Greetings from Lake Tahoe!

After a gorgeous and winding drive through the mountains we arrived in South Lake Tahoe early this afternoon and checked into our hotel. Then we headed to the expo for packet pick-up and to check in my bike. It was a beautiful, sunny day but man was it windy! There were only a few vendors out there and not a whole lot of people, but the swag was great! In addition to the race shirt participants received a reusable tote bag, a plush Aflac duck, and instead of the usual pre-stuffed goodie bag they featured a "create your own" swag bag with tons of free samples to choose from. After checking in I numbered my bike and went to rack it in the transition area. We browsed the booths for a bit, I bought a visor and a bike jersey, and then we hung around for the course talk. It was nice to here some details about what everything will be like instead of just looking at a map, but some people were absolutely clueless. One woman didn't even seem to know what transition was!

Iron Girl Expo

 Transition!

 

When that was over we decided to drive down to the beach where the swim start will be to check things out. One slight concern I have is that the beach is about a quarter mile from transition, meaning I'll have to run that with no shoes, plus it will add a significant amount of time to T1. I think I'm going to take my flip flops down there with me and hopefully wear them after the swim. The water looked pretty choppy with all the wind, but according to a race official it should be pretty calm in the morning. Here's hoping! The water temp was around 62 degrees and should be comparable tomorrow, so with my wetsuit I should be fine.

Beautiful blue Lake Tahoe.... please be kind tomorrow!

After scouting out the beach we headed back to our hotel to relax for a while, then headed out to dinner at a nice little Italian restaurant. And now we're back, and I'm just trying to relax before the big day. I have all my stuff laid out, and I've been going over my transitions in my head. Hopefully things will go smooth tomorrow.

In terms of goals, I'm hoping to just get through the swim then hammer out the bike and run for which I feel much more confident. Honestly, I did not put in the training time for the swim so I don't have big expectations. I'm glad I at least did one open water swim ahead of time though, so at least I have a feel for it. On the other hand, I have no experience swimming with 100+ people around me, so I'm a little nervous for that. I'm in the last wave with my age group, and my plan is to stay toward the outside.

I've done several rides of the race distance and beyond, so I feel pretty confident about completing this leg and having a good ride. My one minor concern is the elevation...and apparently there are "a few hills"...so I might be in for a surprise. My only thoughts on the run are to push it. I know my legs are going to feel like lead, but I also know from my brick that I can maintain a pretty good pace after a ride. I'm hoping the adrenaline will give me a little extra kick as well.

So putting it all together, my ideal goal is to finish around 1:45, give or take a bit. At the very least, I'd like to finish under 2 hours. Although I'm certainly nervous and anxious, there's a great deal of excitement mingled in. I'm as ready as I'll ever be and I can't wait! See you on the other side - wish me luck!!