Being a lover of all things super girly, I was stoked when I found out that the Iron Girl series was coming to New Orleans. Although it would mean racing back to back weekends with the 5150, I was so in!
After being a big spaz at the 70.3 and 5150, I wanted to approach this race with a chill and positive attitude. And THAT my friends is .....exactly what I did. It's been awhile since I raced something this short and I knew it would be "balls-to the wall" type racing for sure.
The setting for Sundays race was perfect: temperatures in the 80s, light winds, and glassy-calm water. FINALLY get to swim!
The race went off without a hitch and my age group was the 2nd wave. Although it was wet suit legal, I opted for no wetsuit knowing my clutzy-ness would cost me in T1. With a 400 m swim, I also knew I had to get out hard and fast. Regardless, I got out fast after a few dolphin dives and stayed with 2 other green caps from my AG. We ran up on the 1st heat half way in and I easily weaved past them to the finish.
My garmin that was fully charged the day before decided to die this morning so I had no idea what the time was... I just kept repeating my mantra "balls the wall Heidi-go-go-go". I knew T1/T2 had to be fast no exceptions. T1: 48 sec
Onto the pink hotness for 10 miles. Although my garmin was MIA, my bike computer was luckily working and gave me some sense of how I was doing. I took a few sips of Infinit along the way as this would be the only chance to take anything in. At the turn around there were still 3 women in front of me. I couldn't tell if they were in my age group or from the previous heat. I picked one off quickly thereafter and was gaining on another. After the 2nd turn around, I picked off another and saw that she was in my AG. Just in time! Final distance: 10.7 miles.
I hurled my bike onto the rack, yanked off my helmet, switched shoes quickly, and ran as I put on my race belt. T2: 43 seconds. Scott yelled to inform me that there was only one girl left to pick off and she was about 2 minutes ahead of me. Although I knew she was in the first heat, I still wanted to give her a run for her money.
I'm not going to lie, I was a little worried about not having my Garmin here. This is where it might hurt me. It's crazy how we become so dependent on these gadgets. Somehow I miraculously was able to run on feel and turnover alone.
At the1.5 mile turn around there were 2 girls probably within 15-30 seconds of me. I felt like I was being hunted down. I also noted that the lead girl's gap was closing. I just plugged away as there was no holding back now. With a half mile to go I passed the lead girl. This being my fellow teammate.... she gave me a nice slap on the a** and said you biatch.... It felt so strange being at the front and actually following the lead car/bicycle! As we headed through a grassy area and went up the final small hill, I turned it on.
Thinking back to my 400 m hurdle days in college, NOBODY and I mean NOBODY is going to take it from me in the last stretch.
I'm not going to lie it was close....(6 seconds) But I
did it!
Although this wasn't a huge race for me, this was my first ever kind of big win! Super stoked to be able to do it at such a fun race! Congrats to the survivors, first-timers, and everyone else who finished :) You are the true heroes and what makes this sport so inspiring. And a big thank you to my sexy team and my new coach!
