Racing
2006
Tahoe Triple 2006
Pre Race
It is Tuesday evening and I wanted to give all of you a Pre Race update about 36 hours before the race.
After a smooth drive to Lake Tahoe we arrived here at about 4PM. I went for a 20 minute jog and felt fine, amazing how much harder it always is running up here in 6200' of altitude.
OK here are the most important details about the coming 3 days of racing (some of you may already know about some of that stuff):
3 Days # 3 Marathons
Start times will be:
7:15am on Thursday; 7:45am on Friday, and 8:30am on Saturday
Sean Meissner will be my handler for the first 2 days, this is a great addition to my support team since no one knows the course better he does (he won this race 4 times from 2000-2004). The rest of my support team will be my wife Valerie and her Dad Jim. On Saturday I will have Johnny as handler on the bike since Sean has to race the 72 mile race they have start Friday night (GOOD LUCK Sean).
Johan Oosthuizen from South Africa will attempt to break the Guiness World Record for 3 consecutive Marathons here at Lake Tahoe. The current record was set April 16-18, 1988 at Belfast (2:45:55), London (2:48:45), and Boston (2:47:51) with a combined time of 8:22:31. The current Tahoe Triple record is 8:55:02 (my course record from last year). That makes him the pre race favorite and me the underdog. He is one of the best Ultra Runners of South Africa with several top ten finishes at Comrades Marathon and a 2.22 marathon PR.
As for my goals:
Be patient and don't do anything unrealistic, if he runs 8.22 total time I can't beat him - but if he makes a mistake and shows some kind of weakness I will be there patiently waiting. As for my personal goals I would like to run faster then I did last year. Training has been going better then last year and I feel more fit. How much faster? I don't know, maybe under 8.50 total time. A lot of stuff can go well or bad in just running one marathon, and I will be running 3 in 3 days and on top of that in altitude on a hilly/rolling course - you never know.
I feel confident and ready. I will give all of you an update on Thursday after the first stage. Thanks for all of your support.
Day 1
The race started on a beautiful crisp (40 degree) and clear morning. Emerald Bay is gotta be one of the most amazing places in the world. I felt pretty good from the start on. Johan (the guy trying to break the world record) pushed the pace from the get go on the downhill, I stayed a little bit further back doing my own race.
I felt very good and was on perfect schedule for about 2.52-2.53 until about mile 12-14. At about mile 15 I got some bad side stitches and started to struggle. I was hanging in there tough and was fighting my way through it.
The last 3 miles are constant uphill and man did they hurt. Fortunately my handler Sean jumped in and paced me up that hill. THANK YOU SEAN.
I finished up in 2.56.21
That is still a minute faster then last year and they also added about a quarter mile this year since they found out that the course was about that short last year. So that is another almost 2 minutes. So total I ran about 3 minutes faster then last year and that in a race with struggles.
All said and done not to bad, it was just very hard. I came home and threw up everything had taken in in the 3 hours of racing, I feel a lot better now since I eat and took a nap.
As for the world record attempt. Johann ran a 2.43 and is right on track to breaking the world record but we still have 2 more marathons to go. I can tell you one thing this guy is a running machine, he just motors along.
Will see what happens tomorrow, not sure what to expect from me after today. I guess I will find out.
Day 2
2.47.55 what a day.
So I bounced back from yesterdays struggle. I was cranking from the get go, trying to take advantage of the first 10 miles that are mostly downhill.
Johan and I hit the 10 mile mark in 1.00.1, exactly 6 minute pace. We adjusted a little bit and went through the half marathon in 1.21 and a few. After that it got rolling and set into my pace to try and break 2.50.
I felt so much better then yesterday. It got pretty hard at the "Hill from Hell" a long nasty climb between mile 22 and 24, but I made it up there and had enough left to move downhill to finish strong. Below are my 5 splits if some of you are interested in it.
- Mile 5 - 29.32
- Mile 10 - 1.00.01 (30.28)
- Mile 15 - 1.31.35 (31.33)
- Mile 20 - 2.04.10 (32.55)
- Mile 25 - 2.39.02 (34.51)
- Final - 2.47.55
So for tomorrow my goal will be to break 3 hours if I can. I am pretty soar right now but excited to do it one more time. I am about 8 minutes ahead of my time from last year and need "only" a 3.05 to reach my goal of staying under 8.50 total time for the race. I think I can do that.
As for Johan he ran a 2.43 again today and I think he will break the world record. I think he will run in the 2.40's again tomorrow. That guy is awesome.
Thanks to everyone who wrote back to my mails with cheers for me. Also a big thank you to my support team today - Sean (Good Luck tonight, he is running the 72 mile race around the lake starting at midnight tonight and still crewed for me today), Valerie, Dylan (schneller Papa schneller) and Jim. You guys are great could not have done it without you.
Day 3
OK I did it.
2.59.01
Man it was hard. Your body is pretty broke after 2 marathons. I was very sore this morning but got into my groove and made it through.
The last climb up Emerald Bay was rough and the 3 miles downhill afterwards really hurt. I finished strong with a 6.24 mile between 25 and 26 and a 68sec. For the last .2 So here are my times.
- Day 1 - 2.56.21
- Day 2 - 2.47.55
- Day 3 - 2.59.01
- Total - 8.43.17
That's over 12 minutes faster then last year and almost 7 minutes below my 8.50 goal. I am very happy to be done and over with it.
Johan ran a 2.44 and got second in the marathon. He broke the world record so getting beat by him sure is no shame. He was second overall in the "Marathon" and I was sixth. Not bad out of 600 people who only ran one marathon.
My friend Sean got first in the 72 mile race in 10.30.
Now off to the awards and nice dinner afterwards.
Thanks to my support crew today (Johnny) and everyone who helped me get through the last 3 days. A big thank you to Les, Marty and Angel from the Tahoe Marathon you guys rock.
