Last Sunday I competed in the Sharon Sprint Triathlon. This was my first small-town triathlon and I loved it. Don’t get me wrong, the NYC tri is amazing, but it was a nice change of pace to be competing with 500 athletes (as opposed to 5,000) in & around a pretty lake in the ‘burbs of Boston. Here’s the quick recap:
SWIM:
The half mile swim was a challenge! Even though I’m used to the 1 mile swim in the NYC tri, because this took place in a lake there was no current helping me along. We also started with more athletes at a time so even though the race overall included less people, the swim was a bit crowded. It was so nice to swim in a pretty lake though, wet suit not needed!
Swim Time: 19:44
BIKE:
The 12.2 mile bike ride looped us around the lake and through more of the town. The route was very flat with a few tiny hills in the mix, allowing me to keep a good pace (18.3 mph, faster that my other races).
Bike Time: 40:14
RUN:
On to my favorite part of the race, the run! The 4.4 mile course took us on a loop around the lake, a run I had tested out once before a few months ago. Again, a very flat course. I clocked my fastest pace in a race (ever! which is crazy that I can run a faster pace in a tri compared with just a running race, must be the adrenaline boost) at 7:47 mph.
Run Time: 34:13
My final time came in at 1:37:20, ranking me #3 in my age group!
After this experience, I’m looking forward to competing in other small-town races. I loved the vibe and hope to participate in more next year. Another fun component of this race is that I was doing it with my friend Sara. Even though we didn’t actually race together, it’s so nice to have a friend with you to experience the whole thing (waking up early, jumping into the lake, etc). Any other friends care to join next time around?
Me & MM on the beach, post-race
Check it out, a top ranked finisher!
