2010 Triathlon Collegiate Nationals

This past weekend I was in Lubbock, Texas for the USAT Triathlon Collegiate Nationals. After competing in the sport of triathlon for only 9 months, I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to race against the fastest collegiate triathletes in the country.

I knew it was going to be a good trip when I saw this in the airport.

I started my trip by taking a train to NY, staying the night at my grandparent's house, and then flying out to Texas the next day. That Friday night, I met my parents out in Dallas, and together we flew to Lubbock. After a long day of traveling, I was exhausted and fell asleep as soon as we got to our hotel.

My new friend from the plane ride

I woke up the next morning feeling pretty nervous, for I was about to race against some of the best in the sport the very next day. The only people I really knew out there were my parents, Jake Shoemaker, and Jessica Broderick because I have raced with them all before in New England. To see all the giant schools from around the country with big teams, coaches, and tons of team gear, I felt pretty intimidated. There was dozens of athletes from school like Duke, UCLA, Southern California, Texas A&M, Army, Navy, Michigan State, Ohio State, and so many more. Pretty much every college you ever heard of had a team there, and then there was Bryant Univeristy...there was me. I was there as the lone representative from Bryant, the team captain if you will, and I had my coach (my Dad), and my assistant coach (my Mom).

So upon my arrival in Texas on Thursday, all the way up until late Friday night, the weather was horrible. Torrential downpours, 25+ MPH winds, and some chronic flooding. Just two weeks ago in Rhode Island, floods plagued the states and houses were ruined. Now I am all the way in Texas, where it is always dry and hot, and it is neither. There are floods and it is freezing. So thinking about the race, I was pretty nervous but figured I would just deal with whatever I had to. 

This street was to get to the race site the day before race day, completely flooded.

Not having done a triathlon since October 3rd, I knew I'd be rusty. I had never had a good race in an Olympic Tri before, and that is the distance that Nationals is. So my goals for the race were this: Crush the swim, stay up-right the entire bike, and use everything you have left for the run- all while having fun. My expectations in terms of results were pretty low, because I wasn't expecting to do so hot against such quality competition.

On race day, it finally stopped raining. I woke up race morning feeling pretty good, no longer nervous, just excited, especially after reading a really nice article in the Waterbury Republican-American by Joe Palladino about Jessica Broderick, Dan Theleen, and me. The wind was still terrible, and the temperature was cold, somewhere around 45 degrees. So my two coaches and I went to the race site, and prepared for the race. At no point did anyone tell me that the swim was changed from 1 mile to 1/3 of a mile. However, it was pretty cold during warm-up, and there was an awful lot of whining going on, especially from the people from Florida and southern California.

I was in the first wave, and when the gun went off I tried to jump into the front of the pack for the swim. I was up near the front, but not too far, and I got caught up in alot of other guys. Fortunately for me, I was thinking, that these guys would all fade once the swim starting getting going, thinking to myself I have a whole mile to build my speed up, I don't need to do it now. Then we turn the corner around the second buoy, and I realize the pack I was drafting off of is heading straight for the beach. I start thinking to myself that was the easiest mile I ever swam. As I ran out of the water up to the transition area, I look at my watch and saw 7 minutes. And I was pretty confused, then realized they cut the swim short and was kind of mad my wonderful coaches failed to inform me of this, as well as the 90 other guys in my wave, and the guy who started the race with the bullhorn. Aw well, I decided, and didn't worry about it too much, just kept going, knowing I wasn't about to shatter any records anyways. My goal though, was to have a real strong swim, and based on where I came out of the water, I'll be leanient and call it a strong swim. Goal met, CHECK.

In the transition area, I saw a bunch of guys that I knew were good swimmers, so I at least knew that I had a pretty fast swim even though I had yet to turn on the speed. Unfortunately for me, I didn't turn the speed on in transition either. Because of the strong wind and cold temperatures, I knew I needed to add some clothing or I would freeze. The only thing was I didn't have any clothes. So I tried to put my arm-warmers on after the swim, rather than waiting until after the bike to do so like I usually do. BIG MISTAKE. With my arms all wet and my hands kind of numb, I couldn't get the stupid arm warmers on...for like 2 minutes! I came out of the water somewhere around 17th place, I left transition in something like 60th place. Pathetic, I know.

So out on the bike course, you're hit with a hill within the first mile. I went up it pretty quick, and actually caught a few people. Then the wind hit. It was so strong I could feel it make my bike lean, almost taking me down. And it was like that for about an entire hour. On one road, the wind stopped, and it was great. Unfortunately, that didn't last too long. The bike course was real flat with only two big hills, and I just kept up a consistent pace of about 18 MPH, fighting the wind and trying to be conservative to save my legs for the run. I was just glad I didn't crash. I was ecstatic when I finished the bike to still be alive, the conditions were terrible. I knew I wasn't going too quick throughout though, because I kept getting passed. A bunch of the elite girls caught me towards the end too, so I tried to hang with them for the rest of the day. My goal, though, to stay up-right the whole time was met, CHECK.

My second transition was much smoother, and it was alot less crowded, meaning I'm going pretty slow and everyone is already out running. So I went out on the run, and waved to my two wonderful coaches as I passed. At that point, I had forgotten that they never told me about the swim course change, so that is why I happily waved to them rather than give them the bird. My legs felt decent because I road the bike so conservatively, but the problem was my feet were completely numb. I literally couldn't feel them, they felt like concrete. So for each step, I just had to propel my legs forward, and I couldn't feel my feet hit the ground. I really had nothing I could do about it, so I kept going.

The run was a two lap 5K loop. It was until the turnaround of the first loop that I finally started to feel my feet. At that point, it was pretty demoralizing because it seemed that somehow everyone else in the race out on the run course was able to feel their feet, and they were all running much faster than me. The nice part about the 2 lap run course was seeing all the top racers battle for the podium when they were running by me on their 2nd lap while I was still on my first. I also saw the women's race coming down to the wire first-hand, and I was encouraging them all on as they went running past me.

So eventually, in what seemed like an eternity, I came to the finish line. Once again I heard my two wonderful coaches cheering me on as I entered the finishing chute, and as I shot them a triumphant wave, this little Hawaiian looking guy in a UCLA looking uniform sprinted by me. I was looking at my dad videoing me, and I made a surprised look at the camera as if I didn't know he was coming, and then I tried to out-sprint him to the line. No luck, I was too slow. My entire run was slow, and I certainly need to work on that. However, my goal was to give everything I had left on the run, and I kind of did that, so we'll say CHECK to that one too.

At the end of the day, after not knowing the course, having terrible transitions, riding my bike into some nasty winds, and running slow as hell, I realized I love this sport. I loved the whole experience, competing with the best students like myself from across the entire country, putting myself through pain just for fun.

One of the captains of my swim team at Bryant recently told me I don't have enough natural talent to be great at triathlons. I told him that he is probably right, I don't have that much natural talent. And that definitely was proven true out in Texas. But I like to think that hard work beats talent, when talent doesn't work hard. So because of that, I am going to continue to work hard. From here on out, I am going to start working harder than I have ever worked before, and I am going to get better. I need to get faster, more experienced, and smarter. I'm going to try to get better every single day. By the fall, I will be racing pretty fast again, and I'm going to continue to improve. I don't want to do another race where I just get absolutely smoked like that again. But I had fun, and according to my wonderful mother, that is all that matters. I am thankful that I even had the opportunity to go out there and race, and I wouldn't have been able to do that without my parents. I am thankful for them, for being healthy, and for being hungry.

The road to the top never stops, and I'm all the way at the bottom with a long way to go. But I'm going to keep climbing that road to the top, because at the end of the day, nothing has changed. I still do it 4 the Glory.

Brendan