DUATHLON DUET: GRAHAMS BONE UP FOR SWISS ALPS

Most couples go on vacations to relax.

Doug and Trina Graham are taking a week "off" to compete in one of the world's most demanding duathlons in the Alps of Switzerland.

The couple from Cape Girardeau will join an elite group of 800 runners from around the world in what Doug described as "The Iron Man of the duathlon."

The race will commence on June 6 in Zofingen, Switzerland, on some of the most rugged terrain a duathlete could endure.

Trina, 40, and Doug, 39, will run five miles, bike the next 95, and -- hopefully -- finish the race with a 23-mile trot.

"My goal is to finish and not to be last," Trina said. "There will be some world-class competition that will be out of my league.

"I haven't run this distance. It will be hard to finish."

The Grahams are long-time runners and are members of the Cape Girardeau Road Runners Club. They have diligently prepared -- both train six days a week -- for the race. But the rolling hills of southeast Missouri ineptly serve as a training ground for the largest mountain range in Europe.

"The altitude change will be tough," Trina said. "It could be 70 (degrees) at the bottom and 30 at the top. You can't train for that here."

"Usually, the weather is bad over there and it's a miserable day," Doug said. "But we think this is kind of a once-in-a-lifetime shot."

Trina qualified for the race by finishing in the top 10 in the over-40 age group in the Powerman race in Alabama.

Doug didn't finish in the top 10 in his age group, but the race director looked at his time and made an exception since his spouse qualified. He finished in the top third of his age group.

"His age group was much more competitive than mine," said Trina, one of 16 athletes from the continental United States who will compete in the race. "That's one reason I qualified. It was easier to become a national qualifier at 40."

Despite their passion for racing -- both often compete in triathlons which includes swimming -- Trina and Doug only get to train together about once a week.

While one is running or biking, the other is watching their children Hunter, 6; Casey, 5; and Stowe, 2.

"We try to work out together, but it's difficult," Trina said.

The couple can sometimes be seen on Sundays after church biking together on the back roads of Cape County. On one recent Sunday, the couple rode 75 miles.

"It usually takes a good four, to four and a half hours to bike that far, so it's nice to have the company," Doug said. "It's nice that we get to do this together. It's what we do for fun."

As far as competition between the two, Doug is the faster.

"He said he would sweat blood before he would let me beat him," said Trina with a laugh.

Sweating blood, running 23 miles and biking 95 miles in cold, damp conditions ...

A vacation only the Grahams could enjoy.