Finger Lakes Triathlon - Sprint Distance - TriathlonSprint

Being that this was the start of many of first, the swim portion had the most firsts. Never have swam in open water for any length of distance, also first time wearing a wetsuit. I had a hard time getting my breathing under control. Not sure if it was the cold water hitting my face, or not used to the wetsuit compressing on my chest, or the open water. I swam it anyway I could. I guess I can't complain since I just started swiming since July.

Would have practiced more in open water, and with a wetsuit. It will be one of the first purchases for next season.

Had a little difficulty getting off the wetsuit which I expected. It wasn't too bad but I think it could have been better. Did great with putting on the socks and shoes. Also I was pleased with my running out of the transition and able to jump on the bike without stopping. The only thing I forgot was my gloves that were on the hood and I dropped them.

practice more getting out of the wetsuit.

The course was pretty wet and it was misting pretty good. So the choices to wear sun glasses or not was a game time decision. Had a hard time with visibility but I think I would have with or with out. I felt pretty good on the bike even with all the hills in the begining, plus this was really the first time I have ridden it that length since getting 4 days before the race. Being able to change gears with out having to reach down was great. I felt I could change back and forth and keep my cadence the same, and not burn out my legs. After finding out what my avg was I was really happy.

Practice dismounting the bike while it's moving. Get clipless shoes (This will be my first purchase for next season). Get a smaller water bottle. Since I just got the bike 4 days before the race I never tried the new water bottle cage with my existing water bottle. It was really tight so much so that I didn't feel comfortable with me being able to put it back in the cage while riding.

This was easy for me since I was wearing my running shoes. So all I had to do was to remove my helmet and put on my hat then take off.

Run faster I guess, I felt there was really not anything else that I could have done faster.

Once I started running within the first 100 yards I felt my right calv was thinking about cramping on me. It calmed down and didn't have any problems with it. I'm not sure if it was because of the lack of fluids or just being my first time putting evrything together for race day. I was really happy with my pace considering it was not a fresh 5K

Run faster. maybe make sure I had enough fluids to avoid cramps

I stood at the end drinking a bottle of water watiing for my training partner to cross the finish line.


I think just not knowing what to expect. More practice swiming in open water and in a wetsuit. I think I could have gone harder on the bike, but wanted to make sure I completed the race.


Being my first race everybody was very helpful to make sure I got through it in one piece. Even the other athletes were really nice. I thought it was a great first experience and now I'm hooked.