Subject: First Tri Done. A few things I learned I did my first tri last Saturday (Oly) and figured the best I could possibly do was 2:32 and the worst I thought I might do was 3:03. I ended up at 2:37, which I was happy with. This was 4th in my age group (50-54). Things that I learned: I thought the best I would do in the 1500m swim was 28 minutes. I usually breath every 3rd stroke but I found that I could only do this for a few minutes and I had to resort to breathing every other stroke. I did keep my focus on keeping a good stroke going, but couldn't make myself slow down. I ended up swimming 25:11, which was great, but I paid for it in the bike. Lesson: don't worry about what other swimmers are doing, focus on your own pace. The bike route was pretty tough, with 40 hills, two longer than half a mile, and this was a challenge for me. I've only been riding my bike since May and the hills were tough, especially as I had a gear problem. I got the the first hill and went to shift ot low gear and found that my front derailler would not shift. Lesson: make sure your bike is well lubricated before your race. (After the first couple of hills I was able to get the bike to shift by creative double shifting). By the time I got to the run, by legs pretty much felt shot, and I told myself I would NOT push in the run until after 3 miles. This was a very good decision. My legs started to feel better by three miles and I was able to pick up my pace. Lesson: save something for the last half of the run.
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