The 2013 Athleta Iron Girl Race Recap Part 2: the part where I actually race.

If you missed the lead in to this race, check here.

I was hoping my new plan of starting at the left side of the swim wave would keep me out of the washing machine and away from slower swimmers.   It may have worked if I hadn't been sidetracked by other issues.

Issue #1:

I "drank" from the lake several times.

Issue #2:
No matter how much I swam, that second buoy never got any closer.

I really need to work on my upper body strength so this doesn't keep happening.

Issue #3:
As I rounded the third buoy I got a solid clonk on the head.

She was super apologetic though and we kept swimming.

After the swim I went through T1 agonizingly slowly and started biking.

I felt really good.  Being on a familiar course was helpful, and I was glad that I had made progress on my cycling skills compared to years past!

OLD ME:

NEW ME!

I got to the turnaround where I almost did not actually make the turn.

I should really work on that.

On the way back I still felt good, but rode my brakes pretty hard on the narrow, steep turn-off of the expressway.  The girl behind me was a little annoyed.

I guess New Me still has some work to do.

The run was good.  Nothing scary/exciting happened and I managed to keep my pace just under 9 minute miles.  I hustled to the finish line to claim my wonderful finisher's medal.

I found Christy, who had already finished, gone home, showered, and grabbed some post-race food.

I high-tailed it to the food tent and got some delicious wraps, some Chobani yogurt, and, of course, coffee!  But, as I was drinking said coffee I felt something touch my lip.

So, I guess that made up for the lack of "exciting" moments during the race.

I love this course and will probably do this race again.  Athleta/Iron Girl was very organized, had great swag (hello Athleta t-shirt!), and had phenomenal course support.  And thanks to fellow FitFluential ambassador Axel, I found out that Meghann is from FitFluential too! How did I not know that??

Also, somehow I managed to shave 5 minutes off my swim from 2011, giving me a 5 minute PR!!


That said, the Athleta Iron Girl gets my official seal of approval.

So, who's joining me next year?

I joined the lovely people at Yeah Write again this week! Check out the great writing submissions by clicking the button!

UPCOMING POSTS:  5K RECAP, TRAINING RUNS, MARATHON RECAP