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YMCA triathalon seeks teams By TIM BOUSQUET Tidings Correspondent "We're going to pretend that we're real athletes," Laurie Loutzenhiser said with a laugh. "We'll eat power bars and get amped up before the race. Afterwards we're going to have a barbeque and celebrate." Loutzenhiser, her husband, Joe, and her sister Amelia Schaaf have signed up as a team for the Ashland YMCA's triathlon on Oct. 5. None of the three has competed in a triathlon before, and they don't consider themselves in particularly great shape. "I'd much rather be forty pounds lighter," said Joe Loutzenhiser, who has been training for the triathlon by running the three miles home from his computer programming job each day. "When I started a few weeks ago, I was run-walking, running a little until I got tired, then walking, then running again. Now I'm running the whole three miles." Laurie Loutzenhiser, who is associate director at the YMCA, said she used to swim "a couple of times a week" during her lunch hour, but was mostly working out in her employer's fitness center. "I switched my exercise to the pool," she said. "I still can't make the whole distance, but I hope to be there by mid-September." Schaaf is the most regularly athletic of the three - she rides her bicycle for the fourteen-mile round trip to her medical transcriptionist job. "It's ten half-hour training sessions a week," she said. "It's a good thing I ride my bike, because I just sit on my butt all day at work, and if I didn't ride, I'd be really fat. But now that we're signed up for this triathlon, I'm trying to push it a little harder to and from work." The three don't fit the triathlete stereotype. Triathalons are usually considered races designed only for the fittest of the fit. The best-known events fall in the "Ironman" category, which typically combine a grueling 2.4 mile swim with a 112 mile bike ride and a marathon-distance run of 26.2 miles. The very best triathletes can complete the course in about twelve hours. The upcoming YMCA event is, in contrast, decidedly low-key. "This is for first-timers, people who would never think to do something like this," said Mary Holgen, the YMCA's Health & Fitness Director. To make the event more accessible, the distances have been scaled down to a swim of a third of a mile, a sixteen-mile bike ride, and a 3.2 mile run. The swim happens at the YMCA's pool, the bike ride is a there-and-back out Highway 66, and the run goes down the nearby bike path. "It's not just for triathletes," said Holgen. "It's for anyone who wants to increase their potential for exercise. We wanted to make this attainable for family and kids. The idea is to get families exercising together instead of hanging out in front of the TV, and it's working; so far our biggest signup is families - mom, dad, kid (or) brother, sister, dad." Families can sign up as teams, with each member taking one of the three events. The Loutzenhisers and Schaaf, for example, have split the triathlon between them, with Laurie Loutzenhiser swimming, Joe Loutzenhiser running and Schaaf biking. "We knew we were never going to do it alone, so we might as well do it together," said Schaaf. "I wouldn't do the whole thing," said Joe Loutzenhiser. "I don't want the pain." Laurie Loutzenhiser says she brought up the idea of the family participating in the triathlon. "I thought it'd be fun for the family," she said. "We'd show the kids that being involved in exercise is important to us, and they would make it part of their lives. Now they want to do the triathlon themselves." But the Loutzenhisers' children, Lewis and Julian, will be sitting on the sidelines Oct. 5, cheering for their parents and aunt. Holgen said she hopes to turn the triathlon into an annual event and has drummed up quite a bit of community support. "Volunteers from the college are helping out at aid stations and directing traffic," she said, "and we've gotten tremendous support from the business community, giving door prizes and that sort of thing." The goal is to attract a hundred participants, said Holgen. To that end, the YMCA has put together a team and is challenging teams from other YMCAs and the Shakespeare Festival. The YMCA is also hosting free Wednesday night clinics to help novice triathletes. The clinics are led by local experts and have such titles as "Learn to ride with your bike, not on it" and "Frequently asked questions of the new and experienced triathlete." Holgen stressed that the triathlon is open to all, whether they are members or not, and that scholarships are available for those who can't meet the entry fee. "We're going to have a great event, and everyone should join us," she said. LINKS: DAILY TIDINGS: Main | News | Sports | Obituaries | Opinion | Columnists | AP News | Subscribe | Archives | Weather | Classifieds | Contact Us | Privacy REVELS: Main | Calendar | Dining | Movies | T.V. OTHER: Road Cams Copyright 2003 Ashland Daily Tidings 541.482.3456. 1661 Siskiyou Blvd., Ashland, OR 97520. Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. - Advertisers -