USAT Collegiate Club Nationals

Well since this is my first post I figure I should introduce myself a bit, but I think most of my audience knows who I am. I am a 19 year old triathlete from Scotch Plains, New Jersey. I am currently attending the University of Arizona studying Biomedical Engineering in Tucson. I am a former competitive swimmer for the Berkeley Aquatic Club. My first triathlon was completed when I was 12 years old, and yes, I raced on a mountain bike, and yes, I cried too. But after that I was hooked and I've been racing ever since, completing about 40 since then. I competed for fun without true training throughout the rest of middle school and high school over the summers in New Jersey but it wasn't until my sophomore year at the U of A, August 2016, where I joined the Triathlon Team, TriCats at the U of A (@UATricats). In case you're wondering why I made a blog, mostly for race reports, it's cause all the fast people do it, so I figured it would make me fast (s/o @Ernie #69livesworldtour). Anyways, now onto Collegiate Nationals!

Thursday night pasta dinner on the Black Warrior River

This was my first time on a training plan for racing triathlon so it was also my first time tapering for a race. I trusted my training and taper but I never quite felt the same as I previously have during swim taper. I didn't let it get to my head and I planned on having a perfect race. But nothing ever goes according to plan, as you probably already knew. I knew going into the race that I would have a solid swim, I would need to work on the bike and just bring it home on the run. I was in the second wave, and with the in water start I positioned myself all the way on the right where I was able to easily get out in front into 'clean' water where I was able to sight for myself and swim at my own pace. After we made the first turn I was sitting comfortably in 3rd, letting two others do all the work and break the current (we swam against it for the longer portion of the course). On that stretch I would occasionally swim out to the side and sight for myself to make sure I was following a good line, which I was. Somewhere about halfway on the swim I realized that this race was going to be a lot tougher mentally than I had originally thought. I came out of the water about 10-15 seconds behind the two leaders in my wave which I was pretty happy about, and with a swim time under 20 mins I really can't complain. I came out of the water without being too winded but I had realized running up the hill in my wetsuit and 400 meters to transition, that my legs were much heavier than they should've been at this point in the race.

 I put that behind me as I unracked my bike and ran out of transition. I hopped on my bike with a perfect flying mount and as I started to pedal I heard Doug say "That was a great mount, Dean." And just like that I was on my way on the bike!

getting ready to throw out some watts

I settled in on the bike a few miles in after some small rollers I started to adjust my race plan based on how the swim went. I quickly realized that today was not my day and it was going to be a tough race, I accepted that fact and was ready to push myself regardless. I used the first lap of the bike to mark points on the course where I should push and where I should conserve on the second lap. This is when I also realized that the majority of the course was uphill going out and downhill coming back. At the far turn-around on across the bridge I was able to establish some time gaps on my teammates, both in front of and behind me which was really positive for me since I was able to use my effort level to encourage myself. After the first lap I was pretty comfortable with my position and my effort level so I decided that it was time to put the hammer down on the second lap. On the way out on the second lap, I worked to constantly build my effort up til the far turn-around. It was mostly downhill on the way back and that's where I really put in a good surge to try and get the whatever was left in my cycling legs, which wasn't much. I came back into town ready to give everything I had left on the run.

s/o mom for the bike pics

aeroaeroaeroaero

After hopping off the bike and making sure to rack it properly, (someone lost a national championship because of this) I was out on the run course. I hit the run course feeling pretty relaxed, trying to gather my thoughts after the bike. This was a lot harder than I thought it was going to be with my lady teammates yelling at me (especially Amy, I felt like I was in trouble listening to you scream).

But in all honesty, that all helped a lot. After about a mile I felt like I hit the wall, but I didn't let that creep into my mind since I knew that all my hard work from the year would carry me through this run. Once I felt this I knew I needed some sugar, so I downed a gel, which tasted surprisingly good (CLIF citrus, if anyone was wondering). We hit the first turn around, about 2ish miles in and I saw Doug, who told me to keep my head forwards. Admittedly I was definitely looking around a lot more than I should've been. But after this I assessed some time gaps on other people to see how I was doing at the next turnaround. I hit the next turnaround and was able to maintain most of the gaps I counted at the first turnaround so I was pretty stoked about that. And from there, I knew the rest of the course was 'downhill.' There was a good downhill right after the turnaround and then after that it was less than 2 miles to the finish so it was time to go all in with what I had left. I put my head a little higher and up my cadence a bit. The goal was to finish strong and not let anyone catch me over the last stretch. I accomplished one of those, but I think that only letting one guy catch me was pretty good. I ran back into town and kicked, probably a little early but no regrets. I didn't have anyone on my tail nor was anyone within distance for me to catch so there was no sprint finish for me. :( But it was pretty neat having the carpet to myself when I finished. For full results, click here. Special shoutout to the seniors Joshua Fowler, David Kroeppler, Conrad Sanders, Jeff Gautreau, Aaron Hausman for pushing me all year across all the disciplines. And to the rest of the guys team for fighting to a 3rd place finish in the Mens team division!

about to hit the carpet

After finishing, It was time to cheer on the girls team, which honestly, I have so much respect for y'all, racing in the conditions you guys did, damn. You girls are probably tougher than me and you guys should all have like 5 or 10 mins taken off your time for those conditions. All in all, the week at nationals was surreal and I can't wait to train harder next year and go back.

I want to thank all the TriCats, this year was pretty dope and I'm so glad we all go to race, and train, and volunteer, and eat together. To Jimmy, Doug, and Keith, thank you all for pushing me this year, especially when I didn't want to push anymore, you guys gave me a reason to do so. To my main sponsors, my parents: thank you guys for all you do. Whether it be supporting me with school, or training, or driving 15 hours to watch me exercise, you guys rock and I love you both so much. There will be much more to come, this is only the first.

Stay tuned, train hard, and don't give up!