I am in between computers at the moment and typing this out on my phone, so please excuse any weird errors.

Also it's long. Sorry bout that. TL;DR I'm a bad triathlete in addition to a mediocre runner now!

Background: After an absolutely stellar year-plus of training, PRs all over the place and a BQ, I came down with a nasty case of plantar fasciitis and stopped running to let it heal in mid-October 2017. I was already having a difficult time at work and was super bummed about missing the Boston cutoff by about a minute, so this was really a dark time for me. My podiatrist gave me some instructions but said that, really, it was just going to be time and patience, but hey, why not use the time off to get really good at biking and swimming? FORESHADOWING!

I did plenty of moping and some pool running before finally figuring that I might as well just learn to swim after all around the end of December. I swam my first full 50-yard freestyle lap in January and sometime in March I was no longer *completely* terrified of drowning. Bought my first road bike, complete with clipless pedals and bike shoes, in March, having not touched ANY bike since I was probably 14-15, and started to work through the fear that stems from being an adult with a sense of self-preservation while clipped onto a vehicle that can't stand up on its own and affords you no protection from the world around you. What a wild concept, cycling.

By the end of March, I had joined USA Triathlon and signed up for not one, but TWO triathlons. Whoops. Guess I have buckle down and train now!

Pre-race: So a sprint triathlon sounded short, but it dawned on me that I was still gonna be out there for well over an hour, so finding the right effort with no experience was going to be a bit of a challenge. My goals were just to survive the swim because I am still a *terrible* swimmer, maybe pass a few people on the bike, definitely pass a lot of people on the run. Maybe finish in ~1:20-1:30 (lol jk).

Just timing my usual pre-race routine was tough with more stuff to account for. I got out the door later than I wanted (thank goodness I'd mostly packed my race bag the night before!), drove the 40 minutes to the race, parked and quickly pulled my bike out of the car and biked the mile and a half to the start with all my gear on my back (side note: another fear conquered! I can bike with a fully-loaded backpack without dying!).

Got to the transition area, dumped all my stuff at my place on the rack, pulled off my bike shoes and raced for the portapotty in flip flops, raced back to set up my gear under my rear wheel. A small towel, bike shoes at the front, helmet flipped upside down and ready to put on, cycling glasses, running shoes with lock laces and socks turned half-inside out, race number belt, second towel to dry feet, body glide stick to prevent blisters from cycling without socks. I frantically googled how to put on a wetsuit with TriSlide spray (so prepared!), wiggled into my suit with about 7 minutes to spare before transition had to be cleared for the pre-race meeting. No time to dunk in the ocean first. Crap.

The race: I had signed up as a novice woman instead of an age grouper - our wave was second into the water and the course would be less crowded for the duration of our time out there. I've got enough to think about without dealing with race congestion! We did end up getting a couple minutes to acclimate to the water temperature so that calmed my nerves a bit. I did an open-water mile in the ocean last week so I had an idea of how I'd feel out there, and I figured right from the start that I was likely not going to swim well, but I WAS confident that I'd survive and probably wouldn't be last.

Horn went off, and into the water we go! I did a rather pathetic, awkward side/front crawl sort of deal. Better than drinking salt water. I didn't even try to put my head down, I knew I'd be too nervous to get my heart rate down enough to find a good rhythm. The ocean was choppy as shit but I just kept moving. Swung out a little wide around the first buoy to give myself some room, and was able to cut in en route to the next one when the wave thinned out a bit. I passed people, surprisingly enough! Around the second buoy, no longer fighting against the waves, just kept my eye on the third buoy, after which we turned and went straight back to shore and had the waves as a help instead of a hindrance. I had to flip to my back twice to catch my breath here, but just for a couple seconds each time. Too shallow to keep swimming, stand up and start stripping wetsuit and pull off goggles while trudging out of the water! Wobble up the sand to transition!! GO GO GO!!

My swim was a pathetic 14:39 for 400m. Oof. I wasn't last out of the water in my wave, though. Can only move up from here!!

I had some trouble getting my feet out of my wetsuit. Gotta practice my transitions. Wipe foot with towel, body glide quickly, stuff in cycling shoe, repeat. Helmet on, glasses on, bike off rack, click my way to the exit! SHOOT I DIDN'T START MY WATCH. Got it going sometime before hitting the mat. 2:43 in T1.

The mount line was like 1/4 mile away wtf. Reached the mount line, hopped on and started pedaling! I had changed my watch to display in kilometers so I had zero idea of how I was doing or how far I had gone - still collected the data but had to do it entirely by feel, which was good. The course was changed this year due to construction; the bike was 12 miles previously, was supposed to be 13 miles of rolling hills this year, ended up actually being 14. I had fun, I passed some people, and I tried valiantly to save some energy for the run. 53:13.

Jogged through transition to my rack; re-rack bike, pull off cycling shoe, pull on sock, pull on racing flat with lock laces, repeat. Helmet and glasses off, grab race belt with bib, start jogging out to the exit while putting on bib. OH SHIT SPEED BUMP! Almost ate shit, caught myself and kept moving. Holy cow, my legs feel horrific D: One brick workout was not enough to prepare me for this!! Out in 2:17.

My legs felt SO. BAD. THE WHOLE. TIME. on the run. Wow. I would trade mile 26 of the marathon legs for post-cycling legs any day of the week. I didn't feel winded in the slightest, my heart rate was fine for this point in a longer race - not even at marathon levels - but my legs just wouldn't fucking move!! Averaged 8:30 for 2.8 miles, though I did manage to dip under 6:00 on the long stretch to the finish. 23:46.

Total time was 1:36:55, 18/31 F30-34. Ouch. I'm not used to being in the bottom half of competitors, haha. I did manage to do plenty of passing, though, so I guess I met my only real goals for the race! 27/31 for the swim, 17/31 for the bike, 13/31 for the run.

I later spoke to some folks who do the race every year and they said the swim was rough and they were minutes off their usual swim times, so that made me feel better. They also said the bike had 2 additional climbs and the run isn't typically that hilly either, so I'll be back for revenge with another year of experience in 2019! In the meantime, I have plenty to work on for the rest of my tri season (swimming, hill climbing on the bike, brick workouts), and then I'll be easing back into marathon training for next spring, where I have more unfinished business to take care of!

Congrats!  I don't know anything about triathlons, but it sounds like you had everything planned ahead of time (loved the half turned down socks) and executed really well.  You moved up in the rankings at every stage, which I think is impressive, especially for your first one!

Very cool. When I'm retired I might try triathlons. Right now I'm just impressed by people who find a way to train for 3 different sports

No idea how I missed this earlier!  Congrats!  That was a great tri!

Lauren, congrats on your first triathlon!  Really, your first one should be more of a learning experience than anything.  There are a lot of moving parts between the three disciplines, the transitions, and all the freaking gear.  Your legs will feel better on the run when you get more cycling under you and your legs get used to it.  Stronger cycling legs will make for better running.

Your ranks in each discipline look exactly like mine when I first started:  Back of the pack swim, middle of the pack bike, front of the pack run.  It does feel good mentally to be a strong runner and pass a crapload of people as the race progresses.  A lot of people struggle on the run.  The run will serve you even better if/when you start doing longer distance triathlons.  The longer the race, the more of an advantage you'll have.  My mantra in triathlons is "Just get me to the run."

By the way, ocean swims are tough.  I have yet to do one.  That is a brave choice for your first tri.  It sounds weird that they'd send the novices out early.  Usually they go last so the faster swimmers don't swim over them.

As far as how a sprint triathlon should "feel", it should feel like painful suck, start to finish.  The triathlon equivalent of a 5K run.  Your legs should feel like complete hell when you get to the run, and at that point you just want to hang on for dear life.  Sounds like you did it right.