Great Buckeye Challenge Trio trains
Editor's Note: This is part of a series of stories on area triathletes leading into the Great Buckeye Challenge at Buck Creek State Park on Aug. 21.
They call themselves the Three Amigos. Lisa Leslie, Cathy Tagg and Jen Kolde-Wade have used their friendship to push each other to a common goal.
The trio of Springfielders will compete in their first triathlon together on Aug. 21 at the Great Buckeye Challenge at Buck Creek State Park.
“I was talking about doing it,” said Leslie, 37. “Jen said, ‘Well, you’re doing it. I’ll think about doing it.’ I had the idea of pulling Cathy in because she’s such a beast.”
All three have athletic backgrounds, but it was still a leap of faith.
“I’ve always been fascinated by triathlons,” Leslie said. “I kind of got fascinated around the age of 12 when I started running in junior high. I saw one on TV and thought, ‘How cool is that.’ I probably really didn’t get interested again until about a year ago. I did my first indoor triathlon at the Y.”
Kolde-Wade and Tagg had also done the indoor triathlon.
“I’m a swimmer by trade,” said Kolde-Wade, 45. “I was actually dealing with a back and hip injury. We had each done the indoor triathlon one year apart. At that point, we started learning about the Great Buckeye Challenge.”
Tagg, who teaches fitness classes at the Springfield YMCA, jumped at the challenge.
“I thought, ‘I already did my full marathon and three half marathons. Shoot, why not?’” said Tagg, 47. “I was just waiting for someone in my family to say I couldn’t do it because they told me I couldn’t do the marathon. Nobody tells me I can’t do something.”
Leslie researched training schedules and got them on track earlier this year. Since then, they’ve done their first brick together — a term that refers to a training session that includes two of the three triathlon elements — and fretted plenty about what to do in the transition area, where you switch from the swim to the bike and later the bike to the run. For Leslie, swimming in the open water for the first time was a hurdle she had to get past.
“In the pool, you have the lines to follow,” she said. “In the water, it’s darkness. But I got past it.”
Tagg tried to keep up with Kolde-Wade when she first tried an open-water swim at Buck Creek State Park.
“I was scared to death,” Tagg said. “I was out of my element. I had not swam competitively since eighth grade.”
All three said having a training partner helps keep them going, though there are still sacrifices.
“I was surprised by how much time it takes,” Kolde-Wade said. “Cathy has daughters. Lisa has a family. I have kids. You have to spend a lot of time away from them.”
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