I ran my first sprint and I'm HOOKED!

Greetings everyone! I've been lurking for the past few months and decided I'd post up.

I ran my first sprint triathlon, the Triple Threat, at the local military base two weeks ago and got 7th over all - I'm hooked!!!! Several friends and I competed as our New Years resolution fitness goal. My times were as follows;

• 1/2 mile swim = 13:16
• 15 mile bike = 39:32
• 3 mile run = 19:57

I did little to no research leading up to this and the learning curve was steep! The swim was nuts, not what I had trained for at all with my relaxed swims in the pool at the gym. I got stuck behind several people at the start, got kicked in the head, lost my goggles ran over, pushed down and almost drowned. The result was a sprint to the turn around buoy that was way too fast but I was just trying to get out of the pack. 

My bike time was fair but I felt as if it suffered because of how hard I pushed in the swim. BUT I did miss the gaggle getting out of the water. I didn't feel as I had caught my breath from the swim until 1-2 miles into the bike ride at which point I was able to settle down into a good pace for me.

I was disappointed with my run time but then again my lack of training really showed here. I had never run right after swimming and biking in training and I was gassed. In trying to push myself hard my 2nd transition time suffered huge. For the first time since I was a toddler I couldn't tie my shoes! I struggled with my breathing for most of the distance and I just felt "off" the entire time. 

I didn't follow a triathlon specific training program leading up to this. Instead, I did the following starting Jan 2 of this year.

• Cross fit metcon WOD x 6 days a week
• Swam in the pool at my gym 2-3 days a week. Hooked back up with my high school swim coach a few times to work on technique and to get a few work out programs
• Biked in the spin class 2 days a week at my gym (borrowed a bike and shoes to race). Started in the beginning spin class, moved to intermediate after a month, and advanced at 3 months which lasted 90 min twice a week
• Ran 1-3 days a week depending on work, kids, etc. Nothing more than 5 miles in training. I also ran a 5k and 10k local fun races at the start of the summer

My fitness level coming into this was reasonable. I'm 33 years old, former military, swam and ran track at Div III college, hit the gym a few days a week and augmented it with a few cross fit work outs in my garage once or twice a week.

I'm racing again in three weeks and have been working on transition stuff. I picked up some new shoes that have a "pull mechanism" instead of traditional laces. I bought a good pair of bicycle shoes that have a "ratchet" type of top strap that will allow me to adjust a little on the fly and get in easier. I'm also leaving them on the pedals this time.

My goal is to finish feeling stronger - don't care too much about the time, just want to be able to stand and not see blue spots everywhere. 

Thanks for all the great info that's here!