Collegiate Nationals

The first time I ever watched a Triathlon was in Tempe, when Steve took 5th at Collegiate Nationals. It was pretty inspiring to see all of the school spirit out on the course, and everyone seemed to be having a fun time. After spending freshman year partying and doing stupid stuff, I decided to do triathlons as well. One of the most appealing aspects of triathlon is that nobody can take you out of the game. It's impossible to get benched, and for the most part, you have control over how you do in the race, or at least your effort level.

Steve with Mom and Dad after nationals in Tempe

Last year, I felt like I was strong and ready to go. If you want to see how that one ended up, click here. Short version: fainted on the run course, ended up in medical tent. Since USAT allows seniors who have already graduated in December, but taken a full load of courses to compete, I decided to give it another shot this year. Post graduation in December, I hung around Tempe for a while. After completely getting crushed by a job interview, I lost interest in working for a corporate company, and decided to seek employment in Fort Collins, Colorado. The training in FTC is far superior to Tempe, and being here has made all the difference.

These sunglasses are at the bottom of Lake Tuscaloosa :(

In the weeks leading into the race, I had my confidence wrecked a few times. There were some tempo efforts that felt much harder than they should have, I got dropped like a freaking rock twice from the same group ride in a 10 minute span, and I still could barely bilateral breath in the pool (lol). Once the dust settled, though, there was a lot of fitness gained, and going into Collegiate Nationals I was stoked to have the opportunity to race a deep field.

PC: Talbot Cox

After a disappointing swim at Havasu, and a talk with my coach Elliot, I knew that starting at the front was going to be crucial to avoiding problems. To make things more difficult, the lifeguard kept yelling at us to get back to the dock, and that we needed to be touching it, while an announcer with a megaphone told us to make 3 rows in the water. LOL. I took it out with a few hard strokes just to get going, but from there, just focused on form, siting properly, swimming as straight of a line as I could, and banking on my ROKA wetsuit to get me out in a decent amount of time... My body was working hard, even if it didn't feel that way (yet). After the first two turns, we ran into some sticks and debris, but still didn't make any contact with wildlife (alligators). The front pack was visible, about 1 minute up on us heading into transition. The gap to the first dude (Eli from Stanford) was around 2:15 - he lead out of the draft legal race the previous day as well. I ran into T1 breathing somewhat normally, very happy that I hadn't completely shredded my anaerobic system during the swim.

Started front right, as you can clearly tell from this picture.

Exiting the water with Sean Harrington - he can run real quick

Right out of transition, I saw EMJ Teammate Chris Douglas next to me. It was an absolute godsend - he is a beast on the bike, and had the fastest split last year. We both put on our shoes, and then proceeded to exercise at faster speeds than we swam at. We didn't really say much to each other, but we traded working at the front for the first lap pretty evenly, leaving at least two white lines between us (something like 20m but don't quote me on that). Getting my hands on some Enve wheels also made this ride so much more enjoyable!

Eating stem

I was stoked that Chris didn't try to drop me right away, because that would have sucked, and I would have ended up riding alone (like Havasu again). We caught some people fairly early in that I didn't expect to catch until the end like Spencer Ralston, a strong swimmer from St. Michaels and a member of team Foakley. I could see that we were actually really close to the front by the turnaround, which was really exciting. Dan, Nick, and Timmy were both working hard on the front with on the way back in on lap 1, we went by Timmy Winslow from CU, stopped on the side of the road. He had a rough day with a mechanical and a penalty for racking his bike the wrong way (#notmygoverningbody), but according to Strava, he had the least moving time on the bike segment of all of us. I'm sure he'll bounce back quickly and is motivated to crush souls at St. Anthony's next weekend.

Exerciseeeee

Chris came by me to start lap two, and we continued to put it down. I was struggling hard at this point, and almost got dropped. After 5 or so minutes, I dragged myself around him to do some more work, fully ready to surrender. Once we hit the far turnaround, we were even closer to catching the front group, with the exception of a UCSB's Gordon Williams (not to be confused with Flash Gordon) up the road. As the last few miles ticked on, we could now get a visual on the lead pack up the road. Then, for a glorious moment with about a mile left in the bike, I came upon a wild gazelle - Dan Feeney - and decided to go in front of him. Mostly just so that I could say that I came into T2 ahead of the national champ. Chris proceeded to pass hard around us just before the mount line to take the bike split prime by two seconds. Chris was an awesome riding partner for the bike, without using each other to push the pace when the other started slacking (though Chris never really slacked...), getting into the top 5 off the bike would have been much more difficult. Stalk that strava right here

totally put my race number belt on the wrong way - PC: Frosty

Dan, Nick, Chris, and this random drafting french dude dude BLITZED the first mile. Like seriously, they were all about 20 seconds up the road before I could even blink. Dan Came by me pretty early on and encouraged me by saying MCTC 1-2-3 - I know it's not what CU wanted (podium sweep) but I figured it would be pretty special if we could show everyone how stacked our conference is. Big shoutout to the ASU cheering squad about a mile into the run course playing Lil Jon! Sean Harrington was bringing the heat though, and closing in on us very quickly. After the far turnaround, I was still running in 3rd, and there were just over two miles to go. I passed Chris on the downhill, and could still see Dan and Nick up the road. There was a French guy from Liberty there, but he received a drafting penalty, so he doesn't get a shoutout because drafting is a big no-no. With about a mile to go, I could hear Sean breathing down my neck. He was cookin'. I merged into 4th place and did my best to keep him in sight. Once I could see the amphitheater it was home free, and that the pain would be over soon. Running through the crowd was so cool. Finishing on the podium at Nationals was a great way to say goodbye to Collegiate racing. Last years meltdown made this even more special.

Heading down the shoot - way too stoked PC: Kaela

This is long, but I figure it's worth it, since it's been a team effort...

ASU Tri teammates - Thanks for all the cheers out on the course for the last three years. It's been a blast watching the team grow, and I think there are some great things in store for the team in the near future. Our team probably had the most fun ever in our rental home. Seriously, it's not all about exercising together - there are other fun activities you can do too ;) Also, our president Julia for everything she has done for the team in the past year. It's not easy to take a club from no funding to one of the top sport clubs at ASU - she's great at keeping things fun, and I'm looking forward to watching the club continue to grow over the next few years.

Had to get some BBQ while we're in the south!

Check out our cribs video for the rental house here:

EMJ Teammates - Nick, you crushed it - all around class act, and super humble. Give him a follow on IG @itsafternoone - can't wait to see you bike sub 2 at Vic 70.3 ;)
Chris - rounding out the top 5, so awesome working with you on the bike and I'm looking forward to the next time we get to smash guts like that again. @chrisdouglastri
Conrad - Great swimming with you, and mad impressive bike run combo. So awesome seeing you cleanly get in the top 20 and break 2 on a tough course. @everymanconrad
Mark - Rough day with a penalty, but mad respect for doing the dirty double and still working hard to the finish. Looking forward to doing more exercising contests with you @mark.kolding - also, follow @wattslayer69 if you don't already. Great account.

Remember - you can save 25% on all Every Man Jack AND OWN Beauty Products (the woman's version) - by using the code EMANTELL17 at checkout. #cleanupnice

Dan's penalty for racking his bike "incorrectly" dropped him from 1st to 5th. But we all know who won... This is why it says 3rd on here, but it's really 4th.

National champ Nick Noone!

Competitors
Spencer Ralston - you helped carry a dude across the finish line, that's dope.
Dan Feeney - You won that race and everyone knows it. Congratulations on being a two time national champion. #notmygoverningbody - read his blog here...
Timmy Winslow - Tough break with the mechanical and penalty, but at least money wasn't on the line like it will be at St. Anthony's! Everyone saw you up at the front mashing watts.
Sean Harrington - Congratulations on an amazing race! You absolutely deserved that podium spot, and easily had the best post race attire.
Josh Fowler - Awesome work out there, way to battle through two days and congrats on the draft legal podium

picture break

Support network
Elliot Bassett - it's been a great past 4 months working with you, and I am looking forward to many more! Get in contact with Elliot by clicking here!
Steve - Dude, thanks for everything.
Mom and Dad - Also thanks for the non-financial assistance, and loving me even when I pass out during the race :)
Alison - thanks for keeping my priorities straight, and congrats on the new job!!
CSU Coaches Frosty/Mace, UA Tricat Coaches Jimmy and Doug, and CU coaches - Thanks for the splits out on the course and the encouragement. You guys know what to say and when to say it, and that's probably why your teams are very fast...

Last but not least, I'd like to give a shoutout to peanut butter for always being there for me, even when I'm tired and crabby. Luv U. Up next is Pelicon Fest Tri in Windsor (EMJ CO dudes should definitely do this plz lets have some fun eh!) before heading to CDA 70.3 in June.