Columbia MD Iron Girl tri

[7rider]

Well....I did my first ever tri!
Okay, not really a tri, but I was the bike leg on a relay team at a tri, featuring MDHillSlug and another woman, Jen.
Here's Jen, me, and Hill....
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z85/7rider/IronGirl09/IMG_1095.jpg

The day before was rainy, thundering, and downright miserable. I racked my bike in gloom, and wrapped the saddle and bars in plastic bags. Others wrapped the whole bike, and I wondered if I would regret not doing the same.
But today dawned muggy, but sunny. The roads soon dried out.
Relay teams went in the LAST wave, so it was pretty late by the time MDHillSlug got in the water (that's her in the blue).
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z85/7rider/IronGirl09/IMG_1104.jpg

After her swim, we put the timer band on my ankle, and off I went (that's me in the blue, too):
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z85/7rider/IronGirl09/IMG_1105.jpg

I met my goal: 17.5 hilly miles in 1 hour.
Here's the course (http://connect.garmin.com/activity/11769238).
Here I am, returning to transition...
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z85/7rider/IronGirl09/IMG_1109.jpg

...to hand off the chip to Jen, our runner.
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z85/7rider/IronGirl09/IMG_1110.jpg

By the time Jen got running, it was HOT. And the course was really hilly (so I've been told...I've never actually been on it...thankfully! ;)). Needless to say, she was pretty pooped at the end.
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z85/7rider/IronGirl09/IMG_1112.jpg

So here we are....the Iron Girls....one third each!
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z85/7rider/IronGirl09/IMG_1115.jpg

Oh, and my DH - who was my pit crew and supporter...and who's now sleeping on the couch!
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z85/7rider/IronGirl09/IMG_1116.jpg

So...my first ever timed event. Pretty cool. It was definitely a fun scene! I just wish I got to see more of it. I have several friends that were there, who I didn't even see! There were 2100 registered .... something like 1500 (?) showed up.

DB?? MDHS?? Any more pix to add???

[tribogota]

How absolute fun! I waaaannnaa do a relay!.
you guys look totally cute in your matching team outfit!
congratulations!

[colby]

Great pictures! :) I love the matching-ish outfits. They are matching without having to wear the same thing, too, which is great when you're doing different legs of a race. Snazzy touch for a relay team!

Relay teams often get the worst position in these races... starting last means a HOT run. Way to stick it out and become an Iron Girl Team. Congrats to all three of you, and your DH sherpa!! :D

[divingbiker]

No pictures here, but I had a good time.

My swim was slower than 3 years ago for some inexplicable reason (didn't feel like I was swimming any slower), but both transitions and the bike and the run were faster, so overall I was about 6 minutes faster. Still slow as molasses in January, but I am who I am.

My bike average speed was my fastest ever--14.6 mph by my computer! And it was a hilly course, so I'm most proud of that. I signed up in the Athena category, so I'll be curious how I place there vs. how I would have placed in my age group.

I had a really nice massage afterwards, and enjoyed the race environment and the food and chatting with a few people. The shower at home was the best part though! My sports bra and tri suit were pretty stinky from the lake by the time I got home.:p

[HillSlugger]

It was good to be on a relay team and it was lots of fun having teammates to root for, but, oy, all the waiting!

I was hoping to go under 23 minutes on the swim but came out in 27:48. Everyone was saying that the course was at least 200m too long. With all the GPS technology available why is it so hard to set up an accurate swim course?

Less than half way through the swim I could feel my cap slipping off my head. I was able to catch it as it was sliding down my back and tuck it in my shorts. For the rest of the swim my hair was hanging in my face and impeding my ability to sight.

Here's me at the end of the swim, trying to sight, looking like a drowned rat:
http://home.comcast.net/~nicole.thomas14/SwimEnd_0090.jpg

Here's me sprinting towards TA, for all I'm worth:
http://home.comcast.net/~nicole.thomas14/SprintToTA_0124.jpg

Here's Regina, all smiles, almost back at the rack:
http://home.comcast.net/~nicole.thomas14/ReginaT2_0144.jpg

Here's Jenny coming down the chute:
http://home.comcast.net/~nicole.thomas14/Jenny_0152.jpg

I've got one of Janice waiting to start the swim; should I post it?

[divingbiker]

I've got one of Janice waiting to start the swim; should I post it?

Send it to me first so I can approve or disapprove.:)

[sfa]

I'm just now beginning to recover from this morning--getting up that early does NOT agree with me!

This was my first "real" tri (I had done a super-sprint with a short pool swim in the spring, but that didn't even begin to compare) and I was nervous; I had done the OWS practice a few weeks ago and it didn't go well. And I really didn't sleep well at all--went to bed early but couldn't get to sleep until my normal time, then woke up at 2:45 and couldn't get back to sleep, and then could only get down part of my breakfast.

Turns out I had nothing to worry about. The swim went remarkably well once I decided just to take it easy, focus on sighting to stay on course, and just enjoy the water. I was slow (28:26? I think? I don't have my card in front of me) but only a couple of minutes slower than I do the distance in a pool, and a lot of that was just me hanging back at the start to let the field clear out a bit.

The bike was fun. They didn't have my official time printed on my card, but my computer said it was 1:10, which is a record for me--averaging over 15 m.p.h. when normally I do 13 - 14 (and even slower on my commutes). And after pretty much exclusively getting passed BY people on the swim, it was nice to catch and pass some people on the bike.

The run course is always a challenge. I've only managed to actually run the whole thing once, and that's still the case--I had to stop and walk a few times. At the one mile mark I was was wondering how on earth I was going to make it the next 2.4 miles, and then I remembered Veronica's "suitcase of courage" and that made me smile. Of course then I started thinking stupid thoughts (this is why people listen to music while running--it interrupts the stupid thoughts) like "shoot, I put that suitcase in the left luggage area at Paddington Station with a little note on it reading "please look after this courage" and I meant to go back for it and just forgot!" Fortunately right about then the hills hit and I couldn't think anymore. But again, I made it through (and didn't fall down this time!) with a not-bad time for me--34:05.

My overall time was 2:19:44. I think the website doesn't have all the results up yet, but at the moment that puts me at 162/351 in my age group, 720/1665 overall (surely there were more than 1665 people there?), and 178/687 for first-time triathletes. I think I won't check the results page anymore because I kind of like those results!

I heard a couple of other people say the swim course seemed longer than it should have been. If that's the case, I'm really happy with my time in that!

My sister was there taking pictures, so I'll try to post some as soon as I get them from her.

Sarah

[7rider]

Congrats, Sarah, on the Tri! I didn't realize you were there.
Our team placed 14th out of 56 teams. They don't have the splits up (yet?) or I don't know where to find them.
I don't know about Nicole...but I'm pretty darned impressed! Our overall time of 2:08:36 would have been good for a 358th place overall. :eek:

[sfa]

Congrats, Sarah, on the Tri! I didn't realize you were there.
Our team placed 14th out of 56 teams. They don't have the splits up (yet?) or I don't know where to find them.
I don't know about Nicole...but I'm pretty darned impressed! Our overall time of 2:08:36 would have been good for a 358th place overall. :eek:

Great job! They don't have the splits up yet that I can see--just overall times.

Sarah

[HillSlugger]

So far no splits posted. On site they were handing out "results post cards" but everyone's was missing the bike and T2 splits. If you did the bike in 1:00:14 then according to our card our splits are:

Swim: 27:48
T1: 1:33
Bike: 1:00:14
T2: 1:38
Run: 37:23

[divingbiker]

They got it working by the time I picked up my card. Here's my unofficial time:

swim 32:22
T1 4:29
bike 1:11:24
T2 2:41
"run" 41:39
overall 2:32:33

16/29 Athena
would have been 59/111 in 50-54 age group, so about the same relative place.
1095/1665 overall

Here's the pic of me at the start that MDHillSlug took.

9915

[Tri Girl]

WOO HOO!!!!! :D Congratulations!!!!

[colby]

Hey, more people at the tri! Awesome!! Congrats everyone :D

[txred9876]

Looks like you all had a great time.....thats what it is all about!

Tina

[Alex]

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL!

Love the race reports and all the pics. So glad the swim went well for you, Sarah!

It must have been fun to participate in such a huge event. The women of TE rock!

Alex

[HillSlugger]

If the swim was really about 200m too long then my swim was a respectable 2:19/100 and I freestyled the whole thing except for when I had to catch my cap so that was good. Still, with all the time I've put in on improving my swimming I would have hoped to do better than 40/56 relay and 910/1730 overall. Tough field!

[pfunk12]

Congratulations to all of you! Great photos and great race reports!

[sfa]

Pictures, finally! My sister showed up early to take pictures but since this was also HER first triathlon (as a spectator/photographer or anything) she had difficulties catching photos since she couldn't anticipate where I'd be.

At the start, looking nervous (believe me, that's my nervous smile):
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v126/Sarahfran/630455034_iron_girl_2009-2.jpg

And after the swim, looking much happier while trying not to fall on my butt on the slippery grass.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v126/Sarahfran/630517165_iron_girl_2009-8.jpg

The one photo she got of me on the bike was so unflattering that there's no way I'm posting it. If you want to see that, you'll have to check out the professional photo: http://www.asiorders.com/view_user_photo.asp?EVENTID=45800&ID=72045370&PWD=

And finally, at the end with my husband and kids (who clearly are big fans of tie dye):
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v126/Sarahfran/630440539_iron_girl_2009-15.jpg

[HillSlugger]

Sarah,

You look great! Nice family, too.

Congrats

[spindizzy]

Congratulations team! You all look fantastically, positively beaming! I too, love the colours of your team kit!

[Tri Girl]

Wow- congrats! Love the pictures for sure!!! Funny about the bike picture- but the professional one is really flattering and nicely shot.
Way to go!!!! :)

[Wahine]

What a fun race report thread. All of you ladies look fantastic and did really well. I am also really impressed with the matching team outfit. Super cute.

[Possegal]

OK, since you ladies did this as a relay, I need to ask some questions. I'm doing one as a relay on the 13th. Never done one before in my life, never even watched one other than on TV. Anything I need to know before hand? The guy who is doing the swim for us is not someone I know and he asked me recently:
Also, not sure how relays work, do you want to practice whatever transition/handoff we have to do before the race?
Is that something we should actually worry about practicing? What all is involved? Of course for us the first issue would be finding each other, since we've never met. :) I recommended him meeting up with me the day before when I have to rack my bike. Is this sufficient? Any and all advice is greatly appreciated.

And thanks so much MDHillSlug - your post on the tri board netted me 4 emails of people interested in joining my team. I took the first response once I knew I could change from a female relay to a co-ed one, as he was not interested in swimming in drag. :)

[HillSlugger]

OK, since you ladies did this as a relay, I need to ask some questions. I'm doing one as a relay on the 13th. Never done one before in my life, never even watched one other than on TV. Anything I need to know before hand? The guy who is doing the swim for us is not someone I know and he asked me recently:
Also, not sure how relays work, do you want to practice whatever transition/handoff we have to do before the race?
Is that something we should actually worry about practicing? What all is involved? Of course for us the first issue would be finding each other, since we've never met. :) I recommended him meeting up with me the day before when I have to rack my bike. Is this sufficient? Any and all advice is greatly appreciated.

And thanks so much MDHillSlug - your post on the tri board netted me 4 emails of people interested in joining my team. I took the first response once I knew I could change from a female relay to a co-ed one, as he was not interested in swimming in drag. :)

I hadn't met our runner until the day before at packet pickup and bike racking; we then all went out to lunch to get to know each other and to talk about the race. For the day of the race we met at the bike/rack. I recommend making the bike your focal point.

Since there didn't seem to be a restriction on how many team members were allowed in transition we did it that the runner made the chip transfer from swimmer to biker and the swimmer made the transfer from biker to runner. I don't know what others were doing but this worked well for us. I don't think it needs practicing but you gotta make sure that everyone states an anticipated range of time for their event so that the others have a clue for when they need to be at the rack.

Have fun!