I competed in my first triathlon on Saturday. It was a complete blast! It was a sprint distance, which means a 500 meter swim (10 laps) a 20k bike (13.1 miles) and a 5K run (3.2 miles). My swim was probably my strongest event and I should have pushed it harder...but I wasn't sure what the rest of the race would bring, so I held back a little. The bike leg was very slow. I'm still trying to figure out the whole cycling thing...so that's where I want to improve on the most in my next race. The last leg was the run. It's an extremly wierd feeling going from the bike to the run. It took me a full mile before I could even find my legs. By then, I had developed a severe pain on the outside of my right knee. I've had problems with this pain before, but thought I was over it. I wanted to push it and "run it home" as that is my favorite part about racs, but it was all I could do to gallop to the finish line. My transitions were fast only because I didn't have all the fancy gear of the other racers. I just wore what I swam in for the whole race, and only had tennis shoes for the bike and run, instead of the bike shoes and bike clothes. I had a great time and am looking forward to my next one. I'm training for an Olympic distance (1 mile swim, 26 mile bike, and a 6 mile run). I'd like to do more, but the entry fees are a little more than we can afford right now. If anyone is interested, it's the best sport in my opinion! A great sight to help motivate and feed the passion is www.ontri.com. Thanks for everyone's support in this! Especially Dan and Chelsea...my cheerleaders through the race! Dan was a real trooper for even coming. He somehow managed to get to each transition with his crutches and supervising a 3 1/2 year old. My overall time was 1:39:30
