RYKA Iron Girl Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

One of the oddest swims yet. The PA wasn't working so there was tons of confusion about where to actually go. At first the guy said to keep the bouys to the left, then the right. It turns out right, then left was the case. I was actually unsure of where to go when the gun went off. I was not alone. This was also my biggest wave yet. The weird thing was not all the contact it was a large percentage of breast strokers. I couldn't get by them. I was afraid I would get kicked in the ribs. At first I couldn't register why I could slide by. Finally I took a large loop around them and rounded the first bouy. By the second bouy I was more in my groove. I knew I had lost a lot of time.

I think I will know now to go around right away and not waste anymore time than I have to. Most of the other confusion was out of my hands.

This event has a hard transiton area that is on top of a steep incline. It takes awhile to get there. From the swim you need to run across the beach and up this steep hill. I think my time was pretty decent for that. I had two problems. When I pulled my cap off, my pony tail fell out. I was running and trying to tie my hair back at the same time. Those of you who saw me at the end of the race, saw how that turned out! The other avoidable mistake was I forget to open my cycling shoes before the race.

I am thinking about braiding my hair before races. It should help with the cap issue. Make sure I open my shoes.

I really struggled with the gears in this race. Mostly I just don't know my bike well yet. I felt great on the flats, my shifting on the hills really hurt me. The one area I did well in was a long, incline on Peachtree Industrial. I got a nice cadence and just continued to pass people. While my remarks seemed to be really unhappy with my performance, I actually feel like I did the best I could do on the day.

I will continue getting use to my new gearing (2 rings instead of 3). I think I was physically well trained for it.

Felt fast with this transition. It was a long run with your bike into the racking section. One thing was that I hadn't down shifted enough coming up that short hill. My legs didn't need the extra hard work before the run.

Falls into that shirfting catagory again.

I really wanted to break 9 min miles. This course is hard for me because you go from a hilly ride to a uphill run. I felt better hydrated than I have in awhile. The cooler weather was of great help to me. I can never remember when I started on the run portion so I quickly lose track of what time I need to beat. A Gu on the bike was helpful. I felt decent the first half of the run and then really had to dig deep. I guess that is the same as always. I ran on the grass whenever I could. I am still almost a minute per mile slower than I use to be before my IT Band came into the picture. That is a frustrating thing. At the end of the race, I tried to pass one more girl at the finish line. I thought I had. She thought I had but we ended up tied. I sprinted the last 100 yards.

I need to continue to build my base endurance and speed work at the track.

Tried not to throw up at the finish line. Waited for my team members to come through the slot. It was great to see them complete their first triathlon. After a few minutes I drank some Gatorade and just enjoyed the accomplishment of doing this one more time.


I think continued training and experience is what I need now.


If it hadn't been for the swim instructions, I think it was the best organized race I have ever been to. It was fun being in a all women's event. They had a table clothes on the tables and lot of fun give aways. I would recommend this race to anyone. I think it is a very challenging first race, however.