but harder on the muscles.  At this point I could feel the lack of run miles and just could not get the turn over on the legs to get any good speed on the downhill.  I paid for that--as I did the final 400m into the finish line I was passed by not 1 but 2 women in my age group--the second on passed me about 100m before the finish line--it took me a second for it to register and then decide that I  should not give up and tried to sprint to take her - -I came up about 2m short.  This put me in 7th place.  My run time was 2:03--which I am actually happy with given the hills, heat and training.

Overall I was happy with my race - -I stuck with my plan, paced it well and dealt with the heat.  I know what I need to focus on with my training before the next 1/2 IM at the end of July and will be ready to push that one much harder.

Don and I took the opportunity to enjoy southern Utah for a few days after the race.  Don had acted as my tri-bike transport and drove down (while I flew) so we were able to also bring our mountain bikes.  The day after the race we headed out to a great area of trails called Gooseberry Mesa.  I knew that I was going to be tired -- this trail is pretty flat with just small climbs and lots of fun stuff--its a mixture of desert dirt trail and slickrock.  We had a ton of fun

On Monday we headed to Zion National Park.  We started with a plan to hike a couple of the shorter trails to some pools and falls -- but when we got there we found out that the water and weather conditions were right to allow us to do an up and back hike in the Narrows.  We have been wanting to do this hike for years and any time we have been in the area the conditions were not good.  The Narrows is a very narrow canyon with the Virgin River running through it.  The hiking trail is the river itself.  We were not totally prepared for a river hike but went for it anyway--and had a blast. 

Tuesday we headed for more mountain biking near Bryce Canyon.  I was definitely ready for a few days off after we got back to Portland

Embrace the Pain

I've had this rattling around in my head for the past couple of weeks - -but works has seemed to explode and having a few minutes to write something has not been in the cards.

The thought is what makes us push ourselves?  This year I am on a different plan than in the past several years -- no Ironmans for me this year.  Its shorter stuff--Olympics, XTerra - ok the endurance junkie in my had to put in a couple 70.3's.  Anyhow, the point is--I am working a lot more on speed this year.  Ironman involves a lot of long slow, dull pain.  Real speed work just plain hurts.

My mid-week cycling workouts (indoors, 2x/week with my coach) All are all focused on speed, power and strength--they are the hardest 2 hrs of my week, every week.  At the beginning of the year we started with a lot of strength work - -low cadence, long intervals - -but always pushing as much power as we could.  Now we have moved on to high cadence intervals - -that are taxing not just on your legs but your aerobic system as well.

So what I have been pondering - what is it inside us that makes us want to go into that pain cave and even look forward to getting up at 4:30 am to go there and put ourselves through an hour of hell.  It would be so easy to back off just a bit -- would coach notice that the numbers were 5 Watts lower?  If  you always gave 95% instead of 100% - that would be your norm and no one ever notice.  That extra 5% really hurts.

I don't actually know the answer--not even for myself.  I think I am getting better at embracing the pain and not listening to that voice in my head that says "don't push so hard"  I do know that I am seeing results--my power numbers are higher than I could have ever imagined - -and I have decided that I will not let my mind limit what I can do because of some preconceived idea of how high my threshold power can be - -lets let my body decide that.

So what makes you push through the pain?

Taking Care of your Body

So what I have discovered is that I am not very good at writing blog posts when things are not going according to plan.  I think I am now back on track so I will now let you all know what got me off track--since it happens to all of us (especially as we get older) and this could be a good reminder.

So the really short lesson:  Don't neglect your strength training--even at the height of your triathlon season.

The long story:  Last year I did a really good job at doing my strength training (having a great coach at Adapt Training really helps--thanks Scott Brown!) for most of the year.  I really hit it hard over the winter and into the early season.  Then as planned, I backed it off into maintenance mode during July-Sept while I was at the peak of Ironman training--though it started to suffer Aug/Sept.  Many of you know that I had asthma issues at IM Lake Tahoe and I added an additional unplanned Ironman to my season--IM Cozumel on December 1st.  That added 9 extra weeks of Ironman training to an already long year.  I did back the volume down and focused more on quality since I had done a lot of volume for Tahoe.  But what I did not do in that 9 weeks is keep up my strength routine.

Like many slightly older athletes, I have accumulated my own set of chronic issues over the years:  weak right hip from dislocating it many years ago, bunions, bum shoulder, cranky elbows.  All of these items are much happier if I maintain the strength -- I have spent the last couple of years building up my strength--mainly in the hip area (that is my biggest limiter).  My strength program often looks more like physiotherapy rehab than a true strength program -- only when I have been diligent do I get to move on to the fun stuff.

Well, you can guess where this is going.  After I took a few weeks off after Cozumel, I started slowly back into training--only to discover that my hip, lower back and right hamstring were really not happy with me.  So instead of my great plan of doing a 10 week run focus to work on my running speed, I have gotten to do lots of slow running and a lot of PT-like strength work.  There were also several chiropractic adjustments and some very painful massages to round things out.

This past week is the first time I finally think things have come back together--my joints are now back in alignment and the super tight hamstring has finally let go.  I did my first normal feeling runs this week and I can finally get back down into my aerobars on my bike.

Now I get to reset my training plan since I have not done the work I should have in the first 7 weeks of the year.  Will I be making sure that my core and strength training get a higher priority all year this year--definitely!   Hopefully you can all learn from this and not make the same mistake I did.

Detox-Part Way Through

So I decided this year that I need to do a detox.  Why?  I just never learn and eat a whole bunch of crap over the holidays -- this year was no different.  I spent the entire time loving the taste of all those goodies - but at the same time feeling totally like crap.  I decided that I didn't want to wait for my diet to gradually get better in the new year - -but was impatient and wanted to feel good right away - -hence doing a detox and breaking that cycle of sweet/fat/whatever else tasted good at the time.   I have never done a detox before so needed to figure out what I wanted to do.  I reached out to several friends that had done this before to see what they had used and what their experience was.  Of course many of the detox programs ask that you don't do too much exercise because they are super calorie restricitve- -which I didn't really like.  I am at the start of my training year, so the volume is pretty low but I didn't want to give up the start of training since I had already laid out my overall plan for the year.  I got the recommendation from one friend on a program that she has used multiple times (it must be ok if somebody is willing to do it over and over again) that still allows you to continue training.  Its called Brett Elliotts Ultimate Herbal Detox.  Basically for 10 days you take a bunch of herbal supplements and limit your diet to ONLY fruits,vegetables and yogurt -- the more raw the better.  Leading up to the 10 days you do a prep phase of 3-4 days where you gradually eliminate everything else from your diet.
I am now on day 4 of the detox.  The herbs are doing their work to clean me out and eating only fruits and veggies is not as bad as I thought it would be--I only occasionally get the urge for some grains/legumes - and its not that strong.  I feel really good--energy levels are great, no problems with doing my training.  I am eating frequently - definitely doing 6 meals/day but that is keeping me feeling quite satisfied.  The purpose of doing this is not to lose weight--but it is a nice side effect.  Since I started the prep phase I am down about 3-4 lbs (basically what I gained over the holidays).  Not sure what will happen over the remaining 6 days but I will be paying attention.

Ironman Cozumel Race Report

This race was tacked on to my schedule late – I needed closure on my season after the asthma issues at Tahoe.  Don knew I needed it and told me to go find another Ironman Monday morning right after Tahoe - -I still had all the pent up energy you have before the race—despite Tahoe being a long day—it really was not taxing and I was still itching to go the next day.   So after some investigation of the options I settled on Cozumel – it gave me 9 weeks to sharpen up after Tahoe—and a week in Mexico at the beginning of December had no downside.  Two things we did this trip to make it stress free was to use TriBike Transport for my bike and we booked our hotel and ground package with Endurance Sports Travel (EST).  Both were great decisions.  Ken Glah really does a great job of making your trip stress free—they met us at the airport and had all the transportation arrangements made (hour drive to the ferry, ferry ride to Cozumel and then short drive to the resort)—we just had to do what they said.  There they took care of all transportation for the entire week and other logistics.  They also had an ART therapist on staff that was included in our package - -I definitely took advantage of it.  I would definitely use these guys again for an international Ironman.

We arrived in Cozumel Wednesday evening before the race.  About all we had time for was getting settled in and having some dinner.  Thursday morning I turned the alarm off and just slept until I woke up - -which was too late to make it to the group swim—no big deal.  We took the shuttle into town just before lunch to do packet pick up - -They did the best job of packet pick up for an Ironman I have ever seen – we were in and out of there in probably about 15 minutes.  Grabbed the next shuttle and headed back to the resort for lunch.   The next great thing EST did for us - -pick up our bikes from TriBike Transport – so rather than having to get it at the race site it was delivered right to the hotel.  Got it a bit after lunch and headed out for a tune up ride.  I probably should start mentioning the weather – for Cozumel it was kind of cold (low-mid 70’s) and WINDY – not just the wind that you expect there but the storm front kind.  We had rain off and on Thursday through Saturday with the continued high winds.  Friday morning there was supposed to be a practice swim on the race course.  IM cancelled it.  The harbormaster had a small craft warning in effect and no boats were allowed out on the ocean.  Friday am we did a group swim out in front of the hotel—staying close to shore.  The current was really strong—but boy was it fun when you turned around and headed with it.  Everybody kept watching the weather for race day—the front was supposed to pass and things calm down by Sunday morning.

The practice swim was once again cancelled Saturday morning – it looked a little better out on the water but the harbormaster was still not letting any boats out.  Late Saturday morning I jumped on my bike to ride up to T1 and get my stuff checked in.  It was about a 3 mile ride—just a nice distance to loosen up the legs.  At this race they also assign everyone a check in time for your bike between 11 and 5 - -it was really nice—no long line to get into transition.  Got my bike dropped off and walked transition a couple of times.  T1 is in a really funky shaped parking lot with lots of little aisles—really easy to get lost in.  I had a pretty straightforward location.  Every year before this year you also dropped your T2 bag in T1 and the race transported the bags to T2 (in town about 6 miles away)—but not this year—they even told us we were dropping the bags there in the pre-race briefing.  Well—took the shuttle back to the resort and went in and told Ken what was going on since I was one of the earliest bike drop off times.  EST does it again - -they gathered all our T2 bags and took them into town for us and we could just go put our feet up for the rest of the afternoon.

Dinner time rolls around – I run into Michael Lovato (he was announcing, not racing this year).  He informs me that they are changing the swim course due to the still too strong currents—he didn’t have any details yet - -but at least we had the heads up to go looking for info a little later in the evening.  Turns out that they shortened the swim course to 3.1km and made it point to point—with the portion with the really strong current going in the direction of the current.  I know they had troubles last year with many people not making the swim cut-off because they could not swim against the current – apparently that section of the coast had even stronger current this year.  So race morning was changed to check in at T1 and get everything ready and then jump on a bus for a short ride down the coast to the new swim start location.  I assume that they had limited choices of locations where they could launch 2500 swimmers into the water and this was as close as they could get to full distance.  Cozumel knows how to move a lot of people quickly—I assume from the fact that they are a major cruise ship port—and the bussing was flawless.

OK—now for the race itself:

Swim –It was an in water start so about 5 min after the pro’s started I made my way into the water and swam out to where the start line was and positioned myself close to the front.  It was actually a fairly wide start line so it didn’t seem crowded at all.  I treaded water for a few minutes and then we were off.  The first part of the swim had very little current and I had done a pretty good job of positioning myself so I had space to swim pretty much right away.  The water was incredibly clear and probably only about 10-15 feet deep so you could see all the fish—definitely had to remind myself to focus on the race and not the pretty fish!  We were supposed to be swimming between the buoys and the shore but I kept finding myself just to the outside of the buoys.  About a 1000m into the swim we went by the outlet of a river- -you could feel the water and at this point we were definitely swimming into a current—though probably only for about 400m.  After that we got to the down-current portion of the swim—it really makes you feel like you have a long beautiful stroke and you glide along.  Since you can see the bottom you can really tell that you are moving fast.  Before I knew it I looked up and the dolphin pen was in front of me - -this was where we were getting out of the water - -I really wanted to just keep swimming it was so much fun!.   Pulled myself up onto the steps and up to the wharf – 44 minutes!  No way to judge if that was good or bad  (ends up it was good—second fastest swim in my AG and faster than some of the pros)

T1 was pretty quick as all I needed was socks, shoes and helmet.  I almost ran up the wrong row to my bike but realized it just as I was about to make the wrong turn.

Bike:  So this is a flat course but it is not an easy course.  Coming out of T1 you do a section of probably 10 or so miles with a slight tailwind and protected by the jungle.  Everybody was flying—I just worked to gradually settle into my goal power (160W) and let the speed be what it was—which was pretty fast—23-24mph.  Well the party is over when you hit the north tip of the island. You come out of the trees and start to ride right along the ocean.  This is the windy side of the island—and yup—we get to ride right into it.  It was strong this first lap but not horrible.  It is always difficult in headwind sections for pack to not form—this was no exception.  I got swallowed up by a pack about half way through and it took me a mile or so to dis-engage from them.  I will not cheat—but you could tell there were many people that were happy to sit in the pack until they got caught.  I did see numerous people sitting in penalty tents through the course of the day so they were calling some of the drafting.  The headwind section is about 10 miles long and it just gets windier the further south you go.  The little hut along the road that signals your turn inland is a very welcome sight.  The next section is straight across the middle of the island - -protected and very little wind and you can get back into a good groove.  As you start coming into town there are all kinds of locals hanging out along the course cheering.  You make a couple turns in town and then you are passing T2 - -this is a 3 lap bike so you get to go by here a couple times and get the lift of all the crowds cheering (the rest of the course is really in the middle of nowhere). Coming out of town you have to ride about 6 miles until you get back to where we started the bike.  I pass this point at 1:49 (39.5 miles)– that’s flying!  I am paying a lot of attention to sticking to my power and have been riding pretty steady.  As I get to the northern tip of the island again – wham—wall of wind hits me - -it is definitely windier for this second lap.  At this point I have been riding close to another lady – we have been hanging together for about 20 miles—making sure to stay far enough apart to not be drafting - -but its still nice to have someone there.  We put our heads down and resolve ourselves to 10 miles of hard work.  I have to say—I am keeping my power constant- -but fighting the wind takes more than just the power to the pedals—it saps your upper body as well so it is much more tiring.  About 2/3 through the windy section we are swallowed by another pack.  I let them go pretty quickly.  The lady I have been riding with did not have quite the same ethics I have and she merrily let herself tuck in and follow them.  I finish the windy section by myself and turn into town for the second time. The treat on the way across the island on this lap was that the skies opened on us and it rained really hard for about 5-10 minutes. Lap 2 was a little slow then lap 1 – by about 4 minutes - -all attributable to the stronger winds.  So guess what I am greeted with on lap 3?  Yup—even stronger winds.  At this point I am lapping people and feeling really sorry that they will have to go through this one more time—I am assuming that they probably missed the relatively calmer winds I had on lap 1.  Finally no packs on this last lap.  As I turn onto the last section across the island—less than 10 miles to go—I drop my power a bit to let the legs spin and recover a bit for the run.  At this point I am ready to get off the bike and I can feel some cramping in my left foot.  I try to wiggle it around the best I can.  T2 is a welcome sight—off the bike in 5:35 – super happy for this tough a course.  Another kudos to the race organizers – the entire bike course was completely closed to all vehicle traffic.

T2 is again reasonably quick as I really only need to change my shoes and shove some nutrition into my back pocket.  I did stop to use the port-a-potty – which if you count as sort of still part of the bike is pee #2 since after the swim.

Run:  OK it sounds like everything is going great, but really it isn’t—OK, it was going really great but I made a couple of nutrition errors on the bike.  Actually they weren’t really errors as much as mis-calculations.  I actually followed my nutrition plan exactly—problem is that the plan wasn’t right.  I was hydrated, had enough calories – but I did not have enough electrolytes—I was taking salt tabs but now I know that it definitely was not enough.  So as I started to run that cramp in my left foot was still there—every step felt like a little knife in the bottom of my foot.  I stopped a few times in the first 3 miles to stretch and massage it.  Finally at about mile 3 it went away.  I carried on.  The run is 3 out and back loops with lots of people along the entire course (more concentrated at the turn around by the finish line of course).  I put on a good face finishing lap 1 but as I headed out onto lap 2 I started to get dizzy and had tunnel vision—I know this is not a good sign so I stopped and walked—and worked at getting nutrition and especially electrolytes in at every aid station.  I walked for at least 2 miles.  Shortly before the far turn around I started to put some slow jogging back in.  At mile 10 I also decided that it was time for a serious jolt - -and started drinking Pepsi (I usually try to wait until mile 18 just in case the carbonation bothers my stomach).  I grabbed my special needs bag just after the turn around—which had another flask of EFS liquidshot (which is also really high in electrolytes).  By the end of lap 2 I was beginning to feel a bit better.   I resolved that I was going to try to run lap 3 except for aid stations.  My run was not very fast at this point - -but I was running.  Somewhere, several times during these tough parts it rained – not just a sprinkle but real tropical rain.  The streets of Cozumel were not engineered for drainage so we have several lakes (water was about 6 inches deep) that there was no way around—so everybody had soaking wet shoes.  When I his mile 24 I resolved it was finish line or bust—no more aid stations, just running all the way to the finish line.  It was a great feeling coming back knowing that it was just a few more minutes and I would be done.  I had a big grin on my face when I took the right lane to the finish line rather than the left that headed back for another loop.  The finish line was alive as usual and that feeling of crossing the line of an Ironman just does not get old.  Don was right there which was awesome!  Not my best marathon 5:10 but I gave it all I had and was happy how I dealt with adversity when it happened.  Overall time—11:41 and good enough for 4^th in my AG—which is my highest finish so far.

Once again—the 4^th discipline of triathlon, nutrition proved to be an issue.  This is the first IM I have done in a hot, humid climate and really had no data to go on to figure out how much electrolyte I needed—I now have an answer—what I figured was not enough.  I will definitely be making adjustments next time I race in this type of climate

Despite the issues I feel good about my race and Don is happy that I am tired and happy—I will be much easier to live with now.  The next few weeks I will be putting my feet up and plotting the 2014 plan.  I know I got the season right - -I am tired and feeling ready for a rest but also excited to think about what is in store for next year.

Cheated: Ironman Lake Tahoe

I am finally ready to write this race report -- such that it will be.  It has taken me the entire week to figure out just what it is I feel about this race.  I finally figured it out--cheated.

So let me give you the quick race recap:  The Tahoe course is beautiful and extremely difficult -- the bike has somewhere in the neighborhood of 7000 ft climbing and of course the entire race takes place between 6200 and 7300 ft elevation.  The run, advertised as flat -- is not really flat -- though I guess if you compare it to the bike--its pretty flat.   The swim is one of the most beautiful swims I have ever done.  So all the makings of a epic course and day.

The day before the race a storm rolled in and dropped rain and snow all over the course--luckily the storm blew through and we woke up race morning to dry conditions -- but the temperature was somewhere below freezing and was only forecast to get into the 50's at best.
We did everything we could to stay warm before the race -- putting our wetsuits on at the condo, down jackets, gloves, shoes etc.  I actually did a great job of staying warm all the way up to race start.  The lake was beautiful--with the water so much warmer than the air there was steam/fog on the lake with the sunrise coming up in the east.
Anyhow -- swim started as I expected- - took it super easy so that I could address my breathing since I did not do a warm up due to the air temperatures.  As usually in cold conditions it took my lungs about 800m to get into a rhythmn and then all was fine.  I really liked the new rolling swim start and had no issues with crowding the entire race.  Looking at the snow capped mountains on each breath was really beautiful.  Anyhow -- because of the slow start and the elevation (I was figuring it was going to cost me a few minutes on the swim) I came out of the water in 1:15  (I had been figuring 1:10)  Man was it cold once the sub freezing air hit you!  I got my bag and headed for the change tent - -still cold in there.  I did my best to change with frozen fingers.  I did a full clothing change--something I have never done in an IM--but the smart thing to do for this one.  By the time I started getting a decent amount of clothing on I was shivering uncontrollably.  I had planned on overdressing so that I would warm up quickly on the bike -I had 4 layers on my top.   I got out of there figuring the only way to warm up was to get biking and generate some heat.   Got my bike and headed out.   Well, as soon as I tried to go down in the aero position my lungs started to tighten up--not gasping from altitude -- but that horrible tightening of the chest that everybody with asthma knows.  I sat up and backed off the pace.  I was hoping that it would pass -- but I know after this many years of racing--once the asthma is triggered, the race is over.   I think I tried to pretend for the next 5-10 miles that what I felt in my chest was really just the altitude and the swim - and not the asthma.  By the time I got to Truckee I had warmed up quite a bit but the chest tightness was not going away.  Any time I tried to up the effort even a little bit it would start to tighten more--threatening a full on asthma attack.  I know from past experience that if I keep the effort low enough I can avoid the attack (i.e. bring in the ambulance) and keep going -- but I have to be very careful to not overdo it.   I was worried that I would not be able to get up the 2 big climbs on each lap.  I took shots of my rescue inhaler at the bottom of the climb--which seemed to help a bit for about 30-45 min (enough to get up the 2 hills).   So - -I was now in tourist mode, my race was over and now it was just about covering the rest of the miles so that I could be a finisher.  I changed my attitude and went into helpful mode - -every racer I was near that was struggling I made sure that I gave them encouraging words.  On the last climb up Brockaway I caught up to Cindy -- she was struggling so I stayed with her the whole climb to lend whatever strength I could so that she would make it (she did and had an awesome race!).  The run went much the same way--I was able to jog slowly while the sun was still up but when it went down and the temperature dropped, the lungs said no to the lower temperature and reduced me to a walk -- so I finished the race that way.

So this was the hardest IM out there -- I should be feeling great that I was able to finish when so many others couldn't.  But I don't feel great - I feel cheated.  Many of you know that I was "all in" this year.  I have been focused on being in the best shape of my life for this race--and I think I achieved that - -I was ready to take on this beautiful, difficult course and race it--not just finish it.  I was ready, I was strong.  My asthma took that away from me -- the race was over before I even got on the bike.  I respect the spirit of Ironman and everybody else racing too much to drop out when I am not having a good day but I am not feeling a huge sense of accomplishment for having finished.  I want my body to hurt the next day, feel fatigued for a couple weeks because I went out there and gave it everything I had- -regardless of the outcome.  I couldn't do that on Sunday.   Monday morning I got up - -not stiff one bit and feeling like I could easily go do a workout.  I had more fatigue after many of my prep workouts (they were indeed harder than the race ended up being).

Now I am trying to figure out what to do -- there is definitely a feeling of unfinished business.  My body is still waiting for the challenge that is supposed to come after you taper (i.e. the tiger is still pacing in the cage).  The rain is falling in Portland - this means mud.  I will be racing cyclocross this weekend in my favorite conditions (the muddier the better).  I hope that it will take some of the edge off - but both physically and mentally, I am looking for the IM like challenge and I am not sure where I am going to get it.