Let me start by saying that I have finally come out of lurkerville. I read daily and knew that I wanted to post my race report here because I have always read such valuable info..
My race was the Wild Dog Sprint in Bristol, RI. (1/4 mi swim, 10k bike, and 3 mi run) The race start was 7 am, so I headed out at around 5:45. I did no warm up at all, as I was so inundated with my surroundings. I was unsure of everything, people everywhere, going in every direction. No one talked either. It was such an organized chaos, sort of like everyone knew what was going on except me. I did the best I could, I concentrated on everything I did due to this uncertainty. I kind of just watched a few people here and there, that looked like they knew what they were doing, and I copied them.
My age group was the 4th wave. I did not get nervous at all until the 15 seconds before the swim. I was soooooo excited and anxious. I was ready! Well~ that swim was not at all what I was ready for. That was nothing like what I trained for. I did no OW swimming at all. I mean I was comfortable in the water, this was supposed to be my easiest leg. No Way!! I do not even think I did the crawl maybe a few seconds here and there but I was treading, back floating, doggie paddling anything to stay afloat. There were so many people in the water that I was constantly swallowing water, and I could not catch my breath. It was grueling!!! I honestly do not know how I got through it. The rocks were horrific on the way out. I am speaking of big, pointy, sharp rocks both tall and long. Every single step you took closer to the shore were more rough edges. Everyone was complaining. So I ran as fast as I could to my trainsition area. I believe that t1 took me 2:45 seconds. I really needed to stop and breathe and clear my throat before I headed out on my bike. My swim time was 9:47. Way better than I thought!
The bike was cool. 3 times around a loop. I did not push it at all. I didn't know what to expect and I was trying to be cautious for my 1st race. I am not sure on my time as the final numbers are not up yet. I was happy to get off the bike and onto the run. I know that my t2 time was way faster as all I did was put my bike away with helmet and headed out. No time to waste!! The run felt amazing!!! Again, I did not push myself to extreme as I really wanted to experience the whole race without killing myself. I definatley could have ran faster.... next time though. Total race time 1 hour 22 mins and some seconds. I am very pleased. I loved the way I paced myself I have to say. I felt better after the race than before. I was calm... which is weird for a race day. I cannot wait for the next one and I totally doing that one in Bristol again next year. It was completely flat!!!!
Thanks for reading guys and thanks for all the amazing stories!!!!