Ironman Lake Tahoe course preview report
Here's a link to my review of the time I spent previewing and training on the IMLT course from Sept 16 - Oct 1:
I've also pasted all of the text below:
IMLT Course Preview – Sept 2012
I was lucky enough to be able to spend 2+ weeks in the Lake Tahoe area last month, previewing the course, checking out places to stay, and doing lots of training. My overall impression of the course: BEAUTIFUL! Such an amazingly scenic location, with lakes, forests, mountains, and seemingly perfect weather. I did not encounter any rain at all, and only 1/2 of one day was cloudy. Lows in the low 40's, highs between 72 and 80 degrees. Did I mention the lake and mountains?? Fresh, clean air, and the most amazingly clear blue water I’ve ever seen in a lake.
Below is a summary of what I think about the course.
SWIM: Kings Beach State Recreation Area - I swam 3 times, all within a few days before/after Sept 22. Although I brought my wetsuit with me on the trip, I did not end up using it for any of the swims. I did stay less than 100m from shore, and just swam parallel to shore. I also swam at the warmest part of the day, so the cool water actually felt good. If I had done any swims out further into the lake or during a colder part of the day, I would have worn my wetsuit (I intended to, but just never got around to it). I wear earplugs when I swim in open water, and during one swim one of my earplugs started to come out…I noticed because the water was uncomfortably cold in my ear! On race day, I plan to wear my full wetsuit, earplugs, thermal cap, and booties, and I’m confident I will be comfortable in the water. It was certainly warmer than Coeur d’Alene.
T1: Kings Beach State Recreation Area – I have no idea how they will possibly have enough room for 2500 bikes, much less changing tents, etc. There is the North Tahoe Events Center building next to the beach area, maybe that will be used for the changing rooms instead of tents? Not sure it’s big enough, though.
BIKE: 2 1/3 loops, Kings Beach/Truckee/Squaw Valley – I’m going to break this down into sections, as there are several very distinct portions of the bike course…
Kings Beach to Tahoe City (~10 mi) – This entire section is mostly along the lake heading southwest. The first 6 miles are gently rolling. Then there’s a mile-long climb, around 6-7%. Then mostly downhill to Tahoe City. At that point, the course turns away from the lake. The pavement on this section of the course is good. The only thing to watch out for is that the painted traffic lane lines are also recessed in the pavement.
Tahoe City to Truckee (~13 miles) – The course follows the Truckee River, which flows from Lake Tahoe toward Truckee…which means there’s an overall elevation loss along the whole corridor. It’s a very fast and scenic section of the course. It’s not strictly downhill, it’s still rolling, but the grades are very gentle. It’s on a highway with heavy traffic (hopefully not on race day), but a very good shoulder and mostly NEW smooth pavement. Easily my favorite section of the course! About 5 miles into this section, you’ll see the left turn for Squaw Valley, which is where the course ends the 3rd time through this section. But on the first 2 loops of the course, you’ll keep riding straight ahead until the right turn onto W. River St on the outskirts of Truckee.
Truckee to Martis Camp (~5 miles) – The first stretch of road, W. River St, is really the only rough pavement on the entire course. At least it’s flat. Truckee is a quaint western mountain town, with a vibrant old downtown section. Near the end of town is a steeper climb, but is only about 1/2 mile long (?), so really it’s just a good warm-up for what’s to come… Once you leave Truckee, there’s a fast downhill section on a state highway, followed a little bit of up and then flat. Again, lots of traffic, but good pavement and a wide shoulder.
Martis Camp and the Northstar Climb & Decent (14 miles) – The first 10 miles of this section are completely closed to athletes until race day, since it traverses through Martis Camp, which is a gated luxury community (minimum home price looks to be around $3 million). I think it’s really unfortunate that the course was planned in such a way that 10 miles per loop cannot be ridden until race day, especially because it appears to be the most technical climb on the whole course. My requests to view the course were politely denied by both the Martis Camp security directory, and then also by WTC. From the main highway, the course turns right on Schaffer Mill Road, then winds its way through Martis Camp and up to the top of the Northstar Ski Area, then down Highlands View Rd and eventually back to the highway. Since I was not able to ride through Martis Camp, instead I stayed on the main highway, and then rode up the Northstar descent on Highlands View Rd and then partly down the climb, basically riding the course backward at that point, until I got to the gate at the uphill end of Martis Camp (just uphill from N Summit Pl). From there I turned around to get back on course, and finished the little bit of the Northstar climb that’s actually accessible to the public (here’s the 3+ minute GoPro video of that short but steep section: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5DSWP2309A ). Then there’s a little bit of short ups and downs along the top of Northstar, followed by the really awesome 3-mile Northstar descent! (only awesome if you really like winding, fast descents). Here’s a 9 minute video of the ups/downs at the top of Northstar, followed by the descent: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wA0jdZiDlQ8. Basically once you turn back onto the highway at the end of this descent, you immediately start the lower sections of the Brockway climb…
Brockway climb and descent, back to Kings Beach (6 miles) – The early stages of this 3-mile climb are deceptive. It starts out very gradually with maybe a 4% grade. You don’t necessarily notice as it increases to 5 and 6%. Then you gradually sense that it’s getting steeper, but the progression is gradual and there aren’t any visual cues, so by the time it gets to 10% your legs feel like you’ve been climbing hard for 15 or more minutes straight. Oh wait…you HAVE been climbing for 15+ minutes straight! I don’t enjoy this climb because it’s a very busy highway, it’s not especially winding or scenic, and there is absolutely no chance to rest. It just gradually gets steeper until you either stop and take a break (I had to do this once), or eventually make it to the top. The average elevation over the entire climb is 9%, and like I said it starts very gradually, so I’m guessing it ends up around 11 or 12% near the top. A helpful visual cue is that the “Passing Lane 1/2 Mile” sign ends up being a mile from the summit. Here’s the ugly 21 minutes of climbing video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wA0jdZiDlQ8. And it was my training partner who had the camera on his bike. It took me several minutes longer 
. I learned that in my lowest gear I can only go 4.5 mph, pedaling around 40 rpm, while maintaining my target watts (with a 12-27 cassette and compact crank). Looks like I’ll be switching to a SRAM shifters and RD so I can go with a 12-32 cassette instead!
So, the entire course is 2 of the above loops, plus another 1/3 of the loop until taking the left turn to Squaw Valley, between Tahoe City and Truckee. The road into Squaw Valley is mostly uphill for the first mile (enough to really hurt at the end of a 112 mile ride), then it levels off for the last 0.75 mile or so.
T2: Squaw Valley - I think this will be an excellent venue for T2, with TONS of space and a fun little village area. It’s a beautiful location. The only drawback is there’s just one 2-lane road to get in/out of the area, so spectator traffic and post-race traffic could get ugly.
Run: Squaw Valley out/back along Truckee River – There seems to be some uncertainty as to whether the run course will be a single out/back course like how it’s described on the IMLT website, or whether it will be 2 “laps” of a shorter out/back course according to reports from recent race committee meetings. Before I learned about the possibility of a 2-lap course, I already thought that the bike trail would be fairly narrow for 2500 athletes on a single out-back course! If it gets changed to a 2-lap course, it will be very congested and difficult to pass other athletes. I previewed the entire single out/back course by bike, and most of it on foot as well. The first (and last) 8 miles between Squaw Valley and Tahoe City are very scenic and are right along the Truckee River on the bike path that parallels that section of the bike course. If they stick with the single out/back course, we’ll then run south along Highway 89, following the lake shore (sometimes visible, sometimes not). For the most part, the run is gently rolling terrain. South of Tahoe City, it’s not as scenic as it runs right next to the highway, at the same level as the road. At least in the first/last section of the run the path is at the level of the river, with the highway 10-20 feet higher in many spots. The pavement of the trail is actually quite bumpy for bicycles (horizontal cracks in the pavement every 10-20 feet or so), but not as big of a deal for runners…except when you’re exhausted and dragging your feet, then every bump becomes a hazard! I really hope they do keep it as a single out/back course. Not necessarily spectator-friendly, but in my opinion it will be more athlete-friendly.
Finish: Squaw Valley - See T2 notes, above.
Comments
I was up in Tahoe a few weeks back for a recon trip to see how this sea level gal will do at elevation. I did a mile swim, Rode around Lake Tahoe and then did a 1/2 Marathon.
The swim was good. Started out really slow, then picked up the speed. I could feel it get harder to breath.
I found that it was harder to drink on the bike than I normally encounter...shortness of breath caused me not to comfortably drink. Other than that no other issues on the bike.
The 1/2 was fine, other than I did have dry mouth. Drank more at aid stations than normal.
Did you feel any difference being at altitude?
I had a similar experience swimming. As long as I stayed at a very comfortable (slow) pace, everything was fine. The key will definitely be to stay relaxed during the swim.
I felt fairly winded on the bike at first with any effort at z3 or above. But after a few days my lungs were good enough to allow me to ride hard enough to fry my legs on the climbs.
Running felt pretty out of breath for the first week (again, I was fine if I slowed down), but by the end of the 2nd week I had a great run at a slightly faster pace than I've been running at home.
And yes, I loved the lack of humidity in the air, but had a hard time at first with a very sore dry throat. I had to drink a lot more than normal just to stay adequately hydrated. Not sure if it was the altitude or dehydration or both, but I had at least 1 migraine headache every day for the first 5 days. I do have migraines regularly but that was ridiculous, nearly ran out of my medication. Luckily I was headache-free after the first 5 days. I've spent time at higher altitudes and usually only end up with a headache for 1-2 days, so I'm thinking is was probably a combination of both issues.
Thank you for posting! Will have to check back outside of work where youtube isn't blocked, but appreciate the recon.
The altitude thing is still a question that is burning in my mind, and I think will continue to do so until I make it up to Tahoe to actually swim and bike and see how big the impacts are on me. All of the reports from others definitely help, but it's one of those things that I'll have to see for myself.
Awesome report, thanks for the detail! My notes: