Skip to content

Tag: 2018

Published on

Throughout the slow Hanover winter, on long trainer rides in our living rooms and bone-numbing snow day runs, all I could think – all we could think – was Florida. Outdoor pools, tri-kit tanlines, sunburned feet…Not only were we getting to start off the racing season in March – two months earlier than it usually begins in New England – but we’d also heard rumors of extensively-decorated Disney-themed rooms in our rental house outside of Orlando. And our dream of Florida was truly all it promised to be. Here are a few highlights, from training to our dreamlike week down South:

Saturdays.

Whether you think Saturdays are for the boys, for the girls, or for no one at all, for Tri Team, Saturdays were just for us. Saturdays meant BRick workouts: 2-3 hours biking on the trainer followed by a 3-5 mile run. Saturdays also held strength workouts, which meant, in the end, that most of our day was spent working out. And you know what? I loved it. I came to treasure Saturdays. Have you ever blocked out a whole day, every week, just for one thing, one goal and purpose? Saturdays were a meditation, a huge chunk of time to think, while my muscles fired and contracted and ached. They were a journey, each and every one of them, up until Saturday March 17th – raceday.

The trailer.

Hours of work over winter break and a spark of the captains’ design genius came to fruition in the form of a beautiful, shiny trailer complete with 25 bike hooks, lovingly named Steve. After digging Steve out of the snow on the Monday evening of finals period, Brandt’s engineering degree was put to the test. We all loaded our bikes, and Brandt, Valentina, Matt and Anna set off on their pilgrimage to Florida. They arrived two days later at our rental mansion, Mickey’s House of Champions, exhausted but propelled by Brandt’s guzzling of Mountain Dew and the great promise of sunshine.

The early mornings.

On the first morning of training trip, my eyes flew open at 6am to music blasting in the kitchen. Had I fallen asleep at the Championsgate retirement community nightclub? No, it was just Katie and Matt eating oatmeal before our morning swim. The rest of us dragged ourselves out of bed, and an hour later we were watching the sunrise over the pool at the National Training Center. Our sun-starved bodies soaked up the early rays between long-course laps in the water. We started all of our days swimming at the NATC, followed by biking, running, yoga classes, foam-rolling, pool-lounging, elaborate home-cooked dinners for 28 and 9pm bedtimes. It was the triathlete’s dream schedule – train, eat, sleep, tell stories and watch Miracle to pass the time – and we could not have been more content.

The raceday ridiculousness.

I remember raceday as a series of strange and comical events:

  1. Eating breakfast at 4:30am and watching Moises consume 2 slices of Domino’s pizza before his sprint triathlon, in the dark
  2. Putting on face tattoos and slathering our skin in body-glide and sunscreen at 6am, still very much in the dark
  3. Squinting from the beach with Sonia before the race, trying to make out the farthest orange buoy in the swim loop, which evaded us in the distance
  4. Casually chatting with Steve and Jim about the (way-too-hot) weather as they passed me on the bike course
  5. Bonking at mile 40 when I ran out of water and clumsily dropped both of the water bottles that volunteers at the final aid stations handed me in motion, one after the other
  6. Getting off of my bike feeling like I’d come home from a long, sweaty journey, only to remember I still had to run a half marathon
  7. Nearly bursting into tears of gratitude when I saw our teammates who were doing the Olympic race the next day cheering us on at transition
  8. Running out of ways to say “GO!!!” to Katie, Sonia and Evan when I saw them each four times on the run, only at mile 6 realizing it was a double-loop course
  9. Lying on the ground minutes after finishing the race and promising myself I’d never do a half ironman again
  10. Watching my teammates, Jeff, Jim and Steve take the podium an hour later and smiling realizing that they’d definitely convince me to sign up for another half ironman this year

The people, the people, the people.

Our people: the crazy-driven, (sort-of-just-crazy,) early-rising, car-singing, banana-eating, foam-rolling, fun-loving, wildly sunburnt athletes that make up our strange, determined family. Our coaches: the endlessly-inspiring, ever-committed, TrainingPeaks-revering, warm and loving people we get to look up to every single day. Tri people: the awe-provoking, dazzlingly-muscular, unevenly-tanned, wholeheartedly-vibrant people that make up a bigger and more welcoming community than we ever knew we were becoming a part of – we’re just happy to be in the middle of it all.

SBR,

Emma

About the Author

Emma Sklarin is an '18 on the tri team studying Creative Writing, Environmental Studies and Spanish. She loves exploring and boogie boarding, and farmer's markets.

Published on

Even as athletes who challenge our bodies every day, we often forget about our physical selves during a workout and focus far more on the mental side. “Your brain gets tired before your legs,” is something we have all heard, and for a lot of us, triathlon is less about what our physical bodies can actually do, and more about what we can push ourselves mentally to accomplish. The incredible drive and persistence of our team really shows during our time spent working out and racing, but the mental challenge that can be the most difficult, and often the hardest to detect, happens when we aren’t working out - during that time when our minds are left to their own devices and aren’t distracted by the burning in our lungs or the freeing feeling of our feet against the pavement.

What I’m talking about are the moments when our minds - wired to want to be the best at everything - fixate on the appearance of our bodies instead of their performance. This is at it’s worst when you’re surrounded by athletes that look a certain way, maybe like the stereotypical endurance athlete: lean, light, and graceful, and you feel out of place among them. These are the moments when our own minds can turn against us and attack the physical bodies that work so hard to get us through the miles. Your own voice might be telling you that if you don’t look a certain way, if you don’t look how an endurance athlete is “supposed” to look, then how could you possibly perform like one?

If this sounds familiar to you, you’re not alone. It happens to me all the time, daily even. Body image is one of the biggest obstacles I’ve faced in triathlon (and in other sports I’ve competed in in the past), and what’s sad is that instead of believing in the hours of hard work I put into training, sometimes I’m only confident in how I will perform if I look a certain way.

When the Tri Team women met with Olympian Sarah B. True, I asked her if she has ever struggled with body image while competing at the elite level. She replied that of course she has, but that she ultimately came to the realization that what her body could do was far more important than how it looks. I appreciated her honesty, because it is comforting to know that even an athlete as accomplished as she is still sometimes doubts herself in the same ways I do.

I thought it was important to write this post because I don’t want any Tri Team member to feel this way and think that they are the only one. Our insecurities about our bodies can feel so personal that it doesn’t occur to us that anyone else could possibly care, but I want you to know that I do. I understand better than you might guess what it’s like to live with a little negative voice sharing space in your head. I’m working hard to kick that little voice out of my space, but I haven’t been doing it alone. Tri Team is an incredible resource for support, friendship, and genuine compassion that I have not found anywhere else on campus. There have been teammates I didn’t even know very well looking out for me and my mental health on a regular basis. If this sounds like anything you’ve been struggling with, I’d love to help you kick your little voice out too, so you can all get back to focusing on the amazing things your bodies can accomplish.

Sbr,

Emma

About the Author

Emma Rodriguez is a ‘20 studying Psychology and Women’s Studies. She enjoys banana and almond butter sandwiches and Collis salads. Her favorite (and slowest) leg of the triathlon is the run.

Published on

Recently, four members of the exec board got together to write a new mission statement to update our vision for the team. The group consisted of myself, a sophomore captain, and two seniors to get a balance of both old values and future visions for the team. We have finalized a draft of our new mission statement, and I thought it would be helpful to share it along with some annotations about why tri team matters so much to me.

Mission Statement

The Dartmouth Triathlon Team aims to create a welcoming and inclusive environment for Dartmouth students of all abilities who are interested in training for and racing in triathlons. We strive to foster a supportive and positive team spirit that celebrates all types of success. The Dartmouth Triathlon Team empowers its members to pursue athletic achievement while also providing leadership opportunities as a student run team.

Comments

”The Dartmouth Triathlon Team aims to create a welcoming and inclusive environment for Dartmouth students of all abilities”

One of the main reasons I stuck with the team after freshman fall was because of how inclusive and kind the older members were. I still vividly remember my first day of practice- an outdoor bike ride. I was flustered and overwhelmed by my first week of college and I was a little slower than the rest of the group. However, one of the 18s stayed back and rode with me so that I wouldn’t have to make it back to campus alone. The talent of my fellow teammates could have been intimidating and caused me to quit, but instead I felt included and supported.

“…who are interested in training for and racing in triathlons.”

This part is pretty crucial and self-explanatory- we are the triathlon team and everyone on our team should be training to do a triathlon, duathlon, or aquabike race. Dartmouth has a club swim, club cycling, and club running team, so the combination of all three sports is what makes us unique.

“We strive to foster a supportive and positive team spirit that celebrates all types of success.”

This sentence sums up our team really well. You don’t have to be ready to win a triathlon to be a member, but you should be training to achieve your own successes, whether that looks like swimming a smooth lap of freestyle or completing an ironman (shout out to Emma Rodriguez ’20 who is now an ironwoman!). Because our team is positive and supportive, practices are really fun. Last week we did hill repeats as one of our running practices, which could have been terrible. Instead, it was great because everyone cheered each other on as we ran up and down the hill at our own paces.

“The Dartmouth Triathlon Team empowers its members to pursue athletic achievement”

We have some pretty amazing athletes on our team- ironmen, people going to world championships this summer, and we frequently sweep the podium at races. Our practices involve challenge by choice- everyone gets a copy of the work out and there are lots of ways to tailor it to your ability level, which allows everyone to reach their highest potential. The practice format has allowed me to feel challenged without ever feeling frustrated and I have definitely improved in all three disciplines.

“…while also providing leadership opportunities as a student run team.”

We have two fabulous volunteer coaches that help us plan and run workouts and we are so grateful to have their support. However, we are still a student run team, so we are in charge of planning logistics for every event we go to, reserving spaces for practices and events, and making sure that our practices are safe. As a new member of the exec board, I have learned that it takes a lot to run a team. The captains and the exec board work really hard to make everything run smoothly.

The triathlon team has had a very positive impact on my time at Dartmouth so far and I was really thankful to have the opportunity to help write the mission statement. The statement allows us to have a strong set of core values that we can go back to in the future.

SBR,

Hannah

About the Author

Hannah Lang ('21) is a new member of the exec board studying Arabic and Quantitative Social Science. She loves cooking, slogs (slow jogs) with teammates, and traveling.

Published on

I was convinced, for my first five minutes of my first pool workout with the triathlon team, that I was a pretty decent swimmer. Despite my raspy throat, burning chest, and aching shoulders, I was actually able to keep pace with my teammates. At the end of our first set, I stood up in the shallows and turned to Emily to ask her how to perform the specified drills. She replied that we were supposed to first perform catch-up at a moderate pace after our “easy” warmup, and launched into the drill in a strong, confident stroke. As I watched Emily, and the rest of the Tri Team glide across the pool with effortless technique, I bit my lip to keep from crying. It seemed that swimming, like everything else here at Dartmouth, would be a learning curve that started at level zero.

I first heard about the Dartmouth Triathlon Team before I ever stepped foot on campus. While surfing the internet in search of activities to join once I arrived on campus, I stumbled across Tri Team’s webpage quite by accident. In spite of a team cover photo filled with happy smiles, funny blog posts, and well-organized calendar, I didn’t spend more than a few minutes scanning the website. Competitive athletics, I had decided, were a part of my past. It was time for me to close the yearbook and focus on the academic pursuits that I believed were the key to success in life beyond Dartmouth. I was convinced that coming to a new place like Dartmouth meant I had to be a new person and throw away my childhood in favor of the adulthood I hoped to find here.

Two weeks into term, my wish for a “new life” had been granted. Classes were new. Friends were new. The food, my room, professors, my schedule— there wasn’t one part of my life that was exactly how I remembered it back home. Overwhelmed, I began longing for the familiar cadence of a long run and the joy of having time set aside each day to focus on life outside of academics. Cranky from sitting in the Stacks for hours on end, I began to reevaluate my decision to throw my passion for athletics away.

On the heels of this realization, I remembered the smiling faces in the Tri Team photo I had seen back in December. I decided to begin showing up to practices, hoping that I could one day count myself among them. Yet standing at the end of my lane during that first swim practice, easily one of the slowest swimmers on the team, I began to wonder if I had made a mistake. I didn’t look, or feel, like those excited, athletic people that I remembered from Tri Team’s website.

“Try breathing more frequently, and don’t turn your head so far out of the water.” Glancing up, I looked over my shoulder to see Coach Jeff standing on the pool deck. As I focused on my technique, I felt a newfound steadiness in my stroke, and felt the dejected tension in my stomach begin to ease. When my lane-mates returned, we began the next set together; encouragement flowing through the group. By the end of practice, I wasn’t ready to join the Olympic swim team— but I wasn’t ready to give up either.

Swimming, Biking, Running. Each sport is difficult on its own merit, and as triathletes, we put them altogether to create a sport that is the ultimate test of athleticism, spirit, and above all, grit. Many of us on Tri Team came to Dartmouth with backgrounds in a wide range of sports and bring our own personal strengths and weaknesses to triathlon. For some of us, that may mean starting at level “zero” in at least one element of triathlon. Yet, my first day of swimming with Tri Team taught me that our first steps into the sport do not represent our limitations, but our launch pads. They propel us into improvements that reach as far as our hard work and tenacity will take us.

Most importantly, though, our journeys into triathlon represent a path that we walk with our teammates. Our shared experience as students at one of the most rigorous universities in the country, coupled with our demanding training, has created a community in which each person genuinely values the contribution of everyone’s personal best— because we all understand what it means to challenge your own limits every day. My love of athletics may have brought me to triathlon, but this accepting and hard-working community has been the part of my experience on the team that convinced me to stay. It has been such a blessing to get to know all of the amazing people on triathlon team over the course of the past seven weeks, and I can’t wait for all of our adventures together over the course of the next four years.

SBR,

Maya

About the Author

Maya is a ’22 from Minnesota. She loves running to Norwich with the team on Mondays, strawberry-banana smoothies from Collis, apple-brie sandwiches from Novack, Nordic skiing, and having outdoor adventures of any kind.

Published on

18X brought less structure, an opportunity to bond as a smaller community, and gorgeous weather. We spent evenings at Storrs Pond swimming in the murky water, late nights and early mornings running to avoid the sometimes humid and hot air, and filled our weekends with long rides perfecting our bike short tan lines. We biked both through sunshine and torrential rain, finished workouts by hopping into the river, and took days off from normal tri activities to hike. Through the endless possible backroads to explore in the NH/VT Upper Valley, each hill was an opportunity for strengthening and each downhill a chance to release tension and create our own breezes. As much as I enjoy the hours spent in the spin room with teammates sweating while singing along to throwback music (which we still fit into our summer schedules on the occasional morning), 18X was focused on soaking in every sunbeam and growing more and more comfortable and powerful on our outdoor bikes.

Carly and I trained to bike 100 miles in the Prouty, which provided us with a chance to do something we love while raising money for a cause. We rode with Hunter and our coach Jeff and finished the century ride in under six hours. As biking has been an escape from stress this summer, this ride provided me with six hours in my happy place. Climbing each hill in order to drop into aero and glide down the other side, I combined personal challenge with a reflection on the impact cancer has had on my family. Just as I worked with my sisters to be caretakers for our mom while balancing school work and health, I worked with my teammates to defeat each hill while balancing hydration and nutrition. The Prouty was a reminder of the incredible Upper Valley community. In the weeks leading up to this event, there were constantly bikers making their ways through the beautiful NH and VT backroads. Give the people in the Upper Valley a cause they care about and a physical challenge, and you see the huge participation and impact they can have.

In addition to our feat on the bike, a group of us traveled to Boston for the Boston Triathlon, which became a duathlon (run bike run) due to weather. The optimism each person held through the storm and the two running events was a great reminder of the team spirit and energy that makes this group of people so special. Not only was it so nice to spend time with past and current teammates who traveled to Boston from their internships and jobs, but it was a reminder of the larger community that will join us again in the fall. This summer has provided an opportunity to strengthen relationships between us ‘20s while developing our sense of leadership and goals for the team as we move forward without the ‘18s. I am grateful for the time we have had to process the changes our community will face without the presence of the ‘18s we love so much, but 18X has shown me that we can honor their traditions and carry their energy and compassion into our team’s next generation.

As 18X comes to an end, we can still be found riding through backroads in NH, training for Buzzards Bay Sprint in mid-September, as we await the return of the rest of our teammates and prepare to welcome 22s onto our team.

SBR,

Andrea

About the Author

Andrea (’20) is a tri team exec from Hanover, NH studying Quantitative Social Science and Arabic. She loves winter, tea, traveling with family, and spending time outside.

Published on

Long autumn bike rides might be my favorite thing about going to school in New Hampshire. Vibrant colors, vitality in the air. On a few solo rides this fall, the glory of it all inspired me to sing songs from “The Sound of Music” under my breath. Summer morning open water swims in the Upper Valley are similarly spectacular. Fog rising, glassy solitude. I swam beside a loon once in August, popping my head above the water just in time to watch its webbed feet plunge beneath the surface.

In December, I spent hours chugging away on my bike trainer, admiring my cats’ litter boxes and the underside of the basement stairs. I swam beside retired folks at the Y. Throughout the winter, I have shuffled through icy slush on cold nights, wearing enough reflective gear to look like a small vehicle.

Why am I spending 12+ hours/week training for a summer sport?

The simple answer: I am in tri team’s Long Course goal group this winter and spring, training for a 70.3 triathlon (Half Ironman). Winter is for base training, which involves high volume, low intensity training that is often indoors.

The more interesting question: why did we all choose to register for these races? What keeps us swimming in pools, biking on trainers, and running in ski gear? What drives our craziness?

At its best, triathlon promotes holistic health. This is obvious to me when I see the sun set over Post Pond or brave Jericho Hill alongside my teammates. But the winter months are reminding me that understanding my ‘reasons why’ requires thought and self-reflection. There is nothing inherently good about triathlon. At its worst, an individual sport like this one can promote unhealthy self-absorption, toxic comparison, even narcissism. If we don’t understand our ‘why,’ we’re little more than TrainingPeaks-driven drones. In the process of writing this post, I have unpacked my intentions and organized them into three buckets: training the body, sharpening the mind, and bolstering community.

Training the Body

Triathlon trains your body to love movement. It accustoms you to physical exertion until it is expected and comfortable. In a society that encourages scrutiny and sculpting of the body, triathlon training teaches us that our bodies are agents and not objects (check out Emma R’s post, “The Mirror Doesn’t Matter”). It can be a reminder to treat our bodies with kindness, not because we should lead healthy lifestyles, but because it genuinely feels good to prioritize self-care.

Training the body is satisfying. It’s easy to track your progress, both by numerical measurements and by how it feels to swim, bike, and run. In my own experience, making progress inspires gratitude. It makes it easier for me to be grateful for my health and my strength, proud of the way my body responds to challenges instead of critical of the way it looks standing in front of a mirror.

Sharpening the Mind

Mental toughness is what gets you out the door for a run on a dreary day and what pushes you a little harder through a long interval on the trainer. The mental toughness that we develop now will push us to the finish line on race day. Each day, as we train our bodies, we train our minds.

That said, this winter I have realized that sharpening the mind during training requires discipline. It is easy to spend an entire two-hour ride distracting myself by watching TV, listening to pop music, letting my mind wander. Sometimes, that escape is just what I need. But so much escape, after about a month of long course training, began to feel like a waste of time.

I have started to approach my training sessions as opportunities to learn. I experiment with mindfulness meditation on my bike, tuning into the sensations in my body and my breath, noticing thoughts pass in and out of my brain. This moment-by-moment awareness makes me feel more present as I go through my days, and it will help me push through on race day.

I have also been more intentional about what I listen to and watch on the trainer, choosing interesting podcasts, sermons, and documentaries over mindless television. While this learning doesn’t necessarily cultivate the kind of mental toughness that will get me across the finish line, it has helped me make the most of my time and feel less like a caged hamster on a wheel.

Bolstering Community

For me and many others on the Dartmouth tri team, the triathlon community is central to our love of the sport. Training alone can be isolating, but training with others fosters deep friendships. This winter alone, I have had interesting conversations with teammates about the refugee crisis, engineering in third world countries, problems with the mental health care system, the ideal work-life balance, how to protect others without being overbearing, how to make the world’s best granola. What else is there to do on these long runs and rides? In my view, training side-by-side is the world’s most platonic form of physical intimacy. Something about parallel strides and elevated heart rates seems to spark connection, and honesty is often met with a uniquely visceral empathy.

The spirit of this team is one of encouragement and inclusivity. I think I registered for this Half IronMan because I wanted more of that spirit in my days. My motivation has plummeted on weeks when I can’t make many practices. Training can be tough, but together, we try not to take ourselves too seriously. There is laughter at practice. We care about what’s going on in each others’ lives.

—

You don’t need to train for a Long Course triathlon to gain these physical, mental, and social benefits. You don’t need to do triathlons at all. In some circumstances, high-volume training has the potential to detract from overall quality of life. But training with healthy intentions in the context of a positive community has brought me strength and satisfaction, discipline and joy. I think many of my teammates would say the same.

Sbr,

Sonia

About the Author

Sonia is a ’19 studying Psychology and Spanish. She loves talking with kids about feelings, singing in the car, and drinking spicy hot chocolate after winter runs.

Published on

Staring as the timer elapsed to zero, I awkwardly spun around and fell face-first into the water of Bowdoin’s large pool. It was the start of my 9th triathlon (how have I possibly done that many?!), and I was still shaky with nerves as I started splashing my way across the pool. As usual, though, the nerves started to fade as I fell into my usual stroke rhythm and continued on – although I can’t ever claim a fast swim time, I can at least be proud that I didn’t run into anyone throughout the strange snake-swim!

Tuesday swim practices this spring have been devoted to the snake-swim, which consists of starting at one end of the pool, swimming down and back in one lane, switching lanes, swimming down and back in that one, and continuing on across the pool. Weird, right? Not only do I struggle with swimming, but I especially struggle when I start to get dizzy from alternating the direction I turn every time I reach the wall. Snake-swimming was definitely not a favorite pastime of mine, but the team snaked together every Tuesday night in preparation for the race, so I couldn’t miss the bonding opportunity.

I want to give a shoutout to Brett Seeley-Hacker ’18 (a varsity swimmer turned triathlete) who kindly gave A+ demonstrations of flipping around at each wall and swimming under the lane line – although I never managed to do it gracefully as he did. Even in the race, nervously splashing around as always, I smacked my knuckles a few times on the lane lines and even hit my head when trying to go under it. Not a great start to my last collegiate tri – maybe I shouldn’t have skipped that one Tuesday night swim for trivia at the Skinny Pancake…

As I half-slipped half-stepped up the ladder, out of the pool of snakes, and into the sunshine, I felt relief just as I always do – that I survived the hardest part of the tri. Next, I got to bike across the basically-flat course, through gorgeous fields and waterfront views – and saw a few of our amazing, fast-swimming 21s along the way! I saw a few more Dartmouth Tri people on the run course too, which was a beautiful route through the woods. And finally, finishing the race with plenty of teammates cheering me on was a perfect way to end it – sunburn and all.

We had 40 Dartmouth triathletes racing that day – about half of them doing their first triathlon. We were by far the largest group there, and the eccentric announcer had a lot of fun making sure to emphasize that ANOTHER Dartmouth kid was finishing up and that ANOTHER Dartmouth athlete had made the podium (we even listened to the announcer’s CD on the way home – that may have been a little too much of him). My talented teammates inspire me every race – from the few that place at every race they compete in, to the ones that just completed their first race and managed to make it through every transition without forgetting something – everyone motivates me to push a little harder and swim, bike, or run a little faster.

Doing a tri is no small feat, and it takes plenty of planning and encouragement to get through it – that’s what the Dartmouth Tri Team is for. They are the best group of people I’ve found to not only work out with, but to spend time with – whether we’re training, snake-swimming, studying, eating ice cream, or celebrating after a race day, they are the people I’ll remember most from my college experience. I’m so thankful for the community that is Dartmouth Tri, and I can only hope to find a group that is half as supportive once I graduate this June.
Of course, even though I’ll be graduating, that doesn’t mean I’ll stop checking up on the Tri Team – I can’t wait to see how far the team goes in the coming years. There’s no one with whom I’d rather wake up at 4:30am, dance to pump-up songs in the dark while unloading bikes, eat wildly large quantities of Amato’s pasta, or listen to strange announcer’s CDs on long van rides – the tri team is where it’s at.

GBG and SBR,

Abigail

About the Author

Abigail (’18) is a tri team exec from Poulsbo, WA studying Biomedical Engineering and preparing to apply to dental school. She loves backcountry skiing, drinking great coffee, and spending time with her family in the beautiful Pacific Northwest.

Published on

I remember the very first Activities Fair I went to one warm day in early September, shortly before the start of my freshman year. It was an overwhelming experience on the Green, with upperclassmen representatives of dozens of clubs explaining the workings and purposes of their organizations. I stumbled across the Dartmouth Club Triathlon Team which immediately caught my attention, especially having completed two marathons during my junior and senior years of high school. I thought that adding the swimming and biking components would be a great way to step out of my comfort zone, never having been close to excelling at either. Knowing that there would only be a limited number of organizations that I could be a part of, I carefully chose which clubs I signed up for, and I spoke with Nina Mascia ’15 (co-founder and former co-captain) and showed up to practices in the fall. Although practices would sometimes consist of only seven to eight members, the workouts were well organized, and the captains scheduled several social events throughout the year to ensure opportunities to get to know other members of the team outside of the gym. Needless to say, there were very few times I was ever reminded how recently the club had been formed.

Fast forward to my senior year, it is clear that the team has grown exponentially and become more dynamic and vibrant when the Manley Room is echoing with footsteps during strength practices and the spin room is more popular than a Soul Cycle class on a Sunday early afternoon in New York City. Though a majority of the founding members of the team have moved beyond their undergraduate years at Dartmouth and are pursuing advanced degrees and a wide range of careers, it is comforting to see a new cohort of triathletes walk in to practice. As the spring term arrives and new captains and executives are shown how to manage the club, it has been especially exciting knowing that there are members not only willing to participate, but also willing to take on the difficult responsibilities that continue to make the Triathlon Team so special for everyone. I never imagined that 21 Dartmouth Triathletes would travel to Florida for a Training Trip during the middle of spring break and that 40 Dartmouth Triathletes would sign up for the Bowdoin Polar Bear Triathlon this upcoming May. To top it all off, it has been amazing to have the backing of three amazing coaches who have spent so much time invested in our triathlon success and multiple generous alumni who have made training trips logistically and financially possible.

As I prepare to complete my senior spring, it is reassuring to know that the club is in reliable hands. Though my participation as an undergraduate student ends at the conclusion of the school year, as I prepare to enter a new chapter of my life as a Dartmouth alum, I hope to have an opportunity to support the team just as many others have done. As one of my most meaningful activities my senior year, I can’t wait for the even greater things that lie ahead for these phenomenal people and this amazing organization.

SBR,

Daniel Lee ’18

About the Author

Daniel Lee is an ’18 from Los Angeles, CA who did not adequately prepare for the New England winters. He is an avid Dodgers fan and often can be seen getting facetime at Foco.

Published on

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

Published on

Sharks, riptides, and 66 other athletes kicking me in the face. These were the things I was trying my hardest not to think about as I watched the collegiate men’s wave enter the water. But with my teammates by my side, including some amazing alums, I felt ready to jump into the salty waves in Buzzard’s Bay.

I am by no means a swimmer. Or a biker. At least that is what I thought coming out of high school. My time with the triathlon club has started to change that. I often lament to my teammates that I regret not joining the team my freshmen year, but instead waited until Sophomore spring to become a part of the group. But maybe I just wasn’t ready. Maybe I was obsessed with running… or afraid of swimming and biking. Whatever it was, I am thrilled and grateful to be a part of the team now. Buzzard’s Bay was a fantastic opportunity to reconnect with teammates who had not been around this summer (my Dartmouth Sophomore Summer) and continue to get to know the ones that were around.

The weekend started in the parking lot behind Mass Row (Is this how all Dartmouth triathlon trips start?). I conquered the long trek from South Mass to the trailer, one bike, one helmet, and four bags in hand. Emily and I joined Andrea and Sonia in the truck, which was attached to the massive trailer holding all of our bikes. The ride down to Massachusetts was full of music, great conversation, the exchange of pump-up gifts and a slight mishap at a gas station -- a truck and a trailer need a lot of room, but no worries, Andrea and Sonia are pro trailer drivers. Hanging out with Andrea, Sonia, and Emily in the truck was definitely one of the highlights of the trip. I loved hearing about Emily’s study abroad in Beijing this summer, Andrea’s affinity for mediating group drama (a handy thing for a sorority leader), and Sonia’s experiences working at a Psych clinic. In no time, we were in Massachusetts, taking care of race registration, and on our way to the hotel.

After a bit of confusion with the seemingly overwhelmed hotel manager, the team found its way into the hotel’s breakfast room for a carbo-load pasta dinner from Olive Garden topped off with cookies made from our very own chef/captain, Carly Tymm. We finished off the night with a few board games and a team pre-race meeting before a respectable bedtime of 9:30pm. Before long, by 6:20am to be exact, we were up and out of the hotel, on our way to the beautiful Buzzard’s Bay. I can truly say that the website does not lie when it says it hosts the most scenic triathlon in Massachusetts. The gorgeous scenery and nice weather boded well for a good race.

Later that morning I was on the beach, watching the men’s wave enter the water. Soon after, it was my turn to flounder in with the other 66 neon pink swim caps, too disoriented to have any hope of avoiding the mess of limbs hacking through the waves. To make it through, I concentrated on breathing (and spitting out salt water), and strokes, occasionally stopping to look around and find the next buoy or shore. I swear, every time I paused to look up, the buoy or shore was in the opposite direction from where I thought it should have been. Nonetheless, I made it safely out of the water and immediately began stripping the wetsuit off.

For the rest of the race I was thankfully much more aware of my surroundings, happily enjoying the sandy hills, marshy landscape, and green shrubbery of Buzzard’s Bay. On the bike and then on the run, I enjoyed seeing teammates and exchanging cheers. I think I saw almost everyone on the bike, if you count catching Sonia beginning her run, a good few minutes in front of the rest of our collegiate girls wave. Reaching the run myself, I took off on wobbly legs and didn’t look back until I hit the last stretch along the ocean, alums and teammates cheering me on. When I passed the finish line, I was out of breath and panting, but I was also surprised it had all gone so quickly. When I used to race track races in high school, I was a nervous wreck whose greatest wish in the world was to be done with the race. It has been quite the opposite with triathlons so far. As much as I enjoy training with my teammates, learning how to swim fast and handle myself on a road bike, I truly love racing triathlons with the team. The two triathlons I have raced so far have been highlights of my Dartmouth experience, both for the chance to bond with my teammates and for the thrill I get from challenging myself athletically in a new way.

Racing at Buzzard’s Bay made me motivated and excited to begin training this Fall with the team. I can’t wait to train with the new 22’s and the old, but just as exciting, returning team members. I want to take the opportunity to thank Sonia, Tucker, and Carly (and all of the other execs) for all that they do for the team. It is clear to me that running this team takes an army’s worth of work and they do it with all smiles and a friendly attitude that makes this community so special. I also want to thank the rest of the triathlon team for welcoming me my sophomore spring. My time on this team has meant the world to me and I’m so excited to enjoy two more years of it.

SBR,

Megan

About the Author:

Megan is a ‘20 from California studying Biomedical Engineering. She loves long trail runs, baking extravagant birthday cakes with her two lovely sisters, and reading historical fiction novels on the flights back home.