Lake Havasu - MCTC Championships

Last weekend was our first conference race of 2016, and (hopefully) a good indicator of what the competition at collegiate nationals will be like. It's especially great to race the guys from CU ahead of time, because they tend to dominate everyone when April rolls around.

Team pic - and we had a cheer too!

As everyone knows, Havasu is a prime spring break destination. Nothing says "I'm going to make my parents proud" like telling them you're going to Lake Havasu, so obviously there is a unique environment at the race. It tends to be more laid back, and there is much more interaction among teams, since most of us are on spring break. ASU, however, had class the week leading up into the race, so we had to drive up Friday.

I was a bit grumpy in the car (because I hadn't gotten to swim yet), but once we got in everything was great. We stayed at the state park for a campground, and the site(s) we're awesome! It was also about a 30 second bike ride to the race course. We spent the night before the race getting equipment set up and bags packed. Shoutout to Andrew for letting me use his S-Works Turbo tires - those things were #dirtyfast

Great view from the campsite

Race morning Started early - a symphony of 4:15 am alarms went off in my tent. After waking up the entire campground, I went for a quick run. It was COLD outside. Like real cold. I was questioning if we were even in Arizona at this point...

swim prep

They gave us more than enough time to get a swim warm up in, a nice change from a lot of races. I lined up next to Willie from CSU because he can take it out really hard for a couple hundred meters. I just sat on his hip/feet for that whole time, and by the time we got to the first buoy I could see open water. There was a group of three slightly ahead of us, but otherwise I was in a big group at the front. Being able to actually see a majority of the people who beat me out of the water at Pumpkinman was a relief, mostly because I knew I wouldn't have to do the ride alone. After the second turn, we swam directly into the sun, the Roka goggles allowed me to see pretty much everything, and I sited off the lighthouses on either side of the canal. There was a little contact and fighting over feet but at the end of the day the pace wasn't too suicidal. The U-turn buoy took forever to come, but once it did, it was much easier to site because the sun was directly behind us right now.

How it feels when you come out of the water after wearing a ROKA wetsuit

Coming out of the water I probably had a massive smile because of the amount of CU kits I saw. I made up my race plan for the bike immediately: Stay with Whatever CU guys at the front are as long as possible. I took my sweet time in transition, and opted for a traditional mount over a flying mount partially because Zach from CSU had just broken his wrist the day before doing one, I had fallen once this year doing one, and I usually put my shoes on at the worst possible times anyways once I get on the bike. Right away The CU guys were pushing the pace. I was about 10-15 seconds behind them after putting my shoes on, and took my time to catch up to them. After about 4-5 minutes I had bridged up steadily, and the pace subsided a bit. The first neighborhood was a smashfest. Bike file here.

The group really pushed it on the uphills, and not so much on the downhills, but by the time we exited the first neighborhood a group of four had been established and it was clear to me that someone in this group was going to come off the bike in first place, and I was going to do everything I could to either be that guy or be within 30 seconds of him. The rest of the bike felt pretty strong. There were a number of times where the pace dropped, but most of the time it was a steady effort (other than the second neighborhood, where it was really intense up the hills again). I felt the pace drop coming down over the last 4 miles and decided to move up to the top 2 again. Coming off the bike, I realized I was in second place and tried not to pee myself with excitement.

Heading into T2

Onto the run I made a pass within the first mile, and moved into 1st place. Less than 2 minutes later Dan Feeney (eventual winner) ran by me like I was standing still. I felt pretty steady, but still struggled to get the turnover that I normally practice with. Zach from CSU was at a lonely part of the run course, and he started yelling at me, which was pretty encouraging. I just put my head down and focused on the white line directly in front of me and tried to keep moving as strong as possible. By the turnaround I had a 30 second gap on everyone behind me, but Josh Fowler from U of A was closing in fast and looked strong. At around mile 5, just before the big stair set, I got dizzy. A CU coach yelled "2-3-4 are all within 40 seconds" and I thought OH S#(T HURRY UP. As i was going down the staircase I heard Josh close in behind me. He passed right at the bottom, and I tried not to cry a little bit. My top 3 buffer was gone, I noodle legged it all the way to the finish before locking up and requiring some ice.

This was the first time in a few races I've actually been able to do a cool down, and it was great to get back on the course and cheer on all the athletes finishing up.

I want to say thanks to my friend Evan for coming down from Minnesota to experience Arizona for a few days, it was great to see you again! Thanks Erin, for making my helmet look SICK, you've got some serious skillz...  our coaches Danny and Sammy for the training structure and practices they have provided over the past few months. Lastly, thanks to the ASU Triathlon Team - as Herb Brooks said, "the name on the front of the jersey is a hell of a lot more important than the name on the back" - Even though we don't have individual names on our kits... Seeing everyone out on the race course is the highlight of racing. Also, congrats to all our girls who raced Tri for the Cure this weekend!

Next up on the calendar is Collegiate Nationals, followed by a summer in Fort Collins Colorado!