Horn goes off and JGibbs and I are in the back of our wave and we try to start swimming. Kept bumping into people and couldn't really catch my breath. The first 750 meter lap I thought I was going to die! I freaked out like everyone has done in their first race. (or so I have been told) I stopped a lot and breaststroked until I felt comfortable again. At this point in the race I was thinking "I should just be a Duathlete! C'mon you can rock the run and the bike is enjoyable, unlike this in which you're drinking half the lake!" :) But when things began to thin out on the second lap I felt really good. I was just doing my regular stroke like I was in the pool at the Y. Breathing wasn't a factor and my sighting was great. I was able to see the bouys the entire time when I took a breath so that made it a lot more relaxing. Felt wayyy to strong at the end, like I could possible do another half a loop or something (but I didn't thank goodness!). Rounded the last bouy and began to jog out of the water.

Thank you Lord! I am done with the swim!

Swim time includes the hike up the hill.

Get over my fear of OWS. Practice out there more and try to relax when others are around me. I hope this will come in due time.

Got out of the water and onto the beach, and then began the climb to the transition area. It was a good 100 yards up a hill. Not just a hill, but a HILL!! :) Once I got there my wetsuit was down to my waist and I removed it pretty easy. I wasn't too concerned with Transition times this race, seeing as it was my first. But not too bad. My Garmin crapped out on me, so it wasn't working. Put on my shoes and finished my Powerade and took off. Once I crossed the Mounting Line I had a little trouble finding my pedals, but it didn't cost me too much time. There was a backup anyways in getting out of the parking lot and onto the course.

Just work on Transition more when having my wetsuit on. Lay things out a little better. At least now I have an idea of what to do.

Once we got onto the roads I saw that my Garmin wasn't working (of course) and I had no idea how fast I was going. I decided to keep resistance at the amount I'm used to on my weekend rides and shift gears if it got harder/easier. Kept cadence above 90 to see where I was.

I immediately took a PowerGel and water and just sat in aerobar position pounding it out. I only passed about 10 people, and was passed by about the same amount of people. Of course these were guys with the NICE bikes, unlike my good 'ol Trek 1000 :) Oh, and now I know what a disc wheel sounds like when it passes you. Amazing. It was like the guy wasn't even trying and he flew by me like I was standing still. (don't worry, I caught him in the run like I did everyone else who passed me :)

Anyways, first lap was uneventful until I hit the two hills at the end. Put it in granny gear and climbed up slowly with my cadence at 90+ still. Once I started the second lap I never passed anyon else, nor was anyone behind me. I must've put a lot of ground between me and anyone else behind. The group ahead of me were too strong of bikers for me to catch. I tried to stay close so I could strike in the run. Again up the two hills in granny gear and towards the transition area. 2 down, 1 to go...

- good first race average for me. I can build on that and I think putting in 7+ hours/week in the saddle will help me be a better cyclist.

Get a cyclometer for my bike. I rely on my Garmin too much at times. Tape my gels to my bike on International races. I had my Bento Box with way more than I needed (I wanted to make sure I had anything/everything I could possibly need)

Got off right before the dismount line and took a second to make sure my legs worked. I made my way into transition while all the sprint distance people were getting their things togehter. That wasn't very cool. Most of them were just strolling around not even thinking that the International was still going on. I know I wasn't near the last of the poeple too so I can only imagine those who had to come in after me when it got even worse.

Anyways, took my shoes off and put socks and shoes on, grabbed some PowerGels and took off.

Work on riding with my feet on top of my shoes. maybe go sockless eventually?

Slammed a PowerGel as soon as I got out of the Transition area and had a waterstop. My legs were pretty tight for the first two miles so I didn't push too much. I kept a decent pace for the first two and then I started to pick it up.

Let me just say that I love having the running background. It felt great to finally pass some of these people that were crushing me on the bike and swim. I walked through the aid stations to make sure I got gatorade and water at each. Began cramping up around mile 3 but that went away very quickly. Saw JGibbs coming the other way and that just made the entire race! Both gave words of encouragement ("we're doing this!") and high fived as we passed. Around mile 4 I picked it up to just let it go a little more. i wasn't sure of my times since the Garmin was dead and I didn't split each with my Timex watch I had on. I only knew around where I was and figured if I put in a sub 42 10K I could possibly break 2:30:00. I took too much time in transition to do this today, but I kept hitting the last mile pretty hard. Not all out, but enough to pass others and make sure they stayed "passed". :)

After looking at the overall run, I could've pushed a little harder and maybe moved up to 10 or so overall. But first one all considered it wasn't bad. I know where my strength is, and it's the last 6.2 miles in an OLY.

Came back into the Park and hit the parking lot/finish line with a good speed. Finally... 5 months of training and I'm a Triathlete.

Take the run out a little faster than what I did and use the Garmin (if it gets fixed) to see what my pace is like. Learn how to drink on the fly at aid stations.

Crossed the line and took some gatorade/water. Stretched and cheered everyone else on that was finishing. Waited for JGibbs to finish and then we went to transition to pack our stuff up.


Well I think I could use a lot of swimming help, and practicing more and more in that aspect. Embrace the Lakes :)

It was a great experience, however this is the first of a series of races put on by HFP, and this brings out the hardcore Triathletes around here. I just wish I could've done better in my AG for my first tri. Ah well... more fuel for the race! :)

No complaints or excuses. It was great!


HFP puts on great races, and I would encourage anyone who is looking to do their first triathlon or duathlon to do it with this organization!