Thanks! My husband is not a good or comfortable swimmer and he did the triathlon with me last year, and beat me. Mostly, you just have to learn how to relax in the water and regulate your breathing. It's too early in the race to be going all out. Plus, going all out generally shreds swimming form for many swimmers.Happysongbird - I havent been following along in a while but just based on your comments on the last page, and then seeing what you wrote on profile, looks like you have a tri coming up... Have great luck! And your looking pretty good in your new avatar btw. I can't swim for crap (unless dog paddle counts) so I've ruled out ever doing a tri by myself. Duathalons I've given thought, but when I looked into a few this year I think they all require shoes. Sorry if you've already discussed this but does yours? Also my big fat tired mountain bike might hold me back a little. Really want a nice roadbike but looked at a few and...
I did this same tri last year and I did the run barefoot. Didn't get any flack from any officials. I plan on running barefoot again this year. My feet and form are much better this year, so I don't expect any blisters. I got one small one last year.
I rode a mountain bike for my first tri, 2 years ago. I think it was fine for the first triathlon experience, and I still had fun, but I told my husband that if he wanted us to do more triathlons, I needed a road bike! So many people passed me on the biking portion. He got me one the following Christmas. It is low end, but it is light. But it has taken me over a year to begin to feel comfortable on the lighter frame. It seems like it finally clicked just 2 weeks ago.