First tri, looking for some feedback

Obviously time is a major measure of your performance, but there are many variables for different races.  For example, if it's an open water swim in the ocean, one day it might be calm and you can do 30 minutes, another day it might be really choppy and end up at 45 minutes, so time isn't the end all be all.  Look at the field you're racing against and how well you fared against them.  You could set a goal of "I want to be in the top 50% of the field," or "I want to be in the top 25% of my AG," or "I want my T2 to be under 2 minutes."  Just MHO.

I usually set some goals relatively far out from the race.  So my HIM goal was <6 hours and my IM goal is 12-13 hours.  I missed my HIM goal by 18 minutes (5%) and moped for a day about it.  Not any more.  I also had a goal to ride 20 mph for the 56 miles which spurred me to get out and ride those 2-3 hour rides aggressively.  I hit that goal. 

As the race gets close (within a week or two), I'll start formulating expectations.  What will I realistically expect for the swim/bike/run, usually with an "average" to "barely OK" range.  I never really dwell on the "if the stars and the moon all line up I can do X" expectations.  Usually the day or two before the race, I'll revise these expectations based on the predicted weather and how I'm feeling.  Back to the HIM, I knew that 6 hours was going to require a darn good day and 6:18 really wasn't that far off what I could expect based on recent training times. 

Looking back on your race, what did you think about your performance?  (That's really what matters, not our opinion. )  There are people on this site who'd be ecstatic with the times you listed.  Others won't be satisfied with a 2:07.  Put some context around your 3:07 finish (did you lose 50# after major surgery?  or did you just show up and race without more than an hour or two of training? ) and peoples' impressions will change (pretty dramatically).