Iron Girl

Before I start my post - Happy Birthday to Ryan!!!

Last weekend I participated in the Boulder Iron Girl triathlon, which was my first triathlon ever.  It was considered a sprint triathlon, which is 1/4 mile swim, 17.2 miles bike, and 5K run.  I trained for it pretty solidly for the past few months (minus a couple vacations in there) and was so excited for the event.  Friday night after work Ryan drove me up to the Boulder Reservoir to drop off my bike in the transition area and afterwards at home I organized all my gear I needed for the event.  I was up at 4:30 Saturday morning to make my final preparations and drive up to Boulder.  Once we got there, I headed into the transition area to drop off the rest of my gear by my bike.  So this is what a sunrise looks like.

Heading down to the beach for the swim after I set up my transition area.  The transition area is where you go between each event to put on/take off gear. 

Here my age group is entering the water for the swim.

This is a picture of the course.  We had to swim around those giant cones. 

Here I am coming out of the water and running to transition to ditch my cap and goggles and put on my helmet, sunglasses, shorts, socks and bike shoes.

On my bike and ready to go.  I think Ryan was displeased about the beard that got in front of the camera on this shot.

The transition area with no bikes!

Here I am dismounting and heading back into transition to switch out my shorts, shoes, and remove the helmet but add a shirt.

And here I am finishing up my run.  (In the light blue shorts).

I had such a fun time participating in my first triathlon and I beat my goal time by 3 and a half minutes.  I was super pleased with my run but could use some work on my transition and bike time.  Being typical me, I already have a plan to work on these items for my next triathlon so I can reach my next goal.  Unfortunately I probably won't be able to participate in another one until next year; however, on a positive note that gives me plenty of time to practice.

Many thanks to Ryan who spent most of his weekend carting me around and cheering me on for this all women's event.