First tri is in the books

I ran the San Bernardino Tin man today, it is a short reverse race. 3.1 R, 8 mile B, and 100 yards S.

Started off with no sleep so that was not good I didn’t feel fresh at the beginning of the race. When I got to the race I have to admit I was very intimidated. Like everyone says there are people of all ages and sizes and they all were the most kind people. I really loved how great everyone was I talked to and they helped me with my questions. The weather was no so bad today, at the start of the race it was in the mid to high 70's at 7am. For the race I had a few goals for myself going in. I wanted to fishing without stopping, and brake 1hr 10min.

Well the race started and somewhere in the 2nd mile I felt totally out of it and could not fully catch my breath. If I was training I would have stopped but HTFU kept going through my mind so I kept going but I could tell I was slower than my normal pace. I felt very disappointed with my run part of the race. So I came into T1 had one good dry heave then got my bike and helmet without incident. Now I heard there was a "decent" hill for the first 3 miles but really I under estimated what they were calling decent but I kept on chugging along on my mountain bike and while my legs were tired I felt good. The problem with my breathing seemed to be gone. While I did get passed on hills by guys and gals with nice street and tri bikes I was keeping an ok pace. I even passed people on the slight uphill grade part of the course. I was the first mountain bike to get into T2. I have to admit I took some pride in that because I saw a few 20 something guys who looked in great shape riding Mt bikes. So I grab my goggles and run to the pool and my legs feel like jelly but I keep chugging along. I felt ok in the swim till the last 10 yards when I again lost my breath but this time it was due to my breathing technique rather than just not catching my breath. I get out of the pool to run to the finish and my legs are gone lol I was barely jogging. I came into the finish at 1 hour and 3 mins so I was very happy. I achieved all the goals that I set for myself. Now after finishing I started some serious dry heaves, enough were people moved back waiting for me to hurl, but I didn’t. In a weird way I felt good that I was almost throwing up because it meant that I gave it my all and did not coast or go easy.

So that was my first Tri and I loved it. I think I'm hooked. I now have a base where I can look at my race and try to improve upon it. I don’t have the times yet but I will post it when I get them.