Active Community: Message List - Anyone training for the IronGirl in Atlanta June 27th?

Re: Anyone training for the IronGirl in Atlanta June 27th?

guest — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 03:35:48 GMT

Ha! HA! HA! HA! ROTFL!

Really - I've got 2-3 more sprint triathlons this summer. I'm thinking about an Olympic distance Oct 2 at Myrtle Beach, but my run time is so slow that even if it is flat and I go fast, I'll still be out there a very, very long time. Otherwise, I've got 5K's and my first HM in November.

Re: Anyone training for the IronGirl in Atlanta June 27th?

guest — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 21:13:08 GMT

Congratulations Jasmine! I was inspired by all the women at the Iron Girl. That run up to T1 was quite a trek! Thank you for all your posts leading up to the event. I checked the night before to see the what happened at the course talks because I wasn't able to attend. A dinner next year would be a lot of fun. This was the first time I had been to the Lake Lanier resort, and I think next year I will have to turn the Iron Girl into a mini vacation.

Keep up your training. It sounds like you are doing awesome. Your next goal could be the Augusta 70.3 half ironman... Just a thought.

Re: Anyone training for the IronGirl in Atlanta June 27th?

guest — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 22:49:47 GMT

It was great to see Christine and Balancing Act at the event - I wish I could have joined up with more thread participants. Maybe next year when we plan for the next Iron Girl, we can coordinate better before the event and meet for dinner. Did everyone else on this thread do okay??

So what are your plans now?? I have several local sprint tri's I can do in the next few months - and all have flatter bike courses. There is an Oly distance race here at the end of August, but I won't be ready for that. However, there is an Oly in Mrytle Beach on Oct 2, that I am thinking seriously about. It is late in the season, and I just might have enough training and weight loss by then to cope with the distance and not finish dead last. The bike course is virtually flat and I might be able to do 24.8 mi flat in the same time as 18+ miles hilly. Anyone else in the SE area interested?

Re: Anyone training for the IronGirl in Atlanta June 27th?

guest — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 18:43:54 GMT

Yipppeee ! I finished too. And thankfully, I won't say I was miserable at any point. It was a challenge. My low points: I had a dropped chain and cramp in my side when I started the run. My high points: easy transition set up, comfortable transitions, a few short fast moments on my bike. Today, I'm glad I decided to do this and I'm thankful I was able to complete it. Great seeing you all out there. And Jasmine/JoAnn, thanks again for all your wisdom and support -- it got me through to the finish line.

I'm working on writing everything I can remember about the race and I'll post it. Other's race reviews from previous years were really helpful so I want to pass on the favor.

Congratulations everyone!

Re: Anyone training for the IronGirl in Atlanta June 27th?

guest — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 00:54:30 GMT

Yippee!! I finished!! and so did 968 other great women. There was so much going on and it was a great weekend - the weather on race day stayed fine until getting hot after the race.

The lake water was warm. I was in the first wave (>50 +relay) which had 128 women in it. The harbor was full of boats from an event the night before, so instead of a swim parallel to shore, we had to do an out and back swim. It was very crowded (like salmon spawning) and very hard to break into the open to keep up a steady uninterrupted stroke. I knew it would take me about 400 strokes to do the course, so I counted them out, just like in laps, and it helped me to focus. After the swim, we had to climb up that very steep hill to T1 - I just walked as fast as I could manage, and walked most of the way to my stuff just to recover.

The bike course was full of hills - 12 steep or long, and then Peachtree was 3 miles of steady 1-3% grade. On Sat I drove the course twice and visualized all of the places where I was going to slow to a crawl. In most cases, my predictions were true. I walked up steep hills 3 times- almost as fast as I would have ridden them. I think that saved my quads a little. On downhills I really took advantage of them and after accelerating, I streamlined so much and so fast that I was able to top 2 or 3 of them without pedaling. On the 1st big hill of Stewart St I rode down at 42 mph and it carried me all the way up (praying that the road didn't cause me to crash)!! I did a lot of the hills in granny gear, and managed 7-9 mph on Peachtree. Many, many passed me there. There was one final short hill leading up to the T2 zone, but everyone was watching and cheering, so I granny geared up it.

The run was an out and back thru the campground roads -some flat and several ups & downs. I alternated jogging and walking, especially on the ups - but so did a lot of other women. I seemed to have a little more energy than 3 wks ago to sustain the jogs longer, because I finished the run 8 mins faster than MyFirstTri. At the end with everyone watching and cheering (again), I had to push my way up the last little hill before rounding the bend to accerate to the finish line.

After doing MyFirstTri race, I adjusted my predicted overall time and nailed it exactly: 2:42:10. I had predicted 90 mins for the bike & did 90:53. So I am very pleased with the results, as it met my expectations for my current weight and fitness level. Now I'm an IRON GIRL!!

I actually met two women in the race who are active.com thread participants and had read my reviews of the MyFirstTri race, so that was great to make these new friends. I hope to meet more of you NEXT YEAR!

Re: Anyone training for the IronGirl in Atlanta June 27th?

guest — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 01:37:48 GMT

Well Christine- I hope you are more ready than me. This should be an adventure. I'm #178., so I'm near the front of the bike racks, and I swim in the first wave, so I have a red cap. For the swim, I'll be in all black, but I'm changing to a butterfly/black shirt for the bike/run. Time to try and sleep. HA! Then up, dark and early, to get to transition by the light of the full moon.

Re: Anyone training for the IronGirl in Atlanta June 27th?

guest — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 00:55:25 GMT

Wow that's seriously early. Well, hopefully everyone heard it in the course talk today -- the hill from swim to the bike is exactly the same as last year. Not slightly better (less steep). Good luck and enjoy the experience everyone!

Re: Anyone training for the IronGirl in Atlanta June 27th?

guest — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 00:56:18 GMT

I'm here now at the Springhill Marriot in Buford. Rm 221. I had dinner at the Red Lobster next door and there is an Olive Garden there too. I've been transitioning my wakeup time so that I get used to being up REAL early on Sunday. I figure I need to be up at 3:30 AM just to take care of all of my business before leaving at 4:30 to get to the course. PLUS I come from Central Time. Can you say "O-dark-thirty"? So on Saturday - I'll get up early and walk around the Mall of Georgia across the street.

I'll probably be around for the 12 noon briefing, but I can also make the 2:30 one. Today a big thunderstorm hit around 5PM, but pop-up thunderstorms were all over the place. If the weather tomorrow is like today, our bikes will get rained upon real good. For those of you coming in from afar, the traffic today between the lake and the Mall was really bad, so make allowances for potential traffic problems when you plan for your briefing arrival time. Also- I believe we have to pay at the entrance gate to the Park.

Re: Anyone training for the IronGirl in Atlanta June 27th?

guest — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 12:30:32 GMT

Hi TriAthlete! I went to the pre-race clinic last night. Maybe some good news -- the IronGirl rep said they have changed the incline coming out of the water to transition to the bike. It is still an incline but not as steep as last year. About a 300 meter run. We'll know more tomorrow when we hear the course talk from the Race Director but that's encouraging!! She also said they have 1400 participants signed up! Wow!

Re: Anyone training for the IronGirl in Atlanta June 27th?

guest — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 12:38:35 GMT

Got my packet via email yesterday. It sounds like we will have assigned racks for our bikes so we won't be able to rack together. I'll let you know my number once I get it if I can find time to get on line that night.

Anyone decided their Saturday schedule yet? For my race dinner, I think I'll have a salad, then spaghetti with marinara sauce and a grilled chicken breast and spinach and brocolli and be done eating by no later than 7. (Yes, I am going crazy - spending time on silly details when I should be swimming, biking, running, stretching, strengthening instead.) I'm so nervous!