Lake Tahoe or Bust

It's been almost a month since starting physical therapy. Contrary to the original diagnosis, it seems like the pain I was experiencing in my hip & knee came from muscle imbalance (no tears - thank God) and lack of core engagement. It's been a bit frustrating, I had to significantly cut back on strength training because my lower back was so sensitive. But my core is a lot better and I'm a lot more comfortable.

Along with core improvements, I've focused on long rides. The Lake Tahoe three day triathlon is fast approaching. The 2.5 mile swim will be on Friday, the 72 mile ride on Saturday and on Sunday I will run a half marathon (I dropped down from the marathon). I'm excited, but I'm dreading it too.

The ride will be start at 6,000 ft and will go up to 6800, and then back down to 6000. Do you know how hard it is to breathe at this altitude? Your lungs burn when you climb. To help prep for this, I've been riding with a small 10-15lb backpack. It's not the most comfortable thing to have on your back, but at least this should help stimulate altitude. I've never raced before on the bike, and I've never ridden in a large group either --- so, yea, I'm kinda nervous to do this on the lake circumference with open roads.

The swim, I just have no idea what to expect. I don't know how many people are doing the 2.5 mile distance, or what it's like to swim in altitude. Does it make a difference? I have no idea. I'm just mentally going into it that it's going to suck and that I am just going to have to deal with it for 90 minutes.

I've actually done the half marathon before. And I think I compared it to a full marathon. But I did it in fall 2008, when I was still a newbie to racing and was averaging a 2:20 half (sans altitude). Around mile 6, you hit Hell Hill. Every few feet, you enter a new realm of hell. I remember Purgatory from 2008 as the worst part, that was when my lungs really started burning. And I thought, my God, this really is hell, they weren't kidding. However, the views are beautiful.

I'm looking at this weekend as sort of a triathlete bootcamp. Altitude training is supposed to be a great way to train for endurance events. It's also a way to get an idea on what to expect in cycling competitions - the one area where I've never competed.

It's funny, when people hear that I'm doing a IronMan, they always say, "you must be a big triathlete"... and are very surprised to hear me say, "actually, I've never done one". I don't think that I can really count Tahoe as a tri either since there aren't any transitions and it's spread out over three days. To be honest, my first real tri - will probably be a half IronMan this spring!