Triple T - May 20-22, 2011
Held in Portsmouth, OH in the Shawnee State Forest, this is a ballin' race, excellent venue, with epic volunteers, and is very well organized.
This race is very unique in that it is 4 triathlons in one weekend and when the summed the distances all add up to IM distance. Matt and I (The Cunning Stunts) were the 4th overall team and the 1st Junior Team (combined age 48 and under). It was a great race and I am very disappointed because I don't think I will be able to do it next year. Here is how it all went down:
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| I'm not sure what race this picture is from, but I am guessing Friday evening, given the steep shadow. |
After Triple T came a significant amount of recovery and the beginning of training for Ironman Wisconsin. I've got a plan worked out with total training volume and I have been filling in specific workouts a week ahead of time. So far it has been working out very well.
Next on the race schedule was Michigan Mountain Mayhem - June 11, 2011
Held way up North in the mitten in Boyne City, MI, this cycling event was more of a mental challenge than physical. On second thought, I take that back, it was just as much of a physical challenge with over 10,000ft of climbing over 200k (129mi) while my feet were wet the whole time from the heavy rains that happened that morning. Here are the results for that ride:
It should be noted that the Net Time in the above results includes the time I spent at the 5 or 6 aid stops along the way. My Garmin had my total riding time at 7:14:09 with an average speed of 17.4mph. Still, either way you dice it, it was a long day. I ended up riding that with another friend from MSU, Scott Przystas who was a great riding partner.
An interesting part of the ride happened at mile 40, where we were riding up Schuss Mountain. On our way up to one of the lodges, the course offered what they called an "Optional Super Hill". Here is what the race website has to say about it: "This is when you will have a chance to tackle the optional "SUPER HILL" a 1/2 mile climb up the backside of Schuss Mountain. This climb is like no other and most that attempt it will fail. The Super Hill starts out at 10% then quickly jumps to 15%-20% and just when you can't take it any longer you get a long stretch of 25%-29% before the final 10% finish." Quite the wake-up call for the legs! Both Scott and I made it up the optional hill and were the only two from the MSU group that made it up. Most others did not even attempt it or did not make it up. Here are some pictures from that race:
Pictures from "The Wall"
(The granddaddy of them all "THE WALL" --> a 3 mile climb that starts slow and gradually gets steeper. The final stretch starts at 12% and shoots straight to 18%, what a way to end a 3 mile climb. This is the hardest climb of the day and comes near the end.)
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| Mile 124 of 130, at 12-18% grade |
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| I tried to alternate between standing and sitting. It worked out pretty well. |
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| Finally I was able to see the top and relax a bit knowing that it would shortly end. |
Next on the agenda is the Warsaw Optimist Sprint Triathlon. I was 2nd overall last year and I'm hoping to improve this year! We'll see how that goes. I have had some pretty good workouts htis past week and I am looking forward to a 16mi progression run this weekend in Chicago (miles 1-4 @ 7:45/mi, 4-8 @ 7:30/mi, 8-12 @ 7:15/mi, 12-16 @ sub-7:00/mi). Luckily, my wonderful girlfriend Anna will be biking with me for these 16 mi so I won't be able to slack off! Then it's off to post-run deep-tissue massages thanks to a wonderful girlfriend and Groupon.
