PowerBar Team Elite and Collegiate Nationals Recap

It's been a while but I'm back and hopefully will be making updates on a more regular basis. Training over the winter went well. I competed in two indoor triathlons at UD and Ohio State and took first place in both of those races. About a month ago I found out that I made the PowerBar Team Elite! I am very excited to represent PowerBar and their great line of sports nutrition products. They are and have been one of the leading sports nutrition companies for the past few decades and I feel very fortunate to have their support as I go forward in my triathlon pursuits. I just got my first order of product a few weeks ago and was excited to have a great supply of products, both ones that I have tried and other new products that I had not tried yet.

This past weekend I traveled to Lubbock, Texas for the 2010 Collegiate Triathlon Championships with the UD Triathlon Club. We left Wednesday morning and arrived in Lubbock Thursday afternoon after we stopped in Witchita Falls, Texas Wednesday night for a quick night's sleep. When we got into Lubbock on Wednesday it was raining and it would continue to rain almost non-stop until Friday night before the race. A few us went for a short run in the rain Thursday afternoon to shake out the legs after the long drive. Thursday night we had an "Ohio Dinner" with all of the collegiate triathlon clubs from Ohio. A lot of us have gotten to know each other over the past few years so it's fun hanging out and socializing with each other over dinner.

Friday rolled around and sure enough it was raining. We had a quick team meeting and headed to the race site, Buffalo Springs Lake, to get in the water and check out the course. It decided to start pouring right we got there, along with being windy and about 50 degrees. I got my temporary new Vortex 3 Wetsuit on (will be getting the Vector Pro X2 by Xterra very soon) and got in the water for a nice 1000 yard or so swim, checked out the transition area layout and got back in the car so we could drive the bike course.

Getting blown by the wind and rain after our short swim the day before the race in my Xterra Vortex 3 Wetsuit

We got back to the hotel and I decided to hop on the trainer instead of going out in the cold rain. After that I went to the pre-race captains meeting and rules briefing and then we went to the Texas Tech Rec Center for a free pre-race pasta party. Dinner was good and a bunch of teams came dressed up in all sorts of different costumes as there is a spirit award given out during the awards ceremony after the race on Saturday. We through in a little UD chant as well. After dinner we made a quick walmart run and got our stuff ready for the race.

Saturday was race day and the rain had finally let up. The race didn't start until 9:00 which gave us a little extra time than some races to "sleep in". We got up a little before 6 and got to the race site. The swim ended up getting cut in "half" (more like 1/3 or about 500 meters) due to the weather conditions and cold water temp (54 degrees, although last year it was 53 degrees and it felt A LOT colder last year). I got in a few strokes before the start of the race and it really wasn't too cold. I finished the swim in 6:28 with the 26th fastest swim. I headed out on the bike which is a very challenging course, especially with 20+ mph winds and 30+ mph gusts! I finished the bike in 1:07:45 which was good enough for 28th overall on the bike. At the end of the bike I started cramping up and new that it was going to carry over into the run. I started the run and started to cramp up. Within a half mile my legs were on fire and I was literally hobbling at one point and forced to a slow jog for about a half mile. The pain subsided and I was able to pick up the pace a little bit, but had to keep it under control to make sure the cramping didn't return. The run was a 2 loop 5k course so I was able to see where I was after the first lap; I was about 12th with a few guys in front of me. I kept pushing away and was finally able to pick up the pace in the last 1.5 miles and finish strong coming across the line in the top 10, although I finished 18th overall and 14th of the undergraduates. Run times were slow and someone had a GPS on the run and it was apparently 6.5 miles. My run time was 39:17 which was good for 25th overall in the run.

We all enjoyed the rest of the day after the race including the MWCTC (Midwest Collegiate Triathlon Conference) awards ceremony which I took home the award for top Male triathlete. Additionally, UD took home the awards for 1st place female team, 2nd place male team, and 2nd place team overall.

Overall I was pretty happy with the race. I was really hoping to be in the top 10 but am OK with 18th especially considering the cramping on the run. I know I have a lot of work to do to get to where I want to be. This was my first big race of the year and I know that things will only go up from here. Next up the race schedule is the American Triple-T, which is 4 races in 3 days, which I will be doing with Adam Brown. I know we both have high goals for this race which is now only a month away.

A few other things going on: I graduate now in less than 2 weeks (May 2nd). I cannot believe how fast time flies and how quickly these last 4 years have gone. This fall there is a good chance that I will be at Florida State for my masters in Sports Nutrition which I have already been accepted into.