First Tri Done. A few things I learned

I did my first tri last Saturday (Oly) and figured the best I could possibly do was 2:32 and the worst I thought I might do was 3:03.  I ended up at 2:37, which I was happy with.  This was 4th in my age group (50-54).  Things that I learned:

 I thought the best I would do in the 1500m swim was 28 minutes.  I usually breath every 3rd stroke but I found that I could only do this for a few minutes and I had to resort to breathing every other stroke.  I did keep my focus on keeping a good stroke going, but couldn't make myself slow down.  I ended up swimming 25:11, which was great, but I paid for it in the bike.  Lesson:  don't worry about what other swimmers are doing, focus on your own pace.

The bike route was pretty tough, with 40 hills, two longer than half a mile, and this was a challenge for me.  I've only been riding my bike since May and the hills were tough, especially as I had a gear problem.  I got the the first hill and went to shift ot low gear and found that my front derailler would not shift.  Lesson:  make sure your bike is well lubricated before your race.  (After the first couple of hills I was able to get the bike to shift by creative double shifting).

By the time I got to the run, by legs pretty much felt shot, and I told myself I would NOT push in the  run until after 3 miles.  This was a very good decision.  My legs started to feel better by three miles and I was able to pick up my pace.  Lesson:  save something for the last half of the run.