Is your swim in a pool or open water? How long is it?

If you have some friends you can get to swim with you in the pool, cram as many as you can into a lane and try swimming around them. Better yet, if your tri is in open water, do it in a local lake. If it's in open water, I would switch practically all of your swim workouts to open water if possible. Even on a calm day, the open water is brutal compared to a pool. The currents, waves, lack of visibility, etc. are all things that will really throw you off on race day if you don't practice for them before. Then at least when people are added, you're used to the other variables of open water.

For your first tri, I also recommend practicing both transitions A LOT! Yes, you should do brick workouts (swim-bike then bike-run) but also practice the transitions. Not because it will improve your time a lot (even though it probably will) but because it will significantly reduce your stress on race day. Practice at your house, laying out your transition area just as you will on race day. Then even if you just get wet in the shower and run into your garage for transition, go all the way through to getting on your bike and riding down the block. Repeat several times. I thought I had everything square in my mind for transition before my first tri, but thank God I ran through it. I forgot so many things!

How will you dry your feet off? Will you stand up or sit down to put on your shoes? Have you practiced putting socks on damp feet? Did you get your sunglasses and helmet? If you're using any nutrition (Gu, Clif bar, etc.), did you get that in your pocket or on your bike? For the run, did you get your race number on (because it'll be uncomfortable to have it on your shirt or shorts on the bike--I recommend a Race Belt--you can get it at any running store and put your number on it before the race then just snap it around your waist in T2) Etc.

If you've practiced in open water before the race, and you're confident in your transitions, then your anxiety and stress during the race should decrease dramatically and let you focus on actually riding your bike and running rather than worrying about logistics and feeling exhausted just from the mental game of the tri. Good luck!

What kind of TRI is it? For the first one do not worry about your time. Start at the end of the pack for the swim on either side, You will not have so many bodies around you and starting last has the advantage that you will most likey pass slower swimmers. It is always a moral booster to feel faster than others.Do not forget to lift your head and look for the buoys, every 5 to 10 strokes. Good luck.

I used this strategy and it lowers the stress level. You don't have to worry about getting kicked or hit. Just make sure to check your surroundings. I made the turn at the buoy, put my head back down, started swimming and when I looked up again I was not quite on course! It only cost me about a minute, but it frustrated me.

I also practiced my transition before the race. Since my goal was just to finish and have fun, I decided on a small towel on the ground for my feet & one on my bike for a quick dry off. Some people don't wear socks. If you're going to do that try putting your shoes on damp feet and run a little bit. I found it uncomfortable but my son prefers that (he doesn't want to waste time putting socks on).

Good Luck and Have a Great Time!

You'll do fine!

I did my first triathlon last month and was at least as nervous as you are now! Things that really helped me:

1) open water swimming with a group of experienced triathletes. (remember NEVER swim alone!)
2) having an experienced triathlete show me how he laid out all of his gear and watched him go through his transition. I learned not to include ANYTHING in the transition zone that wasn't absolutely necessary, except for a dry pair of socks in a zip lock. As it turned out, on my race day it rained the entire time, so that ziplock bag kept my running shoes dry and I had dry socks to run in.
3) knowing that my legs would feel rubbery and wierd for the first part of the run. I practiced short rides & swiching to short runs several times to get used to that feeling. I never did a full "brick" but I practiced riding my bike wet (for about 10 minutes) after open water swimming, then doing a 10 minute run so I knew what running wet felt like.
4) the idea "nothing new on race day" - so I did everything in advance - wearing my number belt, figuring out what I was going to do about sunscreen, will I wear flip-flops to the start of the swim, etc.
5) one triathlete told me - as long as you can do any exercise continuously for 2.5 hours, you'll do fine on the sprint
6) group rides with experienced cyclists to learn how to handle riding with people around and get tips on managing speed, turns, etc.

There are you tube videos for everything these days. That helped too.

I'm very slow, but I finished 189th out of 209 triathletes, and was 15 minutes faster than I expected! You'll do great too!

Good luck!

I just volunteer of kayak support for racine half ironman, a handful of people did stop to rest on my kayak but I think the majority of our
efforts were keeping people from swimming too far out as the current was pushing people out more and people were having a hard
time swimming straight, since you can practice where you will be swimming I think that will be a big help to you especially if you can pick
a focal point to swim to and see how often you need to adjust.

good luck and have fun

Connie

My first sprint Tri is one month from today and i'm so excited!! I'm going out with a friend (she just finished her 2nd 70.3) next weekend to preview the bike course and possibly the run course. We'll run through transitions then too, as well as about 2 weeks from race day (plus I'll practice on my own). I do have a time goal in mind, but have padded it for the very fact that i am such a newbie at this whole Tri thing. I've done lots of foot races so I think those experiences will help me somewhat with pacing, not going out to fast, dealing with the pack, etc.. Hopefully!

Good luck on yours!

I did my first tri just over a month ago and loved it. The things I found most useful in no particular order:

1. Lay out everything you need for transition and workout exactly where you are going to put things for the race that way you'll be familiar with where they are.
2. Practice lots in open water if that's where your race will be.
3. I tried out different gels in a few sessions beforehand to find the one that worked best so that I could get used to them
4. Brick sessions. That wobbly leg feeling takes a bit of getting used to.
5. Tissues for the pre-race loo stop!
6. Have cash with you if you need to pay a fee on registration. I'm not a full time member of the British Tri Federation so needed to pay a one day fee.
7. If you're swimming in a wetsuit use body glide! Chaffing is no fun! I learned the hard way in training and ended up with a burn along my neck line.
8. If you can go down to the course beforehand do it! That way you can figure out where you enter and exit for the different stages.
9. Have fun!

Good luck!