Sprint Tri recap

So, my first ever triathlon was this weekend. It was awesome! I was really nervous as we drove up there (like really nervous - I think last week's open water swim freaked me out). But it was awesome!

Luckily, it was pretty close to the city (about 40 mins north), so we were able to drive up there that morning. Once we got there, we double checked our tire pressure and then went to set up our transition areas. Put my bike on the rack, set out all my gear (cycling shoes, glasses, helmet, running shoes, hat). Coach Josh had explained how I should set it up, so luckily that was easy.

Then we went and got "marked". In other words, they take a permanent marker and write your race number on your arm. Which I don't quite understand since it wore off almost entirely from my wetsuit.

About 15 minutes before the race, we put our wetsuits on. It went on much easier then last week (thank god!). Then I did one final check of my transition and went to the beach. Got in the water to get a feel of the tempature and my wetsuit and swam a few yards. Thats when all my nerves went away and I started to get excited.

When my swim wave started, I was super excited. The swim went much better then last week! The water was warmer and not as intimidating (even though there were 400+ other people in the water). I swam most of it, but definitely took a few breathers to do the breathe stroke. Was really exciting when I could get out of the water!

After the swim I ran to the transition while starting to take off my wetsuit (unzip, pull of arms). Got to transition and pulled the rest of the wetsuit off (which for some reason I find super easy!). Then I put on my race number, sunglasses and helmet (a must!). Dried off my feet and slipped into my cycling shoes. And off I went.

The bike course was hilly (like they said it would be), but I had no idea HOW hilly it really would be. And of course, I made it harder. I discovered on the bike course, that I could not switch into first gear (the easiest gear); I don't find CP that hard, so I never switch into that gear. So I ended up doing all the hills in a much harder gear then most people. Despite that, I still managed to pass people (which felt really cool to do). I also rode almost all of the course in my aerobars; something I don't do a lot in CP since its so crowded, but on the course felt natural.

When I pulled into the transition, I have never been so excited! I felt awesome coming off my bike. Ramon (my TNT running coach and one of the people we came with) was already finished, so he was there cheering me on. Made the 2nd transition really quick: just slipped on my shoes (yay speed laces) and threw on my hat and off I went.

The run was 3 miles and it felt great. The first 5 mins my legs were adjusting to being off the bike, but they got back in the groove for running really quickly. By the time I came back into the park for the finish I was so excited! Crossing the finish line was super exciting and made me so pumped for Philly (which is in less then 2 weeks)!

I am pretty happy about my time (esp the bike one since I did it in a hard gear, lol). I don't really know if they are good times or not, but I don't really care. The goal of this race wasn't for time. It was to learn and get ready for my big race in August. My times are below:

Swim: 18:26.2
Transition 1: 2:58.3
Bike: 1:06:50.5 (14.1 MPH)
Transition 2: 49.5 (whoa, thats fast!)
Run: 24:54.6 (8:18 pace)

Total: 1:53:58.58

My new PR for Sprint distance Tri's!