AhhhtheLakeTahoeSprintTriathlon:yetanotheroneofmyfavoritelocalraces!Howcoulditnotbeafavorite?TheentirecourseshowcasesNorth

America’slargestandmostpristinealpinelake–LakeTahoeofcourse!TheracestartsandfinishesatSugarPinePointStatePark,whichishometotheHellman-EhrmanMansion;ahistoricestatebuiltin1903.

ThisyearIwasallsignedupandreadytoracetheSprintonSaturdaythe

26thandtheOlympiconSundaythe27th.HavingtackledtheDonnerLakeSprintandOlympicinsimilarfashionandhavinglovedeverysecondof

bothraces,Iwasdeterminedtorepeattheprocesshereinsearchoftheepic,week-longendorphinhigh

IhadafterDonner.

Themorningoftheracearrived,Ijumpedoutofbed,piledallofmytriathlonaccoutrementsintomycaranddrovethefiftyfeettopickupmyfriend/neighbor,Cortneywhowasalsoracing.Itwas5:45AMandwewereofftotheracestartat

SugarPinePoint.

Arrivingonscene,therearethreemainstopstomake.1)Parking&Potty:TheparkinglotatSugarPinePointiseasytoaccessandhasplentyofclean,well-maintainedrestroomsandofcoursetheevent

providesevenmoreporta-johnsforthosepre-racepottypreparations.2)PacketPickUp:Asusual,Misty(BigBlue’sVolunteerCoordinator)andhercrewofvolunteersranasmoothoperationand

wehadracepacketsinnotime.3)Transition&BodyMarking:HerecomesthatSharpieagain!Bibnumberon

leftarm,ageoncalfthenrackthebikeandlayoutallthegear.

Afterourtypicaltransitionareaantics,CortneyandImadeourwaydowntheroughlyquarter-milepathtothe

water’sedgeaheadoftheracestart.ThewaterlevelwasSOHIGHthisyear!Iexpectedittobehigherthanithadbeeninpreviousyears,butnotquitethishigh.Therewas

nobeach.Literally!Thewaterwasrightuptotheedgeofthewallthatwasbuiltaspartofthemansiongrounds.Whilereceivingpreraceinstructionsandwaitingforthe

wavestostartwewereabletotakeinthesunriseandscenery.ThisisoneofthemostbeautifulviewsofLakeTahoearound.

Oncethefirstcoupleofwaveslaunched,Ioverheard

agroupoffellowwomenpointingoutthatsomeoftheswimmersinanearlierwave

werecuttinginsideofthefirstbuoyandthatifthoseswimmersweregoingtocut

thecorner,theyweregoingtofollowsuit.Notcoolforacoupleofreasons:1)I

watchedwhattheseladiesweretalkingaboutandI

actuallythinkitwasanopticalillusionbasedontheangleofourvantagepoint.Idon’tthinkanyonewas

actuallycuttingthecornerandIdoubtedthatthecoursemarshalsonpaddleboardswouldletanyonedoso.2)Evenifsomeswimmerswerecuttingthecorner,IT’SPOORFORM!Whodoesthis?Whywouldanyonedothis?It’sCHEATING!Forgetforamomentthatyou’recheatingyourpeersandfellow

athletes,andloudlyannouncingthatyou’reabouttodoso.Whyonearthwouldanyonecheatthemselvestheprideofknowingtheycompletedaneventinitsentirety?Wouldn’tyouhaveanagginglittlevoiceinthebackofyourheadeverytimesomeonecongratulatedyouonyourracesaying[ina

squeakylittleGollumvoice]“ohbutyoudidn’treallydotherace,nowdidyousweetie?”Rantover,backtotheevent…

SWIM:The550yardswimisarough“U”shapestarting

atthe“NorthBoatHouse”ofthemansiongrounds.Uponstarting,weswameastforabout100yardstothefirstbuoyandthensouthforanotherhundred(ish)

yardstothesecondbuoywhichprovedtobeaguidearoundthesmallpierattheproperty.Fromthereitwasastraight(ish)lineintothegoldenfinisharch.

Beyondtheusualtriathlongear,onepieceof

equipmentIwouldhighlyrecommendforthiseventwouldbeneoprenebooties.Whilethewatertemperatureisfantastic,waitingfortheswimstartaswellasrunningbackuptotransitionviathe

roughlyquarter-milecombinationofasphaltanddirtcoveredwithpineneedles,pineconesandrocksismademuchmorepleasant(andspeedy)withbootiestoprotectthefeet.

BIKE:The10milebikeridetravelsoutofthetransitionareaandsouthalongHighway89.Thecourseiscomprisedofrollinghillswithatotalof

about500feetinelevationgain.Itisopentovehiculartraffic,butstillprovidesplentyofopportunitytotakeinviewsoftheareaincludingMeeksBay.Asanoutandbackcourse,theturnaroundpointisabout5

milesfromthetransitionarea.Don’tforgettothankthevolunteersandHighwayPatrolasyouslowdowntomaketheturnaroundandheadhome.

RUN:Bestillmybeatingheart!OhhowIlovethispart.It’stwomiles

andasJohnMellencampwouldsay,itHurtssoGood!Althoughthecoursehasamere100feetofelevationgainovertheentire2miles,forwhateverreason,itsurefeelslikealotmore.Asyourunoutof

transitionandontocourse,there’sasteep(ish)descentonpavementwhichwillmakethoselegsfeelabit

morerubberythannormal.Onceyou’repastthat,there’sa

bitoftrail,abitofsandandthenbeforeyouknowit,you’rerunningbackupthatsteephillintothefinish.Whileyou’re

outtherethough,ignorethefactthatyourheartfeelslikeit’sgoingtobeatrightoutofyourchestandlook

eastoutoverthelakeformoreofthosebeautifulviews.

Runningintothisfinishissofunandexciting.Thecrowdsareawesome,theannouncerishilariousandtheracestaffandvolunteersarereadytotrade

youyourtimingchipforafinishersmedal.ThepostracegoodiesareplentifulandrangefromfruitandbagelstoafullBBQandbeer!

CortneyandIbothhadgreatracesandhaveyetanotherfundayofracingmemoriestoshare.Weworeourfinisher’smedalsalongwithourSharpiedbodymarkingsfortherestoftheday!!!!