undecided

NYC - Ivy League Championship, July 22

I’d been looking forward to the NYC triathlon all year, and it was worth the wait. I can’t begin to express how much fun it was to race with nearly every triathlete I know in the area on my home course. Sleeping in your own bed the night before a race and knowing exactly how long or steep each hill is around the bend helps so much. Apparently the rest of the team felt the same way. CU did extremely well, winning the overall race with five of the top 10 finishers! I came in ninth overall in the Ivy League championship and sixth in my age group with a time of 2:14:52, but there wasn’t much time to celebrate. Immediately after the race, I hopped on a plane to Alaska. A special thanks to elle and kelly for waking up early to come watch. If you’re interested, mike wrote a great summary of the race too [click here].

Mighty Montauk, June 9

Racing six days after Alcatraz probably wasn’t the best idea. Nonetheless, matt, pratap and I rode the train (during rush hour with our bikes) out to Long Island for the Mighty Montauk triathlon. I felt uncomfortable the entire race since my body was still covered in open wounds from the previous race, I had to ride on a borrowed bike, and it was cold and raining the whole time. The discomfort continued all the way through the soaked train ride back to the city. The real highlight of the trip was hearing Jenny Thompson, a fellow CU Tri member and decorated Olympian, earnestly exclaim, “Ooh, I want a medal!” upon hearing that they were passing out trinkets to the race finishers.

Escape from Alcatraz, June 3

I “lottery-ed in” to the Escape from Alcatraz triathlon, a race where participants swim from Alcatraz to the shore, ride through Golden Gate Park, then run along Baker Beach (including the 400 step sand ladder). Since the race was my mom’s suggestion, my parents came to watch and spent the weekend cruising around SF with me.

My only (irrational) concern about the race was running into large aquatic life during the swim since the week before the race there were humpback whales in the Sacramento River and recently seals had been biting swimmers in the bay; however, the current proved to be a more formidable opponent. I spent a fair portion of the swim trying not to drown and thought the race would be uneventful once I landed on the shore. Unfortunately, I had a bad bike crash (that ripped a lot of skin and my rear derailleur off) with three miles to go. I pushed my bike back to the transition area and ran the course to finish the race. Despite the setback, I had a great time (especially with my family), and I’d love to do the race again next year if I can get in. Oh, and how awesome is it that my race number was 187?!