James O'Rourke Memorial Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

My greatest concern was the swim. Luckily, my lane partner was a no show. I had it in my mind to just go my own pace, who cares about those around me, and do as I do. But halfway through, I was starting to tire--Darci said my halfway time was 4:08--which is fast, though I thought I had kept it under control. If I were to lay any blame of frustration on any one, it would be on the guy in the next lane: rather than swimming, he lunged and dove the whole distance...so every time he went by me I caught a tsunami-like wave. Needless to say, my breathing and legs really suffered toward the end. I WALKED to the bike.

Time includes T1.

Deepen the pool (ha), ask my neighbor of his swimming style.
Really, I just need to strengthen my swimming skill to be more comfortable before I even start.

It was cold and getting into additional clothing while wet was expectedly slow.

Transition one was tricky in that getting socks on wet feet is not an easy task. Had it been 20 degrees warmer, I would have skipped the socks. Though it was sunny, it was still chilly, so I added a longsleeved jersey over my tri top. Immediately on the bike I could feel the chill on my wet legs; that was uncomfortable, but I pushed through. The bike was out and back, so it was a push into the wind going out; but I was ranging between 17 & 20 mph and passing everyone. After the turn around, the tailwind allowed for a warming of the body and I cranked the speed up to 25-30 mph. I had the fastest bike split overall.

Time includes T2.

Nothing really. This was my strong suit and followed my plan pretty well: ride hard at 160 HR.

Went smoothly.

T2 was quick. I got these laces called Yanks--their elastic, so all I had to do was ditch the cycling shoes and pull the running shoes on like slippers. I learned from a duathlon last year that I just need to push through the initial discomfort. Again, the run was an out and back along the same route, so after the turn around, it got quicker and warmer...so I felt I ended pretty quickly, even pushing it the last half mile or so.

Push just a little harder at the beginning.

It was a good first tri to attend.