Hanging with the Pros: Hillary Biscay

I may never swim, bike or run with the pro triathletes, but turns out that I can certainly hang with ’em in other ways …thanks to All3Sports!

Wowzers.  First, Andy Potts and Haley Chura (….Haley— Ms. First Out of the Water at Kona this Year—who I now consider my BFF, by the way… just don’t ask her!)…  then last night, Hillary Biscay.

Last night, I walked into All3Sports about 4:15 to help set-up for the event.  And there she was—the Hillary Biscay—-setting up her Smashfest Queen clothing racks.

[I didn’t tell Hillary what the term “Smashfest Queen” could mean to the SBM Army. Heh heh!]

I saw Haley and Haley introduced me to Hillary.

“Hillary, this is Meredith Atwood,”  Haley said.

“Nice to meet you!” Hillary said.

Haley said, “Oh, I mean Swim Bike Mom.”

Hillary said, “Oooooh! Swim Bike Mom!!” And she gave me a big ole hug.

[After this, I’m pretty sure I will officially change my name to Swim Bike Mom. Afterall, Brent Pease said that no one at All3 really knows my name anyway.  They all just call me Swim Bike Mom. Okay, I can take a hint.]

Quickly, I found my Smashfest Queen product that I “needed” right off the bat—a hat.  I love this hat. And I’m such a visor girl, but really one cannot pull off a visor and heels. [I think I can pull off hat and heels. At least I tried.]

The Coach Formerly Known as Monster (and more professionally known as Gerry Halphen) led an awesome Q&A session with Hillary.

Things We Learned About Hillary Biscay:

1)  She has completed 63 Ironman races, some which were back-to-back.  In other words, one Sunday she’d do a race… and then the next Sunday, another one. Frequently, her SECOND Ironman turns out to have the better race.

2) Hillary is exceptionally goal-oriented. (No kidding.) But really, she sets a goal—and that GOAL is her inspiration to fight and train hard.

3) She would die before DNF.  She finishes every race she starts.

4) Hillary is a coach as well, and expect the same dedication out of her athletes. One of her athletes DNF’d at Ironman Arizona…. so the next weekend, she “prescribed” a workout just for him —- a 26.2 mile treadmill run.  The reason?  “Well, the next time he thinks about quitting on a course with 3000 other racers and support crews, he’ll remember the treadmill marathon, and keep going.”  Boo yow.  (And I thought the Monster was a tough one.)

5) She admits that triathlon by her design is “insane.”  And the more “insane” it is—the happier she is.

6) Hillary has  been a vegan for four years, and she made the decision based on ethical reasons.  The transformation to a vegan endurance athlete took her almost two years to “get right,” but once she did, she says that her performance soared.

7) Social Media addict? Well, she likes to stalk her competitors via Facebook and blog—kicking ass motivates her—so she finds out what her competitors are up to, and feeds on that.  (My kind of woman, yo!)

Enjoy the entire Q&A session here:

Afterwards, there was vodka by Vixen Vodka (of which I did not partake—-Day 7 of  Swim Bike Food challenge, baby!), but which looked very fun and delicious.

Always fun to see Morgan (a/k/a All3Chick), the owner of All3Sports, her handsome husband, Sean, and the rest of the All3Sports crew.

Was a great night… and I wrapped it up with  just a short trip down memory lane:

Ah. Andy.

But what a great night, and thanks to all who came and SMASHED with us.