
Collegiate Recruit Blog
Erik Armes had put his triathlon dreams to the back-burner, but a 10-day triathlon skills camp at the OTC lit his fire.
As many donned their best stars and stripes this past Fourth of July weekend in celebration of freedom and all things America, I was fittingly preparing to race my first ITU triathlon in Tartu, Estonia.
Coming off of a solid training block in Phoenix and Chula Vista, the World Cup in Huatulco, Mexico, was the next stop on my race schedule. I was extremely excited to get back racing and even more so on a course with an extremely challenging hill on the bike! The sprint triathlon consisted of 1 lap swimming of 750 meters, 4 laps biking of 5 kilometers each, and 2 laps running of 2.5k.
The 3 a.m. alarm came early while laying in my bed in Phoenix, Arizona, about two weeks ago. It felt like I had just gone to sleep after an evening of packing and prepping for the next adventure. This time, the pre-sunrise flight would take me to a new continent and into a completely foreign cultural and language experience. I never thought I would actually make it to China in my worldly travels, not anytime soon anyway, but the sport of triathlon opens all sorts of unexpected doors.
Every race provides a different lesson. Some lessons are apparent, the result of a physical mistake or hiccup in a race. Other lessons are a bit more obscure, the result of intangible circumstances. Whatever the lesson, each yields an opportunity to learn, to grow, and to adjust for the next race.
The start of the 2015 season did not go according to plan. Overcoming obstacles and facing setbacks is all part of being an athlete. I was faced with a challenge February 6 when I broke my collarbone in a bike crash.
I headed down to Clemson, SC this past weekend to race in my final Collegiate National Championships on April 24th and 25th. The draft-legal race was set to be on Friday morning with the non-draft on Saturday morning. This was going to be the last weekend of my collegiate career, so I really wanted to make it a good one.
Entering my second full season as an elite I would be lying to say I wasn't envious every time I watched highlight videos of fellow athletes running through the finish line grabbing the tape and throwing it up over their head. This is the moment when all the pain you had just experienced seconds before completely disappears.
It’s hard to believe that it’s now been a full year since starting the sport of triathlon. Although I’ve traveled and competed across the U.S. and internationally before, this past year marked an all-time high in terms of miles covered and countries visited.
Having Jarrod tell me it was possible to recover, train and be ready to race in the New Plymouth World Cup not only sounded daunting but almost impossible as I was lying in a hospital bed in a significant amount of pain and a sling! Trusting in your coach is one of the most important aspects of a coach-athlete relationship so I listened to what he had to say and said, "OK, New Plymouth World Cup here I come."