NATIONALS!!!

So the USAT Collegiate National Champsionship this past weekend was AMAZING! For the first time ever, UNT Triathlon is a nationally ranked team. We had a full team in the Olympic, and even some extras spilling over into the sprint - including Coach Sean!

We crammed the whole team into 4 hotel rooms, and there were five of us girls (and four Specialized bikes) in one room. We spent about an hour running around with our swim caps on and taking pictures with our bikes. Then Kira talked about floss for about half an hour. Andrew shaved himself a mohawk for the race, and Coach Sean gave our bikes the once over Friday night before the big day.

The course was intensely difficult - there's a reason the Half they have there is a Kona qualifier!!! The water was freezing cold, and a number of people were pulled out of the swim for hypothermia. I know my race strategy was gone as soon as my face hit the water - I was really wishing I had a wetsuit with SLEEVES! The temp when we were checking into transition was 38, and I think the water was around 55 - as opposed to the predicted 65 degrees. Ugh. Transition was tough after the swim because I couldn't feel my limbs! The giant hill out of transition was difficult with my calves wanting to cramp up from the cold, but at least I knew to put my shoes on IN transition, and have my bike set in the easiest gear. The bike course was challenging, to put it mildly, and that was with only a mild Lubbock wind. Riding it for the 70.3 this summer will be an adventure! The run was tough for me - after being sick the past couple of months, I've been having some stomach problems, and they came back to haunt me for the entire run course. Had to stop and walk a number of times which NEVER happens for me. I think my pace was 9:30... as opposed to the 7:30 pace at my last race! Ouch! But considering how sick I had been two weeks before, I was just so happy to be there and racing.

Getting to watch the 2012 Talent ID race was way cool - as was the bowling, arcade games, and pizza at Main Event with the team later that night! I'm so proud of our team for competing, and I'm ready for us to dominate next year!!!