The Merrimack River was really dirty -- I didn't want to put my head under water at first plus I'm not used to swimming with lots of people around me, especially not being able to see even inches in front of me. It took more than half the race to find any kind of pace but by then I was stuck in the middle of a pack of people flailing even more than I was. At least all the people that kicked me did so accidentally.

Practice swimming with a bunch of scrambling people.

I took a minute to rest and eat half a Luna bar until Jamie yelled at me to get going.

Get there earlier to stake out a better transition area

My legs were tired during the bike ride but it was a nice course and decent ride anyway. I think I was averaging 15mph during the first half and managed to speed up during the second half. My goal was to average 15mph so I was happy with how I rode

Don't ride 30 miles the day before =)

I got stuck behind someone walking (not running) with their bike back to the racks but then just grabbed a sip of water and went on my way. No shoe changes because I don't have special bike shoes yet. I forgot to take off my bike gloves but didn't mind running with them

Remember to take off my bike gloves, hopefully not get stuck behind someone who's slowly walking

I felt tired and stopped to walk for just a little bit a few times but felt like I kept up a decent pace overall and felt especially good towards the end. I appreciated other triathletes encouraging me to run the few times I started walking. The second half of the run especially I found a good pace/rhythm and felt like I was moving faster and felt like I could even have run a little further

Run more in training to get more comfortable setting a pace, improving that pace. Next time I hope to run 10 minute mile pace or better.

Walked around, ate watermelon and a banana


I was a little shaken up after the swim not liking the water quality nor swimming with so much jostling, plus my legs were tired after the training ride the day before


This was a good first race and the bike and run were confidence builders that I can go on and do other races. I hope other swims are not quite as dirty and chaotic as this one