So this was my first open water swim experience. I had alot of apprehension here...especially surrounding the violent swim starts you hear about. Turns out, the contact wasn't that bad. I know I'm a slow swimmer, so I seeded myself in the back. I did have some contact, but it wasn't that bad. The hardest part for me was sighting. I had a hard time integrating it into my stroke without stopping altogether. It caused me a few missed breaths and water into the nasal area. Pretty amazing how far off course you can get in 6-8 strokes. The return portion was into the rising sun, but I had tinted goggles. The water was very calm, very warm, but visibility was 0. I couldn't even see my arms in the water.

Practice sighting, and continue to improve my swim stroke.

I took my time, as it was my first tri, I wanted to get a feel for things. Put on socks, helmet, glasses, and race belt (we had to wear it for the bike and run)

No socks once I get used to it, and eventually move quicker.

I think that my swim speed is much lower than my bike and run, so when I got out of the water, I realized that the reason I had such an easy time finding my bike was that there weren't many others still there! So I started the bike with a mental "chip" shoulder. I had to get used to the process of passing people. It's not something I had anticipated. If someone is going say half a mile an hour slower than you, you have to make a decision. Do I want to hammer for a minute to pass and run up my hr etc, or accept a slower pace for a while. The "slower pace for awhile" didn't sit well with me. I passed 32 people on the bike and one passed me.
The "out" portion of the ride was straight into the wind. We were working really hard to push out 14-15 mph. On the way back I was running around 26-27. I was pretty proud of my performance here and enjoyed passing a few high dollar bikes with my $700 shimano sora equipped road bike. Did I push too hard? Maybe..maybe not, but I had a blast.

Probably nothing.

Came off the bike and walked it to the rack. Popped off shoes, helmet, popped on running shoes with yankz and hat. Time to go. I'm walking to the run start and a woman runs past me. I guess I should be running too, but it doesn't sound like fun right now.

Hustle

So I started the run, and I felt yucky. I've done alot of bricks in training, but I had been fighting a "burping up breakfast" kind of feeling all day. "I swear", I thought "if I taste that Cliff bar one more time"! I started running and after about 20 seconds had to pause. I don't really know what the problem was, but I felt real bad. I started again and ran slow through the pain. After about 3 miles I felt better. I probably ran 10:30 miles the first 3 and 8 the last 3.
And bye the way this course was tough. Very hilly, I live in a hilly area and train on hills, but this was hard! Also the dirt was soft in many parts of the road and gave the "running on the beach" effect. So you're zig zagging all around trying to stay on the solid parts while going up and down long, big hills.
Quite a challenge, and I loved it!

Practice brick runs following "hard" race distance bike rides. Not eat a Cliff bar for breakfast. My stomach didn't feel right all day.

Bagel and Ice water. Talked to some other athletes, packed up and headed home.


Swim speed, siting,


Good race. Really a "no frills" type of thing, but everything was professionally done, on time and methodical. Quite a challenging course do to the wind on the bike and the run course itself. Being my first tri I really have no points of reference, but I had a great time!