new member of the club

I participated in my first triathlon yesterday - a sprint in Waterloo, WI. I think it was a good choice for my first triathlon, as it was small and most of the competitors were novices, so the atmosphere was pretty relaxed. Not counting the relays and kids, there were only 78 participants. It was quite cool and breezy; temp was 60 and winds were out of the NNW at 10-20.

I must say I'm pleasantly surprised at how much fun it was! I thought it would be a painful slog (specifically the second half of the bike and the run), but I ended up feeling really good throughout the entire race. I think it may have been because I tried to keep an even pace and not exhaust myself.

The only discomfort I had was minor - my calves felt a little tight for the first part of the run, but they loosened up after a few minutes. I pushed myself a little harder on the bike than I planned, and I didn't drink as much as I should have. Perhaps that contributed to the tight calves.

I finished all three legs quicker than I thought I'd be able to. I thought I'd finish between 1:30 and 1:40, and I'm really pleased I exceeded my expectations.

Thanks to everybody that answered my questions the last few weeks leading up to this!

10:19 T1-2:34 45:31 18.5 T2-1:43 23:42 7:21 1:23:46