Last year I did my first Triathlon, the Nautica Malibu triathlon, International Distance.

I had originally wanted to sign up for the Sunday "Classic" race, it's a sprint triathlon. I didn't realize that it sells out the day it opens up to register. The only other option was the Saturday "International", otherwise known as the Olympic Distance race. I wasn't sure I wanted to do that much for my first triathlon. But a few friends of mine (who by the way had done a few sprints, but never the Olympics) nudged me into signing up for it with them.

Having done my share of races and marathons, I knew I had to stick to my training plan and train hard to prepare for my first (and Olympic distance) triathlon.