I am a Triathlete!!!

Hey everyone, I finally did it. I am officially a triathlete as of this morning. I raced in the Champaign Park District MiniTriathlon and it was great. My journey went like this....

Prerace
Ate powerbar at 6am, setup transition, forgot racebelt and had to run home to get it. Right before start of race at 7:30 ate powerbar gel and washed down with water

Swim
The first 200 yards of the race were in a lazy river which sucked. I couldn't find a rhythm swimming it and ended up doing dolphin dives and running in the water. This took up a lot of energy and i was tired already after coming out of the lazy river. After lazy river you had to run around the pool deck and jump in the lap pool for another 200 yards. I was out of rhythm and flustered after the lazy river but calmed myself down after the first 2 lengths. I found my stroke, slowed the heartrate down and even end up passing a couple people. The lap pool was over before i knew it. I was a little dizzy getting to my bike but focused on getting my socks and running shoes on (gotta love them Yankz). Ran bike to mount line, jumped on and off i went.

Bike
The first lap of the bike my legs were tight due to the lazy river run but they loosened up by the beginning of lap 2. On the uphill side of the course i kept around a 15-16mph pace and on the downside kept a 19-21mph pace. Overall the bike felt pretty good. I got passed by some fast people and I managed to pass a few people myself. I will be glad when i get a new bike and not ride the mountain bike anymore though. T2 was easy. Racked bike, took another quick drink and I was off since I already had my running shoes on.

Run
I drank a little too much water during the tail end of the bike and my stomach was all wishy washy for the 1st 1/4 mile. My legs were feeling tight and I was getting tired. I ended up walking for about 15-30 seconds four times which I was not happy with. I don't think I really NEEDED to walk but my mind was telling me to and I listened to the little voices in my head instead of ignoring them. I need to concentrate on running more and playing the mental game with myself. I think this is just going to take time though since I have never been a strong runner. Jeanne, Paige and JD were waiting for me at the finish line and JD even ran across the finish line with me.

Finish
Since the race doesn't use a timing system, I kept time on my watch. Unfortunately since I was so nervous, I forgot to hit the lap button after swimming and didn't realize it until the 2nd bike lap that I just let it go so I am not sure of my time splits. My goal was to finish in 1 hour and my final time was 54:29 so I was happy with my time for my first "tri" at this sport.