Iron Girl Sprint Triathlon - Race Recap

Can I just say that I love this race?  It's a race that in some ways, feels very much like a race, but in other ways, feels like a fun day of hanging out with your girlfriends.

That is the perfect mix.  I love racing.  But I also don't like taking myself too seriously, especially when it comes to triathlons, where I still have so much to learn.

We did this event last summer, and it was really the race that made me think I could survive triathlons.  My first try-a-tri had been earlier in the summer, and, although it seemed to go well, it was my first open-water swim (ever) and it was kind of a miracle I ever stepped into the lake again afterwards!

I was very nervous last year for Irongirl, especially the swim, but it turned out to be amazing.  Clear, cool, clean water, and the 500m was a confidence booster.

I jumped at the chance to sign up again for 2014!

I love that all of my training partners/fellow pink flamingos were doing the race too.  We headed to the race together(ish) in two cars.  The race was in Grimsby, about an hour from home.

We arrived at the venue, and the music was blasting, people were excited, and transition was filling up with bikes.  The race was a bit bigger this year (over 600 racers, vs. 500 last year).  Sylvie and I racked our bikes next to each other.  I looked around and noticed a lot of fellow racers were wearing the same (PINK--ya, I've worn it for every triathlon this summer) outfit as me!

Triathlons take a bit of setting up, ya know?  Transition area, bike, wetsuit, goggles, swim cap (mine was baby blue) etc.

It was getting HOT out there, in the blazing sun.  Just the right time to squeeze into our wetsuits.

Tricia, Sylvie, Linda, Lorraine, and myself

We headed down to the beach.  Since it was a 500m point-to-point swim (with in-water start) we decided to swim the reverse 500m to the start as our warm up.  That water was cold.  But it was refreshing in the heat, and we had wetsuits on, so we had very little to complain about, right?

When we arrived at the starting area, there were crowds of swimmers, some in wetsuits, some there for their first triathlon, some not wearing wetsuits (brrrrrr).  We waded in the water for our waves to get the "GO!"

I was wave three this year.  This race is one of the "kinder" races, as far as pushing/shoving/swimming-in-a-pile goes.  When the gun went off, I still felt like I had lots of space to move through the water.

After the race, I was commenting that triathlons have crazy starts, compared to road races.  In the water, there seem to be no rules.  People just shove and swim their way to a good position.  That kind of thing would have you landing on your face in a road race!  In the water it really is "every man for himself!"

…but this race, as I said, is a bit gentler than that.

I felt really quick and fast during the swim, and although I wasn't as quick as I had imagined, I was still happy with my effort.

500m swim: 11:37

I bolted up the steep hill to transition (or at least it felt like I bolted).  My wetsuit got caught on my heel, but I refused to sit down to get it out.  I did my 'transition dance" to get out of it, and it did the trick eventually.

Transition 1: 1:19

Off I went on the bike.  This is a very flat course.  I got right down into aero position, and only moved my arms when I ate my Gu (at 11k) and drank water.  I tried to keep my position in the pack, as I didn't want to be passed as much as I was passed last year.  I feel like I passed more people than passed me on the bike, but it is hard to say for sure.

The bike was an out and back, so I was able to see all of my fellow flamingo racers, that started after me!  I saw Tricia, Lorraine, and Sylvie!

20km bike: 38:59

As I jumped off my bike and ran into transition, I realized my feet were completely numb.  This keeps happening.  The cold water never helps with this, and I think I need to consider blaming my bike shoes.

I had to get my running shoes on, regardless and get going!  Without any feeling in the front of my feet, this would be interesting. I told myself,  "fake it 'till you make it!"  I chased the other women leaving transition.

Transition 2: 0:53

We ran through a shute across the grass to get out to the roadway.  It was very hard to get good steps in there.  Ugh.

I just focused, and looked ahead.  Only 5km between me and finish line, and it was 5km of the part I like!

I managed to catch/pass a bunch of runners on the run course, which had two aid stations that you pass twice each.  After the 3km marker, we ran down a hill, into a trail.  By this point I could feel my toes again, so I didn't feel like I had the "smack smack smack" of wearing flippers on my feet!

But, in the trail, I feel that IronGirl could have splurged on a few more pylons, signs, ANYTHING to make it feel better marked.  I was in a dead zone where I couldn't see the person ahead of me, so I had to stop/backtrack a couple of times, for fear that I was headed off course.  It didn't add too much to my time, but it was annoying!

I came out of the trail and could see the last kilometre stretch to the finish!  One little hill between me and the misting tent!

I managed to catch a couple more racers in the last 100m, which made the race :)

5km run: 22:06

finish time: 1:14:50 (PB over last year by one minute)
2nd Age group (35-39), 10/624 women

LOVE the medals…love that they give age group award medals too!

All of the other girls did AMAZING!  PBs all over the place!

Nothing beats racing with friends.  Well, training with friends is also quite awesome.

These ladies motivate me every single day.

Melissa, Tricia, Sylvie, Linda, Me, and Lorraine

IronGirl was my last triathlon for 2014.  Lots more running to do though :)