Mission Bay Sprint Tri in October

Congrats on signing up for your first race.

I've been down to cheer on friends (their first race). It's a fun race and great for first timers. There are all experience levels represented at the race and besides a couple of bridges the course is flat. If you're bringing spectators there are plenty of places to watch (swim, bike and run). I don't recall there being places for spectators to buy water, coffee or food in the morning so advise people to plan accordingly. Finally, get there early for parking, I recall some racers that arrived late had to park quite a distance away.

Have fun training!

This was my first race a couple of years back and loved it.  I have done it every year since.  It is a fun race with great people.  See u there

Looking forward to it!

I'm in for this year.

What Jezzieswims said is all true.  I've raced the past two years.  It definitely has a big mix of racers - from elites to first timers.  And parking can be a drag - get there early.  I usually park in the Sea World lot and ride to transition.  There is food and beverage service over at Paradise Point, but expect to pay resort prices.  There might be a few temporary food stands set up at the park, but I can't remember.

Swim: Point-to-point.  You walk the 500 meters from transition south to the swim start.  Deep water wave start with opportunity to warmup beforehand.  The swim is north, back towards transition, parallel to shore, with one left turn into the beach.  Depending on your wave start, the course can be crowded with swim buddies and backstroking first-timers.  Water temp will probably be somewhere in the mid-60s.  Most people wear wetsuits, but some don't.  I will.

Bike: Longer than advertised - at least 10 miles.  Take that into consideration when predicting finish times.  You have to go out and back over the bridge and it can be crowded through the curvy, technical section through the Sea World parking lot.  It can be very windy out on Fiesta Island, but since you ride around the entire island, the wind will be both hurting and helping.  Most likely, there will be a headwind on the last stretch along Sea World Drive, heading to the bike finish.

Run: Perhaps a bit long? The 3-Mile marker is definitely more than 160m from the finish, but at that point, you've gotten a feel for the lay of the land and can see the finish.  The course winds around Vacation Island and would be very confusing if it wasn't marked as well as it is - it's also pretty crowded with runners from previous waves, so getting lost shouldn't be an issue.  The course is pancake flat, except for the bridge which you cross twice in the last half of the run.

I appreciate the preview of the course and what to expect and I'm trying to take it all in.  I'm not terribly concerned about my time since it is my first tri but I'll confess I have played out the times in my head..................albeit seeing how I just started training 3 weeks ago the times aren't very optimistic at this point.  Started the year out with a C25K program and then got hooked watching my buddy train for IMSG and went out there to watch him compete.  Still have some lbs to drop but I'm enjoying the training.

Thanks again for the info.........