What's that? You want a piece of this??

See that lake in the distance? I HAVE CONQUERED IT!!!!

HP04 is proud to announce her first full TRI is done!

A huge shout out and thanks to HP01 for being there with me, supporting me, your words of advice and sharing your dogs with me. I had a GREAT time and it is no doubt because of the great example HP01 has set for the rest of us in maintaining a great attitude and having FUN! And thanks to the newly inducted Deuce for coming along to support HP01 & HP04. It was great to have you join us! And a HUGE thank you for bringing TECATE into my world (which I'd like to make the official beer of the HotPants)!

So - for all of those with inquiring minds here's how the first full TRI for HP04 went down....

Swim: 14:28 - eh, not quite pleased with this time. Added almost a full minute to my lake Anna time but seeing as all 110 women started in one wave I'm going to chalk it up to not being out in front fast enough. I can safely say however, that it would have been a time well into the 15 minutes if I hadn't swam over (literally, heh heh heh kiss my toes I'm comin' through) 4 or 5 men I passed (i swam around the women). (Side note: I think I'm beginning to develop an unhealthy level of competition when it comes to beating men. It just feels so good.)
I burst out of the water (16th woman overall and 5th in my age group- thank you very much) to a smattering of applause and a couple "nice swims". Ran/Walked/Stumbled up the hill into the transition area - looked around and realized I was in a group of pretty serious athletes wondering how the hell did I get here and where is everyone else...and then I got on the bike and soon the rest of the pack caught up and passed me. I felt like a turtle walking down a highway. All I heard was "on your left" for the entire 46:45 minutes I was on the bike. Although I did pass a couple people - to whom I said "good job, you're almost there, looking good" because I was passing so slowly I didn't need to announce myself on their left and for fear it would result in another "Go Navy" incident for the HotPants (HP03 and Sherando). If I'd tried to announce myself it would have been more like "on your left.....well, almost on your left......now i'm on your left.....still on your left......on your front tire.......Eat my dust sucka!!!!" Good thing those men I swam over couldn't recognize me without my wet suit swim cap disguise or i'm sure they would have thrown an elbow or two, and I must say rightfully so. (Note to self: train more on bike). But, all in all (considering I've only had my bike for 3 weeks) I was pretty pleased with my bike time/experience.
And then the run... I thought I'd done 12 minute miles I felt like I ran so slowly. I think I forgot I was "racing" at that point and I proceeded to have a conversation with "john", some guy I met along the way, the entire time. John lives by VA beach, is a sales rep, his dad does tri's, he has an older sister who used to work for non profit think tank in DC working on public policy to combat illiteracy- I wasn't kidding when I said we talked the whole way. So, I felt like I wasn't exerting myself in the least but ended up running around 10s. (run time 29:49). Oh yeah - and I got SMOKED by a 12 year old boy - that always makes ya feel good! But, for some reason didn't result in me kicking it into high gear and actually running.
Overall, I was very pleased with my performance! Total time: 1:37:06. My goal was 1:45 so I was happy I came in under my goal, had a ton of energy left and could have pushed myself much harder but really wanted to make sure I finished and I wasn't sure how much I could push myself. I learned sooo much and most importantly I had so much fun!!!! I can't WAIT for the next one! Bring it on!!!!!!

Lessons:
1. Invest in a pair of tri shorts. I had WAY too many "outfit" changes. And the putting on my bike shorts wet is a battle I do not want to fight again. Never mind putting on my running shorts backwards.
2. When you get off the bike and try to run your legs feel like spaghetti, but it passes. I had a moment of "oh crap, I don't know if I can run. Work legs, work!!!"
3. I don't like eating and will stick to goo - no solid food. Left a coating in my mouth - blech!
4. Eat goo earlier on bike ride.
5. Run with my own water bottle. Water stations = cramp in side.
5. This shit is fun!

(oh yeah and i've been training but not posting about it. Monday's are swim, bike. Tuesdays swim, run. Wednesdays bike. Thursdays swim, run. Fridays off-woohoo. Saturdays swim ,run. Sundays bike, run. That's my training program and i'm sticking to it! After completing the sprint i'm moving forward with plans to do Naylor's Beach Olympic.)