American Triple T Race Report

[note: if you want to see our pictures of the event, you'll have to come on over to my facebook page - Gary's Facebook]

It would probably be a good idea to begin by describing what events make up the American Triple T weekend.

1. Friday Evening Prologue: 250m swim, 5mile bike, 1mile run
2. Saturday Morning Individual Time Trial: 1500m swim, 40k bike, 6.55mile run
3. Saturday Afternoon Team Triathlon: 40k bike, 1500m swim, 6.55mile run
4. Sunday Team Time Trial (Half Iron): 1.2mile swim, 55.5mile bike, 13.1mile run

Looking at the different races and the distances over the entire weekend it can be a little intimidating, but in all honesty it isn’t the distances that you soon find out is the challenging part of this event. The two biggest challenges that were faced over the weekend were:

A – The terrain.
B – The intensity of the early races and the impact upon the Sunday race.

The Terrain:
It says on the website to be prepared for a tough weekend of cycling. I knew others that had completed the weekend or had just done the Sunday half iron distance race and they said to be prepared for the climbing on the bike. While respectful, it didn’t worry me too much because I have always felt steady through hills. In fact, I often feel better at climbing than I do at descending (fear factor?).

What seems to be under appreciated was the difficulty of the run course. The run course was challenging due to the terrain change, but also because it was on trail. The trail was also not exactly what I expected. I guess I anticipated a more groomed trail that allowed for better footing (more on this later).

The Intensity:
One thing that I feel is my strength in Ironman racing is my ability to work within my ability early in the race, which allows me to use my potential at the end of the marathon. A skill that can be difficult to learn, but the one triathlon skill I feel I’ve developed. This weekend presented two situations that don’t allow this “go easy and build” strategy to be implemented well.

1. Teammates. I signed up to race the Triple T as a team. This meant that each race I was counted on to do well so that my teammate could also do well. This is a very different concept for many triathletes. I was also signed up with Jeff Buhr who is a better triathlete, better swimmer, better cyclist and better runner than I am. So not only did I have to hold up my end of the partnership, but during the team events, I knew I was going to have to push as hard (and smart) as I could while he could race a little below normal.

2. Race Design. As shown above the fast / quick races start the weekend and build into the half iron distance race. The interesting thing is that for the prologue I had an average heart rate of 181bpm which actually felt comfortable. By the time Sunday rolled around, I was lucky to be able to pick up my heart rate into the 160′s on the bike (I did hit 170bpm on the run). What feels easy early is often not easy, it’s just a function of being prepared to race and knowing that the race is going to be over soon. Even with the knowledge of 3 or 2 more races ahead, it’s difficult to control the urge to go fast.

My Races

Day 1 Prologue:
This race is a blast. It is very quick which makes me very nervous. This was actually my first triathlon shorter than a half iron distance race since July of 2003 (Tri America in Louisville). Despite the short swim, I still decided to wear my wetsuit, most did not.

Data: swim – 6:12, bike – 12:21, run – 5:54, total – 24:26
Heart Rates: hrave – 181bpm, hrmax – 195bpm (no splits)

Day 2 (Saturday) Race 1:
This was not a great race for our team. I got a flat about 17 or 18 miles into the bike which was frustrating for an Olympic distance race, especially because I had put a lot of effort into the bike already hoping to have a great race. It’s interesting what thoughts go through your head when you are faced with a situation like this. I thought about riding to ride and hope it wouldn’t go completely flat (it did, quickly). Then when I stopped I thought about putting a little air in and seeing if it was slow enough to get me back (I tried and it was way too fast). In the end, I found something that allowed me to keep my cool and remember that the weekend was a long event and that I just needed to finish this race. I found a little saying that really helped me get through this situation while I was changing the tire and after I got back on the bike (and was extremely worried it would flat again).

I kept saying to myself “Be Chrissie, not Norman!” , “Be Chrissie, not Norman!”

I also remembered back to Ironman Canada (2004?) when Gordo Byrn flatted towards the end of the bike and his response during that race and post race. It probably cost me 6 to 7 mins? I mistakenly dumped my bag on the ground costing me another minute or so picking up my co2′s, second spare and allen wrenches.

My teammate crashed during this race… it didn’t cause a lot of road rash but a lot of soreness.

The biggest mistake that I made during this race was not respecting the type of trail we had to run on. Disappointed with my bike, I went through T2 pretty quickly and chose to skip the socks. MISTAKE! The trail tore my feet up. It was a pretty rookie mistake.

Data: swim – 27:00, bike – 1:25:14 / 17.2mph, run – 43:55 / 6:43min/mile, total – 2:37:55
Heart Rates:
swim hrave – 152bpm, hrmax – 172bpm
bike hrave – 159bpm, hrmax – 179bpm (stopped for approx 6/7 mins with flat)
run hrave – 173bpm, hrmax – 184bpm

Day 2 (Saturday) Race 2:
I really need to learn to descend well on the bike. While it may not be wise to cannonball downhill some places on the course, I give up loads of momentum, time and speed because I am unable to descend at even an average level. It was really apparent during this race. My teammate was able to do this race after the morning crash, he ended up being a good motivator for me.

Data: bike – 1:14:32 / 20.0mph, swim – 29:09, run – 45:20 / 6:56mile/min, total – 2:32:18
Heart Rates:
bike hrave – 157bpm, hrmax – 177bpm
that’s all I got… didn’t get a lap after swim and didn’t stop watch after race?

Day 3 Half Iron Distance Race:
I did this race solo because my teammate decided that healing and being ready for Kansas70.3 was wiser. It took quite a bit of pressure off me. My race was an exemplar of what my racing strategy has always been. Steady swim (sadly this swim was pretty poor, not sure what happened because I didn’t feel terrible in the water?)

Bike steady – by this time of the weekend my body had definate limits. Pushing on the bike was limited and even when I would “work hard” my body wasn’t responding and heart rates weren’t climbing (fatigue). Needless to say I think I left all the “speed” in had in me for cycling on the course on Saturday. My climbing gears still allowed me to pass people (until they flew by me on the descents).

Run – My goal was to run under 1:40 for this half. I ran steady throughout the day and went 1:39:11. Very happy with that which gives me confidence. Surprisingly I have not been running as much as in the past .. I just feel confident running, which helps.

Data: swim – 36:30, bike – 3:17:27 / 16.9mph, 1:39:11 / 7:35min/mile, total – 5:35:24
Heart Rates:
total race – hrave – 147bpm, hrmax – 183bpm

I only got the total race and the time on my watch says 5:50, when my time was 5:35 – so it includes about 15mins of post race resting? I don’t remember when I stopped the heart rate monitor b/c I was so focused on running a specific pace on the run with my Timex watch taking laps at the loop.

Lessons to take to IMLOU:
1. swim, swim, swim (open water when possible)

2. bike (my longest ride this year was 4 hours with 2 at very easy, so I’m hoping this will come around these last 14 weeks.)

3. even when things seem like they are not going my way, the run rarely fails on me. that gives me a lot of confidence heading into a traditionally very hot/humid and slow marathon in Louisville.

Final Thoughts:
A great weekend that was probably more difficult than any Ironman I’ve done so far. It would compare mentally to the EndureChallenge that I created and finished last year, just do to the shear speed required to do the events. I can go all day… getting fast is the trick!