Triple T Quickie Race Report

This race was very difficult, but it was so much fun doing it as a team. Team Crackheads rocked the course IN STYLE! One of the pink things I bought for our team was the streamers you see on our race belts--the photos are from the finish of the 1/2 Ironman on Sunday. Cindy and I both have race belts with the spring toggles, so I was able to attach bicycle-handle streamers (that I got at Target) to them, and we wore them Saturday and Sunday during our runs. The streamers were a HUGE hit with the racers and spectators. We were definitely hard to miss!

Cindy and I won our division handily, even though there was only one other team in it. It was pretty close through Saturday afternoon, but I had a strong feeling we would prevail on Sunday, which we did.

Cindy is a bit stronger than me in short course, but I am the endurance queen, and I think I paced us well on Sunday. It was the slowest 1/2 Ironman I've ever done (7:33, I think), but the most satisfying and HARDEST. I mean, WOW, is all I can say!

A full race report will take me days if not over a week to write, but I will. I felt really, REALLY strong and well-prepared for this. I think I could have gone faster, but this was a team effort, and that's the way we did it. I didn't mind waiting a minute here, a few minutes there--it wasn't like we were racing, anyway--my primary objective was to not be DFL overall and to not be doing a death march on Sunday.

I gotta say all that Colorado trail running I did paid off in SPADES, as our run course was 3.25 miles pretty much up (click the race link on my sidebar to see a profile, I mean WOW) and then down, repeat twice for the 1/2 Ironman. Sure we did some walking, but it was on Sunday where we were able to pick off a lot of people on the run.

The folks I travelled with all did great, too. Lori and Marc took first in the Coed division, and Kevin bested his time from 2 years ago.

This race is the most mellow triathlon event you can imagine, and small, and just tons of fun. I had SO much fun riding LGL on the hills, I can't even tell you. Even when we were climbing, climbing, climbing, I was happy to be on her, and the descents were just fun. I really just enjoyed riding my bike this weekend. I wouldn't mind going to the area for a week of training--it is an excellent venue, with a 25-meter pool at the lodge, a lake for open water swimming, and obviously, gobs of hills to ride and run on.

I swam well, biked well and ran well, and I hope this "race" makes Ironman Lake Placid seem like a piece of cake. I want to do Triple T again next year, again as a team. It gives a whole new perspective to pushing one another, and I think my biking will be improved after spending over a week in late Feb./early March riding the Tour of California.

As tired as I am right now (got home late last night and couldn't stay asleep due to hunger), I can say nothing but great things about this race. I hope they don't make it any bigger (don't think they can in order to accommodate everyone for lodging purposes) or any flatter. And as much as Cindy and I had to dig deep (I never once felt like I was suffering), we had just a TON of fun together. It's been awhile since we've raced together, and doing it side by side almost all day for 2 days and change was just the best.

Cindy and I decided that we are prouder of this finish than we are of our Ironman races. It's tough to explain to anyone who hasn't done this race, though. At least an Ironman happens all in one day, and it's not too hard to plan for. For this, I had an entire spreadsheet (yes, people make fun of me for doing that, but hey, they work, so STFU) to note what I needed to wear and put on the bike and carry for the run and eating between races to keep up with my calorie needs. It all worked like a charm, and I think I've converted Cindy over to the old Ultra Violence. For the Saturday runs, I carried Coke for both of us, and Sunday I had my giant, 6-banger Fuel Belt loaded with the old Ultra Violence. It was just the thing to keep us going.

I am babbling now, and I need to decide whether I am going back to sleep now or later. I have no plans for this day off other than to rest and eat and SMILE!

Cindy, you ROCK--I hope we get to enjoy one another's company again in Lake Placid!