Background
In December 2025 I decided that it was time to “get some fitness back” after doing a powerbuilding program for about 1.5-2yrs. Hadn’t done any competitive sporting since CrossFit pre-covid.
So, in Jan 2026 I signed up for this event as my first ever triathlon. I had played water polo in high school, ran a bit of track and field, and had no cycling experience. Got a road bike, switched gyms to have pool access, and picked up Omnia Performance’s Strength + Olympic Triathlon Program.
I was super excited to not only reap the rewards of my training, but also:
- Feel that competitiveness in the air again.
- Enjoy feeling “fit” again.
- Learn some new skills, and enjoy the process of making progress in them.
Swim
To start off, none of us thought the swim would happen. Tornado warning the day before, red flag beach warnings all week for rip currents – the water had not been calm. Come 6:45am on race day we’re all standing on the shore looking at 6-8ft waves crashing over the buoys as they rearrange the course a few times. “There’s no way we’re swimming today”, we all said to each other. 7:00am comes around. “Let’s get this show on the road everyone! Yellow caps up!”
Someway, somehow, I had no nerves standing at the front of the pack. Quite literally no one, even those doing IM Jacksonville in two weeks, wanted to start up front. A few of us first timers said “Screw it, why not?”. It had been a while since I’ve competed in any sporting event, and this feeling of complete ease prior to the start felt so alien, though very much welcomed.
Once I got running from the start, the swim became an insane, yet exciting experience. The water was unforgiving, but I was having SO much fun. The waves were never ending, so I had to sight much more frequently in hopes I’d end up at the peak of a wave and could finally see the next buoy. At one point, a rogue wave flipped me and a few others pretty hard on the way back in from the first lap, and a few people lost their goggles (seeing this happen made me feel so bad – noted to bring extra goggles next time in case others, or even myself, have that happen). Second lap I swam in the complete wrong direction after the first buoy because I could not catch sight of the next after numerous sighting attempts, and by the time a lifeguard redirected me on jet ski the current kept me swimming well outside of the course leading me to swim maybe an extra 200m by the end of both laps. But we did it, and wow that was one hell of a first swim experience. Came out with a 1:47/100 split breaking all of my swims on record.
26:43 – 1:47min/100m
T1
Transition went smoothly, though it was about a 400m run from the swim finish to the bike. Got the wetsuit off smoothly, shoved my nutrition into my tri suit (rubberbanded in a bunch), and got running out with the bike. Looked like a bit of a noob mounting though as the weather had caused quite a bit of condensation to build up on my shoes and bike, and I was slipping and sliding trying to clip-in.
02:01
Bike
When I looked at the bike course I thought “this is the best course I could ever have for a first race.” One relatively flat, long, straight line down a major state road with a view of the ocean. My first 12.4 miles were amazing. Averaged 20.5mph on my way down, faster than anything I had ever managed on training rides. Having recently, and thankfully, acquired the skill to drink from my bottle while riding, I used every 5 miles as a reminder to get some carbs/electrolytes in, and told myself I’d try my first gel consumption whilst riding at the halfway point. I had taped the gel to my bike frame in a way that when I ripped it the top would come undone, and it turned out surprisingly well. It was also quite amusing seeing people on decked out TT bikes flying by me, although I must say, equally amusing whenever I’d somehow pass one of those riders on my budget roadie.
12.4 miles down – let’s turn around and carry this momentum to the bike finish! Haha, or at least I thought. The moment I turned around I was smacked in the face with a killer headwind coming off of the water. My 20.5mph average? Down to 13.5mph by the time I finished the bike, with that second leg having felt twice as difficult as the first. Slightly bummed that I had missed my goal time of 90 minutes, but content that I managed to finish my liquids, eat a gel while riding, and in general, get two of the three disciplines over with. “Relax, execute the plan, and be damn proud of yourself,” I kept reminding myself. Finished the bike course with a grin and ready to run.
1:33:04
T2
This transition went pretty well. I racked my bike up, switched shoes, put my cap on, and got running. Ran the wrong direction out of transition and had to turn around, but the gear handling itself went as smooth as I could hope for.
01:02
Run
The run was… interesting? Simple course going down a long, gorgeous residential road. First mile was great. Second mile, my feet started feeling funny, and I think my body was having some trouble with the gels because I passed gas that whole mile (TMI, but the truth). By the third mile, both my feet were completely numb, think “pins and needles. I think I may have needed to try out my elastic laces a bit more and adjust the tightness. Despite that, I kept running. By the fourth mile I had to pee so badly that I ran into a porta potty in a random yard that had construction going on.
By mile 5, the person who had started next to me on the swim caught up and told me they were so grateful, they had been trying to pace off of me and needed the motivation. Something about starting and finishing the race with this person was so motivating. I said “alright, let’s get it!”. Picked the pace up and just hoped my feet would survive the rest of the run. Ran the last two miles than I had ever run any on my Strava recorded history, and finished just short of a cramp in my calf. The run definitely demanded the most of me mentally, but it somehow felt like it was over in the blink of an eye?
55:54 – 09:01min/mile
Conclusion
I never expected to have as much fun on race day as I did. I had obviously expected to enjoy the experience, and feel happiness at the fact that I had achieved my goal/completed the challenge. But I was truly caught off guard by the amount of fun I was actively having and the enjoyment of competing that I was consciously aware of throughout the event.
I had told myself and others, when they’d ask “what’s your goal time?”: “I don’t have a goal time, honestly. I just want to finish the event feeling like I gave it my all, and finish with a performance I’m content with, knowing I pushed my limits.” I did have the thought that a sub 3-hour finish would be nice, but I didn’t put that up as my motivating goal.
The training, the racing, and the day-to-day experience of training for something like this has definitely improved not just my fitness, but my overall well being and mentality going forward. I’m happy to feel this fit, and I’m definitely stoked to think about what I want my next challenge to be.
Completed in 03:00:26 – 3rd place in Male 25-29 Age Group
