Iron Girl Atlanta...

This weekend kicked off my tri season of 2012.  I guess you could call it tri season.  I mean, if you only have one this month and nothing else really planned until September or October it doesn't sound like much of a season, does it?  How about the first triathlon of the year?  Yes...  today was the first triathlon of the year!

The Iron Girl race in Atlanta is a sprint tri (1/3 mi swim, 19 mi bike, 3 mi run) and is pretty popular with the ladies around here.  It is a tough course but very well run and does not disappoint.  I have only done the race one other time, in 2008.  This was back when I thought adequate training for the bike leg meant riding to the end of the driveway, around the cul-de-sac and back into the garage.  As you can imagine, it is hard to be fully prepared when your training ride was about 50 feet.  I had such a bad experience back then that it was three years before I ever did another triathlon.  I could tell you why it was so bad in 2008 but that would require me to tell you that I rode all clipped in into a parked motorcycle coming out of transition and well...  let's just say I have been told that maybe I should embellish the story a bit so it sounds better.  Once I come up with a version that sounds better, I'll post it here.  This year it was time to conquer the course and make things right with the world.
 

It ended up being such a great race in a lot of ways.  I felt good about how I performed but just really had a great time in general.  When it was over, I genuinely felt sad to see it end.  We had done a couple of training rides leading up to the race and was able to meet several new people who were doing the race so I had a great group of old and new friends racing with me.  It just made it so much fun!  I loved seeing everyone along the course.

I had quite a few friends who were conquering a tri for the first time or coming back from injury so the day was extra special to them.  I was just excited to be able to share it.

- Theresa and Keicha have been training with TNT to conquer the triathlon.  They did it today!

(I love this picture so much I stole it from Theresa...  in the background, you can see me, Jan and Debbie standing on the corner cheering Theresa to the finish.  LOVE that smile on her face.)

- Meredith was coming back from a broken metatarsal.  She walked (most of) the 5k but got it done and has officially re-lit the triathlon torch!

- Joanna had a bike accident almost a year ago which involved a few surgeries and sidelined her triathlon plans for all of 2011.  She did awesome today and is back in the game!

- Charity completed her first triathlon today.  She says she doesn't know if she will do another.  I am pretty sure she will...

- Also got to see Andrea, Jan, Debbie, Fran and Judith (who was volunteering).  We even had Colleen to drop by and meet everyone for lunch along with several other new friends.

I have done a lot of races on my own but I think after today, it just won't be the same unless I can share the experience with a group!  Like I said, I was so sad to see the day end...   Guess we will all just have to plan another one :)


* Most all of the photos were stolen from Meredith with her blessing because she takes pictures and I do not.  I realize not taking pictures goes against all things bloggy.  Someday, I will take a few of my own.  Really.