Started out terribly. I heard the starting whistle, saw the girls in front of me take off, and I followed suit, thinking I could keep up. Within a minute or two, I felt like I couldn't catch my breath, and I began to panic. I even contemplated quitting (just two minutes in... think of the embarrassment!). I came up for air, and just did a slow breast stroke/doggy paddle for a few minutes.

I had to logistically talk myself back into swimming. I had to tell myself: I've done this distance. Many times. I've worn this wetsuit. I've worn these goggles. I've swam in open water this cold. This is completely something I can do. This will be easy. I've got this.

Once I caught my breath, I began swimming again, going much more slowly this time and focusing on breathing often (stroke, stroke, breathe instead of stroke, stroke, stroke, breathe). I continued my positive self talk, and it worked! I started to feel better overall, and soon transitioned into a faster pace.

I was very glad I had trained in open water, and had practiced spotting a target while maintaining my stroke.

I ended up finishing 26/42. Mediocre by any other standard, but not bad considering my initial panic attack and falling behind, and the fact that this is my first race!

I would've forced myself to go slow early on, so that I didn't induce a panic attack!

This was my first race, and I had no idea what to expect with the transition. I'm sure I could've gone faster but I'm still pleased with my performance.

Just dried off and got dressed as quickly as possible. Body Glide was such a help for removing my wetsuit.... I'd highly recommend that (before suiting up that morning, I had applied it to my forearms/wrists, my calves/ankles, and my neck).

Another tip.... I was nervous about transitioning from the cold water to riding on bike in 40* weather. My solution? I had a plastic grocery bag that I placed over my wet sports bra. I tucked the bag handles underneath the bra straps, near my neck. The main body of the bag hung down over my sports bra, and I tucked the bottom of it into the band of the sports bra. This served two purposes: prevented my wet sports bra from soaking my shirt, and served as a layer of insulation. Ghetto? Yes. But it worked! I kept it on during the entire bike ride!

Before heading out on the bike I had a spoonful of chocolate frosting (some nutrition plan, right?).

I wish I would've remembered sunblock!

This was my weakest leg, for sure. I hadn't done any bike training at all. My husband and I ride our mountain bikes around town every once in a while, but we typically stay at a comfortable pace, and our rides never exceed 20 miles. I had never even ridden a rode bike until the week prior.

Fortunately, the bike shop I rented from allowed me to come up the week prior and ride the bike around the parking lot to get used to it. One of the employees was even kind enough to ride next to me and talk me through how to shift gears.

The ride was around a 50-mile lake, with a short leg added to it. Lovely views the entire time, of course. I don't have a bike computer or smartwatch or anything, so I couldn't monitor my speed. I just tried my best, and when I passed mile markers, I would use that data, plus the time elapsed, to figure our how fast I was going.

My problem with biking is that I tend not to push myself. At no point was a I cardiovascularly stressed. The only pain I really had was from sitting on the seat. I didn't have a seat cover, or padded shorts or anything, and I swear that bike seat was made of stone, so it was a very uncomfortable ride. For about the last third, I kept trying to reposition myself to find a more comfortable spot, but obviously there's not much room to move on the saddle, so I was stuck in a moderate amount of pain.

I drank about 3oz of water during the bike ride, and ate a granola bar at the half-way point.

Having a bike monitor or something else to monitor my progress would have been helpful.

Basically just took off my helmet. Had another spoonful of chocolate frosting. Remembered to put on sunscreen this time.

Felt like a baby giraffe stumbling through the process, but I imagine that's pretty universal.

Nothing.

First two miles were very slow. TECHNICALLY, I was jogging, but was probably going less than 4mph. My legs were just too weak and out of rhythm from the bike.

By the time I came across the first aid station, I was getting desperate. I knew I couldn't continue on going that slowly, so I had to do something different. Even though I typically did my run training on an empty stomach (my workout belly is VERY sensitive), I took a chance and grabbed a tiny sip of water and about 6 Starbust candies. Turned out to be refreshing and helpful. I had a couple more snack like this throughout the run. I'm so glad it worked out! I was nervous it would upset my stomach, but I handled it pretty well. At the aid stations where I didn't eat or drink anything, I still doused myself with water.

Since the course was mostly uphill for the first half, I was pretty gentle with myself, anticipating that I would naturally be slightly faster coming back down. This turned out to be successful!

Nothing! Did the best I could!

Met my husband at the finish line! He picked me up for a minute, but I was able to walk on my own. Overall, I still felt pretty good (well, relatively good).

I just walked around, getting water and snacks, and was in the car headed home within 10 minutes.


Lack of equipment. No heartrate monitor, smartphone, smartwatch, bike computer, etc.
Had no padded shorts or bike seat.

Lack of experience.... had never ridden a road bike before, had never done transitions.
Not too bad though, considering it was my first race!


Overall a great race. Since this was my first race, I don't have anything to compare it to, but it was definitely a good experience and I learned a lot!