2016 Season Wrap Up — David Celentano

When we last left off in the 2015 season wrap up, I had just finished my first full year of racing, spanning more than a dozen races. The early months of 2016 were pretty slow since the Boston winter does not lend itself well to early season races. However, the NUTTs (Northeastern University Triathlon Team) did participate in the Hyannis Marathon Festival where I competed in a four man marathon relay. I held my own in the 10km segment, averaging ~7:30 min/mile.

As Collegiate Club Nationals loomed, I wanted to get a full fledged triathlon under my belt. I had learned early on how vital it is to race a few 'practice' events before seeking a peak performance, especially early in my career when nerves were a bigger factor and transitions weren't automatic. As luck would have it, the Las Olas International Triathlon was being held in my home town of Fort Lauderdale during my spring break. I was back in my South Florida stomping grounds, but with a new shiny NUTT uniform and lots of new tricks, or so I thought. I got through the .6 mile swim in 18:52 with a respectable 1:44 min/100yd pace. I got onto the bike and clocked in 1:03:20 over the 21 mile course for a pace of 20mph. My happy days came to a swift end on the 10km run, as the temperature had risen into the high 80s. Normally this wouldn't be an issue for a tropical native, but I was about to learn how the body adapts to new climates. Since I had spent my last year in Boston (during the worst winter on record) my body had adapted to the bitter cold over the course of those months. I managed to pour a gallon of water on myself and barely cross the line with a run time of 52:11 (8:25 pace) to cap off a race time of 2:17:32. Even though I didn't exactly finish strong, my efforts were enough to land me 3rd in my age group.

Collegiate Club Nationals

With my warm up race in the rearview, I was ready to take on Collegiate Club Nationals. It was being held in Clemson, South Carolina, so I had the heat advantage over most of my northeast native teammates (something I had just learned the hard way at Las Olas). The championship split the women and men into their own races, and over 1500 athletes were competing in the races featured that weekend. The first race was a draft legal sprint, which means drafting is allowed on the bike portion of the race (normally, three bike lengths must be kept between athletes). The brutal kicker to draft legal is that the bike course is typically multiple laps around 1-2 miles, and if you get lapped by the leader you're out. Our team had no one competing in the race in 2016 since you need to be one of the top athletes in your conference to be invited. Safe to say I was enthralled, and hoped to compete in such an event one day. The next race was the main event, the Olympic distance race. The women started in the morning, and the mens race didn't start until noon, which was something I was not used to. I plunged into the river with more than 700 other collegiate men and managed to post a swim time of 28:17 (1:47 min/100yd). After leaving the water I hopped on my bike and had a mediocre bike split for my standards, coming in at 1:20:00 (18.6 mph). The course certainly wasn't flat, but I was used to being pretty speedy on the bike. I began the run with my trusty water bottle belt, which my teammates were poking some fun at since most triathletes running an olympic don't bring their own water. Normally they would have been right, and these days I definitely don't bring my own water for a 10k or even half marathon run since the aid stations are usually plentiful. However, one of the main aid stations on the course had no water by the time the men made it out on the course. While athletes were yelling at aid station volunteers and panicking, I trotted by, enjoying a little payback for those who had made fun of my gear. I had also started in the same wave as two of my teammates who had beaten me in every race during the 2015 season. I passed one on a hill after the dry aid station and found the other around mile four. Once I made the pass I never looked back and pushed my way up the final hill to the finish. My run time on a very hot and hilly course was 52:59 (8:35 min/mile) which contributed to my overall time of 2:44:55. I was happy with my time for my first nationals and felt pretty good besting a few veteran teammates. However, while one collegiate season ended, I was already looking forward to the next one, and the preseason started next month.

After the 2015-2016 season, I stayed in Boston for the "summer" season. I hadn't realized how cold the Northeast would be in May and I ended up swimming in 60 degree water in the Max Performance Season Opener Sprint. I was able to hold off freezing for long enough to finish in 1:02:51, barely missing my sub-hour sprint goal.

Patriot Half

Earlier in the year, I had signed up with some veteran teammates to do the Patriot Half, which is a half iron distance course. For perspective, the Ironman consists of a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, and a 26.2 mile run (aka a marathon) to round off a brutal 140.6 mile race. So the half iron distance (also known as 'Ironman 70.3') is a 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, and 13.1 mile run. Since I was still new to training and had never even run a half marathon before, I teamed up with one of my teammates, Lindsay, to prepare for the Patriot Half which was slated for mid June (giving us about 8 weeks to train). Lindsay was a veteran on the team and came from a family of Ironmen. With the help of her father, a multi-multi-Ironman, she devised a training plan for us, and as a result our training schedule was pretty intense. I would wake up at 4AM everyday and meet for track workouts, long rides, and everything in-between. Those weeks of training were some of the hardest I've ever done to date, but it paid off when it was time for race day.

Happy to still be living after 5 1/2 hours

I can't say I wasn't nervous at all to race at the half iron distance for the first time, but I felt prepared. I jumped into the 1.2 mile lake swim and emerged 36 minutes later with a pace of 1:46 min/100yd which I was quite happy with. If you had told me two years before that day that I would be able to swim 1.2 miles that fast I would have laughed at you. I got on the bike and averaged almost 20mph for the first loop of the two loop course, which was way too fast to maintain given my endurance riding experience. Around mile 40 I started to suffer, but managed to push through for a bike split of 2:57:45 (18.9 mph). I started the run, flying out of transition way to fast, and heard a yell from one of my friends urging me to take it easy! Luckily I listened, and it turned out to save me from an early grave. I ran the first four miles fairly easy, around nine minute pace until I went through an aid station and one of the volunteers told me a teammate of mine was just ahead. My competitiveness kicked in, and I dropped my pace to eight minute miles to try to see who was in my sights. Around mile six I caught a glimpse of a red uni in the distance and once again dropped my pace to seven minute miles to try to close the gap. I ran that pace for the next three miles until the mile nine aid station, where I found my training partner Lindsay. We were so happy to see a familiar face after five hours of suffering, and I was absolutely gassed from my push to catch her. We ran the last four miles together, not blindingly fast, but we kept each other going. We started training for this feat together, and we crossed the line together, in a time of 5:40:36. I was absolutely hooked by my first taste of the 70.3 and shortly after patriot I signed up for Ironman 70.3 Miami, which would be in October of 2016. Following Patriot I took some time off until the start of the Collegiate Season.

2016 NECTC Season

I had a solid base coming into the 2016 Collegiate Season, but I did not realize the benefits I would experience after completing the half iron distance. I had not forgotten the low ranking I earned during my previous season in the NECTC and was determined to give the veterans a run for their money. During the 2015 season, I raced four of the five season races, and this year I wanted to race all five. The first race brought me back to the Cranberry Trifest, where I posted a time of 1:22:22, which pretty solid considering the course was extended from the year prior. My efforts landed me 14th amongst the collegiate men, a significant improvement from 28th place in 2015.

The following week was a new race for me, an olympic called Rev3 Maine. I felt at home during the ocean swim, and emerged from the water in 25 minutes. On the bike I put down a new olympic PR time of 1:12:37 (20.5 mph). While my swim and bike were both solid, the run is where I would truly surprise myself. I started off running seven minute miles with some of my collegiate counterparts, but quickly realized I could go faster. I dropped my pace to six minute miles and never looked back, finishing my race with a 10km run time of 42:42 (6:53 min/mile), and an overall time of 2:26:04 (a 14 minute Olympic PR). My performance netted me 11th place amongst collegiate men, and moved me into the top 10 in the season standings. Just one year after being awed by the skill of these top collegiate triathletes, I was nipping at their heels.

For the third week of racing in a row we went back to Lake George where I posted a time of 2:27:38, which I was very happy with compared to 2:46:15 in 2015. My time earned me 23rd place, and kept me in the top 10 overall for the season. Next on the agenda was Buzzards Bay for my three year 'tri-aniversary' where I posted a time of 1:10:13 with help from a 23.7 mph bike and a 6:33 min/mile run. I locked in 16th place, still clinging to the top 10 overall going into the championship.

Definitely the most stunning race venue (Lake George, NY)

Westchester Championship proved to be brutally cold as always and an ill advised idea to start in the very front of the swim pack lead to a water buffalo stampede. After being trampled by more than 100 collegiate men, I emerged with a weak swim time of 30 minutes. I also had to take a lot of time in transition putting on arm sleeves so I wouldn't turn into a human popsicle during the bike, and during the chilly ride I barely managed a 20mph average. However, I stepped up on the run and set out on a six minute pace for the first 4 miles. Around mile 4 I found one of my competitors from UConn.

For some background on the team standings, Northeastern had never historically been much of a contender for the podium, but going into the conference championship, the mens team was in 4th place behind Drexel, UConn, and Westpoint. Westpoint is in a league of their own, but we were only narrowly behind UConn and Drexel. To add to our motivation, the NECTC never acknowledged our rising status during the race coverage that season, and when we were mentioned, it was usually about how we would soon be knocked out of our podium spot by other teams.

So cut back to me catching up to a member of UConn at mile four. I knew every point would matter in this race, so I trailed him by a few feet, trying to save strength to make my move. I was planning on waiting until the end to sprint, but he ended up stopping just after mile five at an aid station and I knew it was time to act. I don't think I've ever run faster than I did that day. I averaged sub six minute pace after passing him and sprinted all the way to the finish. I rounded out the day with a 41:49 run (6:45 pace) which added to a finishing time of 2:33:54. Of the 100+ collegiate men, I earned 28th place, but the bigger prize was that the men had beat UConn and Drexel to earn 2nd place overall for the season.

While I wasn't able to hold on to my top 10 overall place, in fact I dropped to 19th overall for the season, I couldn't have been more proud to help the men claim 2nd overall and lead Northeastern to a 3rd overall season finish. The NECTC still tried to chip away our accomplishments in the race reports, sighting how 'narrow our victory was', but all we heard was 'victory'.

Ironman 70.3 Miami

After the 2016 NECTC season, it was time to train for Ironman 70.3 Miami. Like training for Patriot Half after nationals, we had about 6 weeks to train, but training in the fall was much different than the summer in Boston. I teamed up with Lindsay, who had finished 2nd overall last season, to train for Miami, along with our friend Stephen who had lead the NUTTs with a 6th place overall season finish. A few weeks of 50 degree rainy bike rides and long runs later and it was time to head down to Miami.

Despite my expression, loving the flat bike course at Miami

I had not realized how much I had been neglecting my swim during those weeks after the season ended, since I was teaching new members how to swim instead of swimming myself. My lack of swim training was amplified by being in the absolute last wave of the race, which had over 3000 participants. I spent 53 minutes in the water that morning (2:46 min/100yd 💀), and emerged wondering if it was still race day. But after my horrid swim, I kicked into another gear and put down a bike split of 2:51:59 (19.5 mph). After the bike, I set out into the Miami heat. I started out slow for the first four miles, and it paid off as every mile after I started knocking my pace down until I was running seven minute miles. I finished the run in 1:48:18 (8:16 pace) and narrowly earned a PR with a total time of 5:37:53, which was quite impressive considering my disastrous swim.

After such a wild season I was ready to take some time away from the race course and learn a little more about the science behind triathlon. During that time, I became an Ironman Certified Coach to better help the team leading up to Collegiate Nationals next year. And so 2016 came to and end, I had completed two Half Ironman races along with a fantastic showing in the NECTC and my first appearance at Collegiate Nationals. I was certainly feeling optimistic with 2017 Collegiate Nationals on the horizon.