USAT Collegiate Nationals - TriathlonOlympic

Right when the gun went off I couldn't get in the water because it was so crowded! I probably was one of the last guys in the lead wave for the first part. I wanted to make sure I didn't panic since I hadn't done a lot of OWS so far this year. I took the first part slow and got calm. Once I got to the first buoy the 2nd wave leaders were catching me already. I knew I wasn't a swimmer but some of these guys were crazy fast! The rest of the swim was pretty smooth. With about 100 yards left I told myself that I had really worked for this so I picked up the pace to finish strong. I got out of the water at about 25 minutes which is what I was aiming for.

Get better at swimming and more comfortable in a wetsuit. Be aggressive.

I usually rock at this part of the race. I had a little trouble getting off my wetsuit. Already I felt a little out of breath.

Nothing really. Went pretty well.

I was ready to rip apart the bike. I have a new bike and I was ready to show what it could do. I told myself I would do about 23-23.5 on the bike. This was a huge mistake since I hadn't been able to get a lot of miles on the bike up to that point. The race was very ego filled; nobody was willing to let somebody pass them so everybody was just going all out the whole time trying to pass each other and not worrying about their time. I saw Brian ahead of me on the first lap and I made it a goal to catch him. I never saw Kyle. I felt like I had a good pace on the way out each time but on the last time coming back in I could feel myself fading. Dan passed me on the last uphill which meant it was time to play catch-up for me.

More biking. I need hard biking though. Just riding a bike won't get it done, I need hard workouts.

I got into transition and unbuckled my helmet. The whole run to my spot it was bouncing around very annoying. Got my stuff set up and took off.

Not unbuckle helmet.

This is when I go. This is my strength. Oh my god I'm cramping like crazy!!! My body was on total shutdown. I couldn't get myself to move. I usually am passing people all along the run course but today I was getting passed by everyone. I don't remember passing a single person on the course. I had to stop a lot of times to try and get the cramps out. The hills were horrible for me. Each aid station I tried to take in more fluids to get rid of the cramps but nothing would work. I was furious with my performance on the run. At about mile four I saw Kyle and gave him a high-five for his strong performance. Next up was Brian but I never saw Dan on the run. I could not get comfortable on the course, it was just too hot. When I finally got into the amphitheater the crowd starting cheering for me so I picked up the pace. The cramps started raging so I grimaced in pain as I tried to make it to the finish before they took me to the ground.

I need to eat a lot more salt before the race. I tried to clean myself out of it but instead I needed to eat more of it.

I laid in a pool to try and cool myself down. I was a complete mess. I couldn't think straight. Alex, Kyle and Dan came and found me in the pool. Finally I was able to get up and go cheer on the girls.


Training wasn't as intense as I needed it. Nutrition needed to be handled better.


Very well done. I really liked the set-up.