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FLRC Newsletter - November 2004 |
| A Marathon Triumvirate: Triple Tahoe | |
Three marathons; three days. [Asst editor's note: all energy spent; few complete sentences.] I did 1-minute walk/20-seconds run; walked ups, ran downs very conservatively. Shortened stride, but not a quicker turnover hoping to lessen general fatigue.
Day 1: Inspiration Point to Spooner Summit, 26.2 miles. Course: downhill from Inspiration Point to switchbacks to Camp Richardson bike path back to highway. Left at "Y" to South Lake Tahoe to Stateline (down Park Avenue behind hotels) to Zephyr Cove to Glenbrook gated community. Downhill to Old Road 50 (parallels Route 50) to Spooner Summit. Old Road 50 is steeper than Route 50, approximately 1.5 miles. 6:16:04, ahead of five other triple finishers.
Day 2: Spooner Summit to Tahoe City, 26.5 miles (so as not to finish in front of the busy shopping plaza/Baskin-Robbins). We were "warned" about the steep downhills and fatigue to quads if we went all out today. Spooner Summit downhills to Incline Village to Stateline to Kings Beach to Carnelian Bay up Dollar Hill to Tahoe City. 5:54:26, ahead of twelve other triple finishers.
Day 3: (official) Lake Tahoe marathon starts at the beach in Tahoe City to Sunnyside to Homewood to Tahoma to Meeks Bay to Bliss (nothing 'bliss'-ful about it) to Emerald Bay to Inspiration Point to Camp Richardson bike path to Pope Beach. I remembered the climbs, but had forgotten how cambered is this section of the course. 5:51:22, ahead of twenty-one other triple finishers and about a dozen marathoners who started 1.5 hours after triple runners.
I consider the third day course the most difficult of the trek around the lake, compounded by the fact that it was the third day. When I ran around the lake in one day (2 minutes walking/1 minute running) I finished 19:31:17. Triple was 18:01:52; finished 89/100, 55–59 age group three (of three) ahead of seven younger women (plus Helen Klein who can dust me in a single marathon) and two men who were walking.
My quads were "whispering" to me after day-two downhills, but tlc and ibuprofen quieted them. I had no problems day three. A friend who "flew" day two in 5:07:18 paid the price day three, 6:03:07.
Overall, it was a great time all three days. Joy crewed for me and any/all triple runners all three days. I arrived Albany the next night with nary an ache, pain, injury.
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