My First Tri - TriathlonSprint

First open water swim race was an interesting experience. First, I didn't anticipate the "catching your breath" factor from the initial excitement and initial chill. Then, the action in the water made it pretty hard to create a rhythm (that, and the friendly backstroking lady who swam over me a few times -- oh well). At any rate, it was over very fast in my estimation -- I stayed in my "zone" (i.e. tried to ignore the thrashing around me) and kept moving forward (only kicked one person -- sorry!).

I think I would do some deep breathing before hitting the water, and consider holding back for a bit of space. On the whole, I'm not too disappointed with how it went, but I know it could have been loads faster.

Time is a guess as they have not provided full splits. As I ran up to the transition area, I was a bit concerned about the throng of people all moving about. However, once I got to my spot I really tuned it all out and easily moved through my routine. Practising this transition in advance was a very good idea. I also sucked back a gel, which may have been too early.

Buy shorter/thinner socks? My regular running socks were harder than necessary to put on.

I really enjoyed the ride (maybe I should have gone faster??). I passed lots of people (more than a dozen for sure) on the way out (even some with mighty fancy rides!). I only got passed by maybe one or two riders. Other than wasting a couple of minutes stuck behind a slow moving van (who in turn was stuck behind other riders), I had clear road all the way. I pushed hard for a lot of it (I really was unsure how much energy to "save" for the run) and had a blast. This is evidenced by the goofy smile on my face in the race pictures.

I still have a lot to learn about the bike, and properly using my gears. I find myself pushing up the hills fairly well, but not being able to gear into something useful on the way down. That, plus some minor nerves when going really fast (I was going about 36 mph down one grade which on the damp pavement concerned me), are really what tells me that I need to spend lots more time in the saddle.

All went very smoothly here. Not sure how long it was since they haven't provided splits. I am very curious to see my splits.

Took me longer than usual to work out the jello - maybe .75 miles before I was really striding, but felt good. Once I made the turn, I was then on pure adrenaline and made it back quite quickly, I think. Of course, until I see my splits, these are just personal impressions and not fact!

What else? More bricks!

Drank a good bit, ate some banana, and stretched out a lot.


A bit of lost mental focus here and there -- I really didn't push myself too hard, since I wasn't really sure how much energy I would have near the end.


On the organization of the race -- I'd have to give it a "pretty good" but clearly not perfect (based on a few items mentioned above and mentioned by others). But, on a personal level, what a great feeling -- all that hard work, early mornings, nerves over how it would go -- and culminating in a great feeling of accomplishment. More than that, and probably more than most running races, I had fun. To me, only the Peachtree has been as much fun to do. But this was a great deal of fun and I'd recommend it to everyone. As I always say -- if I can do it (couch potato extraordinaire until age 39, ANYONE can. But I did it.