Maryland Triathlon Team Competes in Half Ironman

Endurance sports are mental; not in the Harry Potter, “You are mental” sense of the word, but in that it takes a certain amount of mental fortitude to even get to the starting line of some events.

One of the best ways to be mentally prepared for longer distance races, whether it is a marathon or a triathlon, is to train and race with a club or team. For students at the University of Maryland, there is such an opportunity.

This weekend, I had the pleasure of meeting three members of the Maryland Triathlon Team -- Coach David Miller and two of his fellow athletes, Patrick Mohl and Bill McCrea.  The three competed in Williamsburg, Virginia in the Patriot's Half Ironman, a 72.3-mile multisport event. (A half ironman event is traditionally 70.3 but the bike course was altered by the race directors, adding two miles to the bike leg.)

The Maryland Triathlon Team is a relatively new club team in College Park. On Saturday, five members of their team were competing: Miller, Mohl, McCrea, Danielle Pedersen and Nina Napolitano.

For Miller, Napolitano and Pedersen, this event was their first half-ironman distance triathlon.

Though members of the team train together on a regular basis, racing usually means little opportunity to compete side by side. But when the opportunity arises, the mental benefits are huge.

For Miller it was the opportunity to run with Mohl for almost seven miles that made the biggest difference.

“It was a tough day out there, hotter than we expected,” Miller said, “but having someone else, having a whole team out there with me and being able to run with one of my teammates was a great experience.”

Miller was happy with his athletes’ performances this weekend. With five teammates completing the half-ironman course on Saturday and three more completing the sprint distance on Sunday, he believes they started the season off strong.

Though the Maryland Triathlon Team is only three years old,  they have already had a lot of success as a team. Competing in events through Set Up Events, the team finished fourth in Regionals last year.

“We are always looking for new teammates,” Miller said, “Finding some experienced and maybe faster triathletes would be great for competition, but we would also like to bring people to the sport. We would like to be responsible for introducing people to multisport events and helping them to meet their goals.”

The coach’s attitude toward new members says a lot about the triathlon itself. Competition is a big part of any triathlon event, but being a member of a team, having a club and a support system is part of the mental preparation of the sport. The Maryland Triathlon Team is doing a great job of getting this message out to triathletes.