Hi Everyone-

I've been reading many posts and got a ton of good info from you all and wanted to say thanks and introduce myself.

I completed my first triathlon season - I gained tons of personal satisfaction out of every race, so I'm very much addicted to the sport.

Although I was an avid cyclist along, I was truly a non-swimmer and never ran more than a few miles so doing 5 races this season with two at the Olympic distance were big accomplishments for me.

I'm thinking of training for a half-IM next year (along with a few other sprints or olympic) and wondering if others have any opinion of the races on my short list: Mooseman (6/08/08), Narrangansett (9/07/08est), Madison CT (9/21/08est) and Montauk (9/28/08est).

My thought is to do an early season (B race) to help me prepare mentally and in the way of more structured nutrition for a late season (A race) - Figuring learning from my mistakes will give me confidence in the later season race. I'd be curious what others think about this plan.

My biggest hurdle is to improve my running - I think I push too much on the cycling and am still very stiff on running, so it all just stresses me out/slows my pace on the run. Hoping to work on form and trying to enjoy the running a bit more in the off season.. Any tips on form/running more relaxed would be great..

It's great to have a place to share experiences and to read about what works/doesn't from others who have tons of race experience..