First and foremost I am officially a Triathlete!!!! A very slow one. This was definitely a learning experience. My first newbie mistake today (there is a big list) was hitting snooze on my alarm clock twice. This was a big mistake because I didn’t go to packet pick up yesterday so I had to be there by 0700 this morning to get my packet plus I didn’t really have time to eat. I arrive at 0645 and it would have been plenty of time if I didn’t have to walk my bike 5 miles… ok it was like 1 mile but when time is working against you it seems a lot longer. I get to packet pick up just in time. After I get my packet I go to body marking then set up my transition. When I enter transition I noticed there were no assigned spots so I found an empty spot and start to lay out my stuff. At this point someone is walking through transition telling everyone to finish up and head down to the swim start. So I start to put on my wet suit… once I get it up to my thighs I realize I am still wearing my basketball shorts… being the moron I am I yell out JACKASS at which point everyone still in transition looks at me and realize I am in fact a jackass. I get my shorts off and my wetsuit on and head down to the swim start. I was the second wave. The swim was pretty uneventful. I run up the hill to T1 and attempt to remove my wetsuit as fast as possible. 3 minutes and some change later I am on my bike and headed up a hill. Thanks to my freind Andy for the advance notice about the hill immediately after T1 but what you said didn’t really sink in until I was struggling to get to the top. I also had the pleasure to experience a bike course full of rollers. Not fun for someone from Va. Beach where it is pancake flat. Can someone explain to me what the difference is between a roller and a hill because that course seemed to have a bunch of hills to me? Well after I finish the bike I get in and out of T2 in a minute and change. Then I am off on the run. Once again Andy thanks for the heads up on the run course. The run is a trail course with some hills involved which is not a lot of fun for someone that has never ran up a hill because once again it is flat here in Va. Beach. It was hard for me to get a good pace going for the run because I had to make sure I didn’t trip on a root or lose my footing on some loose gravel because there were a few people out there that did fall. I did make it to the finish without fall and a smile on my face. Overall it was a well run event and a ton of fun. My only regret is I wish I would have done some research on the course so I could have been better prepared.