CU Triathlon wins third straight national championship

Published on April 24, 2012 on www.CUIndependent.com. 

We got on the bus to DIA last Thursday a group of hopeful, excited and admittedly nervous triathletes.

We came back national champions.

On the CU Triathlon Team, that’s how it’s done. We train hard all year, pushing each other and pushing ourselves, in hopes of winning big in April. This weekend, we captured our third straight and 13th overall national championship at the USA Triathlon Collegiate National Championship in Tuscaloosa, Ala.

Junior Tess Amer on the bike course at the USA Triathlon Collegiate National Championship in Tuscaloosa, Ala. Amer finished 11th. (Courtesy of Thom Ward)

I couldn’t be more proud to be a part of this team.

Going into nationals, we knew we had the potential to win the combined team title. Three of our top four racers from last year’s men’s team were returners, and our women’s team had more depth than ever.

This year, in addition to the overall title, we had another goal: a long-overdue women’s team win.

The overall team win is determined by combining the men’s and women’s team scores. In previous years, the men have won big, taking first by a long shot so that even a second or third-place finish by the women would result in an overall title.

Not so in 2012 — the women’s team wanted to earn a championship just as much as the men.

We got our chance on Saturday morning, with the women’s race the first event on the schedule. Just before the first wave went off at 7:30 a.m., our whole team, men and women, gathered around me as I led our classic repeat-after-me cheer:

Iki la boomba (Iki la boomba)

Iki la wikki likki (Iki la wikki likki)

Affa la waffa laffa (Affa la waffa laffa)

Ooh-chee-ahh… (Ooh-chee-ahh…)

C-O-L-O-R-A-D-O

What’s that spell? Colorado!

What’s that mean? Victory!

With adrenaline pumping, our first girls headed down to the water for the swim start. We knew that all of those killer swim practices, endless bike rides and painful runs we had gone through together were about to pay off.

I was in Wave Three with teammates Heidi Spees and Maggie Scanlan. I knew they were stronger swimmers than me, but I still wanted them by my side when the gun went off. Though I lost them almost immediately, I focused on keeping good form, being efficient and staying calm throughout the swim.

Once out of the water, I stripped off my wetsuit, grabbed my bike and put on my game face. It was time to catch some girls.

I felt fast, passing entire groups of Wave Three cyclists with ease. Looking back at the results, I went from 220th place overall coming out of the swim to 51st place coming off the bike. It was my fastest bike time ever.

But my strength, the run, was yet to come.

I transitioned quickly, re-racking my bike and slipping into my run shoes for the final stretch. As I headed out of transition, I heard a familiar voice calling my name — there, on the side of the course, was a graduated teammate and good friend from my freshman year who had come out to Tuscaloosa to cheer us on. I smiled and picked up my pace, knowing I had the support of so many.

During the first two miles of the run, I caught and passed the teammates I had started with in Wave Three. A few minutes later, I passed my coach, Mike Ricci, timing from the sideline.

“Come on, Caryn — pick it up. We’ve got to win this thing,” I heard him say. I realized I may be one of the scoring four, and that meant my mental strength on this run could affect the entire team. I pushed harder.

Around mile four, I was hit with the worst cramp I’ve ever experienced in a race. My breathing became suddenly shallow, and my pace slowed way down as I tried to fend off what felt like a knife in my side. There were only two miles to go, but they would be the hardest of the whole race.

Whether you run fast or slow, this cramp is still going to hurt, I told myself. It can’t get much worse, and the faster you move, the sooner you’ll be done.

My run time wasn’t what it could’ve been sans-cramp, but I finished as strong as I could and ended up in 32nd place. The other scoring CU women finished 11th, 15th and 17th. We had a shot at the women’s title, but we would have to wait until the awards ceremony later that night to know for sure.

For now, it was time to cheer on the guys.

Watching the men’s race gave me an adrenaline rush all over again. I am constantly impressed by the talent and work ethic our men’s team has. Our top four men ended up in second, fourth, fifth and 14th place. There was no doubt they had earned the men’s team title.

We spent the rest of the day cheering on our athletes in the open and relay races, eating barbecue with our team parents and anxiously awaiting results. Finally, at 8 p.m., it was time.

The awards are always more of a party than a ceremony. Teams traditionally dress in themed costumes, and it’s not unusual for flash mobs or loud team cheers to erupt from the audience. This year, the University of Wisconsin rolled into the awards ceremony on Razor scooters.

CU chose “Noah’s Ark” as our awards theme. Dressed as animals (or, in one case, Noah), our athletes proudly took the podium to receive both individual and team awards. Graduate student Rudy Kahsar, dressed as a buffalo, was recognized for his overall finish and for recording the fastest bike split of the race. Freshman Jak Hamilton, wearing pig attire, earned a third-place podium spot in the men’s open race.

Next, the women’s team titles were announced. We had finally done it. By a narrow six-point margin, we edged out Duke University, the University of California and the U.S. Naval Academy for the first-place women’s team title. Our win marks the first women’s team title for CU since 2005.

The men’s team was recognized next, having won the title over second-place University of Arizona by a hefty 98 points.

And finally, by a margin of 159 points, the CU Triathlon Team was announced as the USA Triathlon Collegiate National Champions for the third year in a row. Navy, our biggest rival, would have to settle for second place behind the top triathlon team in the country.

National championships do more for our team than just celebrate our top athletes though. They reflect the commitment that everyone on this team has to the sport and to each other. As our coach always says, we have no slow athletes. When we train, the fast ones push the faster ones, who push the fastest ones to win championships.

My teammate Morgan Burrows, a graduating senior, said the night before the race that she would rather be 13th on the Colorado Tri Team than be first or second on any other team. To be a CU triathlete is to be a part of something special, something irreplaceable.

I have one more year left on this team, and I will savor every moment of it. The CU Triathlon Team is my family, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Songs That Make Me Smile

So, last year I wrote about my favorite workout songs and why they motivated me. Now I want to write about songs that put me in a good mood, no matter what. Tonight I was feeling mopey over my lack of a valentine, frustrated with the lady that came into Boom one minute before close and hung out there for another 20 minutes, and stressed out about the bus schedule and getting home. But then I took out my iPod, and before I knew it I had to hold myself back from singing out loud / standing up and dancing on the bus. Here are the top 10 songs guaranteed to put a smile on my face (in no particular order):

1) Little Bitty Pretty One by Bobby Darin — Remember that scene in Matilda when she stands up on the coffee table and makes the poker chips fly all around her? This song was playing on the little jukebox. It makes me feel like a little kid.

2) Sweet Mistakes by Ellis Paul — There are two lines I love from this song. The first: "Thank the Lord for the friends he cast in the play he wrote for you." The second: "If you live your life in a three-peice suit, a cocktail dress or combat boots, you pick your path and you walk your truth and the world will come 'round to you." It's a good life motto.

3) Accidentally in Love by Counting Crows — This song makes me want to be in love. It's joyful.

4) Jack and Diane by John Cougar Mellencamp — My love for this song began at Wilderness Adventure, the backpacking camp in Virginia that was my home away from home for many summers in a row. One summer when I was 14, the guys in my group sang this song during one particularly hard hike and it made the experience so much more fun. Whenever I hear this song, it takes me back to that summertime life.

5) Open Happiness by Kardinal Offishal — Yes, the Coke song. But specifically the Canadian version (the girl singer is so much better). It never actually mentions Coke, it's just about having a positive attitude and starting each day happily.

6) You Make Me Smile by Uncle Kracker — Old, but this song is wonderful. It doesn't remind me of anyone or anything specific, but just of the people in my life that I love. All the people who make me smile. :)

7) Gimme That Girl by Joe Nichol — I hope the guy I end up with will feel this way about me. That's all.

8) Wagon Wheel by Old Crow Medicine Show — Eternal tri team bonding song and my all-time favorite song to harmonize to. If you play this song in my presence, you better be prepared to hear me sing.

9) The Captain by Guster — This song will always make me think of my dad. Especially the line "Courageous, just like a captain, marching forward with no doubt in his head." We blast this song in the car every time I'm home, and sing that line as loud as possible. When I'm away from my dad when I'm in Boulder, this song reminds me how lucky I am to have so much love in my family.

10) Born to Fly by Sara Evans — This has been "my" song ever since I was little. I love Sara Evans' country voice, and I love the lyrics:

"But how do you wait for heaven, and who has that much time? 

And how do you keep your feet on the ground when you know you were born to fly?"

Give and take,

Caryn

I run because...

Although I call myself a triathlete, running is still my sport of choice. It's what I do to clear my mind, to feel healthy, strong and alive. In a race, I can't wait for the moment when I'm done with the stress of open water swims and the adrenaline of bike racing, I can drop all the equipment, all the worry, and just do what I do best. Nothing to get in my way, and nothing to think about but staying relaxed and keeping my feet moving fast. People have been running since they stood on two legs. It's primitive, it's free, and it's something I'm so glad to have discovered a passion for. Three runs over the holiday break reminded me why I do this sport, and I've been wanting to write about them ever since.

#1: Annapolis, MD. From my house, over the Naval Academy bridge, past my elementary school and down to Greenbury Point, a beautiful set of trails right by the Severn River that I need to explore more often. It was late afternoon, the sun hitting the leaves and water in that perfect way. I wanted to know where every trail led, and I ended up running for much longer than I had planned. Back over the bridge just as sunset was approaching, and home again with the ever-addicting mix of exhaustion and exhilaration.  

#2: St. George Island, FL. On a family vacation, staying at a beach house just behind the dunes. It was morning, and heavy fog made visibility impossible beyond about 10 ft. I ran down a road parallel to the beach for about 20 minutes, then turned toward the sand to head back. I ran home on the beach, right on the edge where the sand was still hard-packed from the waves. It was the most surreal run of my life. It was as if this stretch of silent beach, the seagulls and pelicans that occasionally flew by, and I were the only things left in the world. Unable to see even to where the beach houses began, I took a guess about 40 minutes in and headed up to the dunes, fortunately finding my street right away. It was perfect.

#3: St. George Island, FL. Another beach run, but this one completely different. It was about 4:30 in the afternoon, and I wanted to try my first barefoot beach run ever. It felt summer warm, so all I needed was a pair of shorts and a sports bra. This time I walked right out to the beach so I could do my entire run on the sand. With slow sitar music playing on my iPod, my bare feet splashing in the waves as they hit the shore, I just kept going. All I could think about was how much beauty was surrounding me. I  ran as the sun set, not wanting to stop even as I could feel blisters forming on my toes. When I was finally spent, I collapsed in the sand and just stared at they sky turning to dusk. After a final soak of my feet in the water, I hobbled back to the beach house, not realizing how long I'd actually been gone. My parents were ready to come searching for me — (sorry for the stress, mom and dad.)

And Boulder, while it doesn't have rivers or oceans, is beautiful in its own way. Here, I get to run through the mountains, watch the sun setting behind the Flatirons, catch a view of the whole city from up on Flagstaff. I run because for me, there's no better way to feel like a part of my surroundings and appreciate what the world has to offer. I hope I'll be able to run until I'm old, because few things make me more content.

A sampling of perfect beach-at-sunset run music:

Maharaj Pariksit

Give and take.

Caryn

Flying

I know this blog has pretty much gone neglected for most of the fall semester— but I'm doing my best to revive it now. I did a lot of writing this past semester for my classes and for the CU Independent, so I sort of forgot to write for my own enjoyment. But now I'm home in Annapolis for Christmas break, sitting by the fire and the decorated tree with my grandma. And I can't think of a more relaxing thing to do than write.

This semester has been different than any other at school. I've started to prioritize sleep and manage my time so I feel less constantly stressed. I don't go out as often, but I've had just as much fun at roommate/team move nights and I haven't had to deal with so many hangovers (yuck). I've worked hard to get back in shape after Italy, and I finally feel like I'm back where I was this time last year, fitness-wise. This semester I grew closer with my teammates, took classes that I actually liked, and took more time to myself. Now that I'm home for break, I'm taking advantage of the opportunity to relax and recharge before Boulder spring. It sounds like I've been more like an old lady than a college kid this fall, but it was really what I needed.

I'm not anxious to be back in Colorado yet, either. Normally I get tired of being home pretty fast— I miss the independence of college life and I miss having my team around to motivate me. But this is the first time I've been home since summer, and I want it to last. I'm better at motivating myself than I used to be: I know that a good workout will always make my day happier and make me more pleasant to be around, so I usually make it happen. But Italy also taught me that it's okay to take a break, so I won't make training my life right now. Christmas break is about family, friends, and the comforts of home, so workouts are really just for my own sanity :)

And once I get back to Boulder, I have so much to look forward to. My roommate and friend Hilary is coming home from Spain, trading places with Veronica in the house at Whitney Place (though I'll miss V too!) I'm going to be an editor for the CU Independent sports section, and the basketball season is about to get into full swing. The tri team retreat is in February, with all the team bonding/partying/snowshoeing that it always entails. Then we have another time trial, regionals at Lake Havasu in March, and finally Nationals in April— back to back to back in 'Bama ;)

My friend Kari and I were playing a board game the other day. I had to answer the question "If you could have one superpower, what would it be?," and one of the choices was eternal optimism. I chose that one, since "challenges are the joys of life." Kari's response: "I feel like the fact that you just said that means you're probably already an optimist." She has a point...

So my superpower of choice, in the end? Flying.

Give and take,
Caryn

Casa de Pancakeo

It's that time of year again.

The CU Tri Team has been back at school and training hard for a few months now. We’ve spent hours in the pool, on the bike and on the trails, and our first time trial is behind us. Needless to say, all this training has us a little tired out. Thanksgiving break is just around the corner, but until then, we’ve been doing all we can to motivate each other to keep working hard.

That’s why this Sunday, four teammates decided to host a pancake party following our weekly long run. Our team has gotten pretty skilled at pancake-making over the the past year, thanks to the ingenuity of Rudy Kahsar and other like-minded cake connoisseurs. We know, for instance, that Oreos make the best mix-ins and that while maple syrup is a classic topping, vanilla yogurt and peanut butter can work wonders on a flapjack.


Before we could chow down on pancakes, though, we had to earn them with a good workout. With a big group — about 20 runners of varying speeds — and a workout that could range from 45 to 90 minutes, we knew we would spread out over time. Still, we left together from the “Casa de Pancakeo,” heading south towards Bobolink Trail and eventually to Marshall Mesa.

It was a warm but windy morning, and as we struggled up hills into oncoming gusts, the only thing that kept us going was the prospect of pancakes to come. Marshall Mesa is a set of rolling trails near Colorado Highway 93, and it is completely exposed. We had no shelter from the wind and were all trying to draft off each other to make the effort a little more bearable.

As the time on our watches slowly ticked by, we finally settled into a comfortable pace. Finishing a long run is always a mental battle, but with teammates to talk to and pace with, it tends to be over sooner than you think. We picked up speed for the final few miles, knowing that the faster we made it back to the house, the sooner delicious cakes would be filling our bellies. When we reached the driveway of the Casa de Pancakeo, someone’s GPS recorded 10.8 miles; naturally, we took one more lap around the block to get to a solid 11 (it’s a triathlete thing).

Rob Helvestine was the hero of the morning as he poured dollops of pancake batter onto the skillet and took mix-in requests nonstop. The rest of us, spent from our effort and in need of some serious fuel, huddled around the stovetop with our paper plates outstretched. Leave it to a team of college-aged triathletes to consume enough pancakes and coffee to feed a small country over the course
of an hour.

Without times like these, we wouldn’t really be a team — we would just be a big group of training partners. Triathlon in itself is an individual sport, but when we take the time to bond over new pancake-topping creations, we make it a team thing. It may sound silly, but the friendships we build outside of regular practice are the ones that will stick.

And when we race, those friendships will carry us to the finish line.

Give and take.
Caryn

CU triathlon takes on Pumpkinman

A firsthand account of one club team's trip to Vegas

By Caryn Maconi on October 17, 2011 — originally published in the 2011 Colorado Football official game program, Colorado Buffaloes vs. Oregon Ducks

When I headed to Vegas with the CU Triathlon Team last weekend, we weren’t trying to win a game of blackjack.

This club team was looking for victory at the 2011 Pumpkinman Triathlon, a multisport event that combines swimming, biking and running into one race.

Pumpkinman is one of several races the CU team does in the fall before the larger collegiate regional and national championships in March and April. As part of the Mountain Collegiate Triathlon Conference, we battle teams like Air Force, Colorado State, Northern Arizona and Arizona State — but they’ve got nothing on us.

The CU Tri Team has won 12 national championships since its inception in 1994, and we’re aiming for our third straight and 13th overall title this April.

In Vegas, we were just giving our competition a preview.

On Thursday morning, we loaded four cars and a trailer with 15 people, their bikes and whole lot of gear. Then we headed out of Boulder, only to arrive 12 hours later in… Boulder.

Boulder City, Nevada, that is.

Since the team regularly camps, we stayed near the race site about 25 miles outside of Las Vegas at the Lake Mead National Recreation Area. The tents went up as soon as we arrived on Thursday night. We crashed early, knowing we had a big weekend ahead.

As usual, Friday was a day of rest, race preparation and plenty of carb-loading. We made sure our bikes were working properly, tested the water in Lake Mead with a quick swim, and went on a jog to loosen our legs. The inevitable pre-race spaghetti dinner was prepared out of an RV by one team member’s parents. It was early to bed again, but this time, the anticipation of the morning to come made it difficult to sleep.

At 5:30 a.m. on Saturday, I awoke to the sound of ten phone alarms going off at once.

It was race morning, and we were ready to rock.

Our campsite was a scene of organized chaos as we made our final preparations, taping race numbers onto bikes and pumping low tires by the light of our headlamps. We made it to the race site just after sunrise, and after setting up our transition areas and donning our wetsuits, we huddled together for our team cheer:

Iki la boomba
Iki la wiki liki
Affa la waffa laffa
Oo-chee-ahh! 

None of us knows the translation of this tribal chant or even what language it is, but it sure works to get us pumped.

The entire Pumpkinman event actually features three races of varying distances – a sprint, an olympic distance and a half-Ironman. The olympic distance, a 1.5k swim, 40k bike and 10k run, is the classic collegiate distance, but we also had some first-timers racing the sprint (half that of an olympic distance).

As I watched the sprinters start their swim, my heart beat faster. I hadn’t done an olympic since nationals last spring, and I couldn’t wait to race alongside my team again.

Soon, it was time for my wave to start. The gun went off, and everyone shot forward at once. Knowing the swim was my weakness, I tried to to set a comfortable pace and avoid getting kicked in the face. As I made it back to shore and headed into transition, I prepared to make up some time on the bike.

The biggest challenge of Pumpkinman’s bike course is its hills. The first half is rolling, but the course ends with a gradual incline on a bike trail followed by a steep hill up to the second transition area. As I crested that last hill, I thought of the mountains we train on in Boulder, knowing I was ready for a challenge like this.

Finally, it was time for my strength – the run. We’d been racing for two hours already, and the Nevada sun felt like an oven. My legs were nearly shot, but I was motivated by my teammates. I knew two CU girls were just a few minutes ahead, and I wanted to catch them.

In the end, the three of us finished less than five minutes apart, a promising sign of our team’s depth. Senior Courtney Clark finished 4th of all women in 2:43:47, I came in 6th (2:45:38), and junior Elisa Schauer was 9th (2:49:45). On the men’s side, graduate student Rob Helvestine finished 4th in 2:18:59, senior Eric Ebeling was 8th (2:23:20), and sophomore Jesse Frank was 9th (2:23:43).

To boot, we had two girls complete their first olympic distance race this weekend and three people complete the sprint as their first-ever triathlon.

On the CU Tri Team, though, success is about more than just results.

Success is being a true team in a sport that’s individual on the surface. We constantly push each other to new levels in training and racing. We pick up the slack when another teammate has an off-day, something we’ve all experienced at some point.

Most of all, we care about each other both on and off course. Those newbies who raced with us for the first time this weekend? They joined because they saw something in us that they wanted to be a part of. We’re not just a team — we’re a family.

And when the race is over and the hard work is done, we sure know how to party in Vegas.

Annapolis Summer

In four days - FOUR DAYS! - I'll be getting on a plane back to Colorado. I really can't wait. I feel like it's been forever since I've seen beautiful Boulder, especially because I've kind of had two separate summers. And yes, I still miss Italy and everyone I met there. But over the past month I've soaked in that perfect American summer feeling at the pool and on the water, and I think I might actually be sad to say goodbye to home.

A couple weeks ago I went from just lifeguarding to teaching morning swim lessons, and it's been 1000x more fun. I love seeing kids learn, especially when I've had something to do with it, and I love how excited they get when they pass the swim test or master the back float they've been struggling with. You can just see when something clicks in their minds, and they can't wait to show it to everyone they know. Sometimes I can't tell who is happier about learning something new, the kid or me. I also like being on the lessons crew because I get to know the camp kids that come to the pool every day of the summer. I've made friends with several of them, and I know which ones to look out for when they stray into deep water. I know a pool and a classroom are completely different things, but teaching swim lessons has reinforced my decision to get an elementary teaching license. I can't wait for my practicum this fall!

Summer at home has also given me a chance to reconnect with old friends, both from high school and childhood. My "lifers," as we called ourselves in high school, have never struggled with staying friends post-college. We continue our long-held traditions, such as walking to Kaleigh's beach dragging a box of Natty Boh in her baby sister's wagon, then drinking on the dock and talking about life. Or swimming in Rachel's backyard pool and reminiscing about how weird we once were (even though we know we haven't changed.) I've also spent some quality time with Bessie, my best friend since age two. In high school, with completely different friend groups and interests, we drifted apart a little, but lately we've remembered the power of "shoombadles" (our... friendship word... I really can't explain.) Bessie's heading to France in a few days to study at the American University of Paris, so we're trying to fit in as much Bessie-Bobo time as possible. I'm lovin' it.

And, uh, about that triathlon thing... I honestly have been trying to get back in shape, but with only a few days left until I see my team, I'm prioritizing friend/family time and things like packing. I've been delinquent with masters' swimming and early spin classes lately, mostly because I don't want to worry about waking up at 5:30 am when I'm out with friends the night before. Also, I think I really am addicted to a team, or at least training with a buddy. If I don't make it to masters or spin class in the morning, it's hard to motivate myself to go alone. Which is why I desperately need the CU Tri Team to come to my rescue! Warning, guys: I may not be super fast for the first couple weeks, and I may or may not faint if we do an "easy run up Flagstaff." Bear with me.

See you soon, Boulder!
Give and take,
Caryn