let the season begin...

Today was the season opener for Bryant University Men's Swim Team. We swam @ NJIT, a school near Rutgers in Newark, NJ, 4 hours away from Bryant. The meet went well, they have a very weak swim program, still transitioning their sports programs to the Dvision I level just like Bryant. We were the superior team though, and we won every event of the meet. I swam particularly well in the 1,000 yd free, and realized that although the event is long and painful, I think it is for me.

As I was swimming the 1,000, trying to chase down my teammate Matt Derwin, I realized I kind of liked the pain. From my triathlon experiences all summer, I have grown used to pushing through the pain, letting my body just continue to push even though my mind feels like it can't tolerate anymore. I swam a strong race, actually passed my teammate out, only to have him have a stronger finish then me and win the race. I finished in second though, so we took the 1-2 finish. I reflected on the start of my season last year, in which I swam the same event, almost an entire minute slower!I have come a long way, through hard work, through dedication, and through sacrifice. I also realize that this is far from the end, this is truly the beginning. If I am just starting the season almost as fast as I ended last year, I have so much opportunity knocking on my door. Our entire team does. We have worked hard for the 8 weeks of preseason, and it truly paid off today. It is one of the best feelings in the world to continuously work hard and then have it all pay off and end in great success. We will continue to work, continue to push through the pain, and I really think this season will be great.

The sky is the limit for what our team can accomplish. And for myself, I'm not aspiring to get there, for there are footsteps on the moon. I have what it takes to be great, I just need to continue to get better every single day. I have realized during preseason that to get better, like the greatest athletes alive, you can't just be able to get up and perform at your best when you are feeling good. Anyone and everyone should be able to do that. Rather, to be the best, to do your best on a daily basis, you need to be able to get up and push yourself to the point of exhaustion when you are down, not up, and when you feel like crap from a physical standpoint and feel like you can't go hard anymore. That is when you need to get mentally strong, and in turn you will become physically stronger at the end of the day. My goal for this season is to continue to work harder in that aspect, to get up on a daily basis and get better every single day. I figure, if I do that, everything will follow behind, and this swim season I will put up times I never imagined. So yeah, the sky isn't the limit, and reaching the moon is just a lame cliche piece of figurative speach...So I'm not going for that cliche, instead, I'm going to do it 4 the GLORY...

Lock in,
Brendan

Mighty Man Sprint Tri- NECTC Championship

Ferry to Long Island

Today was Mighty Man Sprint Tri- which was the conference championship for the North East Collegiate Tri Conference. the race was in Montauk, Long Island. Yesterday I took a ferry with a teammate of mine from Bryant out to Montauk. After four hours of traveling, we checked into the race and met her dad at a hotel he booked for us. It was cold and windy all night, and supposed to rain all morning of the race, which was set to begin @ 6:40 am. I'm pretty sure the sun doesn't rise these days til like 7?

Transition @ 6 am, visibility - ZERO

So we woke up at 5, had some breakfast, and went outside - it was pouring and pitch black. Jill, my wonderful teammate, was pretty much freaking out. Women are tough to race and travel with but I guess you gotta deal right? It was her first race so I don't blame her. We got to the race site at like 5:20 am and set up in transition, 5:20 am!!! I was #14 and she was #15, we racked right on the first rack in the transition area. It was a pretty sweet spot to go out of T1 right onto the bike. The collegiate wave was going off first @ 6:40, with about 130 people in it. So we got there so early to set up, I had more than 45 mins to warm up! This was my 8th race and I have never had that much time, I didn't really didn't know what to do with myself...especially because it was pouring and pitch black...

So I was all set up to go, first wave was set to go off. I hadn't been on my bike that much since my double crash @ Lobsterman two weeks ago, so I wasn't too confident with this race, my goal was just to race hard, have fun, and most importantly finish in one piece. I got all the way farthest to the right at the start as I could, right next to the Army Tri club racers. They weren't too friendly getting ready to race, they were zoned in. The horn finally went off next to the chilly pond as some light started to fill the sky. The army guys jumped out to a quick start, I was hanging right behind them. It was so dark out I could barely see, so I was doing sighting off of the kayaker that was leading the lead swimmer about ten yards in front of me. I had a pretty sweet swim, came out around 4th, and then had a quick T1 onto the bike. I was in around 3rd or 4th onto the bike. The bike was real quick and flat, only like 12 miles. I was feel pretty nervous since my Lobsterman debacle, and it didn't help that it was raining. So I rode pretty conservatively, not going all out on the aero bars down the hills or the turns. Luckily, the bike was short. I'd say about 7 or 8 guys passed me on the bike. 3 guys from West Point, 2 or 3 from Coast Guard, and 2 guys from BU.

I had a decent T2 into the run, then started hammering. I didn't hammer the bike, so I had some sweet power left in my legs. On the run I took off. I was running through puddles and it was awesome. I was soaked, puddles everywhere, and I was chasing. I caught 3 guys that passed me on the 2nd half of the bike. I saw a few other guys in my distance but ran out of road to catch them at the end. I was the 8th fastest to cross the finish line- 8th place at the Conference Championship! I got beat by 4 West Point Triathletes, 2 Coast Guard Triathletes, and a Boston U Triathlete. Not bad. My 8th career race, my last of the 2009 season, and I finished 8th overall. I can dig it!

My strong performance in 6 of my 8 races in 2009 make me wonder- how good can I be? I think I can be really good, and I want to be. Someday, I want to break the tape, cross the finish first. I almost want to not spend 3 hours a day for the next 5 months in a pool, and instead spend it on a trainer or running somewhere on a trail. It is something that really bothers me all the time. All I wanna do is train. Swim, bike, and run. Eat sleep train recover. Should I stop with this swim gig and stay on tri's year round? To become the best?

My mom told me I only have 3 years left to be on a swim team, and she is right. And she is also right when she said I have the rest of my life to race triathlons. But I just wanna get better and keep getting better. I feel like I am just scratching the surface with how good I can be. So yeah, that is how I feel after day. I accomplished my goals, I had a fun time racing in the rain, I stayed on two wheels, and I did surprisingly wheel at a pretty big stage. And I helped Jill finish her first tri, and she was the 12th fastest female! So for that I am thankful. I am thankful for today's race, for the other 7 I did, and for the whole 2009 tri season. Look for some serious racing in 2010, with my little brother, who will be back in the circuit. We're gonna be going hard, going hard to be the best...I won't stop getting better, getting better everyday. After all, I Do it 4 the GLORY.

Stay locked in,
Brendan