Holderbaum taking Ironman training to next level

by Bill Hartlep
Sports Editor
June 25, 2009
http://www.yournorwin.com/norwinstar/article/holderbaum-taking-ironman-training-next-level

Three-hour runs, 5,000-yard swims and seven-hour bike rides are just part of a rigorous training regiment that tabulated up to 25 hours a week of workouts for the past six months.

That is life for Chad Holderbaum.

Rarely taking a day off, the North Huntingdon resident and Penn-Trafford graduate spends months at a time pushing his body to its ultimate limit, and then, he goes further.

The 29-year-old is a Westinghouse engineer by day, but when he leaves the office, he turns into an Ironman.

Holderbaum is in the midst of preparing for the upcoming Ford Ironman competition in Lake Placid, N.Y., which is a qualifier for the Ironman World Championships in Kona, Hawaii in 2009.

"Right now, I'm doing 14 workouts a week that consist of four swims, four bikes and four runs, and I spend two days a week in the gym," he said. "My training is seven days a week. I take a day off two weeks before a race."

In 2007, Holderbaum qualified for the world championships after finishing sixth in his age bracket at Lake Placid. Last year, he placed 12th in his division and failed to qualify, so he is working even harder to reach his athletic and endurance peak.

It has been a busy period of workouts and training events for Holderbaum. He recently wrapped up a hectic span of weeks that included a trip to Boulder for a three-day training camp with fellow members of the Mark Allen Online Elite team, a business trip to Seattle, a jaunt to Detroit for Game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals and finally, a visit to Cambridge, Md., where he took part in Eagleman 70.3, a half-Ironman race.

After the whirlwind of activity the previous days, and a lack of rest, Holderbaum wasn't at his best in the Eagleman but managed to finish sixth in his age group with an overall time of 4:27.14. His wife, Jennifer, also competed and finished the grueling race in 5:27.49. Only the winner in his age group qualified for Hawaii.

"It went OK, but I wasn't really tapered. I'm still training for Lake Placid," Chad Holderbaum said.

"It was tough. The week leading up to the race, I was in five different states. I was in the car for about 10 hours before the race. I thought it went well. I always want to win. Anything less than qualifying for the Hawaii race is going to be a disappointment."

With the July 26 Lake Placid event approaching, Holderbaum again is upping his training to meet his goal times of 57 minutes in the 2.4-mile swim, five hours and 20 minutes in the 112-mile bike ride and three hours and 15 minutes in the 26.2-mile run.

The top four finishers in his age group automatically qualify for a spot in Kona.

"There are a couple variables," Holderbaum said. "Every year, the sport becomes more popular. The competition gets a lot tougher, and it's a lot harder (to qualify). There are more races to go to. There's less (qualifying) slots. I'd like to do around a 9:40. I think that will be enough to get to Hawaii."

His shot at qualifying for a spot in the world championships nearly came to an abrupt halt in early May when an accident derailed his training, albeit briefly.

Holderbaum was in the third hour of a six-hour bike ride near Westmoreland County Community College when his tire slid on some roadside gravel before the bike hit a 6-inch drop off and he went flying over the handlebars.

He crashed shoulder first onto the pavement with his helmet saving his head from a painful meeting with the guide rail. He ended up with a separated shoulder and broken rib but was back to training just days later.

"I was actually back on the bike in six days. The following weekend, I was able to bike four or five hours with one arm. Your fitness can really drop off," he said.

"That was my first major injury from training."

It was a setback that he can't afford again. Those five days off were far too much downtime for an aspiring Ironman champion.