2024-25

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UCLA IronBruin 2024

Early morning start to the day as the alarm went off at 5:30am. Drove over to Bonelli Park to meet up with the rest of the team to get to packet pick up. Parking was slightly hectic and transition a tad far but in the end everyone from the team was able to sign in and get their packet with race essentials: Bib, Timing Chip, Helmet, Sticker, and Bike Sticker. Set up my transition in the wave 1 transition area with the majority of the team and rest of the collegiate athletes. Said hello to some friends from opposing schools and caught up on summer activities and training. Then headed down to the lake shore to stretch and get a warm up in. The start was delayed due to an early earthquake and the nearby dam integrity needed to be evaluated as well as the fog causing unclear vision on the bike course. The delayed start made me feel like I was cooking in the wetsuit waiting but at least it wasn’t cold anymore.

Once the race began the adrenaline started rushing and I may have started out on the swim a tad too fast but too late to change the strategy so I just kept going. Once in transition 1, and on the bike it took some time to get into the cycling rhythm. Once in the rhythm I enjoyed the scenery. However the roads could have used some maintenance because I kept getting kicked off the saddle just from the bumps. Once done with the bike it was time for the run. Literally holding on for dear life, heart rate may have skipped a few beats or was soaring through the roof who knows. But like all things it was still fun to run it with many people supporting you along the route. Once done with the race I was satisfied that I finished despite being sick previously that week and still semi-recovering. A good strong point was the start of the year race ended with everyone that attended finishing.

Post race it was snack and water time. Also talked to my teammates, took pictures, and thanked my family that came out to support. Then once everyone from the team finished and gear was collected it was time to go home to get food and take a nap before having to finish assignments that were postponed due to the race.

-Raul

UCSB Kendra's Race 2024

My experience during Kendra’s Race this year was a bit surprising for me. I came into it expecting huge PRs on the swim and bike but a really slow run, but I ended up going pretty even for all three legs. The race started with an ocean swim, which in hindsight I should’ve practiced more for. I wanted to try a two-beat kick like I’ve been practicing in the pool but I felt so slow in the water and my wetsuit I just ended up kicking without thinking about the rhythm, which is an old bad habit. But despite that, I still finished the swim faster than my last time on the course by 10 seconds per 100yd. After the brutal walk/run up the stairs to transition, I got my legs out of my wetsuit first-try standing up, which is really rare for me. This might’ve been my best T1 of any race so far. Going into the bike leg of the race, I had to deal with the series of tight turns through the campus and getting stuck behind people. In anticipation of the slow section I had opted to leave my TT bars off my bike, which I regretted as soon as I got to the open road part. I haven’t trained enough in the aero hoods position so my arms were getting sore fast and I had to go into the drops a lot during the ride. Despite this, I still beat my pace from last time, which I’m happy about.

Getting off the bike, I did a satisfying flying dismount and had a pretty fast T2. I started the run pretty slow but accelerated, hitting a 7 minute split for the first mile. Then disaster struck around the halfway point: a side cramp! I tried to endure it for a minute then slowed down to a jog again. I was expecting to be done and just jog the rest, but after a few minutes the cramp just went away! Normally I don’t cramp, or it’s so bad I have to slow down for the rest of the run. But after that second wind, I sped back up again, trying to make up for lost time. My heart and lungs were recovered from having run slowly while cramping, so I was flying for the last mile. About 200 meters from the finish I saw my teammate Azure and went all-out to try and catch him. Once he realized I was passing he also sped up into a full sprint and held me off. Normally in triathlons we’re so spread out so it’s rare to have fun sprint finishes like this, so I was glad I got one this time. Overall I’m pleased with how the race went, and as always it’s just fun to travel with the team. Depending on where I go for grad school this might not be my last Kendra’s Race, so I’ll use the lessons I learned if I ever come back.

-Eric

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This was my first time visiting the UCSB campus and it was also a much-needed weekend away from a busy school schedule. After arriving, I set up my transition area, donned my wetsuit and got in a light warm-up jog. Between the sunny Santa Barbara sky and the barefoot walk down to the beach, the excitement in the crisp November air was palpable.

Once the race kicked off, the moderate surf, a noticeable onshore current, and cold water took some getting used to. Finally managed to get into a good rhythm in the last 400m, but the biggest mental challenge for this race was just powering through the first few minutes of the swim. I rounded the last buoy, made it up the stairs, and found myself at transition. This is where I encountered the most physically challenging part of the race-removing my wetsuit. Once that battle was won, I jumped on the bike and quickly settled into a good cadence. The bike course begins by winding its’ way through the campus before looping around the airport and ending in an uphill climb back to campus. We do this twice before making our way back to transition. Turns were well-marked and volunteers were super helpful. There were also great vibes with cheer squads and course guides at various places! Overall, the bike felt amazing and may have been my favorite leg of the race. On to a very quick T2!

I thankfully got rid of my post-bike jelly-legs within the first half-mile of the run. The course was a beautiful trail run through some classic California chaparral with several small hills thrown in for good measure. A conveniently placed water station just before and after the half-way point was appreciated, and I immediately felt a second wind. As I got closer to the finish line, the reality that I was about to complete this sprint triathlon started to set in. This meditation inspired me to use that remaining gas in the tank to sprint the final 0.3/0.25 miles. I was met with a crowd that was absolutely stoked for every last finisher!

Some closing thoughts, with a focus on easy improvements. We are lucky enough to have conditions that allow for us to compete in a triathlon with an open-ocean swim in the middle of November. That said, I won’t be skipping the swim warm-up next time, as I think the water acclimatization alone is worth a short swim. Relatedly, I need to practice removing the wetsuit quickly after the swim. Lastly, I might start adding something highly visible/distinctive to my transition area. I definitely ran past it with my bike during T2. Overall, great race, great vibes, and I’ll be back for the next one!

-Luis

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This year’s Kendra’s was such a blast! I really enjoyed myself with my friends and teammates and this course is definitely one of my favorites because of both the difficulty and location.

The race course itself was really fun. The swim felt pretty long and had a lot of seaweed, but overall I really enjoyed it and I really improved from last year. I think this is because I got more race experience, more experience in a wetsuit, and more practice strictly swimming. The stairs at the end were pretty annoying and difficult, but after I got through the stairs I felt a lot better. I struggled a lot at transition for some reason, but it was fun seeing Coach Greg and Ema at the transition. Biking through the campus was a little bit sketchy, but it was pretty fun because I got to take sharp turns fast. Biking around the airport was also pretty fun because I got into aero and got to pass people, although my bike time was still not the best. The run was a lot of fun, I really like the course even though it's pretty hilly and usually I really don’t like hills. I got to see a lot of my friends on the run, too, and try to catch them. I also got to cheer on my friend who was behind me since he did the open division race. Overall, I improved a lot from last year, and my mental state was also much improved, I actually enjoyed the race this time around. On race conditions, I think this course rocks, the only improvements I can think of are better markings in the school and less sharp turns, but other than that this course is pretty cool.

I really enjoyed Kendra’s Race this year, and I can’t wait to go back in the upcoming years!

-Ben

UCSD Tritonman 2025

As a UC San Diego alumnus, I was lucky enough to have several motivations to enjoy competing in Tritonman. San Diego, and Mission Bay specifically, are beautiful backdrops for the event. Not only would I be racing alongside the UCI team, it was an opportunity to reconnect with some old friends living in North Park. Even picking up race packets turned into a semi-nostalgic experience of getting to revisit the campus.

The annual Tritonman Triathlon at Mission Bay began with an early start in the pre-dawn darkness, with athletes navigating the limited lighting walk/bike from the street parking to their transition areas. The support crew was awesome on arrival and helped efficiently get people setup to enter transition. Plenty of assistance and encouragement throughout the setup process. After a jogging warmup and a few minutes acclimating in the water, the sun started peeking through getting us ready for race day. Despite a goggle strap failure within the first 200 meters, I felt more prepared than at the previous UCSB race. Perhaps the closer proximity to the shore, minimal waves, and lack of current also made for an easier mental battle here. One thing I’d like to work on for future swims is confidence around the buoys. These areas can get crowded, and I feel I sight and kinda just float around much more than needed here. I see others are able to more aggressively round them and no one seems to be hurt in the process. The transition from swim to bike involved a quick run across a grassy park area. While wetsuit removal is improving, there's still room for efficiency gains. I don’t know that I’ll ever be able to fully doth the wetsuit on the run over from the swim, but it’s something I see others do with mixed success. I tried racing without socks for faster T1 for this sprint distance. I’m not sure it’s a game changer, but might still experiment with the approach a few more times.

The cycling portion unfolded under rainy conditions on narrow, winding paths that demanded careful navigation between speed and safety. The course's straightaways provided exciting opportunities to increase pace and build momentum. Spectator support was particularly uplifting at the loop/fork section, providing much-needed motivation during this challenging segment. After a swift T2, the relatively flat run course allowed for maintaining a consistent pace, culminating in a strong sprint finish encouraged by the enthusiastic crowd at the finish line. During some post-race introspection, I think my aerobic capacity is at a place where future training focused on speed work could yield some really significant performance gains.

I will add that the extended closure of the transition area after the race was unexpected, and resulted in a chilly wait for warmer clothing in the windy, rainy conditions. Despite these minor logistical challenges, the Tritonman Triathlon delivered an exceptional racing experience, marked by camaraderie, personal achievement, and the unique energy that comes from pushing physical limits alongside like minded triathletes.

-Luis

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I have competed in UC San Diego's Tritonman for the last three years and have had the opportunity to compete in the Draft Legal race for the last two. It's a great race on Fiesta Island in San Diego and I always enjoy the course. This year, we drove up on Friday night for the pre race meeting. I could feel the anticipatory nerves of the other competitors radiating throughout the room and was excited for the next morning.

Saturday morning was freezing. They ended up canceling the swim which put me at a disadvantage as a swimmer. Instead, we raced a 1 mile run, 12 mile bike, and 3 mile run. I have recently built up my running ability so I was able to hold on to one of the groups during the first run and got into a draft pack with Kasey during the four laps on the bike. By the time we finished the bike, I was glad to not have done a swim because the air temperature and wind were frigid. On the last run, I felt stronger than I have in past races, and was thankful for the extra training runs I did over winter break. I enjoy Tritonman because the last run is three laps which allows the opportunity to see your friends during the race.

Overall it was a really fun race and we got the Taco Stand after! I didn't compete in the Classic so I watched my teammates on the second day with a couple other members from our team who did DL. I think Tritonman is a great beginner friendly race because it is completely flat and the loops on the bike do not require advanced dexterity. The only thing I wish I could have changed was having a swim in the beginning, but overall it was a really great first race of Winter Quarter!

-Michaela

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I was excited to return to San Diego this year for Tritonman. Last year Tritonman was my first ever triathlon (duathlon technically, as the race got changed to a run-bike-run). I was excited to race a course I was already familiar with and improve! I was also a bit nervous since I signed up to race Draft Legal this year. Biking is my weakest leg and I did not want a DNF from being overlapped.

It was fun driving to SD with team members Friday night, spending the night chilling and doing homework, and waking up early the next morning to bike to the course. That morning was extremely cold. The idea of putting on my wetsuit and getting into the ocean water was not appealing…at all. My prayers for a run-bike-run were answered fortunately. I was as happy as can be! Since running is my strongest sport(and I don’t have cycling shoes), I was able to get a head start on the bike course.

Once I made it out of transition, I tried to catch draft packs. I had never truly drafted before and my competitors were too fast for me to hold on. By the beginning of the second lap I was able to draft off one strong lady and held on until the beginning or middle of the third lap. It is amazing how much drafting helps. Until you feel it, you have no idea! Once I made it to the third lap, I had a wave of relief fall over me - I could not be overlapped now, which meant I was going to finish the race! Once I made it to the run, I tried to push myself, but also have fun. It was encouraging to hear some of the guys cheering before their race started. Overall, I was happy with how I raced. Maybe next year I will be able to finally test out the Tritonman swim.

I did not sign up for the Classic race on Sunday, so the rest of Saturday was fun and relaxing. Bryce, Azure, Jack, and I got phở for dinner, which I think needs to become a team tradition. I had a lot of fun on Sunday cheering on my teammates. Although I love racing, it was nice to encourage my friends without any race anxiety or being out of breath.

Whether I race Draft Legal or Classic next year, I do have two goals. One is to improve my efficiency in open water swims (in case we can swim next year). I tend to not swim the shortest route. My biggest goal is to get stronger on the bike. I want to be more comfortable and relaxed with my bike so that I can push myself more. Tritonman 2025 was an amazing race weekend and I am grateful for all the memories I made.

-Sarah

Stanford Treeathlon 2025

Both of my years with the Triathlon Team at UCI I have driven up for this race in Stanford, and I can say it has yet to disappoint. Not only is the race itself super fun, but the quality time I get to spend with my friends on the team over the 6-8 hour road trip (and getting to stay with their families) makes it even better, plus all of our shenanigans that goes on...This year the Stanford team chose a slightly different location, something I really appreciated and I think made the swim 10x more enjoyable. Unfortunately for everyone Sunday was an incredibly windy day which made the swim a bit choppy and the bike incredibly hard, I still liked the swim this year more because the water was a lot cleaner and it was slightly longer, which suits my background as a swimmer. Oh AND we did not have the long treacherous run on the gravel road into T1! While a lot of people struggled on the bike thanks to the crazy 18mph wind with gusts of up to 30mph, I somehow had my fastest average speed of any triathlon!?! Yet despite that, my favorite part of the race this year was the run, which kills me to even say. But it's true! In the first out and back of the run course there was a big curve along the water that led to the first 180º turn around, and while running here I was able to see Pere, Jack, Lance, and Leo all in that same stretch!! Out of maybe 15 people I saw here, half of them had the UCI kits on which made me super happy and very excited for the future of our program. Like I said before, swimming is my strongest leg (and I am also a decent biker), so I was in the front of our little pack at this part. I knew Pere was right behind me, thanks to the course layout, and that lit a fire in me to go faster. It is well known that Pere is a much better runner than me, but since it was his last sprint race before graduating I knew I had to make him work for it... I ended up averaging 6:52 which is an instance PR for me but he ended up passing me with less than half a kilometer to go, averaging a relaxed 6:10 pace for him. While I unfortunately got passed in the end (technically twice since Azure somehow managed to get out of the last kilometer of running...), Treeathlon was another success and I can't wait to go back next year!

- Bryce

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I raced at Stanford's Treeathlon the other day. Treeathlon was one of my best races last year so I was excited to race it again and see how I would do. This year went great and I had a lot of fun with the race and I went six minutes faster than last year. During the race and this year in general my goal has been to take things less seriously and focus on having fun during triathlon. I still want to push myself hard but not sacrifice enjoyment from the sport. During this race especially I think I did this really well. I went into the swim very confident and excited. Because of this I had my best swim in a triathlon yet at 10 minutes fifty seconds. This is a huge improvement from last year where I swam Treeathlon in 15 minutes. I really tried to push the bike hard because I knew that since I hadn’t trained that much for the run it was my best chance to go fast. I think I could've gone a little faster but was overallreally happy with how my bike went. I tried to have fun on the run by cheering on all of my teammates who I passed by since it was an out and back. Even though I had a tough time on the run this positive outlook really helped me push through to finish the race. I’m really glad I adopted this new outlook on triathlon because it has allowed me to have more fun and go faster. I can’t wait for next year's Treeathlon. This was my last race of the season so I was glad to end it off with a good one next to all of my friends.

-Jack

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The Stanford 2025 Treeathlon was my first triathlon ever, and I had a great time completing it! I feel that I performed well for having only started training in September, and becoming more consistent with my training only about a month before the race. The course was simple and relatively unchallenging, with an out-and-back swim, 4-loop bike ride, and 5K out-and-back run. There were minimal inclines on the course, and the distances between the end of each leg and the transition area were extremely short, which made everything run smoothly. The only downside to this race is that it was extremely windy – the wind was directed perpendicularly to the bike loop and was a headwind during the first part of the run, and myself and many other competitors were nearly knocked over by some of the gusts. In my opinion, the wind was the most challenging aspect of the race.

I felt pretty good on the swim leg, although the start was very hectic and I had a hard time sighting because of all the limbs flying around and resulting splashes. Additionally, on the return leg of the swim, there was a competitor who was resting on the lane line and pulling it down, and I swam over it by accident. It definitely slowed my progress, but wasn’t the worst thing to deal with. During the bike, I felt quite good all the way up until I was finishing my fourth lap and returning to the transition area, as the strong headwind killed all of my momentum and made the transition into the running leg difficult. Additionally, I hadn’t practiced drinking water or getting nutrition while on a moving bike, so I was completely gassed by the run, which definitely showed in my times. I was disappointed by this, as I had been training my run pretty intensely compared to my previous experience, completing longer distances in an attempt to make the 5K distance seem easier by comparison, but I realize that I should have practiced the 5K distance more consistently in order to be better prepared for this race. In the future, I’ll definitely be practicing eating and drinking while on a moving bike.

I’ll be graduating from UCI this spring, so I unfortunately won’t be able to compete with the UCI Triathlon team next year. However, I had such a great time on the team this year that I’ll be continuing to train for and compete in triathlons next year when I begin my PhD program at UC Santa Barbara! I’m very grateful to the UCI Tri team for being so welcoming to me and helping

me prepare for this race. Being a part of this team has made me stronger both physically and

mentally, and has helped me find a sport that I really enjoy and hope to continue for many years.

-Sam

Cal Poly MTS 2025

Driving to Lopez Lake on race morning, my car read 37°F; rolling down the window to pay for parking made the cold hit full force. After reluctantly leaving the car’s warmth, we made our way over to set up our transition areas. Even as the sky slowly got brighter, the relentless cold kept everyone huddled in their layers. Finally, the race director announced a one-hour delay to wait for warmer conditions.

For that hour, I tried to simultaneously stay warm, conserve energy, and avoid boredom: I found a quiet corner of the parking lot to do handstands, wandered around, and eventually found Ben and headed over to check out the swim course, where we found slush and melting ice on the dock. This swim was going to be cold. As the sun continued to rise and its rays peeked out over the mountains, the air finally warmed. Then, another announcement: the Olympic race swim would be cut to 750m and delayed another 30 minutes.

As the race start neared, I began to feel my nerves — I don’t love in-water mass starts, and even more, I dread the cold. But I was prepared – I wore a thermal cap (gifted to me from an alum - shoutout to Sona!) for the first time, and it was a game changer. For the first time, my ears and my jaw were not cold, and I felt so much better getting out of the water. Plus, up next was my favorite part of the race – the bike. I've trained hard on the bike this year, and it paid off. I'm not just fitter, but also improving technically, which definitely helped out at this race. The bike route through the mountain roads was absolutely gorgeous, and I thoroughly enjoyed the rolling hills – getting into a rhythm on the ups, and continuing to push down flowy descents. Still, the bike course offered challenges of its own, and I had to just “trust the process”, especially during the mentally-challenging false-flat of miles ~14-18 ending with the infamous “Hi Mtn Rd end, steep section”. My liquid carb fueling strategy on the bike should have been a little more spread out than concentrated toward the last 6 miles, but overall set me up for the run pretty well (minus some …stomach issues for the first ~1 mile). The double out-and-back setup was really fun, and I got to see all of my teammates competing at least once on the course!

Some reflections & recommendations for the MTS bike in particular – be comfortable on the hills, be comfortable on the descents, and know how to handle your bike. Gorgeous, flowy mountain roads also come with road erosion (i.e., lots of potholes) and technical riding – look up the road, look where you’re going, but most importantly, just enjoy it. I am so grateful I get to train, race, and push myself in such beautiful places, and I’m already looking forward to the training block (and the next race as well)!

-Deb

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