Yesterday was the Iron Girl sprint triathlon in Columbia, MD. It was my third time racing in this event, and once again I loved it!

I got to bed early on Saturday night and managed to get a good amount of sleep before my 3:30 a.m. wake-up call. I was pretty well organized with everything I needed packed and ready to go, but I still needed the hour I gave myself before our departure time to wake up and prepare myself for the day!

A friend and I were on the road by 4:30, giving ourselves plenty of time to get through the pre-race traffic. The main road into the park tends to back up. We think we arrived earlier than last year since traffic wasn’t too bad. We were parked and headed to the transition area around 5:30 a.m.

And it started drizzling a little bit.  Uh oh!

It wasn’t too bad at the time, but I was glad my choice of transition bucket had a lid! Last year I used a kitty litter bucket (like this one) and it worked out great, so I did the same this year. Big enough to hold everything I needed, easy-to-carry handle, and doesn’t take up too much space.

Since it was raining, I didn’t lay that much out like I normally would. Instead, I reorganized my bucket, layering everything in the order I’d need it. I may have lost a little time in transition doing that, but I’d rather have dry shoes!

I got body-marked, pumped my tires, ate my peanut butter sandwich, and headed towards the swim start to hit the port-o-pots a little after six. No line that early! We didn’t have all that much time to kill. The transition area closed at 6:30, and the elite athletes were in the water at 6:40. Once waves started going I decided I needed one more restroom stop. There was a line this time, but not so bad. My wave was at 7:01 and I had plenty of time.

I was happy to have an early start time. It’s hard to have to wait around watching wave after wave of women start. But this year, it was time for me to get into the water before I knew it!

I know I’m not great with open water swimming, but I think I’m getting a little better. Not faster, it seems … but I felt fairly comfortable the entire swim. Usually I feel a bit panicked and have to breast-stroke a lot to regulate my breathing. Sure I still did a good amount of breast stroke, but this time it was more to sight or when it got too crowded to swim comfortably.

Halfway through the swim it started raining. While it doesn’t matter when you’re in the water, I would be on the bike soon. Riding in the rain isn’t fun. And I’m afraid enough of the fast downhills without wet roads!

I hoped for the best as I finished my swim…

Swim (1K / .62 mile): 30:09
2009: unknown (since they lost all my split times (grr), but I’m guessing it was in the 30:40s based on photos of other girls in my wave.)
2008: 29:57

I happily got out of the water and took my time getting to my bike. I probably should have run, but I wasn’t that concerned about transition times. I also like to rinse and dry off my feet. If I wasn’t such a princess, I’m sure I could transition quicker!

T1: 5:55
2008: 6:33 (But I lost my helmet!)

It was still raining. I’m actually glad my husband and I got caught in the rain on a ride last week, otherwise I wouldn’t have known I preferred wearing rain-soaked sunglasses to getting raindrops in my eyes!

We had to climb a short, steep (and wet!) hill to get out of transition. A little tricky in bike shoes! But I was quickly up and on the road.

I was familiar with the hilly course from the past two years so nothing came as a surprise. I tried to let go on the hills despite the wet roads, and actually it wasn’t too bad. I took the turns very cautiously, but I think I did pretty well on the hills!

I was definitely not enjoying the rain, but thankfully it let up a bit towards the second half of the ride. Usually you dry off during the bike ride, but  not this time!

Bike (17.5 miles): 1:13:27
2009: 1:14:43 (Garmin time, actual time would probably be a little bit slower.)
2008:1:24:16 (on a slower bike)

I changed into dry socks at transition — my feet were soaked and I was happy to have packed an extra pair. They wouldn’t stay dry for long with the on-and-off rain, but at least I was comfortable at the start of the run!

T2: 3:57
2008: 3:31

Some triathletes dread the run. Not me! I took off at a decent pace, but it’s a hilly run and my calves were screaming at me. I gave in and walked a couple hills, but I still managed to beat both of my previous times by a lot. I think marathon training helped me out here. I was able to move quicker on my tired legs!

Run (3.4 miles): 30:50
2009: 34:16 (Garmin – should be pretty accurate)
2008: 34:44

Overall: 2:24:16
2009: 2:28:14
2008: 2:39:01

I’m really happy to beat last year’s time, even in the rain! But I was a little disappointed when I saw the official results online. They posted incorrect results at the event and for a few hours, I thought I really killed last year’s time with 2:19:16 instead!

I had a blast. Registration opens for 2011 on November 1!