The toughest part of the race, first tri, first open water swim and first time swimming with a wetsuit. Swimming is one of my strenghts usually, but the stress factor from all these firsts just made me freak out a little bit. I had problems breathing and catching my breath. I had to breaststroke a few times to calm down. My HR was up to 165 coming out of the water. I just couldn't breathe with the wetsuit. It really freaked me out but I manage to still get out of the water in an acceptable time. T1 time is included in the swim time. Once out of the water, I knew I had to lower my HR, so I took my time and walked to my bike. HR was down to 150 by the end of T1. Tri swim conditions HAVE NOTHING TO DO with swimming in a pool. This was definitely the toughest part of the tri

PRACTICE Open Water swimming and swimming with a wetsuit!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I also should have started on the side instead of right in the middle. My masters coach had suggested to not start in front, but not in the back since I am an OK swimmer. This advice would have been OK if I wasn't a first timer at everything!! Live and Learn!!! I will be ready for my next sprint in late July.

Since I was freaked out from the swim. My main concern was to lower my HR. I did everything I predicted, but slower and walked instead of running. I had no problems taking the wetsuit off. I know that I can speed it up at the next race by just going a little quicker. It probably took me about 3 minutes.

Not much.

After the tough swim, is felt good to be on the bike. My bike computer didn't work but it didn't really matter. Overall it went well. I passed much more that I got passed, which is a good confidence builder. I might have gone a little hard at some times and should have kept more legs for the run, but it felt good

Not much.

T2 time is included in th bike time

Maybe try and be a bit quicker. At this point, my main concern was to feel comfortable.

After the tough swim and the bike, I wasn't as fresh as I hoped I would be. I knew from the start that i would be having problems increasing the pace from a 6 min km, and that is about what I did. I am not a fast runner, so I knew I would get passed quite a lot

Try to save my legs a little more for the run

With the adrenaline and the cheering crowd, wife, daughter and family, I didn't really care about the warm down part. At the finished line, I drank some water, took my 2 1/2 year old dauther in my arms and waited for my friends to finish. I raced with 2 friends who were also first timers. My secret goal was to beat them, which I did.


Stress. Inexperience. More training!


I am definitely hooked on tris!! As a first race, at least I finihed. My goal was between 1:20 and 1:25, and that's what I did. I had so much fun. Can't wait for my next sprint end of july and my Oly in September. Now I know what to work on, ESPECIALLY OPEN WATER SWIM WITH THE RENTED WETSUIT!! Besides the swim, I didn't have too many surprises. My training was OK. Just need to keep running and loose some more weigth to improve the run!

This first race was a great experience. Nest time I will not register as a Clydesdale. The overall winner was a Clydeslade. I would have ranked better in my 35-39 age group.

I owe a special thanks to all the BTers who allowed me to know what to expect and be much better prepared.