Triathlon Anniversary: Hub City Hustle

Happy 5 Year Triathlon Anniversary to me with a 2nd place win!

My very first triathlon was Mighty Magnolia, October 2010.
I went on to finish it in 2011, 2012, skipped 2013, and now 2014 (but it changed it's name to Hub City Hustle). Today I placed 2nd in my age group. Holla! Coming off an 18 mile run yesterday, I was/am pretty stoked. And my run was the best part. No, my swim was! I definitely PR'd my swim. 1/3mile swim in 10mins 30secs. Hell yeah! (p.s. my first year I swam it in 18mins).

Wow, I've been doing tri's for 5 years. I've done 5 Ironman, am 4 weeks away from #6, 4 half ironman distance races, and dozens of sprints and olympics. I love it people! I freaking love it! I can't get enough! I've dragged many friends in with me and I hope to drag many more (hey, I need peeps to bike all these long hours with!! ;)



On to the Hub City Hustle...
This is one of my favorite courses. The swim is 1/3 of a mile, point to point, and stays along the bank of a man made lake (POND) in an undeveloped subdivision in Hattiesburg, MS. The bike course is rolling. No serious climbs, but a little more challenging rolls than we're used to in South Mississippi. The bike course has one bad stretch of bumpy chip seal road. I'd say maybe a mile or two that you have to do going out and then coming back. There are a few turns and lots of curvy road (which I thoroughly enjoy). Plus the rolls. Which I also thoroughly enjoy. The run course is one big loop (which was a little bit of a change from previous years) and it's hilly. Rolling though, no serious climbs.

Swim: Perfect water temps. Wetsuit legal. I was fortunate enough to swim with my friend Amanda. We hauled ass out there! I want to say that we motivated each other. I love being able to swim right there with someone and look out for each other. I didn't have one bit of panic and felt great the whole time. 10:33.

Transition 1: a quick in and out at 59 seconds.

Bike: Again with the perfect temps. Not hot. Not cold. A tailwind going out and a bit of headwind coming in but nothing too significant. I love the rolls. A few dogs out there but they mostly stayed ditch side. I hated seeing Amanda on the side of the road coming back in. AHH, what happened!? ARE YOU HURT!? Nope, just a tire blowout. PHEW!! I also hate that my dear friend Pam had to withdraw herself as well after a wrong turn. Dang it! Hey though, stuff happens! We take great pride in our efforts and move on to the next challenge! With a 19.3mph average, I came off the bike at 51:20.

Transition 2: SUPER quick. My fastest to date I believe at 38 seconds.

Run: my run felt amazing!! Even the hills seemed to fly from under me. Nothing hurt. Nothing to even talk about. It was great! 25:59 (8:39/M).

Overall Time: 1:29:30. Very pleased!!

Best Parts:



~All my friends cheering (and volunteering)!! Trish, J.g., Dave, Megan, Katie, the Murphy family, Larry, Stefany, and I'm sure I'm leaving someone out... (I'm sorry!)
There is something SO special about hearing your friends call out your name and encouraging you to GO GO GO! I love seeing their smiling faces, their phones snapping pics, and fist pumping ALL FOR ME!! (okay so not ALL for me...but for all for me at that moment!!). It's a super cool, I'm a rock star kinda feeling...



~All my friends racing!! Mighty Mag was many of our first tri. To know we've been doing this and growing and developing with each other for 5 years now is super awesome and very special to me. We're not all best friends, but we have this bond... this incredible _____ that you'll never know unless you TRI. It's hard to even put into words but we all know. So even if we have NOTHING else in common and/or don't even care for each other - this bond exists. And we're proud of each other. And competitive. And encouraging and just super HELL YEAH for each other.



~All my friends who are new to tri and loving it just as much as I do. High fives and great jobs and way to go's and pictures. So much encouragement and love and...it just makes me so proud to be a part of this community.

I so love to tri. I so loved my day in Hattiesburg.
I so can't wait for my 6 hour bike ride tomorrow... (somewhat kidding but mostly not!!) ;)