First, swim 1,500 meters through Chicago’s Monroe Harbor. Then, start out on Columbus Drive for a 40 kilometer bike route. Finish up with a 10 kilometer run to the finish line at Buckingham Fountain.
This is the route mechanical engineering sophomore Sam Aleman will take on Sept. 19 to complete the International Triathlon Union World Triathlon’s Age-Group Standard World Championships. It will be the 19-year-old’s second time competing in the World Triathlon Championship after competing in London in 2013.
Aleman was born in Exeter, California, a small town just outside Sequoia National Park. His father was a frequent runner and traveled with Aleman strapped to his back before Aleman knew how to walk.
By age nine, his father was participating in triathlons, and Aleman found himself wanting to compete against his father.
“I wanted to kick his butt,” Aleman said. “He’s the reason I started training.”
During high school, Aleman and his father founded a small group called the Hellhounds Triathlon Team, whose members often trained and raced together.
Aleman later joined the LSU Triathlon Club, where older members recognized his experience and came to him with questions about endurance and racing form. After his freshman year, Aleman took over coaching the team and became its captain this semester.
“I see a lot of potential in the club,” Aleman said. “There aren’t a lot of people who can run fast yet, but they can if they learn to do it right.”
Aleman said form is critical when swimming. Good form at the beginning of a triathlon gives competitors more energy for biking and running.
To keep his body in top form, Aleman has a daily nutrition routine, including multiple high-protein meals. He begins each day with a cup of yogurt followed by morning practice with the triathlon team. After practice, Aleman returns home to make a fruit smoothie and go to classes. At lunch, he consumes more protein.
“I’ll have a giant burrito or a giant po’boy sandwich,” Aleman said. “Then I’ll go back to class or work. Then for dinner, I’ll have a big thing of chicken or steak.”
Kinesiology junior Ryan Harb was Aleman’s resident adviser during the 2014-15 school year. Their rooms were next to each other, and the two grew to become close friends.
Harb is not a triathlete, but he said he has participated in workouts with Aleman before. He said the cardio exercises are much more intense than the swimming races back in Harb’s high school days.
“His cardio … doesn’t take long, but you don’t stop,” Harb said. “It’s almost impossible to keep up if you’re not trained for that.”
Aleman said a major difference between a triathlon and individual events, such as running or biking, is the mental strength needed to complete a three-part race.
“You go to a triathlon, and when you go all out on the swimming portion, your body thinks it’s done,” Aleman said. “But it’s not. You have to jump right onto the bike, and when your body can’t go anymore, you jump on the run.”
Through running multiple races, Aleman said he built mental discipline to the level he hopes is necessary to complete the WTC in less than two hours, beating his father’s best time by at least 24 minutes.
He said the hardest part of being in a triathlon is not the physical requirements, but the mental ones.
“People like to have this belief that triathlon is hard, but the only thing that makes it hard is how fast you want to go,” Aleman said. “Triathlons are all about competing at a high physical pace, but an even higher mental pace. That’s how you determine where you want to finish in a race.”
The last time he competed in the WTC, Aleman did not receive a good time because he had two flat tires during the biking portion. He finished the race despite the setback and said he is determined to accomplish his racing goals this time around.
Another goal for Aleman is to become a professional triathlete. Before competing in London, Aleman said he was a 2016 Summer Olympic favorite for his group in the triathlon event and was headed toward an Olympic qualifying race. By not training as seriously as he should have, he missed the opportunity.
“I’m shooting for 2020,” Aleman said. “I really want to compete on the Olympic level.”
Harb said he finds Aleman’s dedication and discipline impressive. He said he remembers receiving 4 a.m. photos from Aleman with captions such as “About to go work out.”
Aleman takes his training and competing seriously, but Harb said that serious nature goes away once Aleman finishes his regimen.
“If you met him, you would never know he’s competed at a world level just by the way he acts,” Harb said. “He’s very not serious, but the way he works out and trains, it’s like he’s two different people.”

Gallery • 5 Photos

Olivia Ramirez

LSU mechanical engineering sophomore Sam Aleman practices his strides on Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2015 in the UREC.