How was your first race? (Page 2)

Had my first this June. I had a good swim, pushed too hard on the bike and cramped badly on the run. Finished 7th in AG. Even though I had trained hard I couldn't believe how much it took out of me. It was only a supersprint, 400m OWS, 8mile bike, 2 mile run but I was really, really tired during the run and afterwards. Less than an hours action and it took me three days to recover.

Second one was longer distance but I could have done it again when I finished. I guess the excitement of your first has a major effect.

I made the mistake of being late enough arriving that I had to rush getting wetsuit on. I did not get it pulled up sufficiently and come race time I had a very bad time with arm mobility. Halfway through the 1500m, my shoulder hurt so badly I could barely use my right arm. I couldn't pull hard enough 2ndary to pain to get my wetsuit off. It took like 6 min...I then got on the bike and found I had strained my shoulder so badly that I could not ride in my aerobars. Just too painful. I was hurting so badly on the swim and the bike that it took a lot of fun out of the experience. Fast forward 5 months to last week and I finally broke down and got my shoulder injected with a little kenalog and xylocaine. My buddy kept telling me to come in and get it done but I stuck with therapy and alleve...stupid!!! I am pain free for the first time all summer.....(thankfully my next race was much better.....sleeveless wetsuit and pre-race alleve.)

For my first tri, a sprint, just this past July, I was overall 128 out of 179. So-so for a first event.

For the swim I was 161 out of 179, starting in the second of three waves. Obviously extremely BOP, but I did it and it was only two weeks prior that I was swimming more than sets of 25, so I don't complain.

What I like to mention to people is that yes, most people finished the swim before me, but for the bike leg I was 87 out of 179. Seems I passed quite a few of those who were out of the water before me.

The run was so-so, 101 out of 179.

My first race was great! 750 meter pool swim/15 mile bike/4 mile run. The swim was time trial and the start orderwas based on predicted swim time. I started passing people before the first length of the pool and had a good swim overall. The bike course was hilly, but I live in Colorado and haved biked hills for many years so it was no big deal. The bike went well. The run sucked, but I had only been running a few months and the hills wore me down. I still ran the entire distance though. Overall it was a great experience and left me wanting to do another race ASAP. I ended up doing 4 spints and an oly the first year. The races all had a common theme - OK in the swim, pass a ton of people on the bike, get passed by a ton of people on the run. I ended up finishing 5th or 6th in AG in almost every race.

My first tri went very well. I wisely chose a small, very close to home (like 10 minutes away) race, which cut down a lot on logistical issues. I ended up third in my AG which sounds great but which was in a large part due to the fact that the race was so small (about 200 entries). Still, it was a definite confidence booster and I'm sure that helped hook me on tri's.

I think I was pretty well prepared mentally and physically for the race, but I do remember being caught by surprise by one thing and it was during the swim. It was only a third of a mile in a calm lake, and I made a conscious effort to take it nice and easy (the swim being my weakest leg) and stay toward the back of the pack. I was regularly swimming over a mile during training sessions using bilateral breathing every third stroke at a steady pace with no problem, so I just assumed this was how I was going to swim during the race. I was very surprised to find myself out of breath during the first half of the race. It wasn't that I was in panic mode; I love the open water, but I just couldn't get enough air with bilateral breathing and I was forced to switch to breathing every other stroke on the right side. I remember being upset with myself, almost as if I was giving in, or cheating, or failing or some such thing, because I had read somewhere that bilateral breathing was best. Later, I read a thread on this board about breathing during training versus racing, and it turns out quite a few people train with bilateral breathing but switch to every other stroke in a race situation. I guess it has to do with the adrenaline rush during a race? Anyway, that thread made me feel so much better, and from then on I anticipate having to switch to every other stroke breathing at least part of the time during a race. (So, thanks to everyone who responded to that thread!)

Bad and good in that order. I live in a COLD place and so could practice OWS before my June 1 half ironman in boise. I got very nauseaded during the swim and ended up PUKING during the swim (don't worry, I couldn't stay on course either so there wasn't anyone nearby). Once I made it out of the water, I didn't push hard on the bike or the run and had a blast on both. Haven't decided yet if there will ever be a second triathlon or not.

ROTFLMAO!!!

My first tri went fantastically well. I signed up with 11 weeks to spare, but did I bother with the 11 week sprint plan? Nah. I got an hour lesson from a Div I swim coach, swam every day for three weeks working on nothing but the drills he gave me, then that was it for swim practice except for one run-through of the tri course. Biked as much as I could stand on my mtn bike. Just was NOT having fun trying to ride that like a road bike. But I ran, ran, ran, and loved it. So the morning of, despite some problems getting my mom in and the dog out (), I was exactly the right amount of nervous and ready and prepped. Everything went well, my swim went perfectly with tight, tight lines to the buoys, no one else near me, busted the heck out of transition, did as well as expected - no, better than expected - on the bike, and then the run. I was heading up out of transition and joked to someone near me, "So THIS is why we do all those bricks, huh?" We laughed together.

As I was coming down the second half of the run, all my thoughts cleared, I was completely in the moment. Everything was absolutely perfect. I was going my training pace, not race pace, and I found that I just didn't care. I was having the time of my life. People talk about that, having an absolutely awesome time in a race, and I didn't get it until that moment. I had no desire to push any harder than I already was. Everything was beautiful.

And then, the sprint to the end. Because I had done a full dry run, I knew the end would be a pretty significant downhill with some loose gravel on it. So I practiced that regularly at home, and I let loose. I let everything go. I passed three people (and almost caught a BTer!) in that final stretch, and every one of them cheered me on. It was absolutely awesome coming across that line totally unable to breathe, with my arms in the air. Ah, now I'm all happy just remembering it!

I'm intrigued by how many answer "how was your first race" by their standings, yet how many people say in other places, "race against yourself." Sure, I care about my standings, but really, nothing takes away - or adds to - that awesome bliss of the first race for me.