I did my first triathlon in 23 years last week. It was a tinman.

I kind of went into it a bit innocently I guess.

I borrowed a wetsuit. It wasn't great but it got me through. I put aerobars on my very intro road bike. I found them quite helpful. It was a hilly road, and the shifting was a pain, but none the less I liked them for both training and the race.

No tri shorts, just a pair of touring shorts with running shorts underneath.

The tips that were most helpful to me...

Practice the transitions.
Get that bike adjusted so it is comfortable and good to the knees.
Salt potatoes for nutrition on the bike along with gel, granola bar, gatoraide. I had taped the gels and bars on. They blew off almost immediately. Practice with your tape.

I learned a lot. I'm also a runner and generally can come in somewhere near the front of the pack. Not so in this race. I was seriously humbled.

Next time, take my bike training much more seriously, more hills, intervals, endurance. The same things that have helped with my running.

The swim?? I used to be a life guard, currently swim regularly and generally feel quite confident in the water although I am not fast. I chose to swim in a less crowed spot, (i.e. not in the frantic front) took my time and came out pretty fresh to do the bike. I think that was a good idea.

While a 10 k run comes pretty easy to me I was not prepared for the nutrition needed for this level of event. I was seriously dehydrated when I finished. I do mean seriously.

So, in fact this did kick my butt. I did learn an awful lot and look forward to doing it again next year. This summer I'll really work on the bike, maybe do a sprint triathlon in August that occurs near here, and then decide if I want to upgrade to a "leaner" bike. I think before I do that I really need to see what effect better conditioning would have.

My final word.... Don't take it too seriously, have fun with it, involve your friends where you can..