Triathlon | Endurance | Coaching
Just one year ago, I raced in my first Battenkill – known by cyclists as one of the toughest one day amateur races in the Northeast. Last year, I raced in Category 5 and came through with a top 10 finish. This year I raced in the Open Category 4 race and found myself finishing 22nd! But that’s only part of the story…
Continue reading “Tour of the Battenkill 2015”
What did I do last weekend? Well, let’s start off with Friday. My training partner drove for over 90 minutes so that we could do a track workout together…talk about dedication! We set ourselves up for 10 repeats of 1km (2.5 laps). Did we finish them all? Of course…having someone to train with not only motivates you but it keeps you accountable for your end of the bargain. Thanks for pushing me along Tim!
On Saturday, I set out to Newark, New Jersey for the Branchbrook Park Spring series. This included two back to back, 45-minute bike races, where we circle the 2 mile loop inside the park, then finish as fast as we can. The first race was going well, right until a couple of guys went down in front of me, causing me to DNF. I quickly made my way back to the car and prepped for the second race. Things went a little better the second time around, where I managed to stay up front; and more importantly, upright. With two laps to go in the second race, I worked with 3-4 other guys to push the pace up front. I knew better than to look back so by the time we lined up for the sprint, I picked the outside and sprinted to finish 9th out of 52.
In a way, staying away from crashes, and finishing is a victory in itself. And surprisingly, 9th place also earns me 1 USA Cycling upgrade point. Woohoo!
Sunday’s event was the New York Triathlon’s 31st Annual Central Park duathlon – 2.2 run, 13 mile bike, 2.2 run. Here’s a little something you probably didn’t know – before Sunday, I had never participated in a duathlon!
Check-in and transition setup was smooth. Since it was 25 degrees out, I tried to keep my warmup clothes on as long as possible. At 7:30, we started. The field bursted out super fast, and within the first 800 meters, I was probably in 10th position. After the turn around at mile 1.1, I had made up some ground. I went into T1 in either 5th or 6th position, and left T1 in 4th. On the bike, I had trouble getting my feet into my shoes after mounting the bike – I guess I should have practiced my transition…
The 2-loop, 13-mile bike course in Central Park was challenging, especially in the dense cold air. I was able to pass one person about 3 miles in, then rode solo until the approach into T2. As I was dismounting, my friend Pawel blasts right by me and enters T2 right before me. I left transition before Pawel and knew that I had a couple of guys very close behind, so the closing 2.2 miles were crucial. At the turn around, I saw 3-4 guys within 10-15 seconds behind, but luckily, I was able to hold onto 3rd place overall with a time of 1:02:36. The two other guys in front were way ahead, both of which broke the hour mark.
I was able to walk away with 3 consecutive days of training and racing!
Thanks for the memories!
See you next week!
Sometimes the best way to go into a race is when your mind is free of stress. Going into the 13.1 Queens event, I had very little expectations – running mileage had been low and many scheduled workouts were pushed back due to unsafe running conditions (snow & ice). And just the day before the race, mother nature dumped about 3-5 inches of fresh powder all over the race course, making it nice and slippery on race morning.
THE RACE – March 21, 2015
Being that the race was held in Flushing Meadows Corona Park, I had the luxury of sleeping in till 7am before getting up for the race routine. By 7:45am, I had picked up my race number #76, pinned it onto my singlet and went on a warmup jog. The course was saturated with puddles and lines of slush – it was going to be a dirty race.
The race directors modified the start time, delaying it by 15 minutes to 9:15am, a relatively late start. There were two hand cyclists that made their way a few minutes before 9:15am.
The gun went off and it was a mad dash! The first 400 meters of the race was incredibly fast. The top guys had sorted themselves early on, and after hitting the first mile in 5:55 I knew that I had to dial it down or else I would pay for it later on. I was probably in 10th position around mile 1.
After mile 2, there was a right handed U-turn that showed all the guys in front of me. None of them were terribly far ahead yet.
Luckily, I was able to pace with two other runners for the remainder of the race. The 3 of us created a single file race pace line and every few minutes or so, one of us would take the lead and help push the pace…otherwise, running solo would have been miserable!
At the halfway point, we were 7th to 9th position. By mile 8, we had caught up to some runners that had started fading. Miles 8-11 were a blur and all I remember was focusing on my pacing and breathing. We had passed a couple more runners who clearly went out a tad too fast!
By the time we hit the final short climb (overpass over the I-495), I made a quick move to force a little separation. Mile 12 was right on the other side of the overpass, followed by a water station. By then, I knew that the two other guys weren’t too far behind.
I tried my best to elongate my stride and when I hit the mile 13 marker, I pumped my arms as hard as I could move my legs.
I finished with a time of 1:19:26, good for 4th overall.
After looking at the finish line video, the two guys behind me were only 2 and 3 seconds apart, respectively. If it weren’t for the late kick, I could have easily dropped to 5th or 6th position.
This was an unexpected personal best half marathon result. Hopefully the rest of my season is just as perfect!
Thank you Newton Running, PFC Elite Team, Headsweats, and Central Park Track Club!
