This past weekend I was able to be a part of an experience most people would label as "crazy." I traveled to Shawnee State Park to be a part of a coed team for the Ohio American Triple T. Going into the weekend I knew I had the endurance and fitness to make it through all four races, but I still wasn't sure what I was going to feel like throughout or after the weekend of racing. I have never done a race longer than a half ironman, and this race was equivalent to slightly over the distance of a full ironman. People have said completing this race is harder than completing an ironman, I could not validate my thoughts on that.. especially since I have only completed Olympic and half distance races. But I can say that how I felt, the way I raced, my recovery, my thoughts during the race, everything, was different than what I've experienced before.
The weekend started with a long eight hour drive from Northern Virginia to Southern Ohio. My teammate was kind enough to take the wheel the entire drive (and most of the way home Sunday as well!) through less than ideal conditions. It had been raining for a good portion of the previous evening and earlier that morning. Roads were flooded, traffic was slow, cars were stuck here and there in the waters rushing over the streets, it was the beginning of an adventure of a weekend for sure.. We got to the park, checked in to our cabin, met Matt's friends from previous tris and last years Triple T race, got our gear from registration check in, & got ready for our first race.. The super sprint!
The first race was awesome and I wish I could have gone harder to see what I could have done. It was a 250m swim, 6mi bike, & 1mi run. It was my kind of race from having the background of a sprinter! But I had to ease off, take it slow, and just use it for a warm up and to get my legs spun out from the drive.. I mean, I did still have a total of an ironman distance left to go for the weekend..
The second race the next morning was a little shy of an Olympic distance race. The bike was a bit shorter but that doesn't mean it was any less challenging than a regular olympic. The water was chilly, hills were steap on the bike, & the run gave me a nice preview of the hill we would be going up and down another 3 times throughout the weekend. People were saying the run was hell, but my first thought heading up it was, "This isn't too bad, I can do this three more times.."
After the morning race we were in 2nd in the team division, right behind this Canadian coed team.. We knew what we had to do to keep it up, bike efficiently, swim strong, & run smart..
The third race came around not long after the AM olympic race finished. After a few hours of refueling and relaxing we got back in our mind set and got ready to race. This race was another olympic race, but it was set up as a time trial, starting with the bike, going into the swim, and finishing with the run. I was excited to have fresh legs on the ride since I tend to use my legs too much for my swim.. We started a few heats behind the Canadian team so we had them in our sights, the first climb was tough, some good uphills and fast downhills on the other side.. This is where we got the other team.. The girl, Angela Quick, looked like she was having a hard time staying on Alex Vanderlinden's wheel down the hills and it didn't look like she was doing a very good job drafting in general.. We cruised past them on this killer decent and took off!
We were hauling, Matt pushing some nice power, and me staying right behind him in his draft. He even commented throughout the ride, "You're awesome.." I've practiced riding in groups and have shown decent handling skills around tight turns and whatnot so he knew I was doing great on that ride compared to the other girl.. It felt good to hear, I probably had a grin from ear to ear the entire ride.. I was feeling good.. drafting well and ready to see what my swim was going to be like.. We didn't put wetsuits on for the swim since it would take too long to put on and take off again so we braved the cold temperatures of the lake. Matt almost went into shock I think. He said he fell over in transition before the run and felt very very cold all over.. I was chilly but I knew I had to get used to the temperature for July anyway when I'm heading to Cali for the Tahoe relay.. The run felt good even taking it easy and not over exerting myself because of the half ironman we had to still complete Sunday.. We ended up getting ahead of the Canadian team by 4 or so minutes after that race, we were ready to race for our hopeful victory.. After congraduating the other coed team when they finished I remember the guy talking a bit and saying, "There's still one more race.."
The last race was what I was worried about.. it was the make or break me race, the last shot at getting that prize race, the race that I've only done one other time in my life..
Matt was a good teammate that day, staying strong and catching other's wakes on the swim, I saw him ahead of me at one point.. I need to learn how to draft in my swims.. he was a champ the whole weekend, especially that last morning.. he had all of my spare stuff on his bike, he was the mule, taking the tools to make my bike ride lighter and faster.. he was pulling the entire ride, I wish I could've gone harder to help him out but I knew that half marathon was going to be the end of me, even with his help.. We had this plan to try out our bungee experiment.. The bike ride was long that day. The scenery was still beautiful, but the weather was less than ideal with the mid to upper 30 degree start of our ride and the fatigue started to set in mid way through.. I kept thinking of the end.. We talked about that ride after the race a bit on the drive home. We both described it as a different experience, almost out of body, Matt quoted it as, "I felt like I was riding drunk.." you didn't really pay attention to much, except what was immediately in front of you.. that's the one bummer about racing, going to these beautiful places and not experiencing the view while you're riding, running or swimming, but instead being immersed in your own race and only focusing on the small view directly in front of your wheel, your next step up the hill, or the small area of water to the left and front of your stroke.. The run started out with me a few steps ahead of my teammate, he needed to the get some socks on in transition so he wouldn't freeze or get brutal blisters or something.. I'm not really surr, I just took off.. I felt good up there first 3 miles of climbing, Matt didn't catch me until right before the turn around, commenting that I was doing well.. We we didn't turn on the bungee system yet. He seemed to be lagging a bit and I wanted to make sure he was ok to pull before I gave up my pace. After we saw where our competition was we soared down the hill to lap two.. We knew what we had to do, they were a good 4 minutes minutes ahead of us at the turn around, we had to turn it into gear and giddy up.. We got out bungees. Matt pushed hard up that hill for the 4th time that weekend, pulling me up with him.. We were in constant communication with one another the entire day on how we were feeling and what we had left.. The turn around came, 3.55 miles to go, mostly downhill, we needed 3 minutes to make up on the other team, that's one minute per mile, we had to dig deep if we wanted to make that happen.. We turned turned corner and had our last gel and water before the trip down the mountain, we were on the same page, prize in mind.. "Ready?" "Ready, let's go!" ..Matt worked his heart out on the ups and made me trail on his heals on the downs. We were flying.. Step after step after step, the turn over faster, faster and faster as we were getting closer to the finish.. The only thing I heard was our breathing, the only thing I saw was his feet, the earth around them, the only thing I thought about was the finish, those wheels we were gonna win.. We pushed. All the way to the end. We gave that last race all of what we had left. We crossed the finish line together, seeing the Canadian coed team standing, waiting, seeing how far behind we were..
The American Triple T race was quite an experience of a weekend.. I'm not sure if I would want to attempt to do it again.. I enjoyed it, especially the team aspect of it. Seeing who the competition was, what they had in store or left in the tank that day, seeing what you were made of, what you were like in that uncomfortable state of mind, in that other world of exhaustion, what your teammate was like putting up with you through 4 days, 2 team races, 10 hours of racing, and 16 hours of taveling.. I got to experience a lot & learn just as much.. I enjoy being in new places, exploring new areas, meeting new people, doing new things that I didn't think I'd be comfortable doing.. I put up a quote in our kitchen the other day.. "Life is trying things to see if they work," Ray Bradbury.. This past weekend was just that.
Even though we placed second by 1 minute and 24 seconds over ten plus hours of racing, we weren't upset, we gave it our all, we made it through a race that seems insane to do by most people to begin with.. "You know you're officially a crazy person now that you've done this race," says Matt as we're leaving the park..