Advice needed - Two weeks before first Sprint

Sounds like you are doing great!

I definitely recommend you get enough rest in between your workouts.

It's easy to get too excited and over train. Remember the distances of your race.

I'd make sure you are adding some transitions in your workouts, meaning incorporate a short run after the bike...this better known as a BRICK (or Bike-to-Run). Normally your transition run is short, say a mile after your bike workout.

You can also do this with the swim, either bike or run after for a short (15min), brisk pace.

Give yourself a break a few days prior to the race, rest atleast 1 whole day prior to the race. Preceeding the rest day, you'll want to drop off a bit in the workouts, give your body to recover a bit from anything intense. This is sort of a mini-taper.

make a checklist so you don't forget stuff on race day.

You'll do fine! and remember to have FUN!!

Good for you!  I just completed my second sprint tri this past weekend, so let me just say that I was feeling a bit nervous just like you describe.  Relax, your training will see you through to the finish, and that competitive attitude you have about competing with your age group will serve you well when you have to face that first hill on the bike.

I will echo what someone else above posted, do some brick work, especially going from the bike to the run.  It will take your legs a few minutes to adjust from the motion and muscle use of riding a bike to that of running.  It's not necessarily painful, but it does feel strange for that first quarter mile or so. I would also suggest, if you are not already doing so, practicing your transitions.  I now build transition training time into my workout schedule. During my first tri I found I was really tense at transition--my times weren't so bad, but I could feel myself tensing up as I forced my way through it.  The when I got our of transition I had to tell myself to relax and get settled into a pace.  I worked on transitions for my second race and found that with practice I was much more relaxed and methodical about it.  I got through both T1 and T2 without having to give much though to what I was doing (kind of like getting dressed for work), so I could give my heart rate a chance to settle a bit, and begin thinking about the next stage of the race and not about putting my helmet or sunglasses on first or struggling to get my feet in my bike shoes--practice getting into your bike shoes with them already clipped onto your pedals.  I thought I would never be able to do that, but with practice, it's really not difficult and will save you a little time.

Just my thoughts from a rookie--good luck in the race!

Thanks for the advice, I had forgotten about the programs on this site. I looked at them at the beginning, but have a very strange work schedule and never been good at following plans. I decided to go with what felt right, with plenty of rest, following the no more then 10% increase on the run.

I looked up the taper period in the programs and was surprised to see a two weeks taper. Since i am as rookie as can be, will follow advice from the Pros and do the two weeks going down 20% each week.

I already did some Bricks, and it was a good learning experience. The weird feeling I was expecting, but what surprised me was running out of breath. It was on my second Brick that i realized I was running to fast. I guess my legs had moved fast on the bike for 14 miles, and were still going too fast for my capacity and training. I adjusted for the third Brick and it was much better.

I feel ready, but I am stressed because too many family members (I have a big family)  have decided to come and cheer me on. Afraid I might get DQ due to my inexperience, in front of all my family, especially my wife and kids.

Did plenty of competition when i was younger, and it's been a long time since I have felt this nervous. I guess I was expecting to feel younger after loosing the weight and getting in shape, but now I feel like a 10 years old who's gonna race in front of his mommy , and yes, my 69 years old mother will be there

GO HAVE FUN.

Most important three words I've heard on here. I did my first last year, and I was crazy nervous too. It's really not as bad as you think right now. the first OWS was an eye opener for me though plus the first time I'd really swam in my wetsuit. I'm as new as anyone so the first one is still pretty fresh in my mind! I think I've heard here that two weeks out, nothing you do will really help but can definitely hurt you. I like short easy workouts the week of the race, but I'm pretty lazy compared to most of these folks. Just put it on cruise control and run the race. Have a blast!

IMO, a 2 week taper for a sprint is way too long. I'd suggest a few days rest prior, that should be fine.

But follow what makes you feel comfortable.

Agree that you'll be fine covering the distance.  Is it an OWS?  If so you definitely need some practice with that!

Either way take it easy with the swim.  I find my heart rate goes way high before races, even ones I'm not consciously nervous about.  Like just standing there it's 120-130 bpm.  That's fine when I'm running but for some reason it's much harder to deal with on the swim.  Don't worry about where you're at in your age group on the swim- just relax and enjoy it, you're almost certain not to be last even if you go really slow.

It sounds like you're most nervous about having so much family there which to me is understandable!  But know that it's pretty rare to DQ and most of the rules are pretty intuitive.  As far as finishing last it's pretty unlikely.  If I were you I'd take it fairly easy on the first and last 1/3 of the bike and hammer a little on the middle third.  Then you'll definitely have enough in the tank for your run, which is where your family is most likely to see you.  You'll finish and you'll have a good idea where you can push harder next time.

And most likely your family members will be amazed that you swam and biked and ran all at the same time.  If you're not first and you're not last, most laymen don't have any idea whether your performance was good or bad.

Enjoy!

I agree with the above poster. Try and get an OWS done. I think you can in Lake Meech. Water should be fine, I have been swimming up at Lac Ste-Marie without a wetsuit.

Don't let your nerves get to you on the swim. Go out easy and paced. Doesn't matter what position you come out of the water, you can slowly catch people ahead of you. Slowly build on the bike until you feel strong and maybe back off a little with a few km to go, spin your legs a little.

Slowly build up your run speed based on how you feel. If needed walk the aid station and properly take on something to drink. You won't finish last. You may be last in your AG (and I don't even think that will be) but you will be finishing with plenty of people around you.