Weather- 85 and sunny
format- 4 triathlons over three days that add up to Ironman distance
best part of race-prologue and scenery on bike
worst part of race-hill after hill
Words to describe the races-fun, fun, I can do this, these hills are not where it is at
This past weekend was the American Triple T in Ohio. It takes place at Shawnee State Park in Ohio. Very scenic. Imagine very long hills with lots of green trees, quiet country roads and single lane fire roads to bike on, lots of dogs that like to chase you on your bike, and a gravel/ rocky run path with a long hill. Also, lots of college girls from Shawnee state volunterring as well as a lot of friends/ family members at the start/finish cheering you on and an announcer who announces you every time you come through. By the way, it seemed Wisconsinites made up about 1/4 of all the participants based on the announcer.
Prologue-Friday Night-
After driving about nine hours with the Race Day Events van packed full of triathletes, bikes, and wheels, we arrived at Shawnee Park. The drive down was uneventful. Along for the trip were friends Cory and Kim, and a few guys from the UW tri team. (Kim and her partner took first in the female team and won bike frames). Upon arrival, everyone got ready for the first race- 250 swim, 5 mile bike and 1 mile run according to the race director although it turned out to be about 400 swim, 3 mile bike and 1 mile run.
I told myself I would take it easy but once the race started found it hard not to race with everyone. I even had on toe clips on my bike to save extra time in the transition since it was such a short race. (Thanks RD for the tip). Overall this short race proved to be very fast and fun. Most wore wetsuits even though the water was about 70. The bike was a short sprint up a very long hill and then quick descent. The run was very fast on grass and gravel out and back. Overall, a very fun race.
After the race we bought supplies at the local Kroger store (actually about a 30 min drive round trip). Everyone went to the top of the hill where the cabins were. It was like a triathlete village-about 12 cabins all with porches filled with bikes and parking spaces filled with bike racked vehicles. Some stayed at the hotel on top of the hill instead of cabins. We stayed with Madison triathletes Heather and Steve who had a great race and won wetsuits for third in their division.
Saturday-first Olympic
At 7:30 a.m. the first olympic took place. The order for all the races was supposed to be seed times but people were unsure whether it was based on USAT scores and their number or the seed from the previous race at this event. Many people who were seeded near the back end of about 400 racers moved up and the race directors ok'd this. All of the races went off with the first person then next person every 5 seconds. I thought the swims and bikes would be crowded but they were pretty spread out. The lake seemed fairly shallow. It is long and narrow and has a few decent sized carp in it. A little more brown than a Wisconsin lake but not too bad.
In my first oly, I again had trouble holding back and ended up racing pretty hard. I took the swim easy as I was in the middle and didn't have any fast swimmers to draft off of. The bike was interesting, the first few miles seemed super dangerous with two dogs chasing after me and a rider behind me almost getting taken out by an oncoming truck. Overall, the dogs thinned out and the traffic was pretty sparce. On this first oly there is a short nasty hill.
The run felt pretty good since my legs were still fresh. I ran about 7:05 pace or so. The course is out and back I would estimate about 90% is either uphill or downhill. It's fun for the first time but after you run the same course in the afternoon and then twice on Sunday, it is not cool.
I finished this first oly quite happy and in about 47. Little did I know things were going to go downhill. The UW tri guys that rode with us had great races in the olys and half with one of them finishing top 10 overall in half.
Saturday-Second Oly
This race is different from the first in that it starts with the bike and then swim, then run. Since I raced the relay with bro-Ryan we rode together. We took turns pulling mostly with him doing slightly more work. Unfortunately for him, he is a much quicker descender and had to wait on a couple nice long descents. It wasn't as fun as I thought it would be riding as a team. I was imagining like a nice group ride with lots of rest and didn't consider that with only two people, there is a lot of pulling.
We got off the bike and jumped in the water. I tried to lead so Ryan could draft but there were other people around. We finished the swim together and ran together. The hills were getting to me by this point and Ryan would drop me on the uphills with me passing him on the downhills.
We managed a good pace and passed our friends Cory and Ben on the run. (They later destroyed us in the half the next day. I admit to holding Ryan back also).
Sunday-Half Iron
This race may have been fun but for the previous two days. I woke up feeling alright and felt fine on the swim, but felt week as soon as the bike started. I had to keep forcing Ryan to slow down to my pace and he did the majority of pulling. The hills on the bike got to me- it wasn't the length or steepness, but it seemed like the longest flat spot on the whole 56 miles lasted for about 1 mile or less. Plus my legs were pretty toasted from the days before. I thought that since we were riding slow that the run would be fast.
I was wrong. From the time I got off the bike, I continually got slower on the run. The hills sucked the life out of me and I had to jog them at walking pace. I am proud that I only walked during the water stops, but it didn't matter because my run pace was about the same as the walkers. We got passed by about 150 runners which was harsh. I felt bad for Ryan because I could tell he had a lot left but had to wait for me.
I was very happy to finish this race and get off of these repeating hills. Although there was one steep hill that stands out, I think my main problem was that there were very few flat spots on the course and my legs were not prepared.
Overall the race was very hard and not much fun for me. Plus Ryan had to wait up so we will never know how fast he could have raced it.
The ride home was uneventful. We actually made it through Chicago without traffic problems believe it or not.
Would I do the Triple T again? Don't know. I am more a fan of short tri's and definately a fan of flat courses. I would reccomend the race to anyone though because it truly is a unique experience. Imagine 400+ triathletes all wearing the same jersey and all racing the same course over and over and staying in the same area. One thing that I will remember is all the athletes who chose to ride up to the cabins (up a giant hill) each day after the races.
format- 4 triathlons over three days that add up to Ironman distance
best part of race-prologue and scenery on bike
worst part of race-hill after hill
Words to describe the races-fun, fun, I can do this, these hills are not where it is at
This past weekend was the American Triple T in Ohio. It takes place at Shawnee State Park in Ohio. Very scenic. Imagine very long hills with lots of green trees, quiet country roads and single lane fire roads to bike on, lots of dogs that like to chase you on your bike, and a gravel/ rocky run path with a long hill. Also, lots of college girls from Shawnee state volunterring as well as a lot of friends/ family members at the start/finish cheering you on and an announcer who announces you every time you come through. By the way, it seemed Wisconsinites made up about 1/4 of all the participants based on the announcer.
Prologue-Friday Night-
After driving about nine hours with the Race Day Events van packed full of triathletes, bikes, and wheels, we arrived at Shawnee Park. The drive down was uneventful. Along for the trip were friends Cory and Kim, and a few guys from the UW tri team. (Kim and her partner took first in the female team and won bike frames). Upon arrival, everyone got ready for the first race- 250 swim, 5 mile bike and 1 mile run according to the race director although it turned out to be about 400 swim, 3 mile bike and 1 mile run.
I told myself I would take it easy but once the race started found it hard not to race with everyone. I even had on toe clips on my bike to save extra time in the transition since it was such a short race. (Thanks RD for the tip). Overall this short race proved to be very fast and fun. Most wore wetsuits even though the water was about 70. The bike was a short sprint up a very long hill and then quick descent. The run was very fast on grass and gravel out and back. Overall, a very fun race.
After the race we bought supplies at the local Kroger store (actually about a 30 min drive round trip). Everyone went to the top of the hill where the cabins were. It was like a triathlete village-about 12 cabins all with porches filled with bikes and parking spaces filled with bike racked vehicles. Some stayed at the hotel on top of the hill instead of cabins. We stayed with Madison triathletes Heather and Steve who had a great race and won wetsuits for third in their division.
Saturday-first Olympic
At 7:30 a.m. the first olympic took place. The order for all the races was supposed to be seed times but people were unsure whether it was based on USAT scores and their number or the seed from the previous race at this event. Many people who were seeded near the back end of about 400 racers moved up and the race directors ok'd this. All of the races went off with the first person then next person every 5 seconds. I thought the swims and bikes would be crowded but they were pretty spread out. The lake seemed fairly shallow. It is long and narrow and has a few decent sized carp in it. A little more brown than a Wisconsin lake but not too bad.
In my first oly, I again had trouble holding back and ended up racing pretty hard. I took the swim easy as I was in the middle and didn't have any fast swimmers to draft off of. The bike was interesting, the first few miles seemed super dangerous with two dogs chasing after me and a rider behind me almost getting taken out by an oncoming truck. Overall, the dogs thinned out and the traffic was pretty sparce. On this first oly there is a short nasty hill.
The run felt pretty good since my legs were still fresh. I ran about 7:05 pace or so. The course is out and back I would estimate about 90% is either uphill or downhill. It's fun for the first time but after you run the same course in the afternoon and then twice on Sunday, it is not cool.
I finished this first oly quite happy and in about 47. Little did I know things were going to go downhill. The UW tri guys that rode with us had great races in the olys and half with one of them finishing top 10 overall in half.
Saturday-Second Oly
This race is different from the first in that it starts with the bike and then swim, then run. Since I raced the relay with bro-Ryan we rode together. We took turns pulling mostly with him doing slightly more work. Unfortunately for him, he is a much quicker descender and had to wait on a couple nice long descents. It wasn't as fun as I thought it would be riding as a team. I was imagining like a nice group ride with lots of rest and didn't consider that with only two people, there is a lot of pulling.
We got off the bike and jumped in the water. I tried to lead so Ryan could draft but there were other people around. We finished the swim together and ran together. The hills were getting to me by this point and Ryan would drop me on the uphills with me passing him on the downhills.
We managed a good pace and passed our friends Cory and Ben on the run. (They later destroyed us in the half the next day. I admit to holding Ryan back also).
Sunday-Half Iron
This race may have been fun but for the previous two days. I woke up feeling alright and felt fine on the swim, but felt week as soon as the bike started. I had to keep forcing Ryan to slow down to my pace and he did the majority of pulling. The hills on the bike got to me- it wasn't the length or steepness, but it seemed like the longest flat spot on the whole 56 miles lasted for about 1 mile or less. Plus my legs were pretty toasted from the days before. I thought that since we were riding slow that the run would be fast.
I was wrong. From the time I got off the bike, I continually got slower on the run. The hills sucked the life out of me and I had to jog them at walking pace. I am proud that I only walked during the water stops, but it didn't matter because my run pace was about the same as the walkers. We got passed by about 150 runners which was harsh. I felt bad for Ryan because I could tell he had a lot left but had to wait for me.
I was very happy to finish this race and get off of these repeating hills. Although there was one steep hill that stands out, I think my main problem was that there were very few flat spots on the course and my legs were not prepared.
Overall the race was very hard and not much fun for me. Plus Ryan had to wait up so we will never know how fast he could have raced it.
The ride home was uneventful. We actually made it through Chicago without traffic problems believe it or not.
Would I do the Triple T again? Don't know. I am more a fan of short tri's and definately a fan of flat courses. I would reccomend the race to anyone though because it truly is a unique experience. Imagine 400+ triathletes all wearing the same jersey and all racing the same course over and over and staying in the same area. One thing that I will remember is all the athletes who chose to ride up to the cabins (up a giant hill) each day after the races.
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