Lake Tahoe Marathon

Pre-race
Ever since I got humbled at Montaña de Oro and Big Bear with severe cramps, I wanted to run another difficult marathon asap and see if I can figure out my salt intake. So I decided to run this race at the very last minute. Plane tickets had gone up so I decided to just drive it. I even mapped out a Japanese restaurant (Futami) that I could eat at in Sacramento. When I got to the restaurant on the way up for lunch, I found out that it didn't open until 5pm on weekends so I decided that I would stop by on the way home. Instead I ate a six dollar burger combo at Carl's Jr. By the time I had gotten into South Lake Tahoe, I had practically lost my mind. I was pooped... the lights were on but nobody was home!

Packet Pickup/Expo
The bib was weird. The number was smaller than usual with a picture of Inspiration Point next to it. We got a wind breaker instead of the usual t-shirt. I'm glad because I have way too many race shirts. I have donated so many to Goodwill.

I bought the Power Balance bracelet. The little 15 second demonstration convinced me that it works. The Phiten necklace did not have the same effect. They were going to give it to me for free in exchange for my Phiten. But I gave them money instead since they said that they would just throw away the Phiten.

FE
It was nice hanging out with Loosh. We ate at a sushi restaurant called Naked Fish. I love seafood more than I love steaks! That's a lot of love since I really do love steaks. It was hard reading the menu because my brain was still fuzzy from the long drive. Runners tend to be the coolest people on Earth. It was the first time meeting in person, but it was as if we had been friends for a long time. I love having small FE's.

First Half
On the bus ride up to the starting area, I sat next to Marty, who was running the Tahoe Triple. Those people are nuts! Once I get a handle on the cramping, I'm going to do the triple. I was practically paced by Loosh for the first 6 miles. The first half was the much easier half, so my plan was to run the first 10k at around 9 min/mile pace and just cruise until I get to that "little hill" in the second half.
1: 8:54
2: 9:02
3: 8:46
4: 9:26
5: 9:03
6: 9:09
7: 9:49
8: 9:44
9: 9:40
10: 10:13
11: 10:05
12: 10:27
13: 10:46

Second Half
The fun started when the hill from Hell began around mile 16. That "hill" lasted a couple of miles. I walked with Erin, a half marathoner, for a while. She was having side stitches. Once that got better she took off. She used to be a heptathlete. Her best event was the hurdles. I would see her again around mile 24 when she was dealing with foot cramps. There was a lot of rollers in the 2nd half and it got quite toasty. I was taking a salt cap every 30 minutes and drinking water like it was going out of style. This staved off the cramps. I did a lot of walking because my right Achilles was still feeling weak, my stamina still sucked, and I still have many marathons to run in the weeks ahead. There was a lady crewing for someone that was playing lots of country music. I've seen her drive by several times during the race. I told her that she was the best crew member out there.
14: 12:06
15: 9:49
16: 17:39
17: 18:27
18: 16:03
19: 12:09
20: 15:51
21: 10:35
22: 14:09
23: 12:47
24: 13:47
25: 13:52
26: 13:45
26.2: 1:56
Finish: 5:08:10

Post-race
I had always thought that the shotbloks were adequate, but apparently they were not. In this race I used a combination of either shotbloks or gels with salt caps. This prevented the cramps that would normally kick my butt on this kind of a difficult course plus warm temperatures. I'm going to try Nuun at my next race. If this solves my ongoing problem with cramps then I'm going to start kicking some butt and run harder because my mind is getting tired of these jog-a-thons. If there is a next time, I'm going to fly regardless of the airfare. The drive back home was much harder than the drive there.

In case you're wondering, I ate yosenabe at Futami when I got into Sacramento on my way home. The lady spoke nothing but Japanese to me. Good thing I knew enough to know what she was saying.