Triple T - Summary

First I want to say thanks for waiting patiently for the entire race report series. Work since Memorial Day weekend has kept me very busy. We also traveled to San Diego to watch my sis-in-law run her first marathon at the Rock 'n Roll Marathon.

But I did want to post a Triple T summary.

I loved this race. We have already put next years race on the calendar.

I had so much fun at this race. Talking with people. Sharing experiences. Making new friends.

Race it like an Ironman. Next year I want to push it a little harder.

Race nutrition on the run is very important. This is where I blew up at both IM races and I was rock solid at Triple T, especially during the half marathon. I took in 5 gels during the run and felt great. During my IM marathons I fell off my gel schedule and paid for it. I finally have it down.

Here is a summary of my run splits from races 2, 3 and 4.

Race #2	Race #3	Race 4 Loop 1	Race 4 Loop 2
8:42	8:40	8:48	9:00
8:17	8:37	9:10	8:59
8:09	8:28	9:09	9:09
8:19	8:52	9:24	9:37
7:37	7:12	7:49	7:23
6:57	6:38	7:13	6:29
3:41	3:40	4:24	3:22

I'm very happy with how I kept enough in the tank where I could improve my splits day to day, especially the final 2.5 miles.

I can't do this without alot of help and support. Aimee is the best in her support of what I do. She gets it and understands why I do this, partly because she does this insanity as well.

Bike Authority. Their bike support has always been top notch and my bike is always in working order. I do alot of maintenance on my own but their expertise helps fill in the gaps.

Flashpoint Wheels. I have raced many times with the FP 60's and they are rock solid. They spin up so fast and I know the wheels helped with some super fast downhills.

My Snakebite teammates who encourage each other for races and training.

Next big race is the Musselman Sprint and Half IM in July.

Time to get my training Game back On.

Triple T - Race #4

Sunday May 24, 2009

Race #4 – Half-Iron Distance
1.2 mile swim – 55.5 mile bike –13.1 mile run

Saturday nights sleep was anything but. It was 11:30PM when I think I actually fell asleep. After that it was a very restless sleep. Before bed we had been listening to some music from Aimee’s iPod. The Humpty Dance by Digital Underground would not leave my brain. “The Humpty dance is your chance doin’ the hump”. Or “the sounds laid down by the Underground.”

My brain just wouldn’t shut down. When the alarm went off at 5AM I wasn’t ready to move. That is when “it” entered my brain. My tri-buddy Eric B. had sent me a text on Friday; “Push the Mind and the Body will follow.” This would be my mantra for the final day of racing. Hell, it helped me get my tired ass out of bed.

Trying to get ready, my stomach felt unsettled from lack of sleep and weird eating habits for the weekend. I took in my pre-race calories and managed a bowel movement. That helped ease the butterflies or whatever was in my stomach.

We both prepped for the long morning ahead of us. Aimee was going to run the course loop with Linda while Mark and I were on the bike. We both needed fluids and fuel for the day.

We slowly made our way over to transition with everyone else. People were moving a little slower this morning but I wasn’t letting it keep me down. I was excited to see Big Country again. He always had some great last minute advice for each race. For this one he recommended chapstick on the rims of my wheels. Give them a nice shiny look. Don’t worry about them stopping, better to look good.

While we were on the beach waiting for the start of the race the Michigan State Triathlon Team was getting psyched up. They had 14 athletes down for the weekend either doing the race as two person teams or solo. They did their chant and was quickly reminded they were in Ohio by some Buckeye fans. O-H someone yelled, I-O was the response.



We started lining up for our final triathlon of the weekend. We hit the water and started the 1.2 mile swim. I immediately got going pretty good from the start. I focused on long, gliding strokes and good form. Half way through the out portion of the first loop I knew I needed to sight soon for the next marker. Just as I was about to look up my hand entered the water and ran right into the buoy marker.

I recovered from that little mishap and continued on my way. I was moving through the previous swimmers nicely and keeping a great pace. A couple of times I was able to draft behind or next to another swimmer. Not sure what benefit it provided but I was able to keep a good line around the loop. During the second loop I picked up the pace and changed to my race pace breathing; three breaths right then alternate to the left side for three breaths.

I came out of the water leading a group of swimmers and headed to transition.



Swim time 31:34.

How much can you say about your fourth swim-bike transition of the weekend? If you don’t have it down by now you’re doing something wrong. I ran out of transition and jumped on my bike for a nice double loop ride through the Shawnee State Forest.

T1 1:42

The bike course for the half-iron race is the most beautiful course I have ever been on. The fire roads were smooth. The tree cover plentiful and green. Switchback climbs that reminds one of the Tour de France. Of course the climbs were countered by wonderful sweeping downhill runs. There were a couple of curves that were pretty sharp and had to be taken slowly.

I saw several teams and working hard. I was riding with several others when we were caught by a large group of them. As I sat on the back end of the group I looked at the group in matching jerseys. I felt like we were Team USA out for a training ride. It was actually a very cool site to see.

I was riding a majority of the second loop with Clemens. He was with the group from Michigan State. But his Austrian accent was fun to listen to while we climbed the hills. He would pass me on the uphill and I would pass him on the downhill. I finally told him that if he put some meat on his bones he could descend faster. It was fun chatting with him at times during the ride.

The team aspect of this race became very evident during this final day. I saw teams suffering with one person doing better than the other or both slowing down on the bike. On the second loop I caught a team I saw earlier and the second person was struggling. His partner was further up the hill and looking strong. As I passed the weaker partner he saw me out of the corner of his eye and said, “shit”.

I was feeling great during both loops of the bike. I had one bottle of Perpetuem and one bottle of Gatorade for each loop. I also had a fruit smoothie Powerbar to munch on during the ride. My stomach was feeling a little jammed up during the second loop so I favored the Gatorade more than Perpetuem. By the time I made it back to transition the stomach was feeling better and I was ready to run.

Bike time: 3:06:31

T2 was completed in 51 seconds. I already had on my race belt with 4 PowerGels so all I needed was my running shoes and hat.

T2 - 51 seconds

The half marathon would be a double loop of the same course we ran on Saturday. The race description say, “by now you with either love it or hate it”. I was in love with the run course since Saturday morning. The trail running was challenging but much more enjoyable than running on a road.



Heading out of transition I started chatting with Luther. He is the stronger of the two team members I mentioned from the bike. He was looking behind for his partner, you know….the one who said “shit” on the bike. Luther was really cool though. As a Clydesdale he was all muscle. I wouldn’t want to meet him in a dark alley that’s for sure. I forged on as he continued to wait.

I made sure my pace was conservative and fairly easy. I was happy with the splits and I felt great. I was drinking only water at each aid station to help absorb the PowerGels and keep things moving in the gut. The aid stations had ice to cool us off. I was dumping the cubes down my jersey and pouring cold water down my back.

At the far turn around of loop one I grabbed a zip-lock bag filled with ice. The bag would sit inside my jersey and cool off my chest. The ice cubes were little tubes. I clenched a round cube between my teeth and with each breath a cool rush of air filled my mouth, along with some melting water. It may have looked weird but it felt pretty good.

On my way back I started seeing friends and offered words of encouragement. Big Country was the first friend I saw and he was about one mile behind me. I wasn’t sure if he would catch me so we could finish together like in race #2.

Once I hit the top of the large climb returning from the farthest point of the course, I increased the pace. From mile 4 to the transition area it is primarily downhill with some small rollers.

I settled into my downhill stride pattern of short quick steps. This really saved the quads and helped with a quick pace. I cruised back to the finish area where I refueled and reloaded my zip-lock bag with ice. I grabbed a banana HammerGel for some variety. I would sip on the gel until I reached the first aid station.



I headed back out feeling great and thrilled to see Aimee and Linda cheering for us. On the way out for loop two I kept the pace steady and cheered for more friends, both old and new. A simple slap of the hand can offer so much encouragement for each other. I don’t mind sharing the energy with friends.

The uphill sections this time had me walking a couple of times. I used my race mantra, “push the mind and the body will follow”, to get me going again after these short breaks. Essentially I was telling myself to get up that hill so I could run the downhill side. I also focused on the 5 feet in front of me so that I wouldn’t get discouraged by the distance I still had to cover to reach the crest.

Each time I saw the Hammering Half-Pints, Kaylyn and Morena, I tried to throw a funny comment at them but they really didn’t need the laughs because each time I saw them there were smiles already on their faces.

After going through the turn around I made my way up the final long climb. I just needed to make it to the top. Just past the top was mile marker 4. It was at this point I thought of another tri-buddy Mark D. He had written a race report where he pushed the final 5k of a sprint tri by reminding himself that “I can do anything for 20 minutes.”

I calculated that at an 8 minute pace I would cover the final 2.5 miles in 20 minutes. So at mile marker 4 I put down the hammer and decided to leave it all on the course. I just covered 138 miles of swim, bike and run. I can push out a hard 2.5 miles to the finish line.

So I pushed my mind and sure enough my body followed. I was passing people and pushing the rollers. At the last aid station I yelled for water and two people ahead of me jumped out of my way. I didn’t mean to startle anyone but it sure did clear the way for me to grab a final water without slowing down.

At about the half mile mark the trail turns to asphalt and you know the end is near. I tried to stay loose and keep the pace high, if not faster. I knew my pace was pretty quick since my calves were starting to scream at me and wanted to cramp up. Didn’t matter, they would have to suffer until I crossed the finish line.

Run – 1:50:23

Race #4 finish time – 5:30:59

Overall accumulated time – 11:12:54

Triple T - Race #3

Saturday May 23, 2009

Race #3 – Olympic Distance
24.8 mile bike – 1500m swim – 6.55 mile run

There is nothing quite like a 5 hour rest before your next Olympic distance race. I’m still not convinced that the 45 minute nap was beneficial because it was so hard to wake up from.

I decided to ride my bike to the race venue 1 mile away. It would allow my legs to loosen up before the race. This was important since this afternoon race started with the bike leg. Yeah, it was kind of different but also interesting.

So we started in the same manner as the swim starts, two people leaving transition at 5 second intervals. This helped spread out the bike on the road.



The bike course is a simple out and back along SR 125; easy to follow, hard to ride. The difficulty of the ride is due to the two significant climbs. Of course those downhills were pretty fast too.

On the first downhill I was riding near a couple of two person teams. I was trailing the group and watching the road when I noticed the front wheel of one guy start shaking. He was off to my right so I wasn’t directly behind him. It didn’t look good. Here we are going at least 30MPH and he’s going to bite it right in front of me. Somehow he managed to stabilize the wheel and regain control. I glided past him and told him he had a good recovery. He just smiled at me because he knew how close it was to being a bad situation.

On the second downhill I was again riding behind a guy who was being a little too cautious and I was forced to stay behind him. I didn’t like being behind him but I just couldn’t tell what he would do next. Unfortunately it forced another rider to go around us and cross the double yellow line. I hated that he was forced to do it but I didn’t blame him either.

The flat section to the turn around was wet from a small burst of rain. It would be the only rain during my race. Heading back from the turnaround was pretty uneventful. The return uphills were long and allowed me to watch the final competitors attack the downhill themselves. During the final miles to the park I spotted a German Shepard strolling down the road. He was on the other side of the road just trotting along totally ignoring the cyclists zipping by.

Reviewing the computer again I reached a max of 43.5 MPH this time. Some people post race said they hit 50MPH. I never look at the speed during the downhills. First the road deserves your complete attention. Things are moving so fast you must remain on target for traffic, other riders, animals, potholes, etc. Second, I just don’t want to know how fast I’m going right before I crash. Ignore the speed and the fear of crashing never enters my mind until after the race.

Bike time 1:16:37

Back in transition I had to deal with something new putting on my wetsuit. Usually putting the wetsuit on is no problem, but with sweaty legs it can be a little tough to slip it on. I heard that the trick is to use plastic bags on your feet. I had grabbed some produce bags at the grocery store. I slipped the bags on my feet and they slid right through the legs. I worked the wetsuit the rest of the way up and headed toward the beach.



T1 time 3:39

Big Country said that he was cramping during this swim last year. With the legs full of blood from the bike and the cold lake water I could see why. I don’t kick that much with my legs anyways so I mainly pulled myself through the swim. Two loops in the lake with no issues at all. I did start kicking my legs near the end of the swim to get them ready for the run portion of the race. Overall I kept a great rhythm and pace throughout the swim.



Swim time 27:15

Swim to run transition was easy. Strip off the wetsuit and put on a second pair of socks then running shoes. I grabbed my hat and was gone. Each time I left transition I felt like I was forgetting something. Despite the feelings, I always had what I wanted and had clean transitions.

T2 time 1:32




As with the morning race I left transition under control. I made sure the pace felt easy and slow. I would still have 13.1 miles to run the next day, after running another 6.5 with this race. I had a PowerGel with me and started taking it during the first mile. I would wash it down with water at the first aid station.

Once again I was making sure to grab a lot of water or Heed at each aid station. They hydration was so important with these races. The hills on the way out were handled at a controlled pace making sure not to jack the heart rate to high.

After the turnaround I started to notice some people having difficulties. As I was going up the hill I saw once guy dealing with a bad hamstring cramp. He would hobble a couple yards then stop with his hand on his leg. Going downhill wasn’t helping him either. Near the top of the hill I saw another guy walking into the woods. As I passed him he threw up a large amount of fluid. His stomach must have been shutting down and was jammed up with solids or too many calories. I’m sure he felt better with the relief of a full stomach.

Shortly after seeing Mr. Puker, I crested the hill and reached mile 4. Remember that the final 2.5 miles is predominantly downhill from here with some short uphill rollers. I settled into a great downhill stride with short quick steps. The shorter stride helps save the quads and keeps the pace fast. Even on the flat portions I kept the stride the same and was really moving. I just wanted to keep the pace steady and finish with some left in the tank for Sunday.

Run time 51:54
Run splits
8:40
8:37
8:28
8:52
7:12
6:38
3:40

Race time 2:39:54

Mark and I after race #3



I cooled down with some food and talk with Aimee and friends. I put my name down for a 15 minute massage with Wendy the same girl who worked on me in the morning. What I didn’t know was the person in front of me was going for 60 minutes. I sent Aimee back to the campground so she could shower and eat for herself. I would ride my bike back to the campground 1 mile away.

Back at the campground I ate again with Aimee before hitting the showers. After eating I finally walked to the shower house to get cleaned up. I couldn’t believe it was 8PM and I was finally showering after having finished around 5:30PM. Imagine my surprise when I got to the showers and two other racers were showering and another walked in behind me.

I chatted with the guy behind me and we mentioned how beautiful the bike course was. It reminded us both of areas where we train, me around Cleveland and him about LaCrosse, WI. Turns out Hewbie has been in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park and knows my friend and local race director Mickey. What a wonderful small world this is.

After my shower and back at the campsite we sacked out for the night. One more race to go and this would be the longest.

Triple T - Race #2

Saturday May 23, 2009

Race #2 – Olympic Distance
1500m swim – 24.8 mile bike – 6.55 mile run



Race number two started at 7:30AM. We went to bed Friday night by 9PM. We both crashed hard to sleep from the long day of traveling to the race and spending time at the race site. I was feeling good for the first race of Saturday. The alarm went off at 5AM. We ate and prepped the gear for the race.

The swim start was another time trail run from the beach, two people at a time. I managed to get into a good grove pretty early. I found myself on the inside of the course and didn’t like having people on my right side. Kind of weird to discover this in the middle of a race, but I didn’t want to deal with the crowds at the turns either. Once I started swimming to the right of the other swimmers I was doing much better.

The swim involved two loops. The final buoy marker was very close to the beach and hence very shallow. I really didn’t want to stand up and jack my heart rate. I was in a good grove so I continued to swim around the people who were walking. I was shallow enough that I was grabbing sand with my hand during my stroke. The second lap went very well again. No issues and I felt very relaxed and strong at the same time. I swam all the way to the beach before standing up.

I stepped through the rinse buckets heading to transition and got ready for the bike.

Swim time 24:05

In T1 I peel off my wetsuit and put on my race number, sunglasses, helmet, socks and shoes. The longest part was getting my wetsuit off. I grabbed my bike and activated the computer. Running out of transition there wasn’t much traffic to deal with so the running mount was easy to execute.

T1 time 1:52

The RD provided us with some very stern warnings about the bike course. Some of the downhill’s are very dangerous. The RD warned that if you didn’t pay attention to the slow markings on the road you would pay for it.

The course is on some very beautiful fire and county roads. Not a lot of traffic, in fact I maybe saw 10 cars, and great scenery. A couple of the downhill’s you could bomb nicely because they are long sweeping turns. Of course once we made it to the bottom on one hill we had to climb another. At the bottom of the steepest climb we made a hard left turn and up we went. As soon as I saw the hill I commented, “AWW COME ON!!!” I’m sure the volunteer and sheriff’s deputy heard me. What I meant to say was “AWW SWEET!!!”

It wasn’t that bad. Not really harder than anything on the Death Ride, especially Oak Hill or Boston Mills Road.

At the beginning of a not very steep roller I hit a hole in the road. I'm not sure how I didn’t see it but I sure felt it. My rear bottle ejected at the top of the hill. I also started to hear some rattling and was worried something happened to my front tire. I stopped and did a quick look around. The rear bottle cage that was holding my bottle BROKE. It’s a plastic wrap-around design and a plastic piece snapped off. It was rattling around behind me….very annoying. I managed to position it so the rattle was gone. The bottle only had Gatorade in it and I still had my bottle with Perpetuem so I was good for the rest of the ride. It was essentially a backup bottle.

I passed people, people passed me. I wasn’t worried about it because of the start format. I rode how I wanted and didn’t over-exert myself. Several times I followed someone in front of me staying 5 bike lengths back. I let the person dictate the pace, often easy for me but it helped keep myself in check and not push too hard.

Coming down the final hill back to the park I was averaging 30 MPH without much effort. It was nice to have the speed without straining the legs. Reviewing my computer I did hit a max speed of 41 MPH on one of the downhill’s. Overall my average speed was 19.4 MPH.

As we entered the park I pulled loose my shoe straps and placed my feet on the shoes. Heading towards a much less congested transition area I hopped off at the dismount line and headed towards my rack.

Bike time 1:18:17

T2 is always a fast one. Take off the helmet, put on shoes and hat. I didn’t need anything else.

T2 time 35 seconds.

Exiting T2 Aimee and Linda were there cheering for me. The race announcer also called off my name after I crossed the timing mat.

The run is the same for races 2, 3 and 4. On Sunday we run it twice for the 13.1 miles, so we will get to know this part of the park very well. I tried to start very conservatively. At all of my races, Ironman and half iron, I always started the run way too fast. I made a conscious effort to keep the pace down. Again I didn’t worry about those that were passing me. I was holding a very nice pace and was talking with a couple of people. Mile one was 8:42 and that included a pee break which was a great relief. Mile two 8:17, okay cool…closer to the pace I wanted. Between mile 2 and 3 is where the long uphill climb is. I just kept myself in check and stayed steady. It was at this point that Big Country finally caught up with me.

We chatted for a bit and he pulled ahead of me a little until the top and I picked up the pace to run with him again. Mile 3 finished with an 8:09 split. We continued to run together and chat. Talking smack to each other and commenting on the guys passing us. It was all in good fun and there was nothing to take offense about.

We noticed several of our friends heading out to the turn around and cheered them on. Mile 4 was 8:19 because we had to run back up the long hill. Mile 5 was 7:37 which I felt was too fast but Big Country accredited the speed to the downhill we were just on. Once we hit the asphalt path Big Country said this was a good sign, only about a half mile to go. We kept a good pace through mile 6 which came out at 6:57. I didn’t think we were running that fast. The last .55 mile to the finish line came out to be 3:41.

Run time 51:43

Overall time 2:36:27.








Big County and I finished together and met with Linda and Aimee. I went to the lake to cool down my legs and then get a 15 minute massage. A little bit of food and we headed back to the campsite. Shower and rest before race #3, second for the day.

Mile Splits
8:42
8:17
8:09
8:19
7:37
6:57
3:41

Triple T - Race #1

Friday May 22, 2009

Arrival and Race #1 – Prologue Sprint

250m swim – 5 mile bike – 1 mile run

Aimee and I left the house by 8AM Friday morning. We had my mom and dad’s trailer for camping at the state park where the races would be staged from, in and around. I knew this would be a great weekend because we were having fun driving down hauling this big trailer behind us.

The drive would normally take 4 hours but it took us 5 with the trailer. By the end of the weekend I knew that Aimee would be number one. Each time I tried to make a serious comment she was cracking herself up and responded with some sarcastic remark. Yes, I would be showing her that she is number one all weekend.

My mantra for this race was “Feel It”. Only after I chose this mantra did I realize it was the same at the Factory Riders saying on his blog. I wanted Aimee to remind me to “feel it”. Feel the race. Feel how my body was doing. Find and feel the zone for having a good race.

We arrived at the camp ground and got settled into our spot. I had reserved the spot in January and it was everything I had expected. It was easy to back the trailer in. Plenty of shade. Close to the bathrooms and a short walk to the shower house.

At packet pickup we saw Mark “Big Country” Misencik and his wife Linda. Aimee and Linda would be spending lots of time together watching us through transition. I walked around and made sure I said hi to the other Cleveland triathletes; Tony, Ben, Kaylyn, Mirena and Jodi.

We went back to the campsite and settled in a little more. I cleaned my bike and lubed the chain. I prepared my race gear and we headed to the race site around 4PM for the 5PM start.

At this race they provide a jersey that everyone MUST wear. The Red, White and Blue jersey is actually pretty nice. Seeing them all together was pretty neat, both in transition and on the beach.

The start of the swim is a 2 person send off. Every 5 seconds two people cross the timing mat to start their race. You just can’t do a mass start with over 400 people, it’s not an Ironman and the traffic jam would be crazy.

The swim was a 250m out and back. The lake we were in was shallow and had floating grass and was rather murky. On the way back into the beach the mud being stirred up by the previous swimmers was really gross. Each time I turned my head back into the water I was staring at a dark cloud of dirt. The water was warm enough to skip the wetsuits and the mud was all over the jerseys.

My swim time was 5:11.

T1 was a short run from the beach and onto the 5 mile bike course. In and out of transition in 1:08.

The five mile loop is just a warm-up for the weekend. Part of the course climbs up to the park lodge and cabins. Everyone just geared down and spun up the road. The leaders were starting to zoom down the other side of the road. It was definitely a fast downhill. I took a clue from the previous riders and started undoing my shoe straps on the downhill.

5 mile bike time 11:38

T2….Into transition, rack my bike, on with the shoes and out to the run course. Another uneventful transition. 45 seconds.

The run is a 1 mile out and back. This prologue is just a warm-up for the rest of the weekend. I tried to take it easy. There was no point in wasting too much energy on day one. Despite what I thought was an easy pace I did the one mile in 6:53. I will have to make sure I am much slower than that on the other runs.

Total time for the Prologue Race: 25:35.

It's Go Time

I have alluded to it. I haven't talk much about it. I have left links to it. It is on my schedule in the side bar. It is finally here.

It is....The American Triple-T.

In case you haven't been to the website here is a summary of what my Memorial Day weekend will be like.

Race #1: Prologue
Friday, May 22, 5:00 PM
250m Swim - 5 mi Bike - 1 mi Run

Race #2: Individual Time Trial
Saturday, May 23, 7:30 AM
1500m Swim - 24.8 mi Bike - 6.55 mi Run

Race #3: Team Triathlon
Saturday, May 23, 3:00pm Start
24.8 mi Bike - 1500m Swim - 6.55 mi Run

Race #4: Team Time Trial
Sunday, May 24, 7:00am Start
1.2 mi Swim - 55.5 mi Bike - 13.1 mi Run

Uummmmm yeah. Four triathlons in three days.

3.1 miles of swimming
110.1 miles of biking
27.2 miles of swimming

A constant theme for each tri is hills. On the bike and on the run. Knowing the RD I'm sure he has figured out a way to add a hill during the swim.

Aimee and I will be camping in the state park for this event. Aimee is a real trooper for this one because of the camper. She's going to feel like Clark Griswold's cousin Eddie......"shitter's full".

She will be my support for the weekend. She's always there to take care of me.

I'll have my laptop and will be writing my race report(s) during the weekend. I'll post them next week when we return.

I'm ready for this. A little undertrained, but still ready for it.

My Game will need to be On more for this than either of my Ironman finishes.

Here's wishing everyone a pleasant Memorial Day weekend.

Game On, On, On.