Aflac Iron Girl Sprint Race Report

Aflac Iron Girl Sprint, Boulder CO

1/4 mile swim, 17.2 mile bike, 5k

If you had asked me a few weeks before the race if I was excited about doing it, I would have told  you no. In truth, I had considered not even racing. When I signed up for this race many months ago, the idea was that a  small group of friends and I were going to do the race together. We had traveled to Las Vegas to do the Iron Girl there in 2009 and this would be a reunion of sorts. Unfortunately, life happens and people were dropping like flies. While I knew a few others who were going to race, they had some other friends who were also participating. I really just felt like the reason for racing was gone. Also, I had already completed the Boulder Tri Series and was tired of traveling up to Boulder and back. I wasn't going to miss anything new by not participating.  So what changed my mind you ask? It was the fact that Julie was also doing the race and this would be a time that we could finally spend some time to hang out and chat. She also is in the same age group as me so that made it even better. Then Aimee signed up and that was the icing on the cake!  How fun it was to get to know these ladies and how exciting it was to watch Aimee receive her first place gift!  I was so happy for her, you would have thought it was me who had won. Having  my friends Sarah and Tanya there was also a big plus. It had been a long time since we were on any race course together.

I went to packet pick-up the day before the race and ran into Julie. We hung out for awhile and listoned to the race report.  It was VERY windy but boy did we get some loot!

Did I say it was windy?

I arrived at the race site early as I wanted to try and get a decent spot in Transition. Their was an option to rack my bike the day before but I wasn't comfortable with that. Julie showed up a bit later and found a spot next to me.  After some visiting with some friends, I headed to the swim start.
Swim:
The swim was short!  1/4 mile.  Since it was so short and their were a lot of newbies racing, I decided to push the swim, something I don't usually do. I felt pretty good and decided to go with it. I exited the water in 7+ minutes but the run to transition put me in the 9 minute area.

T1:
Very uneventful. I really need to step it up a bit there. What was nice is that while running to transition we were given hand towels. It was very nice.

Bike:
I had ridden this course during another race and was hoping to beat that time. Heading out of the reservior I passed numerous people, one of whom yelled "say your passing on your left!"  I wasn't anywhere near her and I later learned that I wasn't the only one whom she tried to scold. Waste of oxygen if you ask me.
There is a long gradual climb for the first six miles  and another women in my age group and I were going back and forth passing each other. I finally decided to just settle in, let her take the lead and set the pace. My plan was to reserve some energy and then leave her in my dust during the down hill. Mission accomplished :)
The rest of the ride was nice. There were not a lot of racers on the road which was a nice change from the other Boulder races I have done. I later learned that my bike split was a tad slower then the time I wanted to beat. I was surprised and a bit disapointed but what are you going to do?  Bike ave: 19.8 mph.

T2:
Again uneventful. I really need to move a bit faster here. I can do it. Maybe I am getting lazy.

Run:
Anyone who reads my blog can pretty much write this part. The run starts with a hill, a hill that I planned to walk, that was until I saw the photographer close to the top. CRAP!  I pulled myself up the hill and then took a few steps to regroup.  Unlike the first time I did this course, I ran almost all of it. I did stop at the aid stations for fluids and I now wonder if I should have had my fuel belt. It was an out and back course and as I knew would happen, Aimee came up behind me, was kind enough to encourage me on and  then whizzed by. Man she can run!  On the way back I saw Julie, and my friends Sarah and Tanya. How nice it was to have someone to say hi to!   Run time: slow :)

Aimee was waiting for me at the finish line and Julie joined us shortly there after.

The final results:
 I placed 12th out of 69 in my age group, (4th on the bike) and 137 out of 616 over all ( 32nd out of 616 on the bike). As I always say when scanning the results "if only I could run!".  I lose it there every time.

It was a fun day out there. Truly for me the best part was seeing my friends both old and new. I have raced alone all summer and it was nice to share this with others.