Gulp, first week of training.... Help...

[alpinerabbit]

7 weeks and counting.

Make sure you ride twice a week and one of these can be a brick. 2 miles off the bike is way enough, your race will only be 3. Run another 1-2 times until you can cover the distance. Maybe add some small hills or do some tempo variations.
Swimming - it's too late now to learn freestyle. Go swimming 2-3 times a wek and swim the full distance, breast stroke, at least one of these times, every week.

On Wednesday, I did my first "BRICK".....I rode for 12 miles then ran for about 2 (unable to run any further).....

see, you almost already did the entire distance of the race. Now you know how horrible it is, start chipping at it in small pieces

OMG. What did I just get myself into!?! THIS is going to be rough!

yep, but you'll do it again next time

1. What is an "average time" to complete the race?

let's see...
500meter swim, good swimmers under 10 min, slow 15+min
20km bike, slow = 22kph, medium=30kph, fast=40kph (I'm kidding a little, that's the pros)
5km run, fast 20-25 mins, everyone else up to 40 mins?

The race I did last year, the winner had 1:01 (9/30/21min and under 1min transitions), the last person 1:52 (17/47/42min and 3/2min transitions).
Me? was in 56th out of 152 at 12:30/32/26 min and between 1-2min transitions.

2.The swim is in the Spokane River (Washington), end of July... wetsuit or no? Should I invest in a tri suit or just go with a basic 3/2? I'm 110lbs and tend to get a little chilly in this Idaho water...

Check out the average temperatures in July, maybe you can find sth - 18,19 degrees (centigrade) can be done - i had a scary moment at my second race in 17° water.
I do not think you should invest in a wetsuit for the first race and the 15 minutes it will take. You could rent, but you need to practice, so you need it at least a week or two before the race. And it'll cost you 15-20sec in transition.
You could buy a tri suit or just shorts and race in a sports bra. If you can handle it, race in running shorts. This way it won't cost you anything.
A coach once told me she did all her first races in a bathing suit!

you should also invest in a piece of elastic from the sewing supply store - for a race belt. You make it fit around your waist and attach the race # with safety pins. If you're lucky there will be a race belt in the goodie bag for next time. You need to wear the # on your back on the bike and on your front on the run, so you just turn the belt around.
Check youtube for some transition videos and practice these!

3. The bike is 3 loops, so I assume there's gonna be a lot of peeps/turns on a short course... I'm not used to riding in packs. Should I be worried?

People are not supposed to draft so there actually shouldn't be any riding in packs!!!