From the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette, March 23, 2008 Athletes triple challengeNext big thing, triathlons require hard training
By Jeannine SteinTriathlons are the new marathons.Not content with running a mere 26.2 miles, today’s athletes-in-need-of-a-goal are signing up for swim/cycle/run combinations. Tom Carpenter, 35, was on his high school’s track and swimming teams. The Fort Wayne man even ran cross county and track at Tri-State University. Yet, as he got older, he got slower. But he never lost his love of competition. That love lead to him joining TriFort Triathletes. “When I was growing up, all you ever heard of were the Ironman competitions in Hawaii,” says Carpenter, president of the Fort Wayne athletic organization, which began in 1997. “The triathlon has swim, bike and run in various distances. I do about 10 to 12 of them a year.” Although the Ironman format (a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike ride and a marathon) is familiar to most, triathlon races offer a variety of distances. They include the sprint (half-mile swim, 12.4-mile bike ride and 3.1-mile run); the Olympic (0.93-mile swim, 24.8-mile bike ride and 6.2-mile run); and the half-Ironman (1.2-mile swim, 56-mile bike ride and 13.1-mile run). “We have a big mix of people and ages represented here,” says Carpenter, as he and other triathletes recently prepared for a Sunday afternoon run at Johnny Appleseed Park. “It’s fun to get together and train. It’s hard training by yourself. When we started, we had maybe 20 or so members, now we are over 100.” One of those members is Jerry Steinhoff, 53, who since 1986 has participated in “hundreds of them.” “I was getting fat and out of shape, I started training for my first one and got bit by the bug. I enjoy the variety of events versus doing a single event. I wasn’t an athlete in high school; I was a beer drinker.” The second Tuesday of each month, TriFort offers an informational meeting. Carpenter says the meetings are to encourage others who want to compete in triathlons. “We host kids’ events, and we host our big one at Pokagon in May,” Carpenter says. “There are people who want to get involved and don’t know how. There are people who want to train and don’t know how. We have people here to help them train.” And training can lead to big wins. “We are part of the 60-team USAT MidEast Regional Club Race. The teams are from Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, Michigan and Kentucky,” Carpenter says. On the weekend, the group typically does “brick workouts,” such as swim/bike or bike/run, and during summer workouts there are various distances and formats. “In 2004, our team was second overall. That’s was exciting for us. We are continuing to grow,” he says. Growth for the swim, bike and run events is spreading nationwide. “People are looking for the next thing – they’re reaching, trying new things,” says Paul Ruggiero, head triathlon coach for the Greater Los Angeles chapter of Team in Training, a training group sponsored by the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. “Go to a race,” he adds, “and you’ll see different body types and a huge range of socioeconomic backgrounds.” But training for a triathlon can be a daunting task. Becoming proficient in three sports, learning how to swim in open water, finding the right bicycle, carving out additional time to work out – these can befuddle those adept at doing just one, or even two, things well. K.O. Jackson of The Journal Gazette contributed to this story. |
