IronGirl 2009

Transition at dawn. I figured out how to pump up my tires in the dark...although I could have waited and done this last.
Lusy, our very relaxed dog, enjoyed IronGirl.

Damon Foreman and Chuck play at the IG post-race party. Damon taught our oldest son how to play guitar and Chuck taught our youngest son.


Bike transition. I have yet to find a pair of shorts that work with my thighs....sigh...I guess I'll just have to upgrade my wardrobe!!


I was so happy I started crying at the finish. Thanks, Tim, for sharing my special day.

Swim = 0.62 miles at 26:19
Bike = 17.5 miles at 1:13:10
Run = 3.4 miles at 36:14

I wanted to do this race for two years, but after the big day I felt speechless. Everything was wonderful. It's a local race and there is a lot of community support leading up to the event, which draws a lot of first-time triathletes. For me, it was my third triathlon, but it was my longest and largest event on a more challenging course. The local triathlon club had an IronGirls program which had an introductory meeting and then workshops throughout the summer. I enjoyed these because I was able to pick up some new tips each time, and it's nice to learn from people, instead of Internet bulletin boards. I especially enjoyed the workshop on transitions, which turned into "transitions and everything you wanted to know about IronGirl." The open water swim at Sandy Point Park was my first and got me thinking about the 1 mile Bay Swim, which is held nearby. I also gleaned a few tips from the Bike 101 workshop, but many other things I already learned on my own intuitively or through trial and error.

The Columbia Triathlon Association and the Howard County Parks host a pre-event bike/swim and it's the one day of the year that they let people swim in the lake. I took the day off and did the entire course. During the swim, I got a water up my nose feeling and a sore neck, which probably came from that panicky feeling of not being able to see where you're going. I made it a point to relax my breathing as much as I could during the race.

I didn't follow a training plan, as I'm somewhat compulsive and sometimes become too involved with a plan. I went to work early and tried to get home early and tried to fit in as many workouts as I could, weather permitting, and I also knew where I wanted to be in terms of mileage. I tried to bike the IronGirl course as much as possible.

The biggest challenge, and one of the hardest things I've done, was making the switch to clipless pedals. Shortly after the Howard Life 75K bike ride, I took my bike and my shoes into my local bike shop and had Shimano SLP pedals put on. I knew I would fall and the first fall I expected. But then I toppled over twice in a week. To top it off, my swim coach's workouts were killing me, as I came back to the team after a layoff of several months. I felt battered, bruised, and disouraged. My co-workers looked at my knees and wondered why I needed clipless pedals. My family watched me fall and thought the pedals were dangerous. In reality, falls with clipless pedals can't always be avoided because the unexpected may happen, and it's not alway possible to unclip in time to prevent a fall. And during each of my falls, that's what happened. But my confidence took a tumble and got weirded out. I felt anxious with my feet clipped in and worried about being able to unclip.

It helped to talk about it with other people. Of course, everyone thinks that their brand of clipless pedal is the absolute easiest to get out of. One person suggested that I ride around Gateway drive and practice clipping in and out whenever I came to a driveway. This was a great suggestion and helped a lot. I'd circle around the loop in an industrial park until I rode 20 miles, and for most of those mile, I'd clip in and out every time I came to a driveway, practicing different ways to clip out. A co-worker who'd done several centuries, told me that she didn't clip in when riding through traffic. Instead, she'd wait until the came to a less congested area and then clip in. This helped me to think about clipless pedals as a tool that I could use as needed, and I didn't feel obliged to clip in at all times, especially when riding on busy streets or sometimes when going up steep hills. After a while, I saw the value in the pedals, especially on the hills. I love passing people on the hills, especially people with expensive bikes and an expensive cleat and shoe setup.

Race Day

The most intimidating thing about the race was the sheer size.

Surfing Folly Beach 2009

This year, we did our beach week at Folly Beach, near Charleston, South Carolina. We've been to beaches all along the east coast, and so far, we think Folly Beach is the best. This is a great little laid back surfing town. Unlike other beaches, all types of beach recreation is allowed, all day long--skimboarding, tossing a football in or out of the water, surfing, body boarding, bocce ball, making sand castles, beach volleyball.

View from the 9th floor of the hotel. Dogs were allowed at the hotel! We saw a lot of families and dogs there. And there was a Lost Dog Cafe where dogs are allowed to eat with their owners outside and water dishes for dogs are at the entrance. The locals say that if a dog is lost, it will tun up at the Lost Dog Cafe because they feed the stray dogs.

We at a lot of good food, including this meal at a restaurant and the end of the fishing pier. I enjoyed the southern cooking and any time I saw fried green tomatoes on the menu, I ordered it, thinking of the movie Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe.

My son's goal this summer was to learn how to surf. We got him an (almost) new surf board at Ocean Surf.

Going out to meet the waves.

Getting up....

Tim didn't think Jesse would get up...but he got up on the second or third try! Getting up on a surfboard involves doing a push up.

Waiting for a wave on a calm day...

Riding the wave!

Falling off the board at the end of a wave! Jesse also discovered how to bend down, grab the board, and jump off for a gentler landing.

A favorite skimboarding photo...

My son got himself a new, professional model skimboard. He says it makes a big difference.

Waxing his surfboard in the surf. The wax is waterproof and he carries it in his pocket.

We gave our sunburned skin a brief break and went on a speedboat tour.

Morris Island lighthouse. The lighthouse used to be on land, but the land wasn't protected with any kind of barrier, and eventually it eroded and now the lighthouse is in the sea. It's being restored. I rode my bike on Ashley drive up and down the island (about 5 miles). On one of these rides, I discovered that you can see the lightouse from one end of the island (the map on the web link shows the proximity of the light house from E. Ashley Avenue).

The Cooper River Bridge, which connects Charleston to Mount Pleasant. The bridge was designed to withstand hurricanes and a magnitude 7 earthquake, as there are fault lines around South Carolina. The lights on the cables are also dimmed during sea turtle nesting season.

Charleston harbor...