I was already in the water with less than 2 minutes to start swimming when I realized I had forgotten to take off my wedding ring. It isn't that it is loose at all, I just didn't want to chance it coming off in a murky lake.

"Hmm, no pockets and nobody to hand it to," I thought. I quickly decided to untie my swim trunks waist and tie the ring onto that string.

"Swimmers start in 5, 4, 3, 2..."

"Waaaannnnhh," went the air horn. And the novice triathlete men with names starting K - Z were splashing away.

My main concern was to not stray too far from the course. I was also conscious of water movement and/or air bubbles around me that signified the proximity of another swimmer. Somewhere in the early part another racer experienced why you do this as my heel made contact with some part of his person. It was a pretty good whack that I felt, but didn't hurt me any. I did not stop to check on him.

The fish said to me, "Just keep swimming! Just keep swimming!"

A tight shirt does not go on easily over wet skin. I stretched and contorted it on though, continued to get the rest of my biking gear and headed for the start. The biking part is where the novice categorization really shows its meaning. Old bikes, mountain bikes and time trial bikes were all in use. I witnessed this as I passed quite a few people over the course of 17 miles.

The effects of having pushed myself for more than an hour was taking its toll as I neared the end of the ride. I performed the second transition to the running part much better by removing my helmet, changing shoes and crunching my sunglasses. I had taken them off during the ride and put them in the small of my back. When I sat to change shoes, I rocked back and heard a crunch. Luckily they were only scratched.

I grabbed the Gu packet that I had left by my running shoes and downed it as I started out on the running course. Still winded and feeling fatigued, I went up a short hill and followed the arrows. I managed to continue passing a few people as the course wound through a neighborhood. In the second mile I had been slowly creeping up on about four guys in front of me. I hoped to overtake them before the end. Suddenly I was next to and passing them. We had just started up a hill and apparently they slowed down more than I did.

"Ah, a hill," I thought. "I eat hills for breakfast." The Gu energy gel was taking effect and I was feeling better.

The finish was on a grassy downhill that allowed most people to feel good and finish strong. I was thirsty afterward, but felt pretty good. My wife and kids were there to greet me and keep the water coming. My overall time was 1:36:44, good enough for 39th place out of the 170 men.

Overall I am happy with how it went and had a good time. Probably the biggest thing I would change would be eating something sooner than when starting the run. I could have easily carried that gel with me on the bike ride and eaten it before the weariness kicked in. That would have given me more strength for the start of the run.