Iron Girl Photos

Thanks to Alyssa's boyfriend, Matt, for capturing us in all our glory.  Here's our best catwoman impressions.

Aww yeah ... does this swimcap make my ears look fat?

Let's play "Where's Waldo?" Too bad we all look alike.

A few post-race photos

Getting my 2nd-place age group award from Meghann.

Thank you, Iron Girl, for inviting me to participate in this inaugural race. It was a great time! 

Motivational Monday

Here here ...

I have a print of this in my basement next to my medals. I actually bought it before I was into triathlons, but I thought this was applicable to so much more than athletics.

Iron Girl Lake Zurich Triathlon Race Recap

This was an awesome race for me. Great swag, great support and great results. While Iron Girl Lake Zurich comped my entry as an ambassador, my opinions are always all mine.

After Run for Boston yesterday, I hightailed in to Lake Zurich to rack my bike, get my race packet and affix my athlete's bracelet. The check in was painless and so was racking my bike. Alyssa gave me the heads up that I should put a grocery bag over my saddle to protect it from the rain that was predicted.

Swag-alicious

Nutrition wise, I ate cleaner this week (save for a burger Friday night at Rosebud) and cut back on my coffee/chocolate consumption big time. This morning's breakfast was bread with peanut butter and jelly, but no bananas. I was up at 4:45 and out the door by 5:10 to make the 45-minute drive to Lake Zurich. Parking was free and plentiful directly across the street from transition. I got marked up and set up my station near my bike after removing the plastic bag from my seat.

At the start yesterday

There wasn't any water in transition, so I had to walk down to the beach where there was a fountain. The water was 72.5 degrees and I waffled on if I wanted to wear my wetsuit. I ultimately decided to go for it because Alyssa pointed out that it would be good practice for upcoming races.

So into the wetsuit I went. We were in the same wave - last - and waited around until 7:15. I tried the water and waited anxiously because this was only my second triathlon and my first with open water. We watched some of the earlier swimmers take a wrong turn and head to the beach too early, so I made it my mission to sight well and not get disqualified. The swim actually went very well. I didn't get kicked, but I did have to jostle to get a spot in the water. I was out in 9:46 (it was a 1/3 mile swim).

My first transition was really long. It was a bit of a run up a hill, during which I put my goggles on my head and pulled my wetsuit down to my waist. Once I made it to my bike, the suit got stuck on my timing chip. I need to practice this.

I made the decision to skip my clipless shoes, which I'm glad I did. I set out for the bike and finished both of the Luna bars I chopped up in the first three miles and downed 3/4 of a water bottle.

I like the wave start because I spent the entire bike passing people. I made it a point to offer my encouragement to every lady I passed, too. It was great to have out names on the bib for this purpose.

The bike was lovely and almost uneventful. I saw a woman that I've seen at CrossFit Rise and mentioned we should get a photo together for the Web site. Except Alyssa and I later saw her get hit by a car at an intersection. It scared the living bejesus out of us. The driver and the cop manning the intersection were both not paying attention, but I found out later that the cyclist went on the complete the race. When I saw her after the finish line, she told me that she was sore and her bike was out of whack, but the motorist left the scene, so she wasn't sure what recourse she had.

On to happier things - my second transition was much faster since I already had my shoes on. I threw on my race belt with my number and a hat, then took my handheld and set off for the run. I did not wear any timing device, so I had no idea how fast I was going, but pushed it as much as I could. The bike had me feeling confident, and I kept pushing it on the run as a result. I finished the run in 23:47, only 10 seconds slower than my 5K PR.

When I crossed the finish line, I had no idea what my overall time and place was, but I felt good about my place. I chugged a bottle of water, took a cold sponge from a volunteer and stood in front of a misting fan before Alyssa and I signed up for massages and got breakfast. Iron Girl has an app, so Alyssa checked it out on her phone and found out that I placed second in our age group and she was fourth. We decided to stick around for the awards ceremony, which was a smart move. There was a tent with a giant pallet of Biscoff spread on it that say "Please take!" and take I did. Winning ... 

For my second place win, I got a pendant from Milestone Jewelry that said "Every girl has an iron core." It's really cute and I look forward to wearing it.

In all, I really liked this race. It would have been a more expensive race, but all Ironman-branded races are pricey. However, you get what you pay for with these races. The finisher's medals are great, the toilets were clean, the expo was plentiful, the shirts rocked (Athleta branded) and the swag was impressive. My race packet was actually heavy with all the samples and brochures. I had an awesome race today that was completely devoid of GI issues, so it was a great day. I'm happy with my performance as well as the event. The breakfast and post-race party was a great touch. I'm not so into the girl power thing, but I appreciate that they celebrate the giant accomplishment that is finishing a triathlon.  I also was impressed by the production value of this event.

Time: 1:22:26 for a sprint triathlon (9:46 for the swim, 2:55 for the first transition, 45:20 for the bike, 38 seconds for the second transition and 23:47 for the run).

Cost: $75 for early registration, $125 for on-site registration.

Pros: Easy parking, relatively flat course, great swag, nice shirt, awesome medal, jewelry for the winners, lots of volunteers

Cons: No place to fill up water at the start, you have to rack your bike the day before and hence have to travel to Lake Zurich twice

Run For Boston 5K in Photos

Here are my favorites:

 

Inside the Run for Boston 5K

Someone told me today that organizing a race is a lot like planning your wedding - you plan and plan and when the day gets here, you just have to wing it and hope for the best. The difference is that no one will ever tell you if your wedding sucked.

I got up super early today to buy water and cups, then arrive at Independence Grove by 6:45 a.m. to get rolling with set up for the Run for Boston 5k. We devised a plan for what would go where, then started unloading, building tents, unwrapping snacks and trying to anticipate what people would need.


Once the runners started showing up on the scene, we worked to get race packets distributed and keep everyone dry as the weather got dicey.  We also set up our beer and pizza vendors.

After a moment of silence to remember the Boston Marathon victims, our 300+ runners were off!

The fastest man finished in 16ish minutes and the top woman wasn't far behind.  Fasties.

Post race, we had a ton of snack options which went fairly fast. We didn't have enough water, which really bummed me out. Luckily, we had enough beer and pizza, so there's something.

The weather wasn't the best, but it was cool and shady, which is great. We learned a lot through this experience about how to gain sponsors, organize people and manage athletic events. There are certainly things we would do differently now, but our goal was to provide a great race experience while raising money for Who Says I Can't, a foundation that assists amputees in regaining their passions. Because of the generosity of our sponsors, every last cent that runners paid went to this foundation. The shirts, the water bottles, the snacks and the water were all provided by sponsors who came together to help the community and show that we are more than runners. We are a unified community that faces obstacles and overcomes them together.

Five Things Friday

Edit: Blogger fail! I totally forgot to congratulate Dani on winning my Allied Medal Hanger Giveaway! She's already picked out a model that she likes and agreed to share a photo with us when she gets it all set up. Super sweet of her, right? Thanks, Dani!

This week got away from me, so here it goes.

1. Napoleon turned 5 this week! Sorry I was gone from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. on your birthday little buddy. We'll do something fun soon in honor of Mr. Man getting 1 year older.

Preparing for the storm a few nights ago

2. The Run for Boston 5k is tomorrow! I'm so excited for race day. We met last night to put the finishing touches on the packets and preparations. I can't wait to see the culmination of all our hard work. Fingers crossed that this races goes off without a hitch.

Protector of the race packets

3. My tummy troubles continue, but I did have a great 10k run this morning without incident. It was a great way to clear my head and get my thoughts together before work.

I'm blonde when I run

4. I'm still rocking and rolling at my new(er) job. I'm working to bring on my first intern. I must say that I am beyond excited about this. I interned at many organizations and it's in these early work experiences that I soaked up life lessons and on-the-job training that has made me successful today.

Not my office, but where I called home yesterday. Mid sentence and mid bite.

5. I'm still working on a post-Ragnar tips and tricks posts. If you have a burning question about this overnight relay, let me know now or forever hold your peace.

Life Lately

Basically how I feel right now

I feel like I've lost a bit of mojo since Ragnar. Not sure if it's general weariness or the continuation of my seemingly endless digestion issues, but I am just not having it right now.  Almost a year to the day, I wrote a very similar post about marathon training. You get to a point where double workouts don't feel nearly as bad ass anymore and just feel like ass. I'm confident this will pass and I'll start getting more into it soon, but it's rough when my entire life is train, work, train, blog, sleep. This is what I chose, though, and this too shall pass



I'm counting on this weekend to recharge my batteries. On Saturday, all of our work for the Run for Boston 5K will come to fruition: it's race day! We were slated to finish stuffing packets tonight, but the storm of the century is rolling right in. We have just a few last-minute touches and preparations to make, and then we're on to show what we're made of.

Before a 40-mile ride on the trainer

Then on Sunday, I'm tackling the Iron Girl Lake Zurich sprint triathlon (you can still save $10 using discount code KELLYTHECULINARIAN). I'm super excited for my first tri of the season! I need to get all my gear out and prepped, as well as do a once over for my bike to make sure everything is tip top shape.

I've made the strategic decision to not wearing my clipless pedal shoes for the race.  For a sprint, I think I'll lose more time changing shoes that what I'll gain with the pedals. I wore regular shoes for the Leaning Tower Tri and that turned out pretty awesome. I'll skip the wetsuit for the same reason and leave those for the Olympic-distance tri I'm tackling at the end of the month.

Until then, this storm is the perfect excuse to take the evening off from training and spend time chilling. I may even have a cocktail. Here's to getting my mojo back.