Aflac Iron Girl Women's Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

I almost drown today. I swallowed a bunch of water and spent 30 seconds coughing and swimming breast stroke before I could breathe again. It was not fun.

The long run up to transition was brutal. But I forced myself to run the whole way (ok, I did walk for a few feet torwards the top but only because it was so steep that walking was faster). I put on my bike shoes, helmet, and sunglasses, and ran with my bike out of transition. That's when I screwed up. I couldn't get on my bike. My shoes wouldn't clip in to my pedals and when I tried to just hop on my bike and clip my shoes in later, my shorts got stuck on the seat and I just couldn't get on. Ugh. I think I cussed a little too much here and almost fell off my bike. I think I was in too much of a rush. I finally got my right shoe clipped in and took off. That was embarrassing. I was just hoping the NBC camera guy was no where around.

The bike course was pretty tough, but I thought it was a fun route. I passed several women from the previous wave and no one passed me. I got a good laugh around mile 9 when I passed a women on the hill and she apparently saw my age. She yelled up to me, "are you 33?". I looked back with a smile and yelled "yes", and she just said "Damn, nice job". I started 6 minutes behind her and she was 100 yds in front of me for several miles. When I finally caught up to her, I felt pretty strong and glad to know I was passing some strong cyclists.
Unfortunately, right after that hill, my gears screwed up. I couldn't get back into the big chain ring. I kept wiggling the shifters and changing gears for the next half mile before I could get it to move to the big chain. So frustrating!
Then I hit P'tree Ind. and thought I could crank it out, but that didn't happen. I was averaging about 15 mph on that road and really had to work hard to get up to 18 mph. I guess that road was deceivingly hilly.
When I got close to the lake entrance, there were too cars ahead and I thought about speeding up to draft off of them. :) But then they stopped at the pay gate and I lost my chance. haha Oh well. :)

Get my gearing checked before the race at All3Sports.

When I entered transition, Amy (the MC) was cheering for me. She gave me a shout out saying I had a strong bike and was a threat on the course. Before she could finish, I was headed out of T2. She yelled, "wow, is she headed out already? She doesn't waste any time!" Amy was a great MC and it felt great to have her cheering over the microphone for me.

I had a great run today. I was worried about my calf last night as it has been hurting a lot since Wednesday. Someone was looking out for me and 'healed' my calf for the race. When I woke up this morning, I had no pain. Thank god! I headed out on the run and felt like I was running slow. I had my friends and family cheering for me which gave me a mental boost. The first mile and a half had some gradual hills that made me work pretty hard. But it helped knowing I'd be hitting them downhill on the way back. After a few minutes into the run, I saw Michellie Jones heading towards the finish. Shortly after, Sam McGlone then Kate Major passed by. I cheered for each of them and Kate Major smiled and gave me a wave. I realized that the race was won by either Pip or Mirinda. Steve and I made a bet and my money was on Mirinda (who I later found out won!).
Anyways, I was surprised that I didn't see many women on the run course ahead of me. Since it was an out and back, I was able to see how I was compared to the 35-39 age group. There were only 2 women in front of me from that age group and I was in the lead in my age group. I knew that if I had a decent run, I had my age group win secured. As I rounded the turn around, my watch showed 9 minutes. It was a litte shorter than halfway, so I was on track for a solid run. As I headed towards the finish and saw the crowd, I picked my pace up and saw Steve ahead cheering. I then heard the rest of my family and some friends yelling for me which gave me the last bit of boost I needed. I ran up the hill and sprinted towards the finish line. The NBC cameraman was filming the finish and I gave him a wave. I then heard Amy announce that I was the first in my age group. That's all I needed to hear. I was so happy. So much for a hurt calf. :)

Right after I finished, I heard my stepmom say that she sees my sister in transition. She was just coming out from the bike. I told Amy to cheer for her and she hollared for Gena and asked her how she let me pass her. haha That made Gena laugh. She then headed out for the run and I met her at the bottom of the hill. I gave her a wet sponge and told her I run the last mile with her. I held up my promise and met up with her on the course to help her on the last mile back. When I told her there was wine at the end (okay, I lied) she found an extra burst of speed and ran strong into the finish. I'm so proud of her.

I warmed down by running back on the run course to find my sister and running the last mile with her.
The best part of the race was meeting Mirinda and Michellie afterwards. I talked to Michellie for like 30 minutes. I must say that she is an incredible athlete, however after talking to her I think she is an even more amazing person. She's so personable and down to earth. She also gave me some invaluable advice about nutrition during a half ironman. Hearing her perspective on training and racing was great. She's really a cool chick.


I've been doing about 10 races/year for the past few years. If I only do one race next year, this one will be it! Very well organized, well supported with volunteers and spectators, and the honor of racing with some of the top Pros in the world was a cool experience. Also knowing that NBC was filming the event made it that much better. It was my first time racing IronGirl and I was very impressed.