Left of Center

In one word Tahoe City was great. I felt great, raced great and had a great time. This was the first time I had been to Tahoe in the summer and the lake and mountains were beautiful with some of the peaks on the south side of the lake still having snow. The excitement began two days prior to the race as the wife and I went horseback riding. Now I haven’t been on a horse since I was about 5 so I was a bit nervous about riding just a few days before a race. The last thing I needed to do was fall off a horse and break something. Luckily there were no ride casualties and we were able to enjoy the mountain trail and even saw a young buck.

Big Blue was in fine form on race day, no wind, no waves and cold water. It wouldn’t have been so bad except we spent over 20 minutes just sitting in the water because one of the swim course markers wasn’t holding air. By the time the race started I was completely numb and happy to be moving. The start of the swim was surreal. It was a water start so we had stirred up a lot of sand from the bottom of the lake but once we were about 100 yards into the swim the water was crystal clear! Visibility was actually better under the water rather than above the water and I could see every rock and detail.

Having ridden the bike course the day before I knew I would warm up quickly on the big climb out of transition and it didn’t disappoint. Once done with the climb I was able to push through the rolling course and then fly back down to transition.

I knew the run was going to be straight up and then down. I planned to go as hard as possible to the turn around point and then let gravity do the rest. My plan was working as I was powering past a lot of people going up the hill, securing 3rd in my age group for a while. Unfortunately it was not to be and I again finished 4th. I felt the strongest I had all season for this race and hope to replicate this feeling for most of next season.

If a picture is worth a thousand words, I am going to give you a thousand pictures, cause that’s what a video must be worth. This clip is from the 2008 race but is the same course as 2009, enjoy!