The Giant Acorn at Lake Anna, VA on October 6 was my first triathlon. Nerves-a-plenty for several days leading up to the event.

Drove up Friday afternoon to get a look at the course and was glad I did. The organizers had re-configured the swim to go around a pennisula which (guessing here) would make for good viewing from shore. The bike course was more hilly than I would have guessed but driving it helped because there were a couple of pretty sharp corners which I was ready for Saturday. The run course was a mostly flat out and back with only one hill of any measure near the beginning / end.

We didn't know till Saturday am whether the event would be wetsuit legal, but the temperature at 8 am read 76, so we could break out the suits. I've never been in a wetsuit before this event, so I didn't know what to expect. I was in the 7th of 8 waves so many people were already away before I got in the water. We had to swim out and wait for the horn to start and this became a good opportunity to get a feel for just how bouyant a wet suit is. Everyone in my heat was friendly and answered questions and shared laughs as we waited.

BEEP -- we were off! I had to keep repeating to myself at the start, "nice & steady with the strokes." This seemed to help as sometimes in swim races I do in the summer, I tend to go out way to fast and don't have anything left for the end. It seemed like it took forever to make the first turn. I know I did my fair share of zig zagging and even found myself to the inside of a bouy once, but got back on track. The biggest problem was that I always seemed to get tangled up with a couple of other guys in my group -- I'd stroke into a leg, someone would stroke across my arm. I'd pause for a second and get a look up and make a course correction and then keep on. It felt like forever,but the final marker bouy came into site and after a minute, I was able to put my feet down on the lake bed and stand -- didn't know if I'd be able to!

I made it out of the water and back to the transition and got the wet suit off and bike shoes on and took off on the bike ride. There was only one really difficult part of the course which came about .5 mile in. It was a sharp right that immediately kicked up steeply for maybe .2. I remembered it from the drive so I was able to downshift early enough to keep my cadence up the hill. The organizers had really drilled the no drafting, blocking and only passing on the right. As this was my first race, I had to conciously think as I approached each person how to make a proper pass. It got easier the longer we went, but I didn't want to mess up and get a penalty. The riders out on the course were pretty nice. Many times I'd hear, "On your left." as someone was approaching quickly. This was cool, and I could make sure I was out of their way. As I went along and was passing, I did the same and was shown the same courtesy. I passed a bunch and was passed by a bunch but it was a good learning experience. It did seem like it took forever to make it back to transition and when I came down the hill toward the line, I almost couldn't pull my cleat off the pedal!

Transition went ok; I'm still not very quick running in my cleated shoes though. Finally got my running shoes on and was off on the run! My legs felt rubbery but I was prepared for that from training and kept going. There is a short but steep hill leaving the marina which I had to walk but after I got to the top, I kept running the whole way. After a certain point about 2/3 of a mile in, I had to keep telling myself to keep on going. There weren't any distance markers that I could tell other than the turn around at halfway, so, I had a hard time figuring out what my pace was. I don't know if I could have picked it up any at that point, but I'll have to come up with some better way to measure that for next time. "Just keep running." That was my mantra all the way back to the finish. On the run out I started feeling bloated. I guess I had too much water and electrolyte. It made the last mile of the run very uncomfortable.

The finish line looked so good! I could see it for quite a way back and it motivated me to keep going. That and all the people standing along the sides. That's a pretty cool feeling hearing strangers clapping and cheering for you to keep it up! I did get sick after they cut my chip off my ankle. Someone said that at least I left it all out on the course!

I crossed the finish line in one piece at 1:31:19! I was hoping to finish between 1:35 and 1:40, so I was pretty happy with the result. I'm even more happy that I now have a baseline and know how I want to improve each area for the next race. It's really too bad that the season in over here -- I'd like to get a couple more races in. But, now I have some goals in mind that I want to work toward and get in some good training so I'll be ready when the season starts again!

I'm glad I rested Sunday but I'm getting impatient and am going for a run tonight. I really don't feel right if I don't get in a run or a bike ride every day! Guess I'm hooked now! :lol: I suppose there are worse things though!