July 13, 2011

by: LeafBridge Services Contributor

The Making of a Triathlete

When I started at UCP in 2008, the idea of competing in a triathlon was an overwhelming thought to me, so volunteering was something that I could wrap my head around and figured that something was better than nothing. I worked the finish line where I saw many competitors finish, but it was when the first family crossed the finish line that I knew I needed to do something more. I needed to be more involved; make a bigger impact.

The following year I joined a relay team where two of my coworkers and I trained hard to compete in the triathlon. Wow…to compete in a race that I never in my life dreamed of doing. I completed the 16 mile bike portion that was uphill both ways and as I thought to myself “Man, this is hard.” I passed a parent pulling a child behind them and thought to myself, “I am the one who has it easy, they have a more difficult job than I do.” Seeing a parent pull their child behind them inspired me to do much more…

It is amazing how quickly year three of the triathlon came, and I signed up to do the entire thing myself (sprint distance). I am not going to lie, there was an amazing amount of emotion flowing through my mind and body – thoughts of “What am I doing,” “I make the kids I treat work hard EVERY time they come in, what is just a few hours of my life,” and “I can work hard too!” When I was on the bike course, the “true triathletes” encouraged families and those of us that were participating but not triathletes, to keep going and that we were doing well. That is when I decided that while I am not a “true triathlete,” I am INSPIRED to TRI!

This is my 4th year as a participant in the Cleveland Triathlon and I have set new goals for myself. I am planning on competing in five triathlons and two biathlons this season.  I would like to take 10-13 minutes off of my time from last year. While I know that this is a high goal for myself, I have high expectations of the children I treat every day. I push them hard every day; therefore I need to push myself harder.  These children inspire me to do my best, so I want to do my best for them.

I am looking forward to sharing the amazing experience of the Cleveland Triathlon with all of the new and old families and participants this year!!!

About the Author: Sharon Skelley has been a Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant (COTA) at UCP of Greater Cleveland since January of 2008 and a member of Team UCP since the inaugural year.

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