A recap of my First Sprint Triathlon
When my alarm sounded at 4:50am- I immediately had the thought “what have I gotten myself into?” But the car was already packed, my clothes were set out, and my transition bag was ready to go.
The drive down to LBI was dark and a bit windy but shortly after arriving and unloading my bike we got to witness a beautiful sunrise. The wind calmed, the water was calm, and the temperature was just right; it was the perfect day for a Tri. And the DQ Long Beach Island Sprint Triathlon was the perfect end to a great New Jersey Summer.
The vibes were great as the crowd cheered on each wave of swimmers. Luckily, the swim was the first event, and being in the water always calms my nerves (life of a piceses I guess.) I had a really strong swim and found myself in transition a bit more smoothly than I anticipated. I made it onto the bike-the part I was dreading the most but despite being greeted with lots of “on your lefts” by lots of amazing athletes, I felt good and made it through my three laps. I even got to give out a handful of my own “on your lefts” as I finished the last leg of the bike portion.
After making it off the bike, I remember huffing to Gina that my legs felt like jell-o but luckily after a quick jog through my second transition, I had my legs back and left for the final leg of the race-the run. I went into the day reminding myself that it would be ok to walk some of the run if I needed to but I ended up keeping up my run for the full distance which was a great feeling! It was also great to have family and some of my ORC friends that have been helping me plan and train through the past few months cheer me on—you guys are really the MVPs! And thank you to everyone who joined me for Tuesday runs, open water swims, and gave me tips for the bike and transitions. You all rock and are helping to make me a better athlete. I never would have thought this would be something I accomplished!
Nicole Sharkey