USAT Collegiate National Championship - TriathlonOlympic

When we got to the swim I was more determined to get up with faster swimmers. I knew I was better than last year and I could compose myself if things went bad. When the gun when off I got right into the mix and learned why people really dislike the swim. I had people swimming under and over me and it was quite a mess at the start. I was working my way through until the first turn I was able to get behind a few feet during the swim and go pretty steady for the rest. Coming in I started swimming less with my feet and more with my arms to get ready to run.

I need more speed in the swim. Simple as that.

Coming out of the swim was a little tough. There was a step underwater that nobody could see. I dropped my cap and had to go back so I wouldn't get penalized for abandoning equipment on the course. I had a little trouble with the wetsuit coming off and noticed the person next to me had put their wetsuit on my bike so I had to move that. While I ran towards the bike out my shoes got caught and started spinning around the crank; rubber bands for next time.

Get that wetsuit off better. I have found that having a slow swim allows me to find my bike easier but I'd rather have that be a problem getting out faster.

Getting on the bike was exciting for me. I love the bike portion and I wanted to punch it out this year. For some reason my glutes were on fire right away. I felt a little woozy trying to ride but that is just a feeling I haven't felt since August. I got into a steady pace for the bike but couldn't tell my speed because my computer got messed up due to the wetsuit. The first lap was pretty good and strong. I got to the second lap and decided to test out my legs more. One rider was riding up to pass me so I picked up my pace just a little and had him sitting right behind me. If a marshal had drove by at that point he would have surely gotten marked for drafting. Finally after 30 seconds he dropped it and took off.
At the bottom of the main hill I had a pack ride past me and settle in. Spencer was there from Iowa State and I noticed as we headed back up the hill the pace slowed. After a little bit a looked over and realized a marshal was right beside me writing down my number! I tried to ask him multiple times if I was back far enough but he didn't respond and only continued writing. I instantly dropped back a little bit in fear of drafting but then got a little angry. I got out of the saddle and gunned it past the group up the hill. When we came back I put down a gear and made some distance on the group. The rest of the ride I was focusing on a strong powerful ride which might have lead to the run I had.

I think I need a faster cadence on the bike. I probably was pushing too big of a gear. Also, I need more practice riding after swimming and getting that groggy feeling out.

I got into transition right in a small little group. I got all my stuff put on and headed out on the run. It was go time!

Went pretty well. It was just a long transition area to run through.

My shoes were on fire!!!! Every step I could hardly feel my feet beneath the heat. Right away I started focusing on a good steady cadence and got going pretty well. On our way up the first hill that cadence started going back downhill. I made it a little over a mile before I realized I was having flashbacks of last year, cramps. I finally tipped over a little past mile one and my quad came bursting to the surface. I had to lay on the ground for over a minute trying to get it to settle back in. With other racers cheering me on I finally stood up and forced my leg to bend. Once I got it to bend I was able to get moving a little bit.
The next four miles were pretty up and down. Trying to convince myself to keep pushing when I knew my pace was out of reach. With a little over two miles left I saw Kyle finally up ahead and tried to see how he was doing. When I hit the last turn around I started to focus on chasing him down. With about two-thirds a mile left I saw him up ahead and started hitting it harder. I wanted to chase him down. The last mile was probably the strongest part of the run I had. I past Kyle with about 400m to go and kicked it in to the finish. I finished with a time of 2:19:59 and waited for about 30 seconds for Kyle to get in. I had to hold him up at the finish because he was just exhausted.

More nutrition on the bike. I need to fight more. Every race where I feel like I'm out of it I still have a strong run if I could put together just 10% more effort. I need to stop telling myself I'm out.

After the race I went to the penalty board and saw that I had been penalized for drafting. I tried to talk to the officials about what had happened between me and the marshal but I came to realize the only way I could get out of the penalty was if I could have proved it wasn't me who was drafting (if they had said I was riding a different bike).
My final time was 2:21:59 which still took about eight minutes off of my time from last year. The race was probably the most mentally draining race I have ever done due to the fact that I was consistently trying to give-up but I had to keep pushing myself on even when I was feeling bad. Looking at the run was pretty shocking. I ran a 41:58 on a 6.5-mile course. If I took off the time I had cramped up and paced it down to a 10K course I would have been about breaking 40 minutes on the course. During the run was a quite miserable place where I basically told myself I was way off my goal time. Even though I was hurting and struggling to go I was still on a very strong pace.


The biggest problems I feel like I had from the race were nutrition. I don't think I got enough to eat during the race so I'm going to try and add more for next time. Also, having to wait so long to race was a big factor too. Luckily I won't have to deal with that again this year.


Great race area. I just don't have the opportunity to get an early race in before. Maybe do one down south before next year.