Triple T Weekend

As Matt would say, if there was one word that summed up this weekend is was "Epic". Who would have thought that 3 days of living, breathing, eating, and sleeping triathlon would have been so much fun! Having covered 3.22 miles of swimming, 110.72 miles of biking, and 27.2 miles of running in under 43 hours, this weekend was truly one to remember for a long time to come.

So our journey started bright and early Friday morning. Matt Mauclair and I loaded the X-terra and were off to Shawnee State Park in southern Ohio. The drive went by really quick as Matt and I caught up on things that we haven't talked about in some time. So I guess I should start to explain how far out there in the middle of nowhere this race was. After 5 1/2 hours of driving we came to this small town called Portsmouth right on the Ohio / Kentucky border, and after another 10 minute drive we were at the state park entrance. Our first sign indicating that we were in the middle of nowhere was the fact that our cell phones had no service.

We arrived to the race registration area around 2PM Friday afternoon and began to register in prep for the Prologue race later that afternoon at 5PM. My lodging plans were to stay at a near by campground in my tent so I decided that we should go check it out and set up camp before dark. Matt and I drove to the campground and as we were checking in Matt saw some pictures hanging up of bears, coyotes, and other wild animals and began to ask questions. The check in host continued to assure us that as long as you don't leave food out, you shouldn't see any bears. She then began to tell us stories how she raises wild anamials such as racoons. She actually has a license to raise racoons....kind of creepy. I was okay with it, but Matt being a city boy from the North side was a little freaked out. So we proceeded to the campsite and this is when I became a little freaked out too. In order to get to the site you had to take these steps that led to a path, and that path then took you about 200 yards back into the woods to this little 10x10 foot platform. It was truely the start of a horror movie, and I could picture the Texas Chainsaw guy jumping out from the bushes at 2AM in the morning.
So that was that, and it was now time to race the Prologue. The prologue was a super sprint triathlon beginning with a 250 meter swim, a 5 mile bike, and a 1 mile run. The question of the day was whether or not to wear a wet suit for the swim considering it might take more time to get it off then it's worth. Right after Matt and I were discussing the situation the race director came on the PA system and said that you should probably wear a wetsuit because the water temperature was only 56 degrees. Buuuurrrrrrrrrrrrr was that water cold!!! Regardless the race went on. The start of each race went off in "time trial" fashion with participants going off into the water one by one. It was really cool. So the first race went well. I had a solid swim, an good steady bike, and ran a 5:48 mile. Although Matt and I started at different times, we finished only seconds apart. Day one was complete, and it was time to get some sleep in preparation for tomorrow. One problem though. Matt was supposed to meet some guys from Pittsburgh and he was going to stay with them at a hotel, but he couldn't find them. Then lady luck came through. One of coach Kevin's athletes, Kirk Nelson, had an unused cabin that was just the basics that slept five. Matt and I jumped on the offer and we now had beds and best of all heat. For $25 bucks per night per person, who could pass that deal up?

Although still quite rustic, and not up to par with my typical stays at the Hilton resorts, it was all we needed for a good nights rest.


Saturday morning came all so fast and would soon put our bodies to the test. Knowing that I still had two races ahead of me, one being a half Ironman, I made sure to go out steady and not push it too hard. Well overnight the temperature dropped, and the water temperature dropped as well into the mid to low 50's. Suiting up the already wet wetsuit my core temperature was at an all time low. Regardless we set off on the 1500 meter swim. I really felt awesome all weekend in the water and all this swimming I'm doing is starting to pay off. I was out of the water in under 20 minutes, and had a new PR for a 1500 meter swim. I moved quickly through transition and set off on the 25 mile bike course. I should probably mention how ridiculously hard this course is. The bike course takes your through the Shawnee State Forest on double lane wide fire roads. Traffic was kept to a minimum on the course, and the views were simply spectacular. I came off the bike averaging around 21mph, and set off on the 6.55 mile run. The run was the same out and back course for the entire weekend and was also extremely challenging. The run was on an off road dirt fire road with ruts, rocks, and other obstacles to run over and avoid. I ran very solid on the hard course and finished in 2:18. I know....doesn't look fast for a Olympic distance, but considering the Pro's that were there barely broke 2:10 (when they typically finish in 1:50) I was extremely happy. Matt finished not far behind me with a very solid 2:25. The morning was complete and Matt and I were in recovery mode also known as "Eat everything in sight". HFP racing had a nice food spread that we devoured, and then we went back to the cabin for some R&R and more food. We broke out the cast iron skillet and grilled up some chicken breasts on the Colman grill. Who ever said we couldn't fend for ourselves?


We napped for a little over an hour and started to get prepped for our afternoon race. The Saturday afternoon race was the same distance as the morning race, but with a twist. Instead of the normal swim, bike, run......the race began on the 25 mile bike course, followed by the 1500 meter swim, then finished up with the 6.55 mile run. I felt like we were riding in the tour (minus the starting ramp) as we went off single file. The afternoon bike course was flat and fast with a couple big climbs. It was at this time that I began to wonder if we just went back in time over a hundred years. At one point I blazed by this house on wheels and a guy was waving his confederate flag cheering for the bikers. It was classic. I didn't ride as well as I wanted and started to think that I went out too hard on the morning race. Regardless I pushed through the pain and made it to the swim. I don't know if any of you have ever tried swimming in 50 degree water after biking 25 hard miles, but let me tell you it's hard as hell!!! Also trying to put on a wetsuit as fast as you can....forget about it. There's no easy way to do it. After a slow transition I set off on the two loop swim. Let me tell you, having warm muscles enter cold water is a recipe for disaster. My hamstrings and calf's cramped the entire swim. As I was coming out of the water there were men hunched over in the shallow area screaming in agony from the cramps. But that's what makes this race so unique. It's a sure test of endurance and mind over body. Those next couple miles on the run were extremely difficult. My calf muscles kept going into tight spasms, but eventually it went away. I pushed through the run and called it a day with a sort of slow 2:28. Matt had a really good second race with a total time of 2:24, and cut into my seven minute lead....not like we were racing or anything. :)


Saturday evening began a long road to recovery from the two extremely challenging, slightly longer Olympic distance races. We made sure to eat as much as we can, and met some friends for dinner up at the lodge. When Matt and I got back to the cabin we both looked at each other and said "How and the hell are we going to do a half Ironman in the morning". We were both spent, out of gas, and just plain exhausted. Regardless we were fast asleep and up bright and early at 5:00 AM. Arriving at the race site was quite comical. It looked like the walking dead were about to race. The race was set to start at 7:00 AM. 7:00 AM came and went and we still weren't even close to getting started. Everyone was moving in slow motion, and the race directors were having trouble getting everyone to move down towards the water. The air Sunday morning had to be about 10 degrees colder than Saturday. I zipped up the cold wetsuit, didn't even warm up, and braced myself for the long hours to come. This time Matt and I decided to go off on the swim together, and I'm glad we did. We both pushed each other through the swim, and believe it or not after two days of racing, we both PRed in the 1.2 mile swim. I came out of the water in 29 minutes (4+ minute PR) with Matt. We both set off together on the bike and we each took turns setting the pace. Matt is a really great ride on the flats so he pulled me (with 3 bike lengths between us of course) and I pulled Matt up the climbs. This bike course was by far the most challenging course I had ever raced. Again to put in in perspective, only one pro had ever broken the five hour mark on this course. We kept it steady on the first loop and as we began the second loop I yelled over to Matt to look at my back tire. I must of had a slow leak, and now had to pull over to fix the flat. I've never had any luck with tubular tires but am getting better at changing them, because we only lost about 5 minutes. We were back in action and now playing catch up with those riders that passed us while we were stopped. It was really cool that Matt waited up and helped me with the flat! We stayed together the rest of the 56 mile bike leg and were soon pulling into transition. Now for the 13.1 mile run! I was shocked at how great my legs felt at this point. Our first couple of miles were around an 8 minute pace, but eventually the long weekend caught up to us both. Matt and I worked together and we pulled each other eventually to the finish.

It was a great ending to a fantastic weekend. Finishing together was the way the weekend was meant to be.

posted by Chad Holderbaum @ 7:49 AM Comments: 4