Where do I begin? The swim is what has been keeping me from getting into Tri's for the past 2 years. My swimming background in the past 36 years consisted of playing in pools with my girls and a couple of games of marco-polo. My swim training started 2 months ago with laps at the local Y at a very slow pace - I am talking getting passed by grandmother's doing the back stroke pace. I rented wetsuit for the race and used it once this past Thursday. That was my first ever OWS and gave me a little bit of confidence.

When it was finally our time to start, the swim was everything I feared it would be. The only way to describe the start was like being in a washing machine. I started in the right, rear of the pack and caught the aftermath of everyone in front of me. Not to mention the fact that I was kicked a couple of times. I compensated by trying to catch the pack for some reason. Unfortunately, I quickly panicked for a bit and couldn't catch my breath about 100 meters into the swim. At that point I didn't know what to do and I flipped over on my back to catch my breath. I ended up doing the backstroke and sidestroke for most of the first leg, and part of the second leg. There was one point on the first leg where I passed a guard and seriously thought about calling it quits as I had no idea how I was going to continue. However, I continued on and was finally able to find a little dog paddle stroke. Somewhere after the first turn I was caught by people from the wave behind me. For some reason, that actually calmed me down. Then about 2/3's of the way into the swim I was able to relax and get my breathing in check. At that point, I actually tried to freestyle. I learned that while relaxed I could do this! I found my stroke and matched a group of about 4 people around me (from wave behind me) with speed for the final leg. The final leg actually felt good, but that ramp never looked so good as when I was done with the swim!

I have a couple of options here:

1) Stick to running
2) Stick to Du's
3) Wear a full life jacket with a motor
4) Learn to swim

Transition 1 was all about getting my focus back on the task at hand. I really didn't push for time and actually chatted with a guy beside me for a bit. Finally when I had the wetsuit off and my shoes on, it was on - I was ready to race!

Nothing this time. Next race I will focus on speed during transitions.

When I finally was leaving T1, I was frustrated about the swim AND excited about the race, so I let out a scream as I got up to full speed. I quickly hit 25mph and was feeling good about the bike. As I let so many people get a good head start, the fast people and MOP'ers were all a good bit in front of me. This allowed me to do alot of passing and I was only passed by 2 people during the entire bike leg. The first half of the ride was mostly over 20 mph. The final stretch was into the wind and slowed me a bit. However, it probably had more to do with the fact that I had tired legs from the swim and the marathon the week before.

Bike more than once in the past month and not run a marathon the week before the race. Also, clipless pedals and some aerobars might help make my little entry level Trek a little faster.

No real problems here other than the fact that most of the other bikes were in and there wasn't much space on the rack for my bike. I had to move 1 bike over 4 inches to make room for my bike. As I wasn't wearing bike shoes, that helped this transition time.

Not sure.

Yippee - I was finally in my element! I geared down on the final bit of the bike, so it didn't take me long to get into the run. I grabbed some water leaving T2 and I was off. My only goal for the first mile was to find my legs. It didn't take too long as I am used to this one discipline and used to running on tired legs. I had no real idea on pace as I messed up my watch leaving T2. I hit stop instead of 'lap'. When I arrived at mile 1, I assumed I was over a 7 pace, but I wasn't sure how much. I hit lap at that point and settled into a comfortable pace. My goal in the run was to pick out people ahead of me and pass them one by one. This worked, as I was not passed by a single person during the run. Overall, the run was pretty good. It wasn't a 5k PR, but I was ok with my time considering all that I had been through.

Not sure.

Warm down consisted of a quick walk to port-o-john for a pee.


By looking at my results, everything is obvious. I need to learn to swim and bike more. Other than that, it is all good.

My place by disciplines tells the story:

Swim time was 26:19.35, Overall place 472
Bike time was 39:19.50, Overall Place 260
Run time was 22:32.05, Overall place 107

With all that being said, I am hooked! I can't wait for my next TRI!


Great and fun race on a nice sprint course.