Tri Club Tuesday: CU Triathlon Team

contributed by Ricky Esclapon of the CU Boulder Triathlon Club
My Experience Joining a Triathlon Club and Why You Should Join One

I arrived at the University of Colorado, Boulder, in the Fall of 2014 and like most freshmen I was nervous about who I’d meet and what kind of experiences I’d have. Having run a couple of marathons prior to my college experience, I was looking to find a group to run with and keep me motivated. The running club on campus only met once a week so I decided to look for something a little different and ended up joining the CU Tri Club.
Having come from Italy, I wasn’t aware that Boulder, and Colorado in general, are considered by many to be the “triathlete’s mecca” and really had no idea of the strength of the program. The CU Triathlon Club is amazingly talented as a whole and has great coaching, which gave it six straight collegiate club national championships and great success in general, but in my experience, the success in competition of the team is completely irrelevant. I was really surprised by the “slower” people and how they are often the driving force and most motivating aspect of this program in particular. I started meeting other people who gave importance to their health instead of partying and going out and training with this group gave me a really strong sense of community.
For a college student, having a group to train with can be very rewarding. It helps you “find your place” without going down paths you might regret, which can be particularly hard for college students. Training in a group of people you like and are comfortable around will make it very hard to go back to training on your own and you’ll probably find yourself glued to the bed or couch during Thanksgiving and other holidays.
When joining some form of exercising club or group, there are always going to be people who seem impossibly fast and are a great challenge in practice, but it’s important to strive and be the best version of yourself you can be and you might find that the not so fast people can be the most impressive and encouraging.
The best part of it all in my experience is the extended family that I found and the new things I’ve tried along the way. My friend Osama recently invited me and several other team members to his house to try traditional food that he would eat at home in Kuwait and it was definitely the best dining experience I’ve had in the past five years (on top of being free, which is always a bonus with college kids). Team trips and retreats are always a blast and in my experience there is very little attention to how fast or slow you are; it’s just a group of people having fun and getting in shape along the way, so don’t be shy to join a local club and try new things!