Quote Originally Posted by MDHillSlug View Post
You're way ahead of where I was when I signed up for IronGirl. I had just started running but didn't yet know how poorly I swam. Even with a 10 month training period I was barely able to swim 1000m straight in the pool when the IronGirl came.

My first triathlon was down in Richmond and included a pool swim. If you are looking for something like that closer to home, take a look at the sprint triathlon in Hagerstown. I just did their duathlon and the course was good and the organization was also good.

Thanks for the advice! That Hagerstown triathlon sounds like a good one--I'll have to look into that. I'm not good or even remotely competitive at any of the events, and swimming is my worst. I hadn't attempted anything more than just splashing around in a pool since about 1989 until this August, when I discovered that I couldn't really swim so much as I could not-drown my way across the pool. I've improved enough since then (it was less about lack of fitness and more about just learning to coordinate my arms and legs and breathing) that I can make it through 1000 meters, but it involves stopping every 25 meters since I haven't figured out a flip turn yet. I need to just suck it up and try it--I'm embarassed to attempt it with people watching, but those lifeguards just won't go away!