1/3 mile swim, 12.5 mile bike, 5K run in beautiful Madison, NH. The day started a little foggy and rain was predicted, but by the time the race began the sun was peeking through and the weather continued to get better all day! Temp for the race was probably about 65-70 and sunny. Water temp 67.

For my first tri since 2004 I picked a good one. The event was low key, well organized, and very small (79 individuals.) This was the first year for this event, so there are definitely some things that can be improved for next year (there were some traffic issues on the bike course.) My only real goal was to race safely and not come in DFL.

The night before I had my favorite pre-race meal: stuffed shells and red wine. I slept pretty well and wasn't as nervous as I had been earlier in the day.

The race was in my town (a mile from my house) so I felt comfortable chatting with people from my training group and other assorted neighbors. I also knew the course very well because we had been training on it.

Swim
The swim for me was, in a word a nightmare. I had good form to begin with and had been taking Total Immersion swim lessons. Unfortunately I just hadn't put in enough training for the distance. We had been doing TI drills for so many weeks without actually "swimming" and I didn't want to practice with the wrong form. At about halfway I was gasping and wheezing. I felt like my wetsuit was choking me, but it might've been in my head. I couldn't figure out if I was hyperventilating or just breathing heavy. I did my best to calm down and ended up breaststroking, backstroking, and struggling my way to dry land. My time was 14:07, so I guess it could've been worse. There's a ton of room for improvement there! Swim Rank 66/79

T1
I was bummed to learn that transition time would be included in the bike time due to the way the timing mats were set up. T1 went ok, but I definitely need to get the wetsuit off quicker. I think this took about 3-4 minutes.

Bike
All in all I was quite happy with the bike. I've only been riding a road bike for about a month and as with the swimming didn't have a ton of miles in so I was happy to finish safely in 45 minutes. I handled the hills well and was even able to pass a few people throughout the course. I also was able to drink from my water bottle without dropping it (which was a big deal for me, and apparently some others as I saw 3 bottles on the ground throughout the course.) I also had to stop twice due to traffic issues, so again, tons of room for improvement there. Official time was 49:34 which included transitions. Bike Rank 63/79

T2
Was a breeze, just like I had practiced. Got my shoes on easily due to my Lock Laces grabbed my belt and visor and I was off. I think that transition took less than a minute.

Run
I was really feeling good after about 5 minutes in. I've been learning ChiRunning technique and it's definitely helped me a lot. I couldn't believe when I hit the halfway mark in 15 minutes! Right on schedule! Was actually able to turn it up at the end and finish with a little extra speed! (I can never manage that in any of my road races.) Just missed a 5K PR by 10 seconds! Official run time 30:22. Run Rank 64/78

Official Race time 1:34:01. 68/79 overall, last place in my age group. Obviously a very slow time, but I did better than expected and am looking forward to making huge improvements before my next race. I can't wait!