Aflac Iron Girl Boulder Sprint

This is my second Iron Girl race experience and it was as fantastic as my first. They really know how to treat the ladies! And as usual get a drink or something because it's a long one!

I decided to take the afternoon off on Friday so I could head up to packet pick up early and I'm glad I did. I ran in to Kathleen, she is so nice! We had a chance to chat while collecting my goodies and waiting for the pre-race talk.

And goodies there were too, very impressed with the loot! Look at all that stuff! Hair ties, body spray, cute little Aflac ducky (and yes he does scream Aflac!) as well as a huge bag of foot soaking Epsom salts and a cute, cute, cute shirt! It was however crazy windy up there and they were having to hold on to everything including all the tents. Kathleen took this photo of the duck looking like he had a little to much fun.

Race day came early as the alarm went off at 4:20. I had peanut butter and banana on a sandwich thin along of course with a couple of cups of coffee before heading out . I was really excited for this race. I was looking forward to being able to visit with old friends and new, as well as being in Boulder to race. I forgot just how dark it would be out at the reservoir, walking to transition was a bit of a challenge. Got there with plenty of time to get everything set up and visit some more with Kathleen as well as others standing around and watch a beautiful sunrise.

Me and Kathleen

Headed down to the beach at 6:30 when transition closed although my wave would not be starting until 7:05 which was the 2nd wave. Ran into a friend Kelli that I met last year in CWW and chatted with her. Her husband snapped this pic of us. Not one of my most flattering shots for sure!

Me and Kelli

I had debated right up until the last minute if I would wear the wet suit or not and finally decided to and I'm glad I did because the water felt chilly! It really was a perfect morning though. Just a little cloud cover that helped with sighting.

Ok now to get on with the darn race report!
Swim 1/4 mile:
We started on the beach instead of in the water which was new and different for me but worked out fine. My swim however was not really great. It took until just after the first turn to get out from the middle of a bunch of people. I spent more time with my head out of the water then in the water and I didn't even begin to find a grove until the swim was over. Being only a 1/4 mile it went fast...really fast. Swim time included the run up the beach and into transition. On the way up they handed us these great towels, very nice for wiping off your face. And will come in handy in the future.
Total time 9:58 233 out of 619

Thanks a ton to Kelli's husband for snapping this picture of me heading of to T1

T1 2:38 and uneventful thankfully after the last race!

Bike 17 miles:
The bike was good I passed a few people and I was passed by a bunch of those speedy younguns' The first 6 miles are a little tough, it looks to be flat for the most part but is really uphill and along the highway. Then you turn off on to a beautiful country road and fantastic downhill. Love this part of the ride. All in all I felt pretty good. I had a gu at about 50 minutes into the race. It was a little challenging trying to pass some of the people as they tended to ride in the middle of the road and next to other riders without completing their pass. One lady was actually yelling at everyone that didn't yell out "on your left" that passed her. I felt that I was pushing it so was a little disappointed to find that my average speed only ended up at 16.5 Looking back in my log it looks as if I had rides on Sissy that averaged 17.
Overall time 1:02:51 331 out of 619

T2 1:53 also uneventful thankfully. I do need to work on my transition times though.

Run 3.1 miles:
Legs were a little bit dead when I got off the bike but not to bad. As usual I got passed a lot on the run. I felt like I was taking less and shorter walk breaks but I must have been running at a slower pace too. I had another gu at the beginning of the run. The weather was really pretty good I never felt totally overheated as I have at most of the other races. I was a little disappointed in my run time too. At the end of the race they handed out ice cold sponges that felt fantastic!
3.1 miles 37:19 (12:02 pace) 421 out 619

Total time 1:54:37
350 out of 619
32 out of 70 in age group
I found it kind of funny that the average time for all was 1:54:40...guess I'm pretty average this year.

After the race I finally got to meet Aimee and she is just the sweetest thing. And fast very fast!


Aimee Me and Kathleen
Me and Kelli

Kathleen, Aimee (be sure to check out their race reports when they get them up!) and Kelli all had really great races! I hope that maybe just by being with them I will get just a little bit faster! Now as I said Iron Girl really knows how to treat the ladies and the spread of food was absolutely incredible! I mean seriously they had salad, fruit plates, muffins, bagels with all the fixing, pancakes with strawberries, scrambled eggs with stuff for the top, bacon, sausage and biscuits and gravy! I mean seriously have you ever seen that kind of breakfast after a race! It was fabulous! And then there seemed to be plenty of tables for everyone to sit at all with tablecloths and flowers. Wow just wow!

I don't think things get to much better then this race. I would/will absolutely make sure to do this race again and would recommend it to any and everyone! As we were leaving and Kathleen and I were talking about the fact that neither of us was pleased with our races, I said you know what this means right? We're going to have to do Crescent Moon.. :) By the way Kathleen and I are signed up to do a 10 mile point to point race on Labor day Park to Park 10 Miler .

Here's more of the stuff we got including the finishers medal and the shirt..

On the right is the duck sponge and notice the bibs have your name on them!

Tell me that isn't a cute shirt I almost hate to wear it for working out!