An Iron Girl?

What do most people do on a Saturday morning? Sleep in. Watch cartoons. Eat pancakes.

Not me - I signed up for the Iron Girl Duathlon in Bloomington, which includes a 5K run, an 18 mile bike, and another 3K run. Crazy? yes, without a doubt... but there were 499 other crazy women there with me. If you're going to be crazy, you might as well have company, right?

I noticed that before the race, many of the women were joking about how hard it was, how much they hated running (ME), how they hoped they'd finish... contrast to a similar group of men, who would be one-upping on how long they trained, how they are in much better shape than last year, and how they just finished a half-marathon last weekend. Not that the women weren't competitive... but apparently it's better form to pretend that you're not ready.

I completed the race in 2:01:04, a wholly respectable time - enough to earn me a 31st place out of 45 in my age group (!) but it doesn't matter - I finished! Derek, my two girls, and Ann and Emma (visiting from Michigan) were there to cheer me to the finish, and to help me eat my celebratory breakfast.

But the true measure of an Iron Girl is not the finish.... not the medal... not even the feeling of victory. An Iron Girl is never done... there is always more to do. In my case, I washed, folded, and put away three loads of laundry when I came home, settled the girls down for a nap, and then climbed into bed myself. The race was only the beginning.

The true measure of the Iron Girl is her fortitude... for the race is never done.