Race report of 1st sprint triathlon

Here is my race report from the mossman triathlon....my 1st sprint (with the flu)

I DID IT!! My first real sprint tri:)

2:15 (1/2 mile swim, 15 mile bike, and 3 mile run)

It was the toughest thing i have done so far.


I got up a 3:30am today to drive the 1.5 hour ride From Lindenhurst,
NY to Norwalk, CT. I had everything prepared and even bought a new
insulated bottle for my bike. I drove up...no traffic...I know you
are saying its 4 in the morning but driving near NYC you see traffic
at all times. I got up there and checked in. The weather was
perfect 72 degrees, sunny, slight breeze. Not too humid. Its 95
right now so the weather was very very nice.

They gave me a yellow swim cap and i didn't realize that it determined
what group you went into the swim with. So i was walking over to the
start and i hear them saying 30 seconds for yellow to start. So i ran
over but missed my group so i started 5 minutes later. I think that
was the best thing that happened to me cause i wasn't thinking about
swimming. I just ran in (it was cold-66 degrees). I started swimming
freestyle but keeping my head out of the water cause I kept
involuntarily gasping. But mentally i was ok- the important part. I
just kept telling myself that i will get used to this and I will do
it. So i finally made it head-in into the water and for a while i
alternated freestyle and backstroke. So the swim was a 100 meter
swim out to a big yellow buoy across like 600 or 700 and then another
100 back to land. So there we 3 buoys only i didn't realize it so i
am crawling along an my pace and i see the 2nd buoy but i really think
its the 3rd. And i am like, " this is a piece of cake!" but when i
got closer i realized that no one was turning..hahahaaa.. This 2nd
buoy was more or less the halfway point. So i told myself the just
keep doing what you are doing. There were volunteer lifeguards on
board and kayaks and they were so awesome. Asking politely if i am ok
or just encouraging me. It was great. I would give them a thumbs up
to let them know i was ok. When i turned the last buoy i was really
tired and i was a little off course so this 70 year old woman in a
kayak tells me to start nosing over and tells me i am doing great. I
am not sure if these people know what that does when you are tired and
starting to question why you jumped in 66 degree water to swim a half
mile. So i correct and i go another 50 meters and i look up to see
if i am on course and there she is yelling at me to keep going. I
look at her and say hey didn't i pass you back there or am i not
moving:) So at the end of the swim i went hard. The problem was that
i started feeling queasy. When i got out of the pool i was dizzy and
nauseous. I just walked over to the transition area and tried to get
my head on straight. Changed quickly. And then started riding. My
legs felt pretty bad. I actually thought i had a flat (haha) cause my
legs weren't working right. I told myself to just ride easy for a
bit. I did and i turn this corner and there is a short steep hill.
I is nothing on fresh legs but i was tired. Got up it and turned
another corner and there was a long steady climb. I swear i could
have taken this with no problem but my legs were jello so i went into
mountain biking mode and just took and easy gear and spin spin spin up
the hill. I was sipping on my new insulated 10$ bike bottle and my
liquid was nice and cool. I go to put it back in the holder and
ka-plunk...it goes falling across the street...needless to say it was
a donation and i hope that some local kid got a new water bottle.
This sucked cause i really needed the fluids but forget the things you
cant control(and i am NOT going back for it). Oh did i tell you there
is another loop. Yep short hill and heartbreak slow climb another
time but I felt better so i think my 2nd lap was better. Passed a few
and got passed by a few. Again people encouraging us all the way.
Only one negative issue was some "uber" athlete yelled at me for being
on the left even though the race people were telling us to get left.
So I thanked him in the NY way and kept racing. Finished up the bike
and the run transition was great but...you guessed it....wobbly legs.
So i walked for a bit and scarfed some water. The run was hard. Just
plain old hard. I was really tired so i just ran and walked according
to how i felt. I walked too much but i am ok with it cause i was beat
by that point. But let me tell you about the finish. I ended up
running more at the end of the race. Coming into the finish line they
announced my name and let me tell you..
I have to tell you I got choked up when they announced me coming in to
the finish. Life has been tough lately, not just injuries, but
everything so this finish meant more to me. So i finished 2:15 . I
do not have my splits yet but should have them tonight.

This race is representative of how all tri's should be run. They
were excellent.

Oh and i won a portable foot bath for answering this trivia question:
what were the names of both Rocky's fishes in rocky 1? (cuff and
link) hahaha