Journey to Kona Day 238: Boy, Do I Know How to Pick IM's! IM Lake Tahoe 2013

After I completed the 2013 Ironman in Lake Tahoe, I began to wonder if I was jinxed.  The Ironman races that I'd done had gotten progressively more difficult.  In many ways, IM Lake Tahoe 2013 easily ranked up there when it came to difficult and challenging Ironman races.  It was 28 degrees when I arrived to the start, and I had to scrape ice off my bike!  The water itself wasn't as cold as some other races, but coming out of the water to find a temperature of 34 degrees, by the time I got to the transition tent I couldn't feel my feet.  Lake Tahoe had the highest altitude of any Ironman, and the bike had more climbing than any other bike course. I made things more difficult by having my socks and gloves get wet in my gear bag.  Riding with no gloves in 34 degrees, meant a wind-chill under 20 degrees.  It was painful!  Only two male pros rode under 5 hours and most of the female pros rode around 6 hours, so my 7 hour and 15 minute bike split was actually decent!  When I got to the run I knew that it was going to be mostly walking.  The title of my blog for the race was:  "To achieve a good time, or to have a good time."  I decided to enjoy the experience and focus on finishing my 4th Ironman.  My race report is super long, but so was the race itself, so if you're interested you can find it here:  http://wassdoc.blogspot.com/2013/09/to-achieve-good-time-or-to-have-good.html

The thing I remember the most about Ironman Lake Tahoe was the camaraderie of the people I met.  Ironman is its own family.  Most of the people who do Ironman aren't trying to beat anyone, or compete with anyone.  Most of us are competing with ourselves.  We do want to do the best that we can do. Over the years I've met many nice and interesting people during the run.  Lake Tahoe was more of the rule in regards to that.  We were truly a "band of brothers" out on an incredibly challenging course on a difficult day.  The other highlight of the race was that my friend Rudy drove out from Denver to cheer me on.  He also saved my race by bringing me ski gloves to put on 1 1/2 hours into the race.  I'd ridden the first hour and a half without gloves.  Honestly, the only reason that my fingers didn't hurt was that I wouldn't allow them to! Riding without gloves with a 20 degree windchill was one of the hardest things I've ever done in my life!

Rudy took a video of me starting the run.  In the spirit of positive thinking, I certainly sounded and acted positive.  It took me about a mile into the run to realize that I wanted to enjoy the experience rather than suffer any more than I already had.

When I did Lake Tahoe, I'd already signed up for Ironman New Zealand and Ironman Boulder for 2014.  I'd recognized that the Legacy Program existed and figured that I'd start cranking out races.  Remarkably, I ultimately signed up to do Lake Tahoe again in 2014! I'm clearly a glutton for punishment.  I was a little concerned about erupting volcanoes or earthquakes impacting the New Zealand race, and was wondering what weather conditions might make the high altitude of Boulder more challenging.  Ironically, I also wondered why anyone would complain about a "difficult" Ironman.  Why pick an easy one?  We do Ironman for the challenge. Why not pick the most challenging ones?  Anyway, I certainly do know how to pick them!