BPC Shows Off Talent at the Pat Griskus Triathlon and New England Regional Championships!
Race Results:
1:55:26 Vic Brown (1st M30-34)
2:03:49 Colin Kipping-Ruane (9th M20-24)
2:39:25 Sarah Murray (5th F20-24)
2:20:49 Laura Miyakawa (2nd F30-34)
3:12:21 Rachel Rubenson (17th F30-34)
2:47:35 Christina Taddei (14th F30-34)
Race Report by BPC Athlete and First Olympic Distance Racer--Rachel Rubenson
Prior to the race, I was not feeling so great about it. First, between the weather and work, I didn’t get in as much training as I would have liked and just felt generally unprepared. I didn’t spend a lot of time analyzing the course in advance, and my race plan was just to have some Gus and get through it. Second, for the past two months, my workouts have suffered from a bit of marathon PTSD. Every time I run, my body flashes back to the pain that was the last few miles and my pace has slowed down considerably. Third, I have anxiety issues with the swim part of triathlons. Though I do plenty of swim training, something about the race atmosphere makes me freak out.
Luckily, I had great BPC coaches and teammates to help get me in a better mindset, and when I set out for the race on Saturday morning, I had two goals: to finish and have fun. I wasn’t going to worry about my time, just about pushing through. And that is exactly what I did.
Swim
When we got down to the beach to start the race, we realized there was a bit of a problem: the lake was completely fogged in and we couldn’t see the buoys. Eventually, the decision was made to shorten the swim to about 800m, which I was not at all sad about. Despite a great open water swim on Friday, as soon as we got in the water, anxiety took over. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t find my rhythm. I paused for a minute and remembered Ali’s advice: just get to the buoy. So I focused on that—slowly, one stroke at a time. And I did it. As I made the turn, I saw that someone I knew was right next to me—Christina’s friend Caitlin. I wasn’t alone! I was able to follow Caitlin all the way to the next buoy, then to the buoy after that. It wasn’t pretty, but I made it, and I was proud of myself for being able to get it together after the initial freak out.
Bike
As soon as I got on the bike, all the anxiety of the swim went away, the sun felt great on my shoulders, and I started to really have fun. I had been warned that the course was hilly, and that warning was not a joke. The course literally had no flats. I have never been a strong climber, so it was a huge challenge for me. But I kept powering through, slow and steady, and somehow the miles kept ticking away. About 75% of the way through, I hit two steep hills that freaked me out a bit—I just thought I was going to fall backwards because the grade was so steep. Luckily, I noticed that I didn’t have anyone that close to me, so I zig-zagged a bit, and I survived.
Beyond the hills, the bike course was rather scenic. Overall, my speed was not as fast as some of my other races, but I was really happy with how it went. I genuinely had fun on the bike, despite the hills. And, I was really proud of myself for powering through the tough parts. Throughout the hills, I never once thought about getting off the bike and never once doubted that I could do it—that in itself is a huge accomplishment for me.
Run
Unfortunately, the ability to push through and not think about the magnitude of the task did not translate over to the run. As soon as I slipped into my sneakers, I started to worry about how far I had to go. 6.2 miles seemed like forever—which is odd, considering I was coming off running a marathon. The run was a loop—one went out and back, out and back again, and then turned into the finish line. When I started off, I told myself to just get to the water stop at the first mile, then I would stop and walk for a second while I had some water and Gu. That actually went fairly well—finished the first mile in 9:36 (including a stop to tie my shoe) and saw my friend Laura on her second loop, on her way to an amazing 2nd place finish in our age group. I had my Gu and got back to running again, but I hit a spot of the route that was rather sunny and was really bothered by the heat. I made it through mile 2 in a decent time and then found myself at the bottom of a gigantic hill. At this point, I lost it. Prior to the marathon, I never walked on road races—even on hills, even where my running was just as slow as walking, I could always keep myself actually running. But around mile 21 of the marathon, I lost the ability to do that, and I have yet to get it back. So I walked up the hill, and it was a rather large hill, and that slowed me down a bit. Ran the rest of the mile out to the turnaround and then through the first part of the loop to the waterstop, but it took all my energy to get there. When the Garmin beeped mile 4, I couldn’t go any further. I walked to the water stop, somehow found the strength to run again, and made it all the way around to the hill…where again, I just couldn’t do it. I did, however, manage to run at a good pace from the hill to the end. The nice thing about the course was that one had to go past the turnoff to the finish, turn around, and come back to it—so I could see and hear my teammates waiting at the finish and their cheering gave me energy to speed up the last hundred yards. I picked up the pace, and a few seconds later, there I was, on the other side of a balloon arch, having completed my first Olympic triathlon.
In retrospect, the run was not as bad as I thought it was. I had a good pace for all the parts that I ran, and I spent less time walking than I thought I did. I just wish I had been able to push myself up and over that hill.
My total time was 3:12. Most importantly, I had a lot of fun racing with my BPC teammates, which means that I met my two goals for the day. The race left me hungry for more, and I can’t wait to improve upon this time!
Prior to the race, I was not feeling so great about it. First, between the weather and work, I didn’t get in as much training as I would have liked and just felt generally unprepared. I didn’t spend a lot of time analyzing the course in advance, and my race plan was just to have some Gus and get through it. Second, for the past two months, my workouts have suffered from a bit of marathon PTSD. Every time I run, my body flashes back to the pain that was the last few miles and my pace has slowed down considerably. Third, I have anxiety issues with the swim part of triathlons. Though I do plenty of swim training, something about the race atmosphere makes me freak out.
Luckily, I had great BPC coaches and teammates to help get me in a better mindset, and when I set out for the race on Saturday morning, I had two goals: to finish and have fun. I wasn’t going to worry about my time, just about pushing through. And that is exactly what I did.