First one is over!!

Well since i read everyone elses experience i decided i should put my own first.
 Just to give you some background:
-I just graduated high school this summer and wanted to get into this sport to stay in shape.
-I had always been an athlete (track, basketball, football) until my senior year when i was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis.
-I still played basketball my senior year but was more or a mentor for the younger players, due to the fact that i had lost so much endurance and energy from fighting the disease.
-Last summer i was put in the hospital because of anemia due to the colitis, and needed three blood transfusions.
-A year ago when trying to come back for basketball, i could not run up and down the court without being totally out of breath, and three months ago i could not run ten mins, and weighed 225 pounds (but i am 6'6)

Well my girlfriend of three years and i decided it would be fun to do triathlons, so i also decided i would try and lose some weight while i was at it. So we got onto the 15 week training plan, and followed it pretty close for the first two weeks, then kinda made up our own as we went along.

At the beginning i could not swim 50 yards without stopping, nor do a ten minute run. My biking was ok, but still on the slower side. Well about eight weeks in and swimming going really well, we decided that we should try a race even if it is before our 15 week ending plan. So after 12 weeks of training we decided to give it a go. The girlfriend was/is in much better shape due to the fact that she was a soccer player on the varsity level for four years and she continually beat me on the run, but i had her in the other two phases.

So Friday night before my race i get a splitting headache and when your anemic your used to it, but this was pretty bad. So i thought maybe i need to eat a little, and when that didnt work, maybe i need some rest, and when that didnt work, i knew it was timne for some caffiene. So after drinking some pepsi, the headache went away but i couldnt sleep, so the night before the race from 2 am till 4:45 am i was on BT anticipating my race. 

Saturday morning we get to the race, and i was not nervous at all suprisingly. Usually if im nervous its because im competing but going in with the mindset that if i were to finish and not get DFL i had accomplished something worthwile. 
I was in the beginner wave, and started feeling the butterflies but then my family showed up and it calmed me down a little bit.

When the gun went off i tried staying calm and just relax, i knew by this time i was an ok swimmer but i still started off in the back which actually hurt me more than help. I got a little off track on the way to the first bouy, but corrected and had a decent swim, had i started more to the front i would have easily been FOP but i came out in the front on the MOP.

Run to T1 was 400m and i actually walked it to catch my breath somewhat and to get mr HR down, but in the actual T1 i was the third fastest in the whole male division which made me pretty happy.

The bike course was awesome in my opinion. I got passed a lot but, i probably worked on the bike the least amount, and i have a cheapy roady (which hopefully will be upgraded next summer). I really should get some clipless and maybe some clip on aero bars in the meantime though.

T2 wasnt as fast as i would have liked (probably because i was dead) but still 10th fastest in the male division. The run was kinda on a trail and it was shaded which was really nice, but i was dead and really didnt have much left so i was reduced to walking a good part. I then started talking myself into doin the 3 min run 1 min walk routine, and i really didnt want my girlfriend to beat me in this race, and with her being a strong runner and i saw her on the bike maybe a mile and a half behind me i knew i had to put my head down and just go. 

Turning the corner and seeing the shoot was awesome, my family and the girlfriends family were at the beginning of the shoot yelling for me to kick it in and i could only give them a glare while trotting in because there was no kick left in my body. After finishing i walked around a bit and waited for her to come in and cheer her on ( i beat her by two mins overall, but she did beat me by 5 mins on the run).

Overall it was a good experience, i did get last out of my AG (4 total people) but the third place person only beat me because of the run since i beat him in every other facet.

I would like to thank everyone on here who has answered my questins and gave me some feedback, and also anyone who just read this novel. Now i got to go ride because the next race is in two weeks!