RYKA Iron Girl Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

Swim started kinda weird. The first AG had issues b/c it was too shallow where they started and many people were walking because of it. No big deal, so I just moved close to the bouy’s to avoid this. I started off really strong and felt good in the water, but I think the route closest to the bouys was not the most direct route to the swim finish…I felt like there ware lots of other white caps in front of me coming from my right side. I just pushed a little harder to try to get ahead of them.

Maybe start a little closer to the beach and try to figure out the best and fastest path to the exit. I'm not always good at looking at the swim course layout before a race...might be good to visualize a bit more. Oh, and they could put a little more water in the lake next time. And although I am very happy with how I placed in the swim, I'd alwasy like to swim faster!

At the swim exit, I saw Heather and the RYKA girls, they were giving out towels…that was nice to wipe off my face with. Then there was the hill- a total PITA. I remembered this from last years Emerald Pointe race. I jogged a bit, but found I could walk just as fast as the people jogging. Got to the top, ran some more to my T-area and hurried out onto the bike.

Not much can be done about that stupid hill, but I tend to be a pokey person in general. I KNOW I can pick up some time in transition. Practice? Focus more? I tend to forget that your transition time can really make a BIG difference!

For some reason at the start of the bike, I kinda got very negative. I have no idea why, it lasted about 2-3 min and I said ‘what am I thinking, shut up and ride’!! Maybe I was thirsty?? After that I felt great, I didn’t watch my pace b/c I knew it was a hilly course. I was hoping that my downhills and flats could help me recover from the hills. Well the whole ride went well, I saw lots of NAMC club members and that was a boost. Leslie passed me at mile 9-10 and I kept up with her until we got out on Peachtreee Industrial…then I dropped my chain switching into my little ring. There was an open gap behind me, so I quickly pulled over fixed it and got going again without anyone passing me. YEAH!! I guess it happened at a good time…and not on a hill. Continued on to about mile 15-ish feeling good still and got stuck behind some cars on the 2-lane road leading back into the park. This killed me and I got SUPER annoyed. There were 3 cars driving behind another rider and they wouldn’t pass her. So a few of us were hanging behind not sure what to do. It killed some momentum for sure. So I just caught my breath, ate a shot block or two and drank. Finally a mile or so later, they passed the girl and I picked it up again. Got back into the park and back to the T-area.

Not much I'd change about my actual riding. I think I'd consiter passing the cars I was sitting behind if this happened again. I know that's illegal, but it really frustrated me...and some other girls as well. The curb area was kinda narrow and I knew if I'd wrecked, it would have made the problem worse...so I'm not too disapointed about my decision to wait. I just wish it hadn't happened at all...I think I would have hit under an hour for the bike.

Pretty good T2. I know I can improve here, I'd like to get right around 1:00.

Practice. Run with race belt and hat instead of taking time to put it on.

After seeing the results, this was a really awesome run for me. I felt a little sluggish coming off the bike so I just tried to settle in for a few min. I also knew this run course and felt good since I knew what to expect. I was keeping splits on my watch, but hit lap a little late, so I really didn't have an accurate idea of how I was doing. I just pushed ahead. My legs felt tired, but nothing really hurt, so I knew that was a good sign. I saw some club people at both of the water stops and that definatly kept me going! Took a Gu at mile 1...for some mental help if nothing else. Tried to push it on the downhills and flats and keep moving on the uphills. Before I knew it I was at the turnaround- YEAH! Saw Elena, Meredith and Leslie all during the run, then Heather just before the end- that was good motivation.

Not much change with the actual run. I am super excted that I PR'd by about 2:00...I was shocked and had no idea that was coming. With that said, I guess I can run faster than 10:00 miles. And it didn't really feel like I was pushing at 100%. I'm going to focus on getting that time faster now! Maybe swimmers can be runners!

Grabbed some water, talked with the RYKA girls for a few min. and tried to escape. I knew they wanted the Mile Motivators to be out on the course again..so I headed out to find Heather about .3 before the finish. Hug with her and cheered on girls for a while. Elena showed up with some cowbells and we stayed out there till most everyone was off the course. It was VERY fun and hopefully we helped some first time racers make that last little push to the finish.


Dropping my chain was a little issue, but I took care of that quickly. The cars that I had to wait behind was my biggest frustration of the day. I just didn't know what to do. I'm going to ask a USAT official what would be the best thing to do if this ever happes again...


Good race overall- especially for their first time in Atlanta. The expo was kinda small...but maybe it's because I was there for 8 hrs on Saturday. Everything seemed well organized and I'd do this one again. The shirts were pretty cool, but I'd like if it said 'IronGirls Triathlon- Atlanta' or something insead of just saying 'IronGirls' and no race detail.