Aflac Iron Girl 2010

I did it! Twelve weeks of training came down to a race that I was able to complete a 400m swim, 22K bike and 5K run in 1 hour and 38 minutes. Yay! It was so incredible. The race was well-organized and I got lots of free goodies (I love free stuff, even if it's not really valuable). The women there were awesome. They were so inspirational. Everyone was supportive of each other and having a good time.



It was cool just waiting on the beach for the race to begin. They had lifeguards in a canoe and on a jetski. They had people in the water. The coastguard had a tough looking boat there. Yet heading out into the water was intimidating. We woke up to a slightly cold, rainy morning. In fact, I had my wetsuit on more than 30 minutes before race time, just to keep myself warm. Lake Michigan is always cold, and the storm had made it a bit choppy. When it was my group's time to go, they said "ready, set, AFLAC! (in that quackly duck voice). Funny.

We headed into the water. It was so cold, all of my training seemed to be a waste. I couldn't stand to put my face in the water. It was also my first real experience swimming in a group. There were so many people packed so tight, it was good that a lot of the swim was over a sand bar, and most of us ended up walking some of it. I was a bit panicky. My heart was racing and I just couldn't seem to get into a sync. Nerves, plus cold, plus swimming in a group I guess. It was over soon enough. My family didn't catch pictures of my start (I'm waiting for photos from a friend). They did catch my exit.

More later....