SAUGUS — It’s one thing to finish a triathlon, it’s another to be the best overall across each age group, which is exactly what happened on Sunday when Alison Nieto placed first overall in the women’s division of the Boston Triathlon.
Triathlons are not new to Nieto, who has been competing in them for over 12 years. However, she recently had to take a break from racing.
“Three years ago I had a baby, so I kind of put triathlons on hold,” Nieto said. “This is my first season back at it.”
Nieto admitted it was difficult to get back into the routine of training for the triathlons, due to the time it takes.
“It was very difficult,” Nieto said. “It was more difficult to find the time. You’re swimming, biking, and running. When my son was born I was able to keep running since I could just put him in the stroller. But it was hard to find time to bike and swim.”
Despite the trouble finding the time to train at first, Nieto finished the sprint race in one hour and 11 minutes.
“It was a really good time for me. Of course when I was younger I was faster, but yesterday was a really good time,” Nieto said. “Overall it was a good race. I had a really good swim and bike. My run is slowly coming back, but it was still a good run.”
Nieto was a competitive swimmer growing up and swam at Fairfield University before getting into triathlons. When asked what her mindset was going into the race, she talked about how her mind goes back to competing.
“I still have that competitive mind so when I go into a race I try to compete and hold my own,” Nieto said. “Swimming is my strength so I’ll usually try and get out in front during the swim. I’m still super competitive so I try to place if I can. I still have that mindset.”
“I had a feeling that I was doing fairly well. I thought maybe I placed in my age group but not overall,” Nieto said. “Boston attracts people from the region, it’s a pretty big race so I was quite surprised. It was a nice surprise though.”
Despite getting out to a fast start in the swim, Nieto knew she was ahead in her age group but when she had to hop on the bike, some doubts started to enter her mind.
“For the swim, I was ahead of my group so I knew I was out ahead,” Nieto said. “For the bike, it was a two-loop course and I was pushing myself. When I got to the second loop, my legs started to feel a little tired but I kept pushing. I did get a bit worried about how my legs would feel during the run.”
Worrying about her legs, Nieto did what she had always done and continued to push and track down the person in front of them.
“I love seeing everyone on the course and trying their best. I’m competitive so if I’m approaching someone I put it in my mind that I can pass them and move on to the next target,” Nieto said. “I just try to remind myself to give it my all because that’s all I can do.”
One of Nieto’s favorite things about triathlons is seeing familiar faces across the years of competing.
“I’ve been doing this for a while and you see familiar faces during these local races,” Nieto said. “I bumped into people who I’ve been doing triathlons with for over 10 years. I got to see them yesterday which was really fun.”
The next race Nieto intends to compete in is the Wallis Sands Triathlon in Rye, N.H., which will be her last race of the season.
