Iron Girl

Where to begin with my story of Iron Girl?  I decided to register for this race since a lot of my friends were doing it.  I had just gotten a nice tri bike for Christmas last year & figured it should get put to good use!  But still, I had not taken the time to go out for one bike ride to train for the biking portion.  So the morning of, we are unloading my bike and hear a hiss.  It occurs to me that it sounds like air leaking.  Sure enough, my front tire was flat.  Jim had brought all the tools to blow it up again, but nothing was fixing that wheel.  Thankfully Iron Girl had bike repair men that took a look at it & totally replaced my tube in the tire (& for FREE!).  I was so thankful.  So I walk my bike to the transition area & just in that short amount of time it took me to walk, my front tire was flat AGAIN!  So I stand in line again and they replace the tire again & do a good inspection of the tire to make sure there is nothing in there that is popping the tube.  This time it works & I am relieved (however, I am still nervous that I'll get in to transition after my run portion & it will be flat again).  The race starts and my wonderful friend Carol & I decide we're going to do it together!  So we run our first leg of the race & come in transition to start our bike portion.  And "Amen", the wheel is good to go.  So we set out for the 22 mile bike race & we're going strong.  Just after seeing mile marker 15, I run something over with my bike & feel it pop out from under the tire.  Within a minute, all of a sudden I get a whoosh of air & my back tire is flat.  Now how can one person have THREE flat tires in one day?!?!  Thankfully a volunteer radioed in for the bike repair men to come out but they said it was going to be awhile.  So, Carol (who I owe huge) decides to stay with me.  And then she suggests we start running & let the repair men come up on us.  That way we'll save time & still be moving & making some distance.  Well, we ended up running over FOUR miles WITH OUR BIKES!  By the time they got to us, we were pretty much the last few bikers coming in from the bike portion of the race.  And now that we've run these additional miles, we now have to finish up with another portion of running again.  Although I was pretty disappointed about the circumstances, Carol & I sure had a great time laughing about the situation.  And I'm pretty proud of us for sticking with it & finishing!  And I have Carol to thank for staying with me & keeping me going.  I will always remember this race, that's for sure! 

 Thank you so much Repair Man!

 Before the race - Carol & Todd and Jim & I

 We thought we were going good on the bikes...

 We are Two Tough Cookies! 

Yes, this bike, these wheels...



Our Crazy Group