The moment you've all been waiting for...

Are you ready? Have you been waiting on pins and needles all weekend? What’s that? You have no idea what I’m talking about? Ugh. Great. Just great. Well, in case you forgot, today was this:

That’s right! The Iron Goddess was today! I’ve noticed that I have a lot of new readers (Welcome!), so if you’d like to read more about my Iron Goddess journey, you can click here, here, and here.

Now, let’s get right to it! Yesterday afternoon we drove to the race location to pick up my packet, and check out the course. This is where I discovered that the running portion of the race was um, trails. Trails, as in a dirt path one person wide, up and down steep hills, and one tree rut after a-freakin-nother. Great. The last time I ran on a trail was in 8th grade, which was 17 years ago, but who’s counting?

After seeing the course and all the hardcore lesbian tri-athletes, I freaked out a little and threatened to drop out. But, then we had an ice cream bar, and all was well with the world. Until, we got to the hotel where our rooms weren’t ready and Shawn discovered something was wrong with one of my bike brakes. But, then we found a bike shop to get it fixed, went to dinner, and all was well with the world. Until, we waited over 45 minutes for our food only to have my food be completely wrong and had to deal with a douche bag manager who thought making jokes about his glass eye was funny.

Ugh. Joe’s Crab Shack in Ann Arbor is two thumbs down, way down!

When we finally got back to the hotel (after our nearly 2 hour dinner shenanigan) we all went swimming and my Dad got me a Long Island Iced Tea from the bar. He said he thought it would help me sleep, but I honestly don’t think I slept a wink! Does that happen to everyone before a race?

I woke up at 5 Sunday morning, and felt surprisingly good. I got to the race location around 6:20, so I could set up my transition area, and then I spent the next 2 hours freaking out. I was hungry, I was thirsty, and I had to go #2. The #2 thing is possibly TMI, but I’m throwing that in there for Tyly :)

Now before I get to the pictures, let’s review. The Iron Goddess was a Triathlon and Duathlon. I did the Duathlon, which was a 1.5 mile run, 10.6 mile bike ride, and 3 mile run. My original goal several months ago was to finish under 1:30. Then, within the last month, I changed it to 1:25. Well, today after I started I changed my goal again.

How do you think I did? I’ll give you a hint. In the words of my husband “You made that race your bitch.”

Shawn and I before the race:

Me with my parents:

View of all the athletes (560 were registered):

The start of the Duathlon:

(can you find me?)

There I am:

Coming in from the first run:

Ok, this is the only leg of the race I screwed up. Do you see that girl in the orange in the last 2 pictures? I asked her what her pace was at the beginning because I wanted to use someone to pace myself. She told me 8-8:30/mile. So, I thought “Sweet!” That’s the pace I’ve been practicing at, I’ll stick with her! Wrong. My time for the first 1.5 mile run was 13:31, which is a 9 minute pace/mile. Damn It!

Getting my bike gear on in the transition area:

Getting on at the mount line:

(Do you see that guy checking out my ass? Busted!)

Coming back in from the bike ride (and looking totally hardcore):

My bike time was 35:42, which was almost 5 minutes faster than I’ve ever done practicing! That’s an average of 18 mph.

Heading out on the last run:

Here I come!

(Do you see my Dad on the right hand side waiting to give me a High 5?)

Finished! My overall time was 1:15:51! The goal I had set after I started was 1:20, so I totally beat it! The time for my last run was 24:56, which is a pace of 8:18/mile.

(Just in case you can read the clock, that time isn’t accurate because that was the time from when the very first heat started.)

The girls and I after the race:

So, how did I place? Drum roll please…

I got 1st place in my age group, and 4th place overall in the Duathlon!

There were no medals for the top finishers, instead the top 3 finishers all got a necklace which has a charm on it that says “DU.” Here I am getting my necklace:

Thank you so much to all of you who have encouraged and supported me on this journey! What’s next?!