I am a triathlete!!

Okay, took me a few days to let the whole thing soak in, but did my first sprint tri on Sunday. Had to get there soo early - 5 a.m., then they closed the transition area at 5:45 for pre-race meeting. My wave didn't start until 6:50, so the wait was a little nerve-wracking. Then into the water! We had to swim out into the lake in a big group, which to me sounded like a hen party! Ladies nervously giggling and generally hooting it up. The water wasn't terribly cold (74?), but still shocking enough so that when I put my face in the water I couldn't breathe out, just that weird reflex of sucking your breath in. Hmmm, this was going to be fun! Then we all started swiming! Took me a few 100 yards to find my pace, and Lordy that buoy seemed far away! All in all, I came out of the water ahead of a lot of people, which surprised me.
Then to T1, on the bike, and off I went (I was so nervous I put my helmet on backwards, but my dear husband lovingly bellowed "Sweetie, turn your helmet around!!!It's backwards!!!" o.k., good thing everyone else was so involved in their T1! I heard nary a snicker. Great safety, one or two lanes closed all the way with a policeman on just about every other corner. A little intimidating to be passed by the zooming professional million -dollar bike guys! But I did pass a few other people on Mtn. bikes! T2, time for a quick port-a-potty break, then off on the run. The first mile was really tough, but once again I hit my stride and was fine. Very nice to hear encouraging words from the gazelles loping by me. Then the finish line was in sight!!! Holy Moly I did it!! 1:50:49, and my goal was to do it in under 2 hours. What a great day!
Things to know on 1st tri:
1. Make sure when you set your bike up in the transition area you pick a landmark, so you can find your bike in the masses later (I did this, and still had a moment of panic!)
2. Don't say "oops! sorry!" every time you bump into someone during the swim.
3. Our bikes were racked the day before ( no bike check-in the day of), and I think I should have let some air out of the tires and pumped them up the next morning. I saw lots of people doing that, and I'm glad my tires didn't pop after baking in the sun!
4. A few times during the bike leg I found myself just cruising along instead of racing, because I was just having such a darn good time. Concentrate next time!
5. Enjoy!! It really did seem to all happen pretty quickly. Oh the sweet run across the finish line was awesome!!

After seeing my time splits I know where I need to work harder, and am on the hunt for another tri! Yahoo!!