First Triathlon Complete

I don't post here often but keep my log updated religiously. I can say now I am officially a triathlete!

The Swim: It was only a .5k swim but it may have been one of the most difficult things I have ever done. I have been practicing in the pool for months- went out to the lake a few times prior but nothing was comparable to the swim this morning. About 150 yards out I became a little panicy, I couldn't keep a straight line so I had to breast stroke for a few seconds. I felt like that really helped. I got my nerves back a little and swam a lot better. Although I could not keep a straight line- I still finished. My family was there at the swim finish and I remember saying to them "That frekin sucked" Which it did! I averaged 1:58/100 which is not bad considering all the trouble I had.

TI: Horrible. I was a little light headed from the swim as well as it took me forever to take the wetsuit off. I spent over four minutes in there. I would say 4:30. People who finished around me had a TI time of 2:30-3:00. I probably could have taken my drink on the saddle as well.

Bike: Was pretty cool. It was a 25k course and I was passing people like it was out of style- I also got passed several times like it was out of style. Some people had some pretty sweet bikes- I loved hearing those Zipp discs fly by me : ) They were the coolest thing ever. I felt like I left some on the bike because I was worried about being penalized. I wanted to get on people's tail- suck them in a little bit and then hammer pass them when they were finished passing. I did the opposite- stopped spinning, patiently waited for them to pass and then pounded. Kind of hilly course but felt I did pretty well. I averaged 20.3 mph. Not bad for a Giant entry level road bike with tri bars installed.

T2: Not bad because that past is pretty easy- Throw on a pair of shoes. I think it took me 90 seconds.

Run: 5k. I knew this was where I would catch up the most ground- and I did. The run was over before I knew it so I felt like I left a lot on the course there as well- I did do pretty well though. I averaged 7:15 per mile.

All in all it was a pretty good day. I do not think I will be doing any longer triathlons until I get my open water issues sorted out but I was pretty glad with how I ended up. I felt really good- not too bad after the race- felt like I had a good workout which makes me believe I had some more juice in the tank. I finished 152 out of 800 participant and 15 out of 45 in my age group.

Not bad- this is a cool sport!