Marshman Triathlon - Triathlon

Swim was sub par. I haven't been training a whole long time coming back, but I felt more prepared for the swim this go around than I have ever been when I raced over 8 years ago. I felt like I would be able to sight better and my time would hover around the 2min/100 pace. The wading part kind of played with my head and I had trouble getting into a rhythm from when the gun went off. I am happy though, that I completed it which is better than sitting my fat @ss on a sofa still.

More training, better sighting, possibly drafting

T-1 was fine. Nothing special. No wet suit to mess around with as my one from 8 years ago wouldn't even come close to fitting

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We drove the course the day before, so I was prepared for the hills that came with the bike. I have never done a tri with hills, I was used to racing out in Jersey with the flat/fast courses. Fortunately, I did much better than I expected on the bike with the small hiccup that I couldn't get into the small ring when climbing hills, so it was all done in my big boy gear. I truly thought my run would have suffered because of this, but it didn't.

Only thing that could have gone better was my gears working!

All went smoothly. No flying dismounts and went into T2 with my cycling shoes on.

Was thrilled with the run. I have barely been able to run three miles in training with a pace of 10-10:30 m/m. Having this left in my system at the tail end of the race just got me excited again for the sport and what potential I have. When I got to the back of the hill, it played a mental thing with me, but I told myself I wasn't going to walk any of it. When I shuffled up there and crested it, I knew it would be smooth sailing and a great descent coming back. I motored through it and finished strong. So happy with this run!

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This was my first triathlon back in over 8 years. A friend of mine wanted to do this and I agreed to do it with him. I have only been training for less than three months, but I was happy I decided to get back into it. It's bitter sweet, because I worked so hard back in 2006 to get to where I was, and slowly began letting that slip back away from 2008 on. Between that time, I have put on over 45 pounds! My training for this has helped me loose over 20 of those pounds and I already feel so much better about myself and proud that I came back to the sport. It also gives me great motivation to maintain this training and prepare for my real come back in the spring of next year!

The course itself was good. It was somewhat of a new thing for me as I have never really raced with elevation gain. I adapted well to the hills on the bike and the long run course hill. I managed to pace myself perfectly so that I had enough gas in the tank for the run. I even surprised myself on the run with my run pace. Overall, I am just happy that I did this with friends, got healthier in the process and also kick started my life back in triathlon. I have missed the sport dearly!