what to do in between triathlons ?

Well.....You could train your butt off; utilize a plan based on your new fitness level.....and rock your fall race.

Surely you thought of that, though.

I like to evaluate my race and see where I could improve, what mistakes I made and how can I fix it. Then I continue on making my swimming/biking/running stronger. Triathlon is so much fun, how about some sprint races between?

So you are asking for advice on how to structure your training. You are not asking for advice on how many events to race. You are correct. Typically a person isn't going to want to re-enter their base training phase after an event. You would want to "build" toward your next event. You could race some more events in the summer to make things interesting. You said this is your first triathlon so you might want to wait until after the race to find out what things went right and what things went wrong. I'd wager that you'll come away wishing you had run more, or that you had paced your bike better. So you could spend your summer months building run frequency and mileage which would then make for a more enjoyable 10K. You could take your cycling days and add some additional intensity during the week with some interval work. Again, as one poster said it all depends on what your weaknesses are and I'm sure you'll know what areas need work after your race. Good luck and enjoy.

Thank you for your advice. I will reevaluate my weaknesses after the race and work on them while maintaining at about the week 10-12 volume then ramp up 6-8 weeks prior. I will be running a couple more half marathons in that time frame to help keep the endurance up. I dont think entering any additional tri's this year would be wise yet. I dont want to get burned out and frustrated before I have enough experience. (Looking at big picture and long term goals) Thank you

For me, I like to schedule about 5 triathlons a year. I also do a handful of running races a year. And then a few cycling events. Anything more than that and I just feel like it's too much. In be between races I will usually take a breather on really focused training. I still run, bike, and swim but have less of set training goal. and then, depending on the triathlon distance, I will start ramping about training.

I am still kinda new but I feel most beginner plans train you to a volume to finish. If you are already running HM may focus on building swim and bike distances. I would wager that after you first race you will be looking to fit another in before that fall race