I was very relaxed prior to swimming. I wanted to start out with bilateral 3 breathing but that went out the window after the first 50M. I did unilateral the rest of the swim to my right side. I had to stop twice due to my goggles leaking. She started our wave 5 seconds after we got in the pool and I wasn't careful enough putting on my goggles.

Swim faster. I was too calm, no adrenaline at all. The whole race was entirely too relaxed. I did freestyle the whole 400M, I was very happy about that.

The race was not chip timed but I would estimate my T1 time at approximately 5 minutes. My husband had to remind me to hurry up, "this is a race!" I was a little slow getting my socks on (wet feet). I was doing fine until I tried to clip in on the turn out of transition which was also slightly uphill. Ugh, down I went. I can't believe how fast I popped up, I don't even remember unclipping my left foot!

Practice, practice, practice. Sit down to put my shoes on. Act with more of a sense of urgency.

Timed on my bike computer. I had a great time on the bike. My legs were a little cold at first due to the temperature and the fact that my shorts were wet. The bike course was on some of the roads we regularly train on but going the opposite direction made it fresh and different. Passed 6 people from my wave on the bike course.

Pushed it harder. I was a little too comfortable. I was worried about saving something for the run. I will be working on leg strength over the winter (plenty of big chain ring work, squats, presses, and step ups are in my future) and possibly changing the gearing on my bike.

Most of the approximate 5 minutes was spent walking my bike down the hill into transition. The race director had bikers and runners exiting and entering transition on the same service drive so I opted to be cautious and walk the entire length of the service drive. One fall was enough for the day.

Ride down the drive and unclip like I know how. Walking downhill that far in my bike shoes definitely caused a problem on the run. More on that later. Practice leaving my shoes on the bike and dismounting while moving towards transition.

I managed to run the first mile but shortly thereafter the front of my left leg tightened and my left foot started slapping the pavement. I walked for a short time to try to loosen it up. I am ashamed to admit that this was my first time running after biking. Wow, I couldn't believe how my legs felt. My nice relaxed stride was reduced to a choppy, short shuffle. I think the walk in the bike shoes before T2 contributed to the problem with my left leg. I finally started to feel good at about the 2.5 mile mark. Passed by two people on the run from two other waves. One was the 5th overall finisher who was also the first female.

To state the obvious, do bricks regularly in training. Work on my running speed. I do plenty of hill work during my normal training runs but I should do some interval training.

Walked down to the transition area. Changed shirts, put on my warm up jacket, and packed up my equipment. Waited for my husband to finish. Talked with the first female finisher about bikes, HIM races, and training. She was really helpful and nice to talk to. Ate pizza and had bottled water both provided by the race sponsors.


My inexperience and age. You can read about it, talk about it, and observe it but, until you do it you don't know a darn thing (like a lot of things in life). I can proudly call myself a triathlete and can say I learned a lot. I thought I did pretty well for my first tri. I think I will prefer longer triathlons, sprints seem too harried and hectic.


This is a small, local community triathlon that was very well organized and had plenty of volunteers (high school girl's swim team). How cool is that? A small town (population of a little over 6,000) can get over 80 people out doing a tri. Several of the many relay teams were made up of fathers, mothers, sisters, and brothers. I really had fun and plan on doing this race again next year!