first triathlon, found the open water swim more intimidating than anticipated, did most of the swim in breast and side stroke

start on the outside, swim freestyle, better mentail prep

This was a very well organized event. It was my first triathlon and I found the atmosphere to be great!

Heh - I came across my 'real' RR - an email I sent to my friends and family

Dear Friends and Family
I wanted to share my weekend adventure with you.

This will probably be news, but I did my first triathlon this past weekend, on Sunday July 23. The event consisted of a 1000 yd lake swim, a 12.5 mile bike ride, and a 3.1 mile run (completed in that order). It was a part of the Cornhusker State Games which were conducted between July 14 and July 23 in Lincoln Nebraska.

The games consist of all sorts of competitions, everything from fishing to darts, to volleyball, to you name it, they probably have it.

The triathlon was an amazing event, I still can't quite believe I did it.
The event started at 7:30 am, with the swim. They organize everyone into 4
groups, called waves, there were 376 participants. The waves are set up by
age group and gender. The guys get bright orange swim caps and the women
get bright pink ones.

The race starts with the first wave swimming out into the open water toward the first buoy. They have huge buoys that mark the swim course. There are 3 minutes between each wave. I wonder if it's called a wave because by the 4th group, there are literally waves hitting the shore - the lake starts off very calm.

Oddly for me, the swim was the most overwhelming part. I had no idea what
it would feel like to be in the water with nearly 400 people, you are
literally on top of one another and people are doing their best to move
forward in their position, I can only imagine what it must have looked like from the shore. I ended up doing the majority of the swim in breastroke, with a little sidestroke thrown in. I still finished the swim in a respectable time.

It was so cute, there were several young kids lined up as we were running
up the beach and to the transition area, they had their hands out and were
giving each of us a high five as we ran by. The whole crowd cheered each
person. It gave me goosebumps.

My first memory of the bike was rounding the first corner and seeing a hill that at the time looked like a mountain to me - lol, I had no idea there were hills like that in Lincoln, let alone 3 of them within one 4 mile area. The bike portion was three laps around the park, so each hill was tackled 3 times, as I started my final lap of the bike ride, I saw people on the trail for the run portion and actually found myself wishing that I was running. Wow - I never thought those thoughts would come to my mind.

I took the run portion very easy, I alternated running and walking every 2
minutes, this allowed me to pace myself and finish the race and still be
standing.

It was an awesome feeling coming across the finish line . As the
contestants got close to the finish line, there were a couple of veterans
(and had already finished the race) that had cowbells and were ringing them and cheering each athlete into the finish line. As each person crossed the finish line, the announcer for the event welcomed each contestant back by name with congratulations for completing the race.

It was an incredibly encouraging and supportive environment. I was so
impressed with the organization of the event, the participants and their
willingness to help and encourage a newbie - at all points along the race,
other participants (mostly veterans, I would guess) expressed words of
encouragement and support to keep going and finish it. I can honestly say
I have never experienced anything quite like it.

I achieved my goal in finishing within 2 hours and completing the event. I
have to say I am hooked. I am planning on doing another competition in
Kansas City on September 10. Who knows what next summer will bring. I
know for sure I will try to participate in a triathlon in Minnesota in a
town near where my parents have a cabin.