A few weekends ago I competed in my 4th American Triple-T Ohio which is comprised of 4 triathlon's over the course of 3 days. The race starts with a super sprint triathlon Friday night, 2 Olympic distance (run's are actually slightly longer at 6.55 miles) races on Saturday, and a half-ironman on Sunday. This was also my 3rd year in a row competing as a two person team with Adam Brown, a friend from back home. 2 years ago we won the team title and last year we were 2nd. We new the competition was going to be tough this year but figured we had a good chance at top 3. My girlfriend Amanda was also racing her first full triple-t Ohio and we were lucky enough to get a room at the lodge just minutes away from the transition area.
Race #1 - Friday Night - Super Sprint - The first race is really just a warm up for the rest of the weekend. It consists of a short 250 meter swim, 6k bike, and ~1 mile run (maybe a little shorter based on some of the "mile" times).
Swim (+T1) - 4:57
Bike (+T2) - 11:05
Run - 4:59
Total - 21:02 and 5th overall
Finishing Race #1
Race #2 - Saturday Morning - Olympic #1 - The 2nd race went really well. I swam well, started off the bike strong going back and forth with a few people until I had to stop for probably about a minute going up this steep hill (Thompson hill) due to a rubbing front break. I literally stopped going up this hill, got off my bike and tried to pull the break pads off the wheel the best I could. That didn't stop me though from having a great race. I rode strong the rest of the way and caught back up to 3 guys that I had been riding with before having to stop on the hill right as we entered T2. I felt great on the run as I ran side-by-side with Jared Milam who ended up being the overall individual winner of the weekend. All of the races start in a time-trial fashion and I started a few minutes back from the first few guys. I crossed the finish line in 3rd but ended up with the overall fastest time with the time trial start.
Overall Time: 2:05:39
Unfortunately there are no splits for this race
Race #3 - Saturday Afternoon - Olympic #2 - The 2nd Olympic on Saturday is a unique race in that the order is switched from the traditional swim, bike, run. This race goes bike, swim, run and is the first team race in which those competing on a team are allowed to draft on the bike and must finish together. I felt real strong biking and ended up leading most of the bike. Most people take the time to put on a wetsuit as your legs are more susceptible to cramping coming off the bike and going into the water. The water felt great as the outside temp was pretty warm and I ended up swimming well. Adam was right behind me the whole swim and we made it through T2 and ran steady.
Bike - 1:08:18 - 7th OA
T1 - 1:16
Swim - 19:43 - 3rd OA
T2 - 1:29
Run - 46:01 - 15th OA
Finish - 2:16:49 - 7th OA
Race #4 - Sunday Morning - Half Ironman - Going into the final day, the team competition was pretty close. We were about 5 minutes down from the top guys and a little over 2 minutes back from the 2nd place team with a pretty solid cushion over 4th (~20ish minutes I think). The goal was to try and close in on 2nd and at least maintain 3rd place. The swim went well (was most likely short considering the split...). The bike is 2 laps and about 18 miles into the bike, my back tire blew out, which was literally the exact same place my tire blew out during my first triple-t 3 years prior. We ended up putting a tubular tire that Adam had with him on my clincher wheel and rode the next 9 or so miles into transition. When I got to transition, I got off my bike, ran to transition to grab my car keys, rode down to my car, switched out my wheels, and headed out on the 2nd lap. It took me about 20 miles to catch back up to Adam who decided to keep riding. We made it into T2 and Adam wasn't sure if he was going to run but we started the run. He ended up doing only one of two laps of the run and I finished out the 2nd lap on my own which made us ineligible for team rankings since we both didn't finish.
Me and Adam at the start of the swim for the Half Ironman
Swim - 22:39
T1 - 1:15
Bike (+T2) - 3:16:39 (tire blow out)
Run - 1:47:50
Finish - 5:28:24
Finishing up on Sunday
Overall, it was a great weekend of racing with great people. I already booked a cabin for next year and will be back and ready for a great race!
I took a nice a week off after triple-t as a little mid-season break and am looking forward to picking things up and getting ready for the Hy-Vee Triathlon over the next few months.
