The surf and the swimmers were relatively calm-not much pushing or kicking. It was a bit difficult to maneuver around people, and there was a bit of a traffic-jam around the buoys. This was my first open-water swim, so I was a bit nervous about people kicking and such. But, it wasn’t as scary as I imagined.

Next time, I won’t start in the back of the pack.

It took me awhile to get the sand off my feet, and, for some reason, I was laughing. So, this transition wasn’t as smooth as it might have been, but I was having fun...so, I guess I don’t care. Also, I was using an old 80’s road bike that I had put toe clips on the day before. It took me awhile to shove my foot in the pedals and get up to speed.

Next time, I’ll have my bicycle with my regular pedals.

For some reason, my bike wouldn’t shift down to the lower gears. I got a bit flustered when this happened, and one of my feet slipped out of the toe clip. I couldn’t get my foot back in, so I just continued up the hill. Then I remembered that this was fun and I needed to relax...and then I put my foot back...laughed at myself.

Laugh at myself sooner.

I didn't have much to do on this transition. My running shoes were already on from the bike.

Well, I’m a pretty slow runner. So, any time I run I’m happy that I did it. This time, it was neat to watch the ocean and small gliders landing/taking off as we were running.

Focus more on my running because I had too much energy left at the end.

Some light stretching, and I ate a bunch of orange pieces.


This was my second triathlon-the first was also a sprint. Both of them were great, and I’m ready for more...I think that I’m going to try a slightly longer distance next time to see if I still think they are great fun when I exert myself more! My only regret is that it didn’t occur to me to search for other people on this forum.