Several members of the Tech Triathlon Club go for a run during a team practice in the late afternoon of Oct. 29. The club sent members to the Ironman Florida competition this past weekend.
At 7 a.m. on Monday morning, most college students can be found unconscious in their warm beds trying to hang on to the weekend.
For those in Virginia Tech's Triathlon Club, however, Monday mornings mean 7 a.m. runs.
The dedicated members of this club meet for swims on Tuesday and Thursday evenings at McComas Hall. The club also meets next to the Pylons at the War Memorial to run on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
"Most of the time, we try to do at least two sports a day," said Triathlon Club President Jordan Chang. "We'll go swimming and running or swimming and biking."
A pair of Tech triathletes, Fred Cook and Brian Schoenberger, participated in the Ironman Florida competition held this Saturday. Cook finished the three-leg event in 10:40:52 -- sixth in his age group -- while Schoenberger recorded an overall time of 13:26:40.
Triathlons involve swimming, cycling and running, in that order. Participants at the Ironman Florida first swim for 2.4 miles, then bike 112 miles, then finally run for a marathon 26.2 miles.
The Sunshine State was not the only area where club members were present this Saturday. In Wilmington, N.C., Chang and vice president Justin Morrison competed in Beach2Battleship.
In addition to the physical training that athletes must do to keep their endurance up for the sport, their caloric intake and the food that they eat also play a role.
"Sometimes when you're training a lot you eat over several thousand -- 3,000 or 4,000 -- calories per day," Chang said.
According to Fitday.com, a popular fitness tracking Web site used by Tech strength and conditioning coaches, you can burn more than 500 calories per hour swimming and cycling, and more than 750 calories per hour running. These are all estimations based on standard height, weight and speed.
The Triathlon Club has seen a drastic increase in membership since it was founded in 1997.
"Our team's been growing like crazy," said Chang, a senior Human Nutrition, Foods and Exercise major. "When I first came as a freshman, we had 15, maybe 20, members and now we're close to 60."
According to the club's Web site, there were three founding members 11 years ago, which has evolved into 67 current male and female members.
"The most common combination we do is called the International Distance which is the Olympic distance," Chang said. "It is a 1,500-meter swim, a 40-kilometer bike (a little under 25 miles), and then a 10-kilometer run (6.2 miles). That is the most common, but we also do races that are half of that distance or less."
In addition to triathlons of varying distances, the team also competes in biathlons, marathons, swim meets and many other races.
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