The past year has been a blur, a whirlwind, chaotic and character building. The last race report I did was for the Bassman half, for which I broke the tape. Shortly after, we bought a house and moved in at the end of June. The house is amazing and the major selling point for us was the heated backyard pool that is almost 20 yards long and a big beautiful room that has become my training lab. Oh, and 2.5 wooded peaceful acres doesn't hurt either! A welcome change from the constant car horns, emergency sirens, and miles of pavement that comes with living in a high-rise city apartment. After having most of my possessions in storage for more than eight months, it sure was nice to finally sleep in my own bed!! I digress...
At the end of July, I decided a day or two before the Crabman Sprint in Narragansett, RI that I was going to race, adding it to the workout I had for that day. It has been so long since I have done a sprint tri and although sprint races are not necessarily my favorite, sprints are so quick that you never fully get deep into the hurt locker before the race is over. I quickly took the lead just a few short minutes out of T1 and stayed in that position for the whole race. I raced to first female (and top 15 overall men and women) in a quick 59 min, and quickly went back home to finish my workout for the day. I was supposed to spend to two weeks in Colorado for some high-altitude training in July, but my schedule just wasn't working with my friends, so I asked Coach Cliff what he thought of me spending the rest of summer preparing for Tahoe IN TAHOE. I got the green light and worked with the best realtor on the North Shore of Tahoe- Kim English. I highly recommend her, should you find yourself in need of Tahoe accommodations.
I emptied enough moving boxes to gather what I would need for a summer of high-altitude training in Lake Tahoe and packed up the trusty Volvo wagon for a cross-country adventure. After a quick pit stop in Long Island to witness the matrimony of my beautiful sister-in-law and her amazing husband, I literally left in the middle of the reception to start making my way to the Golden State. I stopped through Northern Virginia to pick up my traveling companion, Alison (my younger sister). Picture two teenagers goofing and giggling their way through four days of driving and that pretty much sums up our adventure. I have to mention my gratitude and thanks to Nate Miller for graciously allowing Alison and me to crash at his house, while he spent the summer in Israel. I am also super grateful to Michelle Peacock Thompson and her family for hosting a wonderful dinner and to her husband Sean in letting me tag along for his early morning ride up Emigrant Canyon. Only a good friend that you have not seen in over 20 years that would have no problem with you taking off for a two-hour bike ride with her husband at 5:00 a.m.
We left Utah and began what Alison promised to be the most boring part of our entire journey-the drive through Nevada to Tahoe. Alison had done this drive once before a couple years ago- only it was by herself!! Boy was she right about boring Nevada. Kansas? No problem. Nebraska? Piece of cake. 1-80 through Nevada? YIKES!! All I can say is, you better have some good snacks, a reliable vehicle and perhaps some caffeine if you want to make it through.
We pulled into Tahoe around dinnertime. We got to my cabin, which was at 7,000 feet above sea level, unpacked the car enough as to not look like hoarders and drove down the summit to grab a quick view of the lake in Kings Beach before finding a bite to eat. We got up VERY early the next morning to get Alison on her flight back to the east coast. Muchas gracias to my sister for not only keeping me entertained, but for having the patience to wait around for me while I did my (sometimes) three hour workouts in the morning before we could start driving and MOST IMPORTANTLY, for never complaining when I asked her to drive. From the airport, I went to Safeway to grab some groceries and found myself almost buying a liquor cabinet full of spirits just because it was the first time I had seen not just beer and wine, but liquor, in the grocery store. Who’d a thunk- California lets you buy vodka IN THE GROCERY STORE at 7 o'clock in the MORNING!!! I came to my senses; put the case of Knob Creek back and hurried home to prepare for my first long run at altitude- a two-hour run.
I have been running my whole life, for as long as I can remember. I started competing for MHR track club when I was in the second grade. I grew up on the track; developed mentally and physically. Occasionally, I have non-running friends or friends that are just starting out for the first time come up to me and say, "Ok, Kate, how do you BREATHE when you run?? I always feel like I can't catch my breath, like my lungs are burning!! How do I get past that?" And I usually would say, "You just have to find your rhythm." I have been running for over 30 years of my life and I suppose that I started so long ago that if I did experience the lung-burning, out of breath runs, I certainly don't remember them! That is, until my first long run at altitude.... this had to be the hardest run I have ever done. My lungs were GASPING for air, my legs were SEARCHING oxygen-rich blood and it just wasn't there. On top of the thin mountain air, during that two-hour run I climbed over 1,000 feet of altitude. I have never felt the desire to stop and take a nap so badly in my life! So, I can now say from experience, that you just have to stick with it, because it WILL get better. It will not be overnight, but you will start to "find your rhythm" and maybe actually start to enjoy your runs!
In trying to keep this update as short as possible, I will say this- those first few weeks were tough. I am very grateful to my dear friend and my first boss in the fitness industry, Kristine and her VERY polite children, Hilary and Nick (who are both superstar college athletes). They INSISTED in taking me out for my birthday, bought me dinner and gave me a very nice gift. Being homesick wasn't so bad the few days they were out in Tahoe vacationing.
Five and six nosebleeds a day, disruptive sleep, lethargy, very dry skin and training targets that went to the crapper were all things I experienced while training at altitude, especially the first three weeks. I found myself desperately scouring the internet looking for any and all information I could find on high-altitude and how it affected the elite athlete. My physical condition wasn't the only thing suffering-I found myself INCREDIBLY lonely. One day in particular, I was doing repeats of the Brockway Summit- five of them to be exact and was actually excited when the dude I had passed at the Ritz on 267 had worked his way back up and wanted to chat. Normally- being at almost 7,200 feet and climbing at about a 8-12% grade on your bike for a half hour straight, you might find yourself too breathless to even get a "hello" out. However, when you have spent three weeks talking to no one but your husband on the phone, you somehow find the strength to muster up conversation. His name was Josh and he and I ran into each other a couple of times climbing up Rte 267. We talked about how in love we are with our Felt bicycles and about our ambitions for the race. I often wonder how he wound up doing on that tough race day, as it was his first Ironman. Once we got to the top, I started to turn around to start my fourth summit repeat when some ladies who had stopped to take a break stopped me. In our conversation, she mentioned that she had met a female triathlete looking for an open water swim buddy. She gave me Kirsten's number and I figured I might as well give her a ring. I was kind of desperate for a friend at that point and perhaps a swim partner. Kirsten and I became instant friends- I LOVE her silly/fun personality and the similarity we share in our desire to always be grateful for that which we have been blessed. I really believe that the Universe connected Kirsten and me because I needed a pal. Even though it was still tough being so far away from home, my sweet little fur-babies and of course, Foof, without Kirsten, I probably would have packed up and headed home before I even got to race.
I had settled into Kings Beach and the Tahoe community very nicely- I was even starting to win over the aquasize ladies at the High Peaks Community Center (any lap swimmer KNOWS that isn't easy)! I found a great bike store in Tahoe City called Olympic Bike Shop and have mucho appreciation to Carl, Nok (I probably butchered that) and Peter for the great service while I was there- they sure do take good care of everyone who walks in the door! I became a regular at New Moon natural foods and found probably the best massage therapist in the Tahoe area- James at Tranquility in Truckee. I also cannot speak highly enough about Dr. Barry Triestman of Performance Chiropractic’s in Truckee. Many of you know how heavily I rely on Active Release Technique to make sure my body is functioning at its best. I have seen A LOT of different ART docs around the country and I have to say, he is absolutely one of the best. If you are in the Tahoe area and find yourself with any type of sports injury or in need of an adjustment, there is no reason to go to anyone else.
As race day drew closer, my fitness seemed to start to come back around- at least in swimming and running. My open water swims were getting faster and faster and I actually was comfortable with the 60 degree lake temperature. That being said, something felt off with my cycling, but I could not put my finger on it. Ever since I got back from Arizona training camp in February, it just seemed off. I had gotten a major bike fit adjustment while out in Arizona and despite being told, "don't worry, your power will come back around" it just hadn't. I had talked to Coach Cliff about it, and we both figured it was just training at altitude, as it was well known that your power output could sometimes be lower. I had the opportunity to circumnavigate Lake Tahoe four times for training rides while there and see some of the most glorious views of the lake. My elevation gain on long rides went from 3,000-4,000 feet in Rhode Island to 8,000-10,000+ feet of climbing in and around Tahoe. Unfortunately, most of those rides were spent inhaling thick (and what the health department declared risky/unhealthy) forest fire smoke from the famous Rim Fire that claimed over 10,000 acres of forest. The rumor swirling around was that the race was going to be canceled because it was just that bad. I couldn't even fathom coming out all that way, training hard and not even being able to finish the race ha...ha...ha...had I only known.
I started to prepare for the final countdown...the last week of the race...and my anxiety was at an all-time high. Not only because I still wasn't feeling strong on the bike, but because it was pretty much set in stone that it was going to be a cold race start- somewhere in the mid-30F range. I do not do well in the cold; I just cannot function. My body shuts down in the cold. Given that all of my race PRs have been in hot conditions, it's clear at this point that the heat is my friend. Cliff and I had decided on this race because we felt that since I am lean, and I would have two months to prepare on the course, the bike course would be a strength for me. In two months, we figured I could build some serious bike fitness and I would just FLY up those mountains where others might struggle. With an already strong run, this seemed to be the perfect course for me.
I picked up Foof from the Reno airport three days before the race. He was SUCH a sight for sore eyes. For eight weeks, my life was this: wake up, eat breakfast, train all day, and come home to a quiet, lonely house. Although it's nice to have nothing to do but eat, train, sleep, it was so lonely to not have a companion to come home to. It was certainly a relief to have someone in the house when I got home. From the airport, we went straight to registration so I could get checked in and get back to the house to prepare for the race. With two days to go, the weather reports were showing more than just cold weather on race morning. The whole time I was in Tahoe, it did not rain ONE TIME. Nada. Nunca. Nothing. I did not see one rain drop the whole time I was there. However, it looked as if Mother Nature was going to be opening up the skies the day and night before the race. And it looked like it might be somewhere in the mid 20F degree range at race start. I was cold morning, noon and night at that point. It wasn't warming up enough during the day for me to not be covered in goose bumps and shivering throughout my workouts. The Saturday before the race came and there were massive wind gusts, three foot swells coming off the lake and heavy rain that turned into snow by mid-day. I got out to do my last pre-race workout, but had to cut it short because of the dangerous weather conditions. We built a fire in the fireplace and I sat in front of it while I watched the snow fall outside the window and thought about the fact that I would be diving into a lake at 6:30 the next morning to do an Ironman.
I have to say that the time I spent training in Tahoe was one of the most challenging periods of my life (physically and mentally) I have ever experienced. I look back now and realize that I have grown so much. I have nothing but the deepest appreciation for the opportunity I had to go out to California. I believe that difficult things, situations and experiences in our life are brought to us to help us learn something about ourselves. And if you don't learn from the experience, you will just keep repeating it until you do! I think what I learned most is that I always thought I can "go it alone". I thought I didn't need to rely on anyone- just put your nose down and do the work that needs to be done. The reality is, we need to surround ourselves with friends and family. While it is true that you have to do the work yourself, you need a support team to help you get through the days that you want to just give up; to throw in the towel. Don't ever take your friends and family for granted, they are there as your support beams- just as you are to them. You would never take an ax to a support beam, so keeping that in mind, hold those that hold you up close to your heart and treat them with kindness and respect. You as a structure may be strong, but when the storms roll in, those support beams are what will keep you standing- so there better be a good bond between the two.