What was your first race experience?

The only time I've raced my ski is when those I was trying to over-take didn't know I was even there. Which means I've never officially raced anyone.

There is a race coming up that I am considering. There is a 2k (too short), a 5k (a little better) and a 17 mile distance race (I can feel the burn already). These are flatwater races.

What was your first race like? Good experience or not? Was it harder than expected? Did it meet your.expectations? How well did you do? Did it start a long line of races or did you retire after the first time? Did you discover you weren't as fast as you thought you were? Etc.
Please.explain in a million words or less. Thanks

Honestly can't remember shit about first race other than being complete dweeb competing for last place.
P.S. (or less)

MY first race, using a kayak (Dagger Megellan), was a kayak triathlon. The kayak portion was first. For the first 200 yards I was leading. Then a husband and his wife, in separate kayaks, flew by me. I thought I was fast until that point. I sat in forth place until about 2/3rds of the way through a 3 mile kayak portion. I had gone out way to hard and hit the wall. I finished the kayak portion in 10th place out of about 25 contestants. I then hopped on the bike. It took about 1/3rd of the bike portion for me to get my legs moving. Fortunately I was doing the team triathlon and my runner was good. We finished in second place. 3 weeks later we did another one. This time I controlled my pace better and we won. I was hooked. Since then I have competed by myself and also had bought an Epic V7. I am competitive with the V7. I most generally will be in the top 5 of the kayak portion. Racing is fun and it gives you something to train for and to look forward to. The fellow contestants are always very friendly. Kayakers seem to have their own little family. They love the sport and they want other people to enjoy it also. Try one and you will also be hooked. Just don't be disappointed if you don't do as well as you think you should. There is a learning curve to it and every race is different. Have fun. That is the main point.

Rod

I live in Itanhaém, southeast coast of Brazil. In my town, I am the only surfski paddler. I bought my first ski (Epic V8) in 2014 and for almost 3 years I just paddled around leisurely close to home, exploring the river and the ocean, watching seagulls and turtles. I kept reading about races happening in other cities not far from me, but was too lazy to drive there with the ski on the car. Actually I used to say that I didn't have any interest in races. But then, in February 2017, a race was announced right in my town: a 15 km (9,3 miles) mixed course, partly river, partly ocean. No more excuses possible! It was a terrific experience, very inspiring. I got the chance to meet some famous paddlers I had only read about, talked to a lot of fellow paddlers, heard a lot of good advice, started to take lessons with a coach etc. Only good things happened. Of course I finished the race among the last paddlers, my average speed was 8,9 km/h (5,5 mph), so after that I started to take fitness and technique training more seriously. With hard training and a good diet I lost 12 kg (26 pounds). Then last month (October) I had my second race, 20 km (12,4 miles) on flatwater only. This time my average speed was 10,1 km/h (6,3 mph) and I scored some of my best times ever. Now I am looking forward to upgrading to an intermediate level ski, possibly Epic V10 Sport or Think Evo. If it wasn't for that first race, I would still be paddling in the same places with the same sloppy technique and slow speed. Surfskis are just meant to race, it's their raison d'être!