I raced in the Denton Waterworks Triathlon today. Had a GREAT time.

250m swim (using the 10 lanes in the natatorium 25m pool)
12 mike bike
5K run

There were approx 260 racers and I finished 56th overall with a 1:11:25.30

I was 20th in the water as they based your start from your registration "swim" time.

Swimming was easiest, but quite a few folks fibbed on how fast they could swim. Had a few traffic jams in the pool. Trying to pass in a single lane trying to go "three wide" is a challenge. I think I picked up six spots or so in the pool, while trying not to get kicked and set yourself up for a good under the ropes diagonal push-off the wall.

The ride started out in a drizzle and then cleared up before I got finished. Man, the guys/gals on the "Time Trial" or "Tri" bikes were crazy fast. Easily 3-4 mph faster than what I could muster. Overall the ride went fine until about 300 yards to the finish and my front tire started to get a flat. Rode on a flat tire for the last 150 yards. Turning was quite difficult as well as stopping. Almost over-ran the bike dismount line with the front tire locked up. On post-race inspection, I picked up a small shard of glass. There were 6-8 bikes with flats just on the portion of the folks I saw.

The run was easy, but felt slower than I would have liked. Had shin splits halfway thru the run that I just had to not think about and push thru it. By the end, I couldn't really feel them anymore.

Now that it's over, it was a blur.

I need to work on my bike the most. That is easily where I left the most time on the course.

The transition areas went as smooth as I could have expected for a first time race. I forgot my sunglasses in the car, but thankfully it was overcast and just drizzling for the ride. I did spend a bit of extra time to put on dry socks for the run. I'm glad I did. Hammered down a chug of Gatorade and a gel pack prior to the run. (For those who haven't experienced gel "food", it's the consistency of toothpaste. And this was "berry" flavor. Yumm (not), but gives you 100 calories of quick fuel to keep going.

The bike needs to go into the shop for a tuneup (was changing gears back/forth) about halfway thru the rear cassette during the ride. Probably to be expected for an 18 year old road bike.

Now time to find the next race...