Collegiate Nationals Race Report

       It really hit me Thursday morning. The weekend that I have been waiting for all semester was here. Collegiate Nationals were on Saturday, and later that day my teammates and I would make our journey to Tuscaloosa. I ran some 200's around the track that morning with that pristine finishing shoot in mind. I was so excited to get home and start packing; the feeling consumed my body and made me feel like I was constantly going down the drop of a roller coaster. I hadn't felt like that in a long, long time.

       After a long 8 hour drive, we all crashed early with our sights on packet pickup the next day. And that is really when it REALLY hits you: race numbers in hand, awesome t-shirt on your back, and the Tuscaloosa Ampitheater looming overhead. Hundreds of fit and attractive people buzzed around the race site, holding their free Rudy project bags and a water bottle for hydration. My teammates and I went to the swim start by the Black Warrior River, where in about 17 hours the race would unfold. We squeezed into our wetsuits (I needed to jump around to get the legs up to where they were supposed to be) and plunged into the 69 degree water. Much better than last year. After doing a combination of swimming and enjoying our new found ability to float, we slipped out of the wetsuits again and half of us went on a run to loosen up. I have never felt so ready and excited for a race before. That night we went to the free pasta party on UA's campus (yay free food!) and then went back to the hotel for an early night of preparing race bags and getting our race numbers in place. Since the women would start first this year, we put on our number tattoos before gingerly going to bed, hoping that they would still be there in the morning.

     4:45 came before I knew it. I woke up wide awake and ready to go. I slipped on my new race suit, ate a banana and a peanut butter sandwich, and off we went. It's race day! I felt an interesting combination of nervousness and excitement. Today was the day. We got to transition with plenty of time, and I got a good run in before lugging my wetsuit to the swim start and plunging in once again, just to avoid the shock at the start. I gave another speech, this one more epic than Clermont. There was profanity involved...yeah, that epic.  After standing in the holding pen for what seemed like an hour, we all filed onto the dock. I ended up not getting a spot holding the dock, but rather floated on the side of it with a poor line to the first buoy. The air horn went off, and everything that I had worked for since the last year I swam in this water was being put to the test.

          The swim went well. I love the course because it isn't a triangle and is easy to follow with minimal sighting. I didn't find too much contact since the start and some girl swam right over me. I emerged not-so-gracefully from the water in 27:15, by far my best 1500 yet. The steep exit almost made me fall flat on my face before the excessively long run to transition. After struggling (again) to get my wetsuit off, I was on my bike and ready to take on the Alabama hills.

          I have really started to enjoy the cycling portion, as I now look forward to zipping along the course with the wind in my face. The run isn't the whole race for me anymore. I now care just as much about my bike split as I do my run split...I just might be becoming a triathlete yet. The course was windy from a cold front that was passing through the south over the weekend, and I struggled in spots to keep my cadence up. One of the hills was particularly harder than I remembered, and I had to stand up to crest it. The first loop was done before I knew it, and I remember thinking about how fast the race was going. It was just as enjoyable as it was painful. I didn't once think "UGHHHH I wish this race was over!". I instead wished that it would never end. Bike split: 1:18:09

          On to the run. I knew that hill was coming for me. I kept thinking "this is where you break people...come on, break em' all..." I passed a few on my way to the small neighborhood at the top of the beast. I felt good, with no Ab cramp in sight. I went through a rough patch around mile 3, with a girl from Penn State right on my tail. She passed me and I never did catch up, despite the awesome back half that my legs carried me through. I was under my splits every mile marker, and knew I was in for a good finishing time. My body and I we're one, not fighting each other, but just cruising along. I ran through the finishing line Gator chomping and smiling ear to ear. Run split: 42:30

        Collegiate Nationals is an awesome experience. Everyone is so hard-working and so much fun. I'll tell you, they know how to work hard and play harder. I have gotten so inspired on both of my trips to Tuscaloosa, leaving for Gainesville with an "Anything is possible" feeling. Just seeing the improvement a year can make was an inspiration in itself. I'm falling in love with triathlon more and more with every race I do. College triathlon is an experience that I wouldn't trade for a full ride scholarship. I love the people that I have met, the challenges I've faced, and the new skills I've acquired. Thanks to USA Triathlon, Tuscaloosa, and my TriGator teammates for an awesome weekend!!

            

            

Sometimes we run...

             Sometimes we run because we don't know what else to do. It's probably not the best thing for us at that moment, but somehow that doesn't matter. Running feels more like a physiological need than just an activity that is done for fun or for training. Moments like these make me feel like I have to run, instead of just wanting to run. It's right up there with hunger or thirst; something that must be satisfied.

        Yesterday was a really awful day. I had spent all night studying for an exam that I knew I had no chance of passing. I pushed the molecules around my organic chemistry book with my eyes for ours, and not a single one stuck in my brain. So I woke up tired and annoyed, dragging myself to my 8:30 class before the exam at 1:55. I had from 11 till around 1:30 to study, but my heart just wasn't in it. It just felt to hopeless to try to study anymore. I just didn't get it. So I walked into the lecture hall with a sense of impending doom. I had a bit of optimism tingling in my brain. "Maybe the exam will be basic, and I can pull off a C", I remember thinking.

      The exam was as bad as I thought it would be, and worse. I ran out of time and didn't answer the last 2 questions. I knew I had failed it before the TA swiped my unfinished exam from my hands. I felt choked up as I left, tears welling in my eyes and constricting my throat. My first thought, however, was I have to go for a run. Nothing else would help.

      Running is awesome in that it lets you have more control over your brain. If you want to think about something, you can, and with more clarity than is possible at rest. If you want to forget, running allows you to dump your thoughts on the side of the road somewhere, to be picked up later. I couldn't tell you what I thought about during that run, but it certainly wasn't organic chemistry. My pace was light but fast, my stone-like gaze fixed straight ahead. My eyes were open, but I'm pretty sure that I didn't see anything at all. The sun was warm and the breeze was cool, a perfect run if I had ever seen one. I ran around campus, which has become something of a novelty since I live off campus now. There's something fun about running in the sun with shorts and a sports bra while everyone else is trudging to class.

        I liken the run to a tightly applied band-aid. I felt better enough to function, but my problems hadn't been solved completely. I still thought of the exam in disgust, and still felt angry about my mediocre grades. But I loved how I checked out of the world for 40 minutes. I love how running allows me to center myself when I need it the most. Even though I was so tired, exerting myself felt like the right thing to do. It's weird how sometimes getting out the door is like climbing a mountain, and sometimes is like a walk in the park. But when you are running for a reason other than training, it seems like you have no other option than to put one foot in front of the other.