Well...I completed my first triathlon this weekend...and I can say with absolute certainty that it won't be the last. I've been training for some time now and it felt great to get out and compete a little bit. It was a small sprint in Sioux Falls, SD. 400 m swim, 13 bike, 3.1 run. It was really a perfect race to get my feet wet in competition. I had a blast and I learned a ton. I finished a solid 10 minutes better than my goal so I was very excited about that. I finised 14th overall. I know there weren't that many studs at this event, but I still surprised myself a bit.

The swim was definitely an eye opener. I am very new to open water swimming so that combined with all the people...wow...that is something different. I felt like I had a horrible swim...I got boxed in early then just got all out of wack swallowing water and what not...I just completely lost the rythm and basically scrambled the second half. As uncomfortable as I felt I was still about the 15th out of the water (7:53), so that is reassuring for the next race. I will definitely chalk that one up to a learning experience though. My bike and run both went about how I thought they would. I felt like I paced myself a bit much as I had quite a bit of energy left for a big kick at the end. That probably could have been of more use spread out over the course of the race a bit. Again...learning experience. My transitions weren't all that smooth, but I think I picked up some things as far as how I want things set up to get in and out quicker. Lots of areas to improve on.

I've been out of competitive athletics for a couple years and I really realized how much I missed the competition. I think I've found something to fill the void. I came into all this with the idea of just having a little fun and staying in shape. You know...a purpose to workout. Now I've found myself diagnosing every part of the race...looking at splits...averages...everything. I'm hooked.

Anyway...first race was a great experience and there will be many more to come.