Yep MPSIMS. My Wife finished the Lake Tahoe IronMan triathlon last night. 16 hours 23 minutes. 140.6 miles.
Long day for every one. Up at 3am, back to the hotel at midnight. Just being the pit crew/Sherpa wears me to a nubbin. Don’t know how she does it, I’m very proud of her.
This is the fourth full IronMan that she has completed. Last year we came to Lake Tahoe and it was canceled because of all of the smoke from CA wildfires. Canceled when everyone was on the beach going into the water. That was a crazy day. Well, they all are.
Pheewwww. Well, it’s not over yet, we have a 1000 mile drive ahead of us to get back home. We rest and pack up today.
Fantastic! I started sprint tris last year and my current goal is a half-Ironman. Not sure a full Ironman is in my future - at one point I could do each of the three legs individually, but stringing them all together seems unattainable.
In a few weeks I’m volunteering at an aid station for a 100 miler - you see some real interesting things in the middle of the night.
We live in Colorado at 11,200 feet, so race elevation is not an issue. Quite an advantage for my wife actually. Elevation gain was 5,972 on bike course.
We will take two days to get back home. We usually push really hard the first day. Say 7-800 miles. Nice to get home early. We have a book to put in the CD player. My Wife and I do long hauls like this with little problem, but it is a bit of a trip.
What’s involved with being a pit crew/Sherpa is mostly Sherpa navigator. And an extra set of eyes, organizer and making sure NOTHING is forgotten. Race morning is early, dark, cold and hectic to say the least. Looking at 2.4 miles of 61 degree water that is the first part of the course is daunting. I help keep my wife calm and focused. That’s a big part of ‘sherpa’ as I call it. Deliberation and organization is key.
The ‘sherpa’ picks up the bike and gear as the race continues from swim to bike to run. The IronMan organization does a great job organizing that. And, I do my best to see her when I can. We had a GPS on my wife for this race, and it made it much easier. Often, I have to wait for hours trying to pick her out of all the other athletes just to say hi. That’s the hard part for me.
There is a lot to think about and lots of gear for the swim/bike/run. Nutrition is important and I cook the night before the race.
When I was younger, I did around a 1/2 on my own - 80 miles bike, 10 miles walk, minimal swimming, outside of a competition, but it took the entire day. The biggest barrier for me now is bikes are so high maintenance compared to running.
(Speaking of outside of a competition, enipla, this summer I tried to do Pacific Tarn but started from Breck taking the Burro Trail: got to the boulder field but turned around when it looked like it would take a couple hours to traverse, and I even brought ice shoe attachments for the ice field. Next time I will brave the road to McCullough Gulch to start earlier.)
Good for you! There are IronMen that do it on there own, but I think that is pretty much their life. Met one woman that drove to the race, slept in her car and then did it. Met another though that didn’t even know where the race started or finished.
Kudos to you. I’ve volunteered for aid stations and bike catchers in the past. Turns out to be a bit much when my wife is in the race and I have so much else to do.