Iron Girls

I can't take the credit for the video, that was all April. I still can't seem to figure that stuff out, I was lucky to get hers onto mine. Anyways, so last weekend was soooo fun! We had a girls weekend in Vegas.

Preparation for the trip:
Pure hectic and stressful getting out there but once I was there it was all worth it. My biggest headache was the fact that I booked a ticket to Vegas since I was the only one from Utah going out there and the flight was actually cheaper than flying. Cheaper until I realized getting my bike there would cost $50 each way!!! I didn't realize that until 2 days before. I thought I could possibly squeeze my bike into a bag of some sort or a box that would be under the measurements - no luck. It was a miracle that we even got the bike in the bike box. My dad ended up taking the handle bars, pedals, seat, and wheels off in order to squeeze it into the box. I was ready to drive down there Friday morning since we couldn't fit the bike in the box and I would have to pay an extra $100 and nothing was coming together. My hold ups were that our car has been a little strange lately, my mom refused to let me drive by myself, and by the time I could get out of there it would be cutting it close to register in time. So, anyways, I just ended up paying the $$$ which I always hate since the triathlon alone is way more than I am ok with. Needless to say it was an expensive weekend.
Arrival:
Well once I got my bike there another issue presented itself - putting the bike back together. My other friend Brooke from Hawaii had just had a baby like 10 days earlier and was still willing to come get me from the airport - thanks Brooke so I tried to put the bike together at her house and I did struggle a bit but managed to get most of it ready to go except the pedals for some reason just weren't going, so when April got there I told her how they were supposed to get on and she did it no problem. So, I think I'm set with the bike finally after the huge hassle it was.
Race Day:
I love and hate race day mornings I get so giddy, excited, and nervous that I think I constantly have to go to the bathroom and I'm always freezing especially at the thought of getting in freezing water. The start time was delayed so April, Kristi, and I had fun taking pictures in our sexy wetsuits and caps (I really don't think it is ever possible to look sexy in either of them, especially the combination of the two, but we tried). Lake Las Vegas was gorgeous and it was such a nice morning.
Actually Race
We run into the water and it is FREEZING!!! I debated on the wetsuit but so glad I had it. I am terrible with open water swims cause I get so disoriented and seem to add an extra 200 yds because I get so off course. This swim was probably the worst I've ever had the water was so choppy cause of the wind and for some reason my cap kept slipping off and eventually came completely off along with my goggles, so I had to stop and tread water to put them on. I kept swallowing water cause of the waves and I felt sea sick. I survived though and finished 3rd in the swim, so I was feeling good running out of the water ripping off the wetsuit that felt like a huge leach on my body (it took me forever to get that thing off) so as I'm going to clip into the pedals on my bike, I can't seem to do it and everyone is yelling at me go go go!! Then the bike tech comes over and says "hey those are on backwards" What??? Oh geese! I was so mad! He grabs my bike and rushes it over to his van and messes it with if for a bit then realizes they are stripped so I can't use my bike anymore. I was honestly about to cuss, I couldn't believe after the huge ordeal of getting it out there of course this would happen. There was a bike lady there who helped me earlier and she suddenly jumped into action, grabbed a bike frame out of the van and they started putting it together as fast as they could. It was amazing all they did in such a short amount of time. In a matter of minutes I was off for the 26 mile trek. Everything else went pretty smooth other than the fact that people were zooming past me on the bike. It was an intense bike and run course with plenty of hills, but fortunately I didn't have any more setbacks. I just couldn't get over how ironic it was that I didn't even use my bike. I also couldn't get over how much I loved those bike people, they even fixed my bike while I was gone. Thank goodness! Even though I had some rough moments I ended up beating my personal best by 3 minutes and placed better than I expected. I love racing, I always get on such a high when I'm finished with a long hard race. Hopefully I can squeeze some more in before the prego time rolls around again.
Post Race:
Exhaustion and hunger kicked in later that day, but we still managed to go out on the town and have some fun. It was weird being away from Maile and Emmy for so long, but it was such a fun little retreat with the ladies. By Sunday morning I was anxious to get back to the girls. I love ya Aprizzle, Julz and Kristi! It was so fun to hang out again, this get together was way past due. Hopefully next year more can join since it is now an annual event, so mark your calenders anyone else who wants to join. Its super fun!!!