Tritonman Classic 2024 by Cameron Cox
UCSB Triprez
Friday
Karena Lai: “U guys a fan of the duathlon??”
Me: “hell yes is that confirmed?!”
insert picture sent of email informing racers that due to recent rain, both the Classic and DL races have been changed to Duathlon consisting of 1.25 mile run, standard 20k bike and 5k run.
To say I was a fan of the swim getting canceled would have been an understatement. As a run/bike favored triathlete, any mention of the swim being shortened or canceled filled my ex-cross country heart with joy.
Sunday
At the diabolical time of 4:15am my watch buzzed me awake. For a concerning moment I forgot where I was and wondered why I was lying on a stack of sleeping mats on the floor in an unfamiliar house. Then it hit me that I was voluntarily racing a triathlon, and while that still did not fully make sense, I had enough wits about me to know I had to get up and moving. The next hour was a blur of getting ready, packing up to leave, then scarfing down a bagel with banana.
We arrived at the race site and after my usual routine of panhandling the team for a multitool (my third time out of three races forgetting mine *thank you Bethany and Sam*) I secured my bike in transition. Then it was a frozen shuffle with Bethany and Veronika around the run course to warm up (that did not get me nearly warm enough).
As we lined up on the starting line, I went through my mental checklist that I’ve done at each triathlon so far: 1. I voluntarily paid to do this 2. I’ve been training 3. I enjoy these things. This gets me out of any anxiety funk because there’s absolutely no pressure for me, it’s just for my own enjoyment and to see how much I can reap from the time at practice I’ve put in. Standing (emphasis on the standing not treading) on the starting line, I added one more to the list: 4. I don’t have to swim!
The gun went off and the first 800 passed in the same mindless blur that I was used to with any cross country race start. I was a short distance behind Liz and was pushing to not let the gap increase. When I made it into T1 I had to remind myself that I was not done (transition does not feel like a real part of the race to me). I fumbled with numb fingers for too long with my helmet and bike shoes until I finally made it out of the transition area.
After hopping on my bike I immediately started mentally singing ‘U Can’t Touch This’ and going as hard as I could and prayed that my training would save me from dying. I had a few lapses of concentration, mainly as I would stare in disbelief as the pro racers would glide by at mach speed on their TT bikes, but for the most part the next 12 miles were ridden by the most competitive alter ego I could muster. This actually was not too difficult, considering I was frustrated by the game of cat and mouse a pack of 3 girls and I were playing. In the end they beat me back to transition but it was the perfect motivation for me to chase them down on the run.
Coming off the bike into T2, I don’t recall having any coherent thoughts. I relied on pure muscle memory and was grateful for the bricks that had prepared my body for this feeling. That’s not to say I felt fresh at this moment, my legs simultaneously felt like they were missing and made out of concrete. But I knew that like any 5k I ran in highschool I could mentally deceive myself into running fast.
On the first lap I told myself that I should run fast because it would help shake the lactic acid out of my legs. On the second lap, I thought about how little I had left until the final lap (which was basically the end of the race). Finally on the last lap, I told myself to give it everything because I was (basically) done! There was also the bonus of running by Coach Matt and teammates who gave me extra encouragement to run fast (they wouldn’t know I was grateful because I was too dead to smile at them).
After crossing the finish line and high fiving Donovan, I immediately ate as many free snacks as I could. Then it was the blissful chaos of congratulating everyone on their races and comparing funny race moments. Super grateful for everyone who made this race possible and all my teammates who got us there. Can’t wait to do it again next year (hopefully following another season of rain)!