My first race!!!!!Race report (kinda long)

[oneskineejosie]

Today was my very first race, the Danskin New England sprint tri. I have very much enjoyed reading everyone else's race reports, so I figured I'd share my own!!!

I woke up this morning to thunderstorms of a biblical magnitude!!! I seriously was unsure if the race would even go off, but got out of the hotel by 5:30 and to the race site by 6am. The rain miraculously stopped around 6:30, and they delayed the start of the 1st wave until 7:30 to give the bike course sometime to dry out.

Swim distance was 1/2 mile, but really felt shorter to me. I was in wave #18, so I had lots of time to get nervous!!! I watched everyone go aff and cheered for all the other ladies in my tri training group. When it was my turn, I positioned myself at the front of the wave, as I was a competitive swimmer for 10 years and am quite aggressive in the water. The swim felt GREAT! Water temp was about 75, and my body just felt good! There wasone other girl swimming with me from my wave and it was nice to have someone to pace with. Swimming through the wave that had started beforehand was a little nerve racking, but a good learning experience. I finished the swim in 7:37 and hauled butt to t1. I was close to the swim exit to the transition area, but far from the bike exit. I got through t1 in 2:28 with no glitches.

The bike was a 12 mile ride through nice winding residential roads. Kinda hilly, but nothing killer. I made sure to drink my accelerade on the bike, as I usually forget when practicing (I just get so excited!!!). A LOT of inexperienced riders, so I had to be careful. I spent a lot of time yelling "on your left!!!"
The bike felt good as well. My legs were moving along, and my breathing was well regulated. I finished the bike in 40:07, a 17.9 mph average. T2 was similarly uneventful, got my shoes changed, remembered to take off my helmet and out on my race belt, took one last slurp of accalerade and headed out to the run which was, of course, on the other side of the transition area T2 was 1:50.

The run is my least favorite by FAR and it took me a good mile before I was able to regulate my breatingand work out the "bike legs" feeling. But, I settled in to my pace and just tried to get it done. I did try to drink a cup of water handed to me by a race volunteer and nearly drowned. I will have to work on it. I passed some people, was passed by others, but overall was satisfied by my run, although next time I will probably try to push harder in the beginning as I had a bit more left in the tank at the end. It was a 2.8 mile out-and -back, and I was sooooooo happy and excited to see the bid finish line! Crossing made me feel so proud, and I really felt that the last 12 weeks of training have been completely worthwhile. I seriously almost cried. I finished the run in 24:33, which I am happy with (but I know there is room for improvement!). I was happy to run under 9 minute miles, that was all I wanted out of the run.

Overall, my time was 1:16:36.
Swim split: 7:37, rank: 9/2468
Bike split: 40:07, rank: 90/2468
Run split: 24:33, rank: 369/2468

I finished 7th out of 191 in my age group, and 61st overall (out of 2468). I am really really happy with the race, and quite surprised about my times as well. I have 7 weeks until my next race, and you better believe I am going to focus on running!!! Sorry this was so long, I'm just very excited about race #1 of hopefully many!!!

[colby]

Your first race? Are you sure?

The Seattle race has a huge transition area, too, even if you're close to one thing, you're far from the others. At least they make them easy to find

Great job!!

[rocknrollgirl]

Great Job ! The first one is always special. Glad you had such a great experience.

[tygab]

Seriously great result. I'm impressed. Congrats!

I raced today too, but not at the Danskin... more later.

BTW, what is your next race?

[oneskineejosie]

Seriously great result. I'm impressed. Congrats!

I raced today too, but not at the Danskin... more later.

BTW, what is your next race?

Next race is the Hartford Marathon Foundation's Women's Tri in Farmington CT.

Thanks everyone for your kind words!!!

[Tri Girl]

Wow- your fist race and you're already smokin' fast out there! Congrats, triathlete!!!!
Awesome race report- thanks for sharing!!!

[btchance]

Awesome, awesome job out there!! Man, are you fast. Best of luck in all your future races. I can tell you are hooked

[Wahine]

Nice work!! That is a great first race result. What's most impressive is that you did not have any serious mishaps and your transitions were fast. That's hard for a new triathlete. Well done!!

[Skeezix]

Wow! That is an amazing time, you totally kicked butt! Congrats!

[HillSlugger]

That's a really awesome result for your first race. You must have trained well. Congratulations! Great race report, too.

[oneskineejosie]

That's a really awesome result for your first race. You must have trained well. Congratulations! Great race report, too.

I must say that training with a group with coaches was definintely the best decision I made when I decided to do a tri. I went into it feeling really well prepared, having practiced transitions, etc...

Once again, thanks all for your kind words of encouragement! I really have enjoyed reading everyone else's race reports. I find them (and everyone in here) extremely motivating!

[alpinerabbit]

[Bron]

Wow, I'm impressed. Good luck with the next one.

[KSH]

Congratulations on becoming an triathlete!

[oneskineejosie]

Congratulations on becoming an triathlete!

OMG, I can say that I'm a triathlete now!!! That is so cool!!! Now all I have to do is work myself up to an ironman so I can be IronJosie!

I should have pics soon from the race to post on here, can't wait to share them with y'all!!! (You can't miss me, as I am the one in the hot pink tri suit )