As Thanksgiving approached and finals were nearing, there was a light at the end of the tunnel: Winter Break. Six weeks of no classes, relaxing at home, and embracing my inner gym rat. Now, Winter Break for me is more of a break from winter than a break for winter. I get to leave ~toasty~ Hanover, New Hampshire and return to my home in The Woodlands, Texas (read: a delightfully warm place).
Before the end of the term, we as an executive board were wrangling with the best thing to do with our growing team and everyone’s diverse race interests. With the support of our coaches, we decided to create goal groups: three training sub-groups based on target races and experience levels. There's Sprint I for our new members who will be doing their first USAT Sprint Triathlons in the spring, Sprint II/Olympic for more seasoned racers in the Sprint and Olympic distances, and Long Course for everyone training for Half or Full Ironman’s.
With the term wrapping up, it was time to escape the cold return home for break and start training as goal groups. I’ve always stuck to Sprint Triathlons in the past, but with the introduction of goal groups, I decided to go big. But not too big. So, I picked the Olympic distance to train for. Eliot, the coach for the Sprint II/Olympic group, emailed 22 of my teammates and I to introduce our goal group. He also attached our training plan, a color coordinated spreadsheet detailing 6 weeks of swimming, biking, and running.
I was getting good vibes from break. Weeks filled with spending time with family, catching up with friends, well thought out workouts from Eliot, and group classes at the local gym I could go to when I wanted to mix it up. My inner gym rat was dancing. The kind of dance you stop mid run to do because the chorus of your pump up song came on.
Over “Winter” Break, I swam outside, tried rock climbing for the first (and second) time, regularly spun at the gym, and saw my old swim coach who's now training for her 5th (6th? 7th?) Ironman. It’s casual. I even went on a few runs around the neighborhood. Those were actually casual.
As I look back on break now, I loved having a super flexible schedule and being home with family. But, I also love being with my teammates and getting to be with them day in and day out. It’s a bittersweet ending to Winter Break, but I’m excited to see what’s in store for our team come Winter Term.
Sbr,
Sarah
About the Author
Sarah is an ’18 studying Structural Engineering and Spanish. When she’s not practicing, she likes to listen to podcasts, cook, and spend time with family and friends.
Above: A mid-run selfie in Florida
T-minus 4 days before returning to Hanover