Iron Girl Las Vegas - TriathlonSprint

Well, I've been swimming with a pull buoy for 2 months now and was a little worried about how I would feel in the water with my wetsuit. The temptation to kick was a big one, but I found myself free of the pack pretty quickly and never really needed my legs at all. I gave one girl on my toes one heck of a beautiful trip, if I may say so myself. I was dead straight to the first buoy, where I caught up to the wave in front of me. By the second buoy, I'd caught some of the Olympians from the last wave who had gone off 18 minutes before my swim start. It was a hodge podge of caps coming in to the swim finish, but I felt strong and refreshed. I looked down at my watch in shock, though.....15:30 for 800 meters?? So disappointing!! I thought I'd rocked it, but this was definitely off my usual pace. (But now that I look at the results, I really think the course was long)

Swim harder....but of course, it's really hard to swim hard when you can't kick!

.27 mile hike from the swim out to the transition area. Since I couldn't run, I got passed by tons of people going up this hill. I started to get the "almost there, you can do it!" from people at this point and it began to do my head in. Trust me, I would dearly love to continue up this hill and beat you to the transition area....but I'd love to have my original knees in 15 years.

Nothing. Once I actually got TO my bike, things were very quick. Sunglasses on, helmet on, shoes on, and get the heck outta there!

My plan was to hammer the bike, since I wasn't going to run, but I was a little leg-weary climbing out of the resort. I had a few sharp pains in my knee when I tried to get out of the saddle at some points, so I just threw it in an easier gear and sat down until I got to the tops of the hills. Not how I would have done it were I healthy, but it was as good as it could get at this point. On the downhills, I threw it into the hardest gear I could push without pain and passed as many people as I could. This course definitely left me wishing I could have trained harder, but I was still thankful to be healthy enough to just be out there.

Not be hurt?!

Ouch. Getting off the bike hurt and I limped my way over the mats and into transition. At this point, I was scared to continue on to the run course because my knee was really screaming. But I wanted the medal, so I put on my socks and shoes, grabbed my bundle of goodies (arm coolers, hat, and race belt), and away I went.

Again, not be hurt. RUN.

No laughing! I was damn lucky to even be able to limp my way through this course, so I am pretty proud of my long and solitary walk through the desert. I got more of those, "come on, you can do it!" comments and by the end I was really, really over it. Yes, I know I can do it. Stop making me feel bad! I desperately wanted to run, and running actually hurts less than walking for some reason, but I knew it would have crippled me for weeks. So I behaved....cautiously ascended and descended the steeper hills....and chatted up whoever wanted to stop and talk to me. It was really disheartening to get passed by all the people you ordinarily would have beaten. In fact, it became pretty clear to me that I'd actually put together a pretty solid race up until the run, even with the slow transitions! So this gave me something to be proud of, and I walked that course with a smile on my face, knowing I was going to get my finisher's medal.

The chute was after a fairly steep descent, so I limped my way down it and then did a little jog across the finish line. I have done many races at this point in my tri career, but I have to say, this one was the most emotional for me. I've always taken finishing for granted... But after getting injured and hearing that I wouldn't even be allowed to start, I just felt so relieved and thankful that I was there and able to participate. It's such an amazing sport!

Need I go there?

Grabbed a water and then strolled up the hill to cheer on the Olympic finishers. No need to cool down....I'd had a 53-minute walk to accomplish that! Enjoyed the awards ceremony afterwards, then hit up the Strip.


Hmmmm...torn meniscus? :)


A much better job this year than last! Race went off on time, and the course was well-marked. Not a huge fan of the desert run, but it's part of racing at Lake Las Vegas. Still love the host hotel. Gorgeous swim. Nice job improving the post-race buffet and awards ceremony. Would have loved to have had a bigger Expo and maybe a race t-shirt with the actual race and not just the generic Iron Girl logo, but that's just being nit-picky.