The swim went way better then I expected. I knew I would finish, but hearing everybody's horror stories I was a little nervous. I started on the outside at the back of the pack. I quickly found myself swimming into others and it took a little bit to get used to going around.

Being a bigger guy I never thought I would be faster then many of the other swimmers out there, but apparently I was. I did take a break at the half way point to take all of the sites and sounds of race day it like some on this site suggested. Loved it at the time and I am glad I did it.

Next time, I will definitely put a little more effort into the swim. When I was actually swimming at a pace I felt comfortable at I was passing people left and right. I was concerned I must be pushing too hard and all these other athletes must be pacing themselves. It turns out I may just be a pretty good swimmer.

I also won't stop at the second bouy to look back to shore to take it all in. While it was a great thing to do to enjoy the race, treading water for 30 seconds for no good reason isn't a great idea.

I will also NOT wear swim trunks over my tri shorts. I had to stop too many times to pull my shorts up, they kept falling down (I've lost significant weight since when I bought these). They probably didn't help my drag coefficient in the water either.

I will also practice more then 4 times before my next race.

After getting my first tri under my belt I feel much more confident going into other tris, and I am looking forward to those with longer swims so I can help offset my really bad running times.

I have to admit I was pretty darn winded from the run through the beach to get to T1. I wasn't prepared for that and I noticed my heart rate was up to 195 so I decided to walk for a minute to get to my station. Once I got to my bike I had my shirt, helmet, socks, and shoes on in under 30 seconds.

I did make one mistake though, I forgot to take off my swim trunks that I wore overtop of my underarmor compression shorts that I was wearing for the bike and run.

Not wear swim trunks and already be wearing a tri top so I don't have to put the top on.

Wind was freakin brutal on the leg out which was pretty much have the race. I have 30 year old steel framed road bike and I felt like I was going pretty good (~15 to 16 mph going out) but was getting killed by those on nice tri bikes. The wind was strong enough were it seemed like the extra aerodynamics of the tri bike really came into advantage.

On the leg back we were with the wind I was up in the 21mph range and felt good. Again, i was passed by allot of guys on tri bikes with clipless pedals (I just wore my running shoes with cheap plastic cages that did nothing)

Honestly, even though my rank (204/304) wasn't great here I thought I did well. Next time, I need to keep losing weight (245 lbs right now, down from 305 last May), get clipless pedals and a newer bike wouldn't hurt.

I would also make sure I am not wearing swimming trunks as I am sure the big flapping legs didn't do much for my aerodynamics. I will also pray to the wind gods as well.

Everything went well. I did have to take my shoes off so I could take my trunks off so that cost me 15 seconds most likely. I was right next to the ropes so my family was there cheering me on so I did give my kids a quick little hug as well.

NO SWIMMING TRUNKS

I am not a runner. I don't enjoy running yet, my goal was to survive. The heat was starting to really come down now, I just felt like it was crushing my lungs. I went into the race knowing I was going to run/walk, and that is what I did. I was hoping for 4 minutes of running and 30 seconds of jogging, it ended up being more like 2 minutes of running and 45 seconds of walking.

Being a bigger guy this isn't my area, I knew I would struggle here and I did. Something I just have to keep working at. I need to lose some more weight and keep pounding the pavement.

I could have pushed a little big more. I was worried I would get too hot and get cramps so I wasn't going as hard as I could have. When I finally saw the finish line I was able to get the pace up and it felt good, I should have done that earlier.

I had a beer at the beer trailer. No really, I walked around for a bit, got some water, talked with the family, then got a beer at the beer trailer.


Being over wheight and only training for 2 months. Next year I hope to be 190 lbs with 14 months of training under my belt I want to break the 1:15 mark.


I gave it a 5 because it was my first tri and I loved it. They had a beginners forum the night before which helped, along with lots of volunteers.