I DID IT! NYC Triathlon Race Report

Who would have thought that, as I sit here today, days after my second Olympic triathlon, I'm thinking... "I'm kinda sad that it's over!"

I tell you... with the training season that I've had... NOT ME! Especially when only about 48 hours ago I was sitting at dinner, butterflies eating away at my stomach, thinking "Boy, I can't WAIT till this is over..." I'll start from the beginning... here's the story.

HISTORY (or HERSTORY!)
I ran my first triathlon in May, 2006, in St. Petersburg Florida. I trained with Team in Training (TNT) to do the St. Anthony's Triathlon. I remember it being a huge feat (especially the run), but after I was finished, I vowed to do one again. I vowed to do the NYC Triathlon, in the greatest city on earth, which I called my home. The following spring, I signed up to begin training for the NYC Tri with TNT and began training. But with so much going on in my life - applying to grad schools, studying for the GMAT, etc., my heart just wasn't in it. I was disappointed, but knew that the best thing to do was drop out of the training program, and focus on other things. 6 months later, I moved to Chicago to start grad school, and it seemed like finally doing the NYC Triathlon was just not going to happen for me.

Moving to Chicago made me realize how much I loved New York, and upon scoring an internship back in NY for Summer, 2008, I signed up to volunteer at the triathlon with my friend Megan, to score early entry into the 2009 Tri. My winding road to the NYC Triathlon was finally heading straight... I signed up for the race in November, and I was on my way.

Upon returning to the city, I joined a new triathlon club called SBR, and along with Megan, began to train for the impending race. Being out of training for nearly 3 years, and with only 7 months to go until the tri... I had my work set out for me!

THE RACE:

July 26 -- i couldn't believe it - the race day was finally here! When asked by a friend if i felt ready, I responded... "well, i did everything I could possibly have done to study for the test" - and that's how I felt -- I had completed a full mile swim in the Hudson the week before, I had done a ~40 mile bike, and I had raced in enough 10K races through central park to be able to see the course with my eyes closed. I was ready. Funny enough, all the training and preparation could not have rid of the most terrified face I had before the swim start... thumbs up are deceiving!

We walked down 'the plank' as I fondly chose to call it, and before I knew it, I was in the water, and swimming away. My swim was pretty solid, and I tried to take it all in, enjoy the fast current, and look up at the sky. After a bit of a while, I suddenly felt myself hit something hard! I had hit the sea wall (or perhaps part of a sunken plane??) and touched the muck on the floor - EWWW! i quickly doggy paddled back to deeper waters, as one of the lifeguards yelled "Stay Right! Overcompensate going right, and you'll be on the right track" -- he was right. I pushed myself to swim 'right' and ended up going straight. I felt amazing - and so excited - as I exited the water and saw my sister, Evan and Megan standing there cheering. What a thrill.

First Tri Swim (2006): 48:33

NYC Tri (2009): 25:39 - Thank you Hudson River Current! (and my awesome SBR swim coaches)

Then there was the bike... I just got on and just went. But before I left, I took 2 Tums to settle my stomach from the Hudson. The first thing that happens on the NYC Tri bike is a wonderful uphill. I powered up there, fueled by the fans and the SBR Bee, and yelled "You bitch of a hill, i'm going to get you!" (i don't know what came over me!) It made everyone laugh, and put me in a great mood. The bike was peaceful, slightly challenging, and an overall great ride. The roads were a bit wet, so we had to be careful, and a lot of the younger (fast!) men were speeding by, but I found a comfortable pace, and just went. As we were heading south on the highway, I tried to take in the beautiful views of the river and NJ, and just enjoy the ride. About that time, though, my butt started really hurting! I was having a spasm in my right glut! (my right butt cheek!) OWWWW! i could hardly sit. You should have seen me -- it probably looked like I was doing a funky chicken dance as I was trying to stand up, flex my butt muscles, adn massage my butt with my bike seat to try to get hte muscle relaxed again. Ow did that HURT! But, I came in like a champ, and overall found it a really good ride.

First Tri Bike (2006): 1:55

NYC Tri (2009): 2:03 -- slightly disappointed with this, as I felt like I was really pushing it. But I'll chalk this one up to this course being MUCH more hilly - and my time would have been MUCH slower had it not been for awesome SBR peeps making me do Harlem Hill repeats, and taking me on a 40 mile hilly bike ride weeks before

The run... OWWWWw - man, did my butt hurt! By the time I parked my bike, and headed out, I thought for sure I had pulled a muscle. I walked up the slight hill to 72nd street having to hold on to the railing! OH man oh man - what was I going to do!? I saw my "Team Shari" spectators along 72nd street, and said "Guys... go have a bite to eat, this run is going to take me a while!" But it wasn't so! at all! By the time I got into the park, I had a nice pace going, and managed to push through the downhills, and walk quickly up the uphills. Soon, I was running full time, and I met people on the run (Vic, and some people from Team in Training) who pushed me along! I started to feel great! Afterall, I KNEW this course, had done it tons of time! Before I knew it, I was running along to mile 3, then 4, and pushing it through (with a few short walks to take some deep breaths). Then I was at mile 5.. 1 MORE MILE TO GO! I felt amazing -- but the crowds were a bit dull.. so i egged them on by screaming! WOOOO! (come on people! dont just stand there!) And they were awesome -- they were cheering and screaming along with me
First Tri Run: 1:27
NYC Tri Run: 1:18

The big WOW came when I crossed the finish line and saw the clock...

First Tri Finish: 4:21

NYC Tri Finish: 4:02

That's right -- I cut 19 MINUTES off my time! AMAZING. I felt strong, excited, proud, and I guess was pretty emotional, because I had a bunch of volunteers asking me if i was ok! "ARE YOU KIDDING? YES!!!"

I owe the 19 minutes perhaps somewhat to the Hudson River current, but I also owe them to my AWESOME SBR coaches and friends, who pushed me along to completely new heights in the past 5 months. Thank you to everyone.

Until the next tri! Just Keep Swimming!

Shari...