First open water swim. Needless to say this didn't go too well. I've been training in a pool.

I think I had a panic attack about 100m in.


More open water swimming?

Well, I had to run about 1/4 to 1/2 a mile just to get to transition from the swim area, barefoot and across cracked roads and trails.
Had some trouble getting the helmet on that cost me about 10 seconds.
Otherwise, I wasted no time.


I didn't really check and put on my helmet before to make sure it was okay, I just hung it on my bike and felt good.

I'm a strong cyclist and knew this is where I had to catch up. I did catch up. After the swim, got to transition, found my bike right away, had some helmet trouble as described above, and off I went.
I went the rubberband route with the shoes already clipped in, and found that I didn't speed up enough because by the time I was all ready to go with the shoes, I got passed by about 4 people.
During the ride, I passed a lot of people and found someone with a good pace and decided I'll just keep up with this lady. Worked out great. It was just me and her for the last 5 or so miles.
At about 1/2 mile out, took feet out of shoes and pedaled no problem. No issues on dismount.

Also, for the record, my bike computer told me I was going 15 mph. I just reset and recalibrated it before the race, and yes, I double checked that it was calibrated for 650 wheels which I have.

Went okay, could have been better. Tried racking the bike but wound up throwing it as I missed the bar where the saddle hooks on completely. Grabbed it and racked again.
I had an extra water bottle that I drank 2 sips and squirted myself with to cool down. Waste of time.
Out I went. My legs were hurting.

No water bottle.

I was wearing a 1 pc tri suit. After transition, I took off the top half and let it hang down so I could cool off better. I felt like I was going at a 15min/mile pace, felt so slow. I come from a running background and thought this would be by far my best. I still had a good pace, as I was keeping pace with my watch using the split function. 2 water stops along the way and the only volunteers on the run part were the 2 volunteers manning the water station, 1 each.
The run was through a campground on a trail.
Halfway through, my right calf cramped. I stopped running and stood still and immediately started running again and no cramp.
Crossed the finish line with some energy left.

More bricks.

Massage/stretching tent


Swim! I did terrible.

Overall, dont think I did bad for my very first, heck I got 2nd place out of all the first timers.


Also, side story....
So 3 or 4 months ago I had a dog bite my finger. Skin didnt break, but it caused my nail to become dislodged from the nail root under the skin.The nail is almost off in a flap fashion and is still on. Hurts like a #$!@% though. I had to fight that during the swim.
I'll try to put pics up of it!