HP02 is Back

Well ladies, it is with much embarrassment that HP02 admits that after a summer of no blogging, she actually had to look up the blog password. Can you ever forgive her???

Where does one start when one has been so delinquent? We shall start with Colorado. HP02 took 5 days to camp, hike, kayak and recreate in the Colorado Rockies 2 weeks ago with the Siete and the rest of the fam. AWESOME. The Siete is 5 months pregnant, and she looks so freaking cute!! And as usual Uncle Bear kicks ass! We ended up camping, hiking and kayaking, but no hard core peak-climbing this time...a combination of excessive cocktails and a guilt trip by MOM ("you haven’t spent enough time with me") put the kibosh on that. Oh well- next time!

Then last weekend HP02 biked 25 miles on Friday after work, to Springfield. She thought she would just cycle on the roads, you know, on the shoulder- BAD idea! Turns out there are no shoulders in suburban VA. Then on Saturday HP02 participated in the Amazing Race, a fundraiser for overseas charities put on by a local church. HP02 ran a total of 5 miles with her 3 teammates, thru the streets of DC/Arlington, searching for clues and trying to beat the competition. While we didn’t win, we became convinced that we should be the next contestants on the real Amazing Race, because if nothing else we would ROCK their ratings with our drama...


HP02 is now getting ready for HotPantsLittleSister to come to town. We are going to WHOOP IT UP in DC!! Anyone interested in joining?

Keep on moving don't stop...

Here’s a photo from HP09’s last Sprint @ Culpeper. This Sunday's Iron Girl marks the last race that this HP has registered for this season and I'm not going to lie to you, I'm frightened. What ever does a HP do with all this free time? Does one succumb to inertia and continue to train aimlessly? Or do we give up, get off the swim/bike/run circuit and take up knitting/competitive drinking? In an effort to prolong the summer tri season the following suggestions are offered up in the hopes that there other HP’s out there in a similar predicament looking to get in on a sprint or relay.

The Inaugural Nation's Triathlon – Saturday 9/16
http://www.thenationstriathlon.com/
-A 1.5k swim with the Washington Monument as the site line, a 32k two loop bike course around Rock Creek Park into downtown Washington, DC and around Pennsylvania Avenue, and a 10k run past the Kennedy Center, Lincoln Memorial, Jefferson Memorial and Tidal basin. The finish line is spectacular on the grounds of, and at the foot of, the Washington Monument. Be a part of triathlon history!
Prices - Individual: $175.00, Relay Team - 2 People: $225.00, Relay Team - 3 people: $225.00

The General Smallwood Triathlon – Saturday 9/30
http://www.set-upinc.com/rp5/gsmallwoodsprint/gsmallwoodsprint.shtml
-This one is listed on the blog, a nice manageable (moderately difficult) Sprint not too far from DC. We have to register by THIS FRIDAY 9/25!
Prices - Individual: 80$, Relay: $110

Ok, there are certainly many more events in Sept. and Oct. but this is good for now. So, anyone interested in some mutual motivation?

Culpeper

This photo is from a June race, I haven't gotten it together to get the Culpeper pic's up. I know, I'm lame..

The Culpeper Sprint was great fun and is a must for next year. My friend Heather (the innocent victim I dragged along) and I drove the pleasantly short 2 hours southwest on Saturday (8/5). We picked up our packets and had a chill day visiting a vineyard for a wine tasting and camping in a sketchy, deep woods Virginia style RV park/tent site. We were up and on the road before the sun, but still it wasn't as early as most (HP01, you would have freaked). Luckily we weren't the only late ones and they ended up pushing the race back by 15 minutes.

Alas, despite the delay driven panic and some suspiciously ‘organic’ 88 degree water my swim felt pretty strong. As it turned out I am glad I had been training for distances twice as far because I was all over the place! I swear, every time I looked up I had to readjust my direction; I’m going to need to work on that. About halfway through, I got a solid kick in the chest by some yahoo doing the breast stroke (I free styled the whole way) that knocked the wind out of me, so I sputtered and choked for a while, and then got on with it.

The bike was very hilly; it was either up or down the WHOLE 18 miles. Fortunately it was also a beautiful day, with fantastic scenery, so the miles flew by. All in all it was a pretty painless ride. Then there was the run. In short, the run kicked my ass. It was 5 k of brutal jellowie legged, shin splinting hills. Man I hated that run! In the end I pulled it together and finished strong, I even had energy left over to sprint up the hill (yes an uphill finish-nice) to the finish line…and I didn’t throw up ;-) bonus!

I am pleased to report that I was not one bit sore, which may tell me that I didn't push myself hard enough, but then again maybe it was the back to back wine tasting? Or maybe it was because I took HP03’s advice to not train the 2 days before? Either way it was quite empowering to wake up on days 1+2 and feel so, well…not in pain I guess. I'm looking forward to the Iron Girl at the end of the month (8/27). I hope to improve the whole ‘swimming in a strait line thing’ and that damn run, blech! I am also looking for an event in September and October (and unfortunately watching The Ochos marathon doesn’t count). Let me know if the HP's have any plans/ideas.

15 Miles and Counting...

Saturday morning Senor Ocho and HP08 did their 15 mile run as part of their further marathon training. All in all, it was much better than the 13 miles. The Fuel Belt and Goo packs were definitely useful and the drop in temperature from 95 degrees to 80 degrees wasn't too shabby either. HP08 also wore the Shorty Ultra Shorts and Senor Ocho was finally hooked up with some body glide to stop the nipple chaffing. So, $50 in equipment and $30 in clothing later, the Ochos finally were decked our like real runners, as opposed to how they look in this photo...

The New Kid

(that's me on the left w/ my girls on Cape Cod...it's the only pic I have of a recent race just now) Well now isn't this exciting! My very first post on the Caliente Pantalones blog! (also my very first post of all time) Right off the bat I want to let you all know how excited I am to be a part of this crew. I have had the pleasure of your company at such events as The Bath County Tri and oh, a brunch. Ok, so my time with you has been limited but I'm looking forward to more time with the Hot Pants, so far you guys have been both fun and inspirational, not to mention highly amusing! In fact, I was telling a friend about you freaks...ahem, I mean you ladies the other day. Specifically, I talked about how supportive you all are, I mean I got 'go get 'em' emails from you ladies before last weekend's Culpepper Sprint and most people didn't even remember I was racing! You all are the best! Thanks for having me along, I’ll do all I can to live up to the code – and to blog by the hot pants rule.

Shorty Ultra Short? Me? Never. Or Maybe?

Ok, so here's the deal. The Ocho needs some new running shorts and she needs them to be, well, fitted. The real issue is chaffing from her thigh fate during her long runs, but we won't get in to that now. What it comes down to is that HP08 has recently invested in some new Under Armour running shorts the Senor Ocho labeled as "bike short" but "not as revealing." Either way, they aren't really "Ass shorts" but they are shorter than tri shorts. Not much is left up to the imagination, but the material doesn't show off every dimple, if you know what I mean and I think you do. So, HP08 was feeling pretty good about her purchase until she got on line today and noticed that the official Under Armour name for her recently purchased shorts is "Shorty Ultra Short." Come on, is that really necessary? They come at least half way down the thigh. Either way, the prevent chaffing and don't ride up, so the Ocho is keeping them. Now all the HPs can truly appreciate her ass as she runs by them during the marathon in October. :)

Paaaarrrtaaaay!!!

Saturday night HP01 showed the HotPants and a few lucky others quite a good time. HP08 realizes that HP01 is busy with some things these days and thought she would help out by posting some of the post-party photos. Enjoy!

HP02...Opps she did it again

HP01 sporting a 'stache and warming up the pipes

HP04 lookin' tough (and showin' off the guns)

DenverHotPants pushing the margaritas

HP08, HP03 and HP04...yeah, they know...

Norman the Mustached Dog

HP08 and HP03 looking really, really sober...

The HPs like to Paaaarrrtaaaay!

All Alone…

Keeping with HP05’s inability to write small blogs, here is another long re-cap of this past Sunday

There is something to be said for spending quality time alone. HP05 is a huge fan of alone time and decided to keep the tradition of going to Hampton, VA to ‘race’ in a sprint triathlon alone. A 4 hour drive down the back roads of MD and VA and some beach time sound like a good Saturday, which they were. Stay overnight and Sunday, race day.

Now this was HP05’s first full tri on her own. Her training has pretty much been nonexistent since the GCBS back in June, as that was her main goal for 2006. HP05 would now like to describe the goods and the bads of her race. Just some pointers that the rest of the world might be able to learn from…

The Bads
· Learning at 6:30 am you might not be able to race because you are missing a plug on your handle bars
· Discovering the water temp is 77 and EVERYONE has a wet suit but you
· A 30 minute delay on the start of a race, when it’s already a really hot day
· Getting stung in the hand by jelly fish. Then in the shoulder. Then one latches onto your left ankle and you try to kick it off looking awfully foolish
· Riding your bike with stinging pain in left leg due to jelly fish
· Hitting a pot hole at mile 3 to get a flat front tire
· Forgetting how to change a flat tire
· 30 minutes to change a flat tire and to start biking again
· Get to T2 and hear your friend’s name being called across the finish, who biked with a mountain bike
· Starting the ‘run’ and not being able to keep down the water and clif shot just taken
· Having the WORST RACE EVER and have people tell you that “you look great” and “only 2 miles to go”

The Goods
· Watching the sunrise over the ocean/lake/river
· Carrying medical tape to make a faux plug for your bike handle
· Running into a friend you didn’t know would be racing that day
· The kindness of a man named Fred who took me to his house (and not be creepy) to help change the flat tire
· Thinking about how this will be blogged during the bike and run
· Going through all of The Bads, and still finishing
· For the fist time, not caring about time
· Talking to other races, who saw me with the flat, impressed that I still fished the race because they would not have
· Driving home proud because quitting is NEVER an option

The Fuel Belt

Ok Ladies, the Ocho needs your help. After becoming incredibly dehydrated during their run last weekend, HP08 and Senor Ocho decided it was time to invest in an infamous fuel belt. They've chosen the 6 bottle version as not too much but not too little "fuel." They currently have two belts ordered at GotBody.com, but were recently informed that these belts were on back order. Does anyone know of a place in the greater DC metropolitan area that actually sells these belts? HP08 has checked at Sport Authority, but they don't have them. (I know this is incredibly shocking considering the high caliber of equipment and service one usually finds at Sports Authority...) So, any ideas of where else to look? Thanks for your help in advance!
-Ocho Out