This is the third year for Iron Girl Columbia and my third time participating.  Each year the medals are the same just a different color and sponsor name on the ribbon.  This year’s sponsor was Aflac so of course they included a little Aflac duck in the goodie bag that screamed “Aflaaaaaac” every time you squeezed it (more on that later).

 

My day started at 4:45 am with the traditional whole wheat toast with peanut butter and water (kinda like prison, bread and water).   Arriving at 5:45 I remembered in years past about not parking in the park because you can’t leave until most of the race is over so I parked on Route 108 facing Route 29 which made for a quick exit when needed.

 

Set up went smooth which allowed a lot of free time to visit friends and stand in the port-o-potty line.   6:45 I head over to the start as I was the 3rd wave starting at 7:05.  On goes the pretty red swim cap (I remembered to put the goggles on first and then the cap to prevent them from being kicked off) and into the mucky, slimy boat dock into the 83 degree water.  You have to go in the water right after the previous wave which means you then have to tread water for a good 5 minutes which feels like eternity.   I never heard the Aflac duck squawk which was the start of the race so I just started when I saw the other arms flailing about.   Thankfully I only got kicked once in the gut.  It was difficult to see the first turn buoy as the sun just some up and was right in our eyes.  I felt good on the swim, fairly strong and had no problem sighting every 10 strokes or so.  I am not a fast swimmer but I did feel strong and manage to shave a full 3 minutes off last year’s time.

 

Transition 1 went smoothly for me, nothing noteworthy other than as I was taking my bike UP the hill out of transition there must have been 5 other women there just standing around trying to figure out how to get on their bike or something.  I scooted away quickly to get out of their way and head on out.  I felt good during the ride although my time was 2 minutes slower than last year.   I did attach that little Aflac duck to the top of my bike helmet for fun.  I needed something to amuse myself up the steep hills.  Any time I passed someone or some one passed me on the hill I squeezed the duck and it screamed “Aflaaaaac”.  It was a hit along the course but I think the duck made me less aerodynamic.  I didn’t have the problem with cars on the course as others did, perhaps because I started earlier.  One thing about this event that I love is that it is just that – an EVENT.  There were many women on plain ol’ bikes, nothing fancy or expensive.  One woman was riding like a beach bike with the big basket on the front.  I kept looking for Toto in there or at least a bunch of flowers but didn’t see any.

 

Transition 2 was again uneventful.   Grab the bib number (I bought one of those bright pink Iron Girl bib belts so I looked cool this year) and my sports drink and away I go.  I felt very tired on the run and just couldn’t get the rhythm going.  Met up with a gal to talk ourselves through the start so that was good.   About mile 1 ½ you come to the Gatorade hill which is brutal in my opinion.   Walked up the hill, ran down, around the lot and then of course you have to go BACK UP the hill so once again I walked.   I felt good on the run down and sprinted the last ¾ of a mile to the finish.  I felt strong as I crossed the finish line.   Slower run than last year but considering that I have been suffering with Achilles tendonitis and the beginnings of the dreaded plantar fasciitis I did OK.

 

Best part of the whole race for me is when you come up to the finish line you hear your name and realize that you did it.   The announcer says, “Tracy Vagrin, you are an Iron Girl”!

 

My stats

Aflac Iron Girl Triathlon  8/24/08

 

0.62 mile swim

17.5 mile bike

  3.3 mile run

 

205 women in age group (AG) 45- 49

 

swim  90/205   24.37  (full 3 minutes off last year’s swim!)

T1       6/205     2:17

bike   82/205   1:06:16  avg speed 15.8 mpg (very hilly course)

T2     40/205     1:27

run    65/205     33:31  9:52 pace (not bad considering I’ve been suffering some foot/ankle problems)

 

Total 2:08:05.50  (1 1/2 minutes faster than last year)

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