Monday, June 30, 2008

Girls ROCK at Tri Race

This past weekend’s Iron Girl event totally rocked!! It has been months since I have taken part in any race so I was super excited about this event. My one and only other TRI was in August of 2006 so I was excited to see about getting my feet wet in the type of venue again.

Immediately upon arriving for the bike check in on Saturday you could tell that this was going to be a blast. They really catered to all of the ladies from all of the swag at packet pick-up to the race to the post race breakfast.

One of the highlights of the trip was the Pre Race Bloggers Meal the night before. Always awesome to meet up at events. What a great group and a fun time!

(from left side of table)-Jackie, Robin(me), Scott, Dee Dee, Wes, Lauren, Cathy, Kevin, Denine, Mendy, and David

(Picture above compliments of Mendy)

Event Details (short version)

Swim – As soon as our wave began I realized that having NEVER practiced open water swimming would make this 400 meter swim a huge challenge. The only way that I can describe it would be to say that the gallon or so of water I took in along with the nail scratches and punches would make me fear more about drowning rather than reaching the other end of the beach. I wanted to kiss the ground when I finally made it to land!!

T1 – Trouble with gloves and helmet but not too bad otherwise.

Ride – My main goal here was to take advantage of my big wheel and hammer as hard as possible. Very nice rolling hill course with just a few steep, nasty climbs. Traffic was controlled with plenty of local police support. Although I was passed on the course I was also passing just as many other riders myself. Kind of a cat and mouse game.

T2 – This went much better. A quick change into my running shoes, grabbed my Nike hat, a snap of my race belt and I was off.

Run – Very nice rolling hills for an out and back course. Just like the bike I would pick off runners on the hills to be passed again on the downhill. Never felt tanked and really enjoyed this part of the race. Only regret would be that I did not push my pace more. I should have emptied my tank on the run rather than staying in the comfort zone that I settled into. Still I was thrilled to feel so great and loved it just the same!!

I do see more Tri’s in my future in 2009. I completely remain impressed by all the ladies out on the course Sunday. Regardless of your fitness level we were all doing what so many others only dream of. Putting three events into one race is pretty impressive in my book from Sprint distance to a full Ironman. Hardcore if you ask me!!

Race Time Results:
Swim 400 meters: 12:50
T1: 3:09
Bike 18 miles: 1:07:03
T2: 2:40
Run 3 miles: 25:44
Finish Time: 1:51:27 (placed 160 out of 633)

Scott and I having fun with the race swim caps. He is such a good sport.

Thank God for LAND!!

Coming into transition from bike course

IronGirl Finish :)

Scott and me at Post Race Breakfast

Jackie and me with our finishers bling-bling. This girl ROCKS!!!

I could not finish this post without pointing out how thankful I am for my husband. He not only drove us to and from the event, booked the hotel, but he ran around taking pictures of Jackie and I on the course. It is hard enough to keep up with one person not to mention two. Thanks Scott!!! You are the best!
Now it is 100% focus for MMTR training. I have three more week of base running and then I will enter into a build phase. Hill repeats and speed work.... should be fun in a crazy sort of way.
Robin

30 comments:

Wes said...

Woot! It was great to meet you guys!! I had such a great time hanging out with Scott before and after the race. I'm a bit bummed, cause where he took that bike pic was near where I was waiting for Dee Dee! I wish I had known he was there. Oh well! You did mah-velous!! Congrats on a great race and time!!!

BTW: There are secrets to the OWS piece, as I've never been punched, kicked, clawed or toe nail scraped :-) But then again, you women are tougher than I am too!!! LOL!!!

Lauren Starks said...

Great job! It was so nice to meet you!

Sarah said...

That's awesome - I think I bodymarked you - 36 and 36? Congrats on a great race!!

Stef0115 said...

Great race -- Congratulations!! I agree with you tris are hardcore. Really like your tri suit too.

KK said...

Great Race! I admire you for enjoying the race while doing it, that it something that seems to elude my psycho-competitive personality...I never "enjoy" the race until it is over with :).

Kudos to your husband for being the ultimate supporter and spectator. It isn't easy spectating at these things!

Great job and keep up the great training.

Mendy said...

Great race Robin! Fun time, indeed. The pics are great!!

Anonymous said...

This looks like a lot of fun. Great pictures and beautiful medal!

teacherwoman said...

Nice job on the race! It's so nice to be able to go out there and race and meet other bloggers too, I am sure!

Unknown said...

Great job at the race! Looks like you guys had a lot of fun for sure.

Bob - BlogMYruns.com said...

WoW looks like a blast... Pics came out awesome, u look like a PRO :-)

Congrats Robin you done good for a runner (smile) way to represent us --I will do all my TRI's through ur efforts --haha

Kevin said...

Congratultions on an awesome race. That run time is quite impressive. IT was great to finally meet you.

Its funny, based on your report and Lauren's, it sounds like there were lots of women there with seriously sharp nails. :)

DFerg said...

Wow!! looks like so much fun! I can't wait to get back out there! Great job! :) Love the pink swim caps! :)

J~Mom said...

Congratulations!!!!! Great job out there! I loved reading your report!!

Anonymous said...

You did such a great job! Looks like you really enjoyed yourself too.

Supportive husbands are the best.

Runner Mom said...

Hey, girl! I'm soooo proud of you!! You and Jackie were awesome! Looking forward to running on Wed.!!
Blessings!

Sherry said...

Yay, Robin! Terrific post-race report and the pics looks great! I'm glad you had an overall good tri re-birth experience! Waiting two years is too long, girl! I hope that there are more in your future.

It's so cool that you were able to meet so many blogland folks!

OWS... we women are BRUTAL huh??? ;p

RunBubbaRun said...

Congrats on the race, NICE job out there on only your second TRI..

Looked like fun.

Jackie said...

Robin what a great time! You kicked butt!! And thanks to Scott..It was nice to meet some of the other bloggers.

Marcy said...

Holy!!! You totally rocked that baby!! Sounds like such a fun time. Totally jealous!!

Anonymous said...

Congratulations...you did great!!

Great pictures, too, and nice that you and the hubby have so much fun together :)

Looking forward to following your training for the MMTR.

Chris said...

Congrats on a sweet race!

Steve Stenzel said...

Nice job!!! And cute photos!!

jen said...

Congratulations!! Awesome race report and pictures. You are a natural! The blogger meet-up sounds so fun.

Dana said...

Great tri report! Sounds like you had an amazing time.

David said...

Great hanging out with you guys again. I still can't believe I missed you and Jackie at T2. I'm fricken blind or something. Way to go, and hopefully we can go have some beers and wings soon, when things settle down. I hope we see you guys before Sunday, but if not I hope you all have a great and special 4th.

Nancy said...

Oh man, that looks like such a blast. The all girl, pampering thingy sounds like my kind of event. Glad you got to do this!

Jason The Running Man said...

Congrats on a great race Robin. Just catching up with your blog, great pics of AZ!

zanne said...

nice job! the pictures are GREAT! congratulations! we have a place for you to stay when you want to come do ironman louisville in 2009! wink wink.

sunshine said...

Looks like you girls had such a great time! Congrats on a great race.

surfie999@gmail.com said...

Open water swimming is both an art form and a bit of a free for all, especially at the start. I had to teach our daughter - a pretty quick pool swimmer as a teenager - so after she did not fare well in the swim stage of her first big triathlon race [ mixed teenagers], I had to take her aside and offer a few tips on how to handle oneself, plus being able to offer some payback. Tips and techniques acquired over many years of open waterand surf swim racing. Great effort....The Monsoon Frog