1st Sprint Tri

Has anyone else done a tri or sprint tri? I did my first sprint one a week ago on the 9th. It was just a local, Highland neighborhood race that a guy has put on for several years. More about letting folks try one out in a relaxed, not much pressure type environment. 5k run, 20k (or 23k) bike, 400 meter swim. I haven't even tried running for 10 years or so before this race and didn't train for it. Since it had been so long I thought for sure I'd be walking most of it. I ended up running the whole thing except for about 20-30 feet at the turnaround point. There were probably around 35-40 racers and I came in about the middle of the pack for the run leg.
The bike leg was interesting. For the less experienced riders, their route was to take the new, paved Murdoch Canal Trail out to I-15 from where we started at Mitchell Hollow Park and back for 20k and a mostly flat ride. Those of us with more experience had to climb to the top of Suncrest with a distance of 23k and over 1,400' of climbing. I knew I'd make back time from the run on this route, which I did. I ended up passing everyone in front of me on the long climb and completed the 23k route in 53 minutes. I ended up setting a Strava PR time on the climb.
Now to the swim. Not having done any running in years, I also haven't done any swimming to speak of in years. With about 5 laps to go, my left leg started to cramp up so bad I could hardly move it. It was painful! My son was married the day before the race and I got dehydrated that day. I knew I was dehydrated when I woke up race day morning. I tried drinking as much as I could the morning of but knew it was too late. Oh, well. I was still able to finish decently. Overall, I ended up with a 2nd place finish (that should tell you how low-key this event was!) and got beat by a 16 year-old who runs on the AF x-country team. Fun time and I enjoyed myself!
For those of you who do run (not Sombeach!), what advice would you have for a beginner or a 54 year-old trying it out again? I just ordered some running shoes and plan on trying to run 1 morning a week to mix in with my cycling. BTW, my legs HURT for 4 days after the race!

Hey Steve.

I've done a bunch of Sprint and Olympic distance triathlons. I really enjoy them. As far as advice goes, I'm in the same boat as you as I really despise running.

For me, I tried to do each activity twice a week. Some of these were paired up in "Brick" workouts where you do 2 of the 3 activities consecutively. Doing a bike ride and then a run was especially helpful for me. My running legs always feel awful for the first 1/2 mile or so of the run until I get into the run a bit. Then they would feel good for ~1/8 of a mile and start hurting. Then I would just focus on surviving the run to the finish line. Did I mention that I don't like running?

I would also tell you to ease into the running distances, but you already jumped into the 5k. I usually would just run a mile easy a couple times and then ramp up the distance by 1/2 mile or so every couple of runs for the first few weeks. Trail running was much easier for me to do mentally then just pounding pavement. If you have trails nearby, maybe try that as well.

Probably no help to you, but I am very amateurish in my preparations.

Thanks, Neil! That actually helps. I am going to try running again as soon my shoes show up. I ordered trail runners- more for cushioning than actually running on trails, although I'll probably hike in them. Aerobically, I felt fine on the run (thank you, biking!), but my legs really hurt for days after so, I plan on easing into it more. For the shoes, after reading a bunch of reviews, and because they are a Utah company, I ended up ordering these: http://www.altrarunning.com/fitness/...es/olympus-men. It also didn't hurt that because I work a few hours a week at my local bike shop, I was able to order them through 3point5 for less than half the retail price.

Some day I want to do a half-ironman distance race, but I'm not sure I'd survive the 13 mile run. The bike and swim wouldn't be a problem, but that dang run.......

I really like the Olympic distance races. The swim is long enough for me to use to my advantage (competitive swimming background), and the bike is long too, which typically suits me. The run, @6 miles is long, but manageable for me to just survive.