Sprint Triathlon

Today was the big day!  Triathlon day!  It was an insanely busy week because of wrestling camp, and the big tournament that Jeff runs, which was yesterday.  I got up early all week and got some training done, but it was a pretty light and easy week, which helped, because I was beat by the end of each day.

Anyway, it was a super early wake up call today…3:50 am!  Of course, I also had a terrible night sleep.  Not only my nerves, but also strange things, like an Amber Alert going off on my phone at 11 pm, or hearing the girls stir, or Bella stir, which usually doesn't bother me.  I was fully prepared not to sleep well, though, so it was all good when I got up and made myself some coffee.  I met Josh, my co-worker, and friend so we could ride to Hagerstown together.

I was super nervous about the swim.  I am just not a strong swimmer.  It's only a 300m swim, which is totally not a big deal.  (Especially when I have friends that just did a half Ironman and have talked with people who have done full IM's…yeah, they're awesome.)  But, that stupid 300m swim was a big deal to me.  It was pretty much the first obstacle that stood in the way of me completing my first triathlon.  I was not prepared for how crowded and choppy the water was.  It was a pool swim, which I think made things a bit worse for my case, but even though it didn't go as well as I hoped, I survived, and was happy it was over.  Since I wasn't even sure I was going to like this sport, and because I had a bike, I just used what I had, my old trusty Trek mountain bike that I got when I was in 10th grade!  (wow!)  I changed the tires and had a tune up, and was good to go.  I felt fine on the bike and made ok time, but I just didn't have the dynamics to travel as fast as those on road bikes…they were flying past me!

The first mile of the 5k run was pretty blah for me, but I found my rhythm and progressively got faster as I continued.  No matter what the race is, it's always so nice to see the finish line, and so nice to hear so many perfect strangers cheering you on.  I've really enjoyed my time at events because the running/tri community is so kind, and everyone makes you feel awesome; even if those above mentioned people finished almost an hour ahead of me!

I'm excited to eventually try another triathlon.  I will continue to practice swimming…I need all the practice I can get!  I was so happy that both Jeff and Kristi were able to make it to the race to cheer me on!  It's so nice knowing you have someone looking for you at transitions and cheering you on at the end.  Here are some of the pictures they were able to get.