Race Day Dilemma

So the race is officially single digit days away. Last night I got an email from the race director with the swim wave times. They have the half iron participants go off first, then the quarter racers go off 30 minutes after the last half iron wave. I'm assuming that is so the majority of people can get past the point where the quarter racers merge with the half iron swim course.

My dilemma is this. Transition opens at 5:30am. I'm kind of anal and like to be there when transition opens for a race. I like to have the freedom to choose my transition area rather than being forced to find an open spot or squeeze in where I can. The transition area closes at 7:45. So that's 2 hrs and 15 minutes of set up time, warm up time, freak out time, whatever. I can usually handle that much time. But here's the deal. My swim wave doesn't go off until 9:00am! And everyone else including Greyt, goes off earlier at like 8:00am. So I have another whole hour and 15 minutes, BY MYSELF, to wait before my race starts. Ugh.

So, do I go to transition later to cut down on the waiting time? Or do I go to transition early, then go back to the hotel and relax for awhile before going back to the race start to warm up? Or do I just hang out at transition, supporting my fellow TRI Racers and just deal with 3 hours of waiting? Most likely it will be the third option, because I want to be there for Greyt and the others. But 3+ hours is an AWFULLY long time for me to sit and stew. And use the kybo. And stew. And use the kybo.

The good thing about this entire situation, though, is that I most likely will get the chance to cheer on Greyt as she comes out of her swim. I know she'll be out in plenty of time before my wave starts, so that will be cool. But still...three and a half hours is a heck of a long time to wait for a race...