This will be a combo Van Tri/ my first race report!

The race was Labour Day Monday in Stanley Park (Vancouver, BC) and followed a weekend of cool drizzly weather. I was up at 5am and was happy not to hear the pitter patter of raindrops as I ate breakfast. My boyfriend and I were staying with my cousin (who raced the Oly) near Stanley Park so we only had a short drive to get to the transition area to set up. After organizing my gear I had an hour to wait until my wave started. The tide was quite low at the start of the first wave - the oly men under 40- and a number of athletes fell on the slippery beach just before the water, ugh. The water was reported at 16 Celsius, ~60 F, so I hopped in early to paddle around and get used to the chilly water. My wave started a few minutes early...with a fairly big group of people- all male and female sprinters mixed together. The horn went off and we all began to run/wade out for a ways as the water was pretty shallow. After a minute catching my breath and getting into the groove of the swim I was into my best open water swim- calm and focused which really was a change from the practice swim on Saturday that was less than smooth. Out of the water and into T1 was a quick trot up the beach with a less than quick transition time to follow (3 minutes-eek!). The bike was good - two laps of the park with one (x2) surprisingly steep and longish hill that made the zippy downhill back to the transition area/finish line so much sweeter. T2 was faster only having to change into my running shoes. I had a slow and steady start to my run- complicated by the elastic laces that I didn't do up tight enough which led to my heels lifting enough to cause foot cramping. My run time wasn't as fast as I'd like it to be, but that will come with future races- I wasn't sure how hard to push myself and found at the end of the run I had more than enough left in the tank for a fairly decent sprint to the end.

It was a great race- wonderful to have my bf and lots of family there cheering! It was a nicely organized race and my only complaint would be that the woman giving directions for another lap or finishing (it was two laps of the run for the oly) was unclear and a large sign would have led to much less confusion. A number of athletes who were finished made it as far as the finish line, not in the chute and had to back track to cross the mats.

Can't wait for the start of races next year!
Jennifer

oh- my results: 10th in my age group and 93rd overall(bib)#280
http://www.multisportscanada.com/Results/07Vancouver_Sprint_Overall.txt