Warning!

I accidentally ate a brownie that contained espresso. I am not a coffee drinker. I think my heart might explode. Sorry if this post seems a bit manic, I blame the sneaky espresso.

This morning was the TNT practice tri - what a blast! There were two "waves" of starts - one at 8AM for those who needed a little extra time, and one at ~9:10 for the faster people. Although I was going to start in the 9AM group, I showed up at 7:15 because, well, I have time issues.

I got my transition area set up and then wandered around talking to people for two hours. It was so cold this morning - 38 when I left the house! So, after standing around for a couple of hours I think I was mildly hypothermic. I know at least my toes were numb, and maybe a little of my brain.

There were so many people in the 9:10AM wave that they broke us into two waves, again with the faster people going ~20 minutes after the other...faster...people. I was so freaking cold that I hopped in with the first group just so I could get moving. That may have been a mistake.

The pool was set up so we were going to swim the perimeter, making right turns. It was one big group, and I lapped them all pretty quickly. When I lapped them I came upon a large wall of people and had to swim waaaaaay around them. I could also see everyone from the second wave waiting by the side of the pool and I started to feel a little guilty about hopping in early, but then decided that I was actually the smart one for getting moving early.

The transition - whoo that was cold! I was dripping wet and just threw on my socks and bike shoes, which promptly filled with the water dripping down my legs. I threw my fleece on over my soaking wet jersey (new awesome TNT tri jersey! Woo!), which also became instantly wet. I ran my bike out to the "mounting line" and off I went! First one out from my wave.

There was a lovey albeit freaking freezing 18-ish mile ride, and I got passed at the tail end by two people. My feet were just totally numb and I was shivering and honestly could not wait for the run. You know something is wrong when I say that.

The run was actually pretty nice - my fingers and toes were so numb I couldn't lace my shoes properly and they weren't tight enough so my feet were sloshing around, but otherwise it was great. The sun was out and I was holding my own pretty well against people I consider actual runners (they were still faster than me but I kept them in my sights at least!).

Coming back into the "finish" area people were cheering and screaming and there was a big finish banner with "Aloha" written on it and our resident TNT photographer at the finish line, and we were handed a finishers ribbon that was made by one of the coach's second graders - and of course I forgot mine at the venue, stupid girl.

The post-"race" bbq was totally fun, and I ate too much, including that damn espresso-containing brownie that is now wreaking havoc on me. I have a headache and am all jittery and manic. THIS is why I don't drink coffee.

I am feeling better than ever about the event, and am so excited to go to Hawaii, and am excited about hanging out with the team, and am excited about doing this again next year! (I know, crazy.)