My First IronGirl Recap

Where do I even start. My heart is so full after today’s IronGirl Columbia. As much as I would love to call myself an IronGirl, without the swim this was just another bike and run race, but I’m okay with that because it was just an overall great day.

Alarms were set (don’t ask me why I always set weird times). It was going to be a super early morning. A little nervous last night, but all the nerves seemed to be gone in the morning.

Morning check list of food and water included:

1. Lemon-Lime Nuun
2. CarboPro
3. Breakfast (Gluten-Free waffle with Almond Butter and a banana)
4. GU Vanilla Bean (not pictured, stored that in my sports bra to take on the bike)

        

I can’t even describe the feeling I got when I walked into the transition area. Such a great feeling, a feeling that I hope to experience even more in 2017.

Bike was stocked with Nuun and water, towel was laid out with my bike shoes, bike helmet, Mid-Maryland Tri-Club visor, race belt and bottle filled with the CarboPro to take between transitions.

   

After transition was set up I got my body markings done. Number on the arms and age at the end of the year on the calf.(29…yikes!)

  

There was a lot of waiting. We got to the start around 6:45am and I didn’t take off until about 8am when it was already getting super hot. Luckily I had my friends, Steph and Christine from ASA to hang with.

The race course was TOUGH. Lots of hills and some of the elevation on the run was not what my legs wanted after being on the bike for 16 hilly miles, but I managed to push through despite the heat. Overall, felt pretty darn good coming across the finish.

 

And of course…a crab medal.

          

Love these girls.

Results:

(the pace for the Run 2 is based off of a 5K not off the actual distance which was about 3.4miles)

I also had to take selfie with Corey who crushed her first IronGirl. Congrats to Team Defu and Team Lily who also had a great day today.

    

Post race fuel included a banana, plain bagel and a bottle of coconut water. When I got back to my bike I finished off the Carbo Pro.

When I got home breakfast/lunch looked like this…

Svelte protein shake (FYI they are on sale at Harris Teeter for $1), a sweet potato topped with ground turkey and two over-easy eggs.

       

The rest of the day was spent resting at the pool. Then it was home to food prep and plan out this week’s workouts.

Food prep: pulled chicken, ground turkey, quinoa, red potatoes, salmon cakes from Stupid Easy Paleo, homemade hummus, bags of carrots and green peppers and blueberries.

What an amazing day. My friend Steph summed it up perfectly…”Surrounding yourself with people that challenge you, support you, love you & show you that we can do hard things, is immeasurable.”

Congrats IronGirls. You are beautiful, You are strong and You are worth it!!

Have a great start to your week!
Emily