Just over a year ago, around Mother’s Day, we were wrapping up the school year and discussing our goals for the school year to come. I had just had a baby about a month beforehand, but I was feeling ready to get back into exercise and train for something. That “something” was a sprint triathlon, an athletic event I’d been drawn to for a long time but never quite been able to commit to. I’d been toying with the idea of trying it out for a few weeks.

Without really thinking about it, I voiced what I was thinking. “I’m going to do a sprint triathlon this year,” I announced. My kids didn’t know what that was, and I wasn’t even totally sure. I knew a triathlon consisted of a run, bike, and swim, but I didn’t know any details beyond that. Nevertheless, I decided, right then and there, that I was going to complete a sprint triathlon before the end of summer 2025.

I wrote a blog post about this commitment in the fall, partially for some extra personal accountability. When I signed up for the event in early 2025, I shared about it on social media. But in the back of my mind, I didn’t know if it would actually happen.

And then, just last week on June 1, 2025 it was over. My first sprint triathlon, completed with my 14-year-old daughter. While it’s still fresh in my mind, I wanted to write down what went well, what could be better next time, and my overall impressions.

The Swim

When I first committed to doing this thing, the event that scared me the most by far was the swim. I’ve never been a strong swimmer, and this particular swim would take place in open water. Now don’t get me wrong, I love the beach, but in more of a “sit with my toes in the sand and listen to the sound of the waves” way. I don’t think I had ever been in more than four feet of salt water until the actual day of the event.

To my surprise, swimming turned out to be one of my favorite training activities. I was amazed by how much it helped me close my diastasis recti and strengthen my abdominal muscles after giving birth. Once I was able to swim longer distances without stopping, I found a place of calm focus that is hard to replicate in any other activity. There’s an ease and lightness in swimming that I have grown to love.

But that’s swimming laps in a pool. Swimming in the Gulf is different.

The first thing you do in a triathlon is swim. In this particular sprint event, the swim was only .25 miles. That’s nothing! During my swim training, I had worked up to swimming a full mile without stopping, so I knew theoretically that I could swim such a short distance. I kept reminding myself of that all morning.

The swimmers ran out one at a time into the Gulf, and our group was one of the last to go. Fortunately, my daughter and I were in the same group. As we waited in line, we made a few decisions about how this would go. Our first agreement was that she would go first, since my mama bear instincts were still in full swing and this way I could keep her in my sight. Our second agreement was that if one of us started going faster than the other, we would just go with it and do our own race. We would start out together, but we wouldn’t necessarily stick together.

It was finally our turn. My daughter ran out into waves. I called out my number and followed her. The course route took us out into the Gulf until we reached a buoy, and we were supposed to turn left at the buoy and then swim the rest of the way before coming back to shore. The Gulf was choppier than usual, since there had been a storm earlier than morning.

As I got closer to the buoy, the waves got bigger and the water got deeper, until I could no longer touch. Around that time, my daughter Sunniva (who looked concerned) called to me and said that maybe we should stick together after all. I agreed, and we continued out into the water together.

We finally made it to the buoy and turned left to swim parallel with the shore. I tried to get into a good freestyle rhythm but found myself struggling to breathe in my usual pattern. I was starting to feel frustrated when something else distracted me – I couldn’t find Sunniva. I looked ahead and couldn’t see her, then turned around to look behind me, which was pretty pointless in the waves. Since I had already slowed down quite a bit to look for her, all I could really do was assume she had gotten ahead of me, so I kept swimming and tried to stop my mind from racing.

I think by this time I had maybe made it a quarter of the way, and it seemed like it had been an eternity. I decided I needed to get serious and actually swim now, but my breath was totally out of whack. I flipped over to my back and just floated for a while. Like, literally just floated. I didn’t even do backstroke! Once my breath was under control, I flipped around and resumed somewhat actual swimming. By the time I got to the last buoy I had finally gotten into a good rhythm – just in time to come back to shore.

Overall, the swim was way easier than I expected, and I don’t really understand how I finished in less than ten minutes. I think the waves and current must have actually worked in my favor, because my time wasn’t that much more than my usual training time. But I’ll take it!

Final Swim Time: 9 minutes, 12 seconds

Training PR: 8:37

The Bike

Once we got out of the water, there was a bit of a jog to the transition areas where my bike was waiting. I didn’t want to wear myself out too much, so I walked briskly for the first part, then started jogging once I got off the beach. When I arrived at my transition area, Sunniva was there, which was a welcome sight! She was just about ready to leave, so we said a quick hello and then off she went.

It was about that time I noticed my stuff had been scattered everywhere. All my bags had been moved, and my stuff was soaking wet. This was a bit annoying, since I was looking forward to putting on dry socks and shoes. I tried to brush it off and focus on getting ready. I made sure to drink some water and Body Armor before setting off.

The first few miles of the bike flew by, and I was enjoying the beautiful scenery (including a rainbow over the Gulf!) and cool temps. Then I suddenly noticed I had slowed down quite a bit on the third mile. Pedaling was feeling a lot more difficult, and I realized there was a slight headwind that was causing some resistance. It continued until the end of the first leg, and I was relieved when I got to the turnaround for the second half of the bike.

Once I turned around for the return trip, the wind was in my favor, and I started picking up speed. Once again, I started admiring the beautiful scenery when suddenly I noticed a giant water bottle in the road. Unfortunately I didn’t see it quite in time, and hit it head on. I almost fell off my bike but was able to stay in the saddle. However, it must have made a bit of an impact, because my bike seat was slightly crooked at the end of my ride. This explained why the entire last leg of the bike was extremely uncomfortable.

I ended up finishing the bike right around my usual training time, which I was pretty happy with. I’m pretty confident I can shave a few minutes off my bike time in the next few months.

Final Bike Time: 37:47

Training PR: 37:03

The Run

The last event in a sprint triathlon is a 5k run. I’ve run recreationally off and on for the last ten years, but I’ve always been pretty slow. Getting my 5k time below 30 minutes has been a challenge – until I started triathlon training. Somehow, even though my weekly mileage is way lower than it was when I was just running, in the last three months I’ve been able to keep my 5k time consistently in the 27:30-27:50 range without swimming and cycling beforehand. My goal going into the triathlon was to finish the 5k in 30 minutes.

I felt surprisingly good when I got off my bike, but was annoyed once again to find that everything in my duffel bag had also been totally soaked in the transition area, including the shirt I planned to wear for my run, which had my number pinned to it. I put it on anyway, took a few sips of water, and took off.

The run went pretty smoothly, and the first half sped by. It was an out-and-back run, and the miles were marked so it was easy to keep track of my time. I had to stop and walk for about 30 seconds in the first mile to re-pin my number, so I was happy to see that my time was just under ten minutes after mile one. I knew I could go faster, so I pushed a lot harder for the rest of the first leg.

Everything went great until mile 2, when I got the strangest cramp I’ve ever had. I used to get running cramps all the time, but they were always in the same place – on my right side, pretty low. This one was higher up on the left side and wouldn’t go away with all my usual tricks. It stuck around for the rest of the run, but wasn’t so bad that I couldn’t push through it.

I was able to speed up for the final stretch, just before the finish line, and I passed seven people. I was glad I made the final sprint looking back at the results, because one of those seven people was in my age group and finished just behind me!

Final Run Time: 29:00

Training PR: 27:33

Transitions

I decided going into this race that I wouldn’t worry about making my transitions fast, since it was my first time and I didn’t know what to expect. That said, my transitions were way too slow. I ranked 8/10 and 10/10 in my age group for transitions. I’m not even really sure what I was doing the whole time. I can definitely speed those up next time around!

What’s Next?

About a week before the event, I was at the pool talking to a guy who had done an Ironman. I asked if he had any tips for my first sprint race and he said his advice was to just enjoy it. “The races are really fun,” he said, “but the best part is the training. That’s what makes it all worth it.”

It was interesting to hear him say that, because I had been thinking of it the other way around, that the training is for the sake of the race. But now that the first one is over, I totally agree with him. Yes, the race was fun, and I was excited to place top three in my age group. But at the end of it, all I could think about was what my next phase of training looks like. It turns out that in a funny way, the event is for the sake of the training. Race day gives you a challenge to look forward to and an opportunity to test the effects of the training. But the training is where it’s at.

I took the three days after the race completely off so I could rest and recover, which was nice because it gave me a chance to think through what my training looks like for this next stretch of time. Here’s a PDF that has my plan for the next six weeks. My main focus is to increase my swim and cycle speed. Weeks 6-12 will focus on running. Then I’ll test my training at my next triathlon in September.

I’d love to hear feedback from other triathletes, as well as your stories about your first race. Please share in the comments below, and happy training! 🙂

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