Monday, April 13, 2009

CREW Spotlight of the Week - Chris


--I (Chris) am writing this from a 15 passenger van on my way to Lubbock, TX for the Collegiate National Triathlon competition.--
I am 19 and a freshman at the Iowa State University. I am majoring in Diet and Exercise. There are probably people wondering... "Wow. Does it get any easier for a triathlete than a major in diet and exercise?" Well, to answer that there is probably some major I could have that is easier but there is nothing I enjoy more than what I am learning about. My main focus is going to be in sports nutrition and I hope to one day be either a personal nutritionist or become a nutritionist for a sports team. I think this is what I bring to the team. Even though Dad (Joe) usually knows what he needs to eat and drink, I have been doing some research on whast he really should be consuming while riding 20-22 hours each day. It might be a little different than what a lot of you probably have in mind.
One of my life passions is triathlons. I have done over 65 multisport races in the last 6 years. ISU has a triathlon club that is one of the largest and fastest growing groups on campus. Currently there are about 50 members and there are 33 of us on our way to race at Texas Tech against 1000 of the best collegiate triathletes from 100 schools from across the nation. Here are a few names you might recognize: Navy, Army, Air Force, University of Colorado, Southern California, UCLA, and our in-state rivals Drake (you see...Iowa really doesn't contest. Sorry!)
Two weeks ago (you know...the weekend of that mini-blizzard that came across the midwest?)10 of us from the ISU tri club went down to beautiful Galveston, TX to do a "warm-up" triathlon. 5 members did the sprint distance race on Saturday and 5 of us did the quarter-ironman distance race on Sunday. ISU was well represented. I ended up finishing 18th overall out of about 800 total in the quarter-iron distance (if you take out the elites it was 4th) and I won my age group. This was awesome to have my first experience in a new age group (20-24) be a win!
Another thing I think I bring to the team is I have inadvertently been practicing my long-hour driving by making numerous trips to Chicago/Milwaukee for my current job working for Jeff Castro and AccuSplit chip timing company. I am looking forward to crewing for Dad. He has trained many many hours and I cannot wait to see his dedication pay off. I am glad I get to be a part of his race.
-CHRIS

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