Race Report: Irongirl

Pre-Race:
I was having a bit of a meltdown last week about training. Lots of little things at work, etc have been building up and I felt totally overwhelmed. One of my Trakkers teammates, Kelly, works for Irongirl and I got to hang out with her the night before the race. She is an amazing Mom and triathlete, and her energy is just what I needed. Race morning, I had half a bagel with peanut butter (I bought almond butter to try but didn't want to do it for the first time on race day). As always, so nice to see all the MMTC folks at Centennial Park (literally dozens of people).


The Swim: (26:06 115/239)
I set out for this race with some goals after the Celebration Sprint (the same course, but co-ed in June). After my meltdown, I wasn't sure how it would go, but I was hoping to push hard. This is the part where the tri gods remind me that I should just be thankful to participate in this race on this day. Treading water before the swim start, I had to pee (sorry, TMI here). When bearing down to pee (while treading water), I went into SVT. I knew it before I looked at my heart rate monitor, but "206" confirmed it. In healthcare we look at everything as risk vs. benefit. I seriously debated pulling myself out of the race, but decided that since I didn't feel dizzy or faint I would at least try. The risk was that I could start to feel bad (and if I did I would go for the nearest kayak), the benefit was finishing the race. Thankfully my race buddy Jen was there (she happens to be an ER nurse) and I had about 60 seconds to tell her what was going on and figure out what to do- I was so glad to have her there. My only bit of panic came from the fact that people were packed so close that it was difficult to tread water comfortably. I decided to erase any time/place goals, and just swim. I told myself that if I started to feel at all crummy I would head for the nearest kayak...no finish is worth risking my well-being. It took about 5 minutes for the rhythm to "break" (go back to normal), but it did. It still wasn't a fast swim, but it worked. (The funny part? I was 1 minute faster than at Celebration in June- I kept swinging wide of the buoys.)

T1 (2:24 18/239)
I was a bit wiped from the swim...tried to bust it out as best I could. The one thing I did in the morning that paid off- set my gear on a towel, with a trash bag over top (I hooked one end under the towel so that it wouldn't blow away). My shoes stayed dry (at least until I wore them in the rain) and I don't think it slowed me down. Sockless again on the bike and run- I love TriSlide.

Bike (59:58, 17.5mph, 13/239)
I knew I had ground to make up (with our age group split into two waves, it was weird to have some faster people behind me). I only got passed by three women from my age group. Didn't pass as many as I would like to have on the bike (at least in my age group), but I think I got out of transition before a lot of other people after the swim. I made the mistake of thinking to myself (near the turn-around) that people were following the rules of the road pretty well. It got worse on the last 1/3 of the course. Going down one of the hills on Folly Quarter Road on the way back, women were riding several wide. This was one of those hills where you could go 30+mph. The road was a bit wet, but I hated to ride my breaks. Trying to balance a positive attitude with a strong race, I did lots of yelling "Passing on your left, stay to the right if you aren't passing." (I made sure to say something encouraging as I passed). I felt really good about the bike.

T2 (1:30, 46/239)
There was a wreck coming into transition not long before I got there. The bikes were cleared but there was a woman who injured her knee (what a bummer). I found my rack easily (3 rows from the bike in and out) and got out as fast as I could.

Run (30:43, 38/239)
I felt so strong at the start of the run. I wanted to push it. I did for the first mile or so, and then lost some steam....a bummer but I was happy that I could make it to the run. It was so nice to see everyone on "The Hill", and then come back to the lake and see the finish on the other side. I was still struggling, but then I got to the last hill, and there was my teammate Kelly She cheered (and told me she knew I had more kick than that- I am totally motivated when someone tells me I'm not doing as good a job as I could be). I kicked it up for the finish. The energy at this race was amazing, and the volunteers from MMTC were incredible. Many thanks to everyone!!!!

2:00:38 (26/239, 190/1900+) (Not far off my goals, so I was super happy!)
(Thanks to Geoff and Kelly for the great pics!)