So I did my first sprint tri yesterday (750m Swim, 13.75 mile bike, 5K run). I got to the race site waaaay too early (my wave started at 6:30, I was there are 4:40). Got my transition area all set up, and then the wait began....

750 Meter Swim (19:57):
My wave was the first wave out. I was the most nervous about the swim start, since I really wanted to avoid getting kicked in the face. Turns out the start was no big deal, a little jostling here and there, but not too bad. I started out with an easy pace, and seemed to stick to that pace. I had relatively clear water the whole way. Since it was my first one, I wasn't too concerned with my time, but was a little disappointed when I saw my time later. Afterwards I felt like I could have pushed the pace a little more. The swim exit was a stair exit, and there were people helping the swimmers out of the water. I made the mistake of putting my knee on the step (right on the grip tape) and when they pulled me up I got a nice scrape on the knee.

T1 (1:43):
It wasn't until I got into transition that I noticed I had blood running down my leg, but no time to worry about that now. I got everything on quickly and was out of transition. I had a long run to the bike mount, and part of it was over concrete, so I decided to put my shoes on at the mount line, which definately ate some of my bike time, but I may have added more wounds by trying to run in my bike shoes. I definately need to practice putting my feet in my shoes on the bike.

13.75 mile Bike (44:39):
The bike leg felt pretty good. It was a two loop bike course, and since my wave was first, I had a pretty open course for the first loop. I passed quite a few people on the bike which was good. I felt really comfortable holding ~22 mph on the flats. There weren't too many hills, but I struggled a little up the few that were on the course, which hurt my time. The second loop was a little more crowded, so I got caught in traffic a few times, but still not as bad as I was expecting. Coming into transition, I was able to get my feet out of my shoes while still on the bike, which really cut down on my time.

T2 (2:01):
I took a little time in T2 to wipe the blood off my leg. Everything else went relatively smooth, even getting socks on wasn't too bad.

5K Run (27:49):
I didn't have a ton of time to train for the run, because I spent most of the summer getting rid of a bad case of ITBS, so I wasn't expecting much on the run. I felt sluggish for the first half mile, but still held a 9:00/mile pace. After that I settled in to a 8:30/mile pace for the next mile, and then I hit a hill......I was definately tiring at this point, and decided just to hold a 9:00/mile pace through the finish. I wasn't too disappointed with my run time, considering I only had about three weeks of run training after three months of no running.

Total time: 1:36:07 (15/19 AG) (146/274 overall)

My goal was really just to finish my first tri and get the feel of the race. I wanted to finish around 1:30, which I wasn't too far off of. I had a blast racing, and can't wait for the next one (~5 weeks)!

Areas to improve on:
-I think I can definately push the pace more on the swim next time.
-Don't put my knee on the step getting out of the water.
-Learn to put my feet in my bike shoes on the bike.
-Put in more hill-work on the bike.
-Put in more time running.