One down!

Well, first triathlon down and a few more to go before the next snow fall.... Gold nugget was Sunday and I live to tell another tale!
Let's see, all the anxiety began at Regions Track & Field the Friday and Saturday- weekend of the triathlon. I sure love watching those kids run! Man are they fast!! I am so proud of them, lots going to state... Our distance team is really solid which means I am so looking forward to our xc running team in the fall.
After Regions a friend informed me of the craziness behind the new GNT course and suggested i learn to remove my feet from my shoes before dismounting the bike. I knew right then things were going to get interesting. I don't pride myself on quick decision making and was a bit worried of the outcome which may occur trying to pull feet from shoes and moving on a bike at the same time :) I spent two hours Saturday evening practicing this new technique and felt pretty good about it. Got the run down on the rest of the "relay" transitions and was good to go for the next day!
Sunday a.m. - oh wait- did i mention- DO NOT EAT Uncle Joe's Lasagna the night before a triathlon! Man o man, my tummy was killing me! So, Sunday a.m. no breakfast :) full from dinner.... Got to Chugiak, snuck over to the elementary and across the field to CHS - set up my bike and trainer next to the track- and port a potty :) Beautiful Sunrise! Peaceful warm up! Got to the pool before the race, chatted with a couple friends, watched the first wave start, and we were off!
The swim was interesting, i started my watch before the race began and somehow my final GNT time was still slower??? Oh well- 6 seconds- no big deal. Anyway, ran across the deck- every lifeguards dream! Jumped in feet first, head submerged and got a "push" from the bottom of the pool. Nice and relaxed- now i see a bit too relaxed- finished the dip (a whopping 300yd) and headed for the door. My favorite song was playing"1-2-3-4-uno-doce-tres" that is a great sign right! Got my bike shoes on, the sperm helmet on, and took off! WOw I love my bike! Great corners and missed the crevices! I lived through it and was excited to pass a few FAST runners that i knew would be passing me up later. Had to put some distance on them so I was out of there! I was trying for 12 min out and got pretty close. The trouble came when the feet had to come out of the shoes! Long story short- got one out- the far one was stuck and had to dismount sooooo a few F-bombs later and apologies to the officials, popped my shoe off the clip, took it off and began the 400m run with bike and shoe in hand. FYI- running barefoot on asphalt in a swim suit is NOT glamorous!!!!! I cried owe owe owe all the way down the stretch! Put all that crap away and got my running shoes on.
Did i say running? I mean jogging :) haha! Lead for legs! I don't know if it was the standing around at regions in the sun or what but i do not believe i had any flexion in my legs at all!! I was a speed walker! Then, I almost got taken out by Lori and Shannon!!! The race was on for those two = they were returning with about 200m to go! Got focused, got passed, kept going, finished...
Overall, great day. I have to thank Sara for helping me keep a positive attitude for this race. I have been having troubles with that the past two years. I realized the anxiety I was putting to beat other people was just negative energy. And learning from Regions Track this year- negative energy gets you NOWHERE! So- I smiled all day- well except for the bike thing.
If i had one wish- i wish i would have realized how close i was to an hour- i think i would have pushed for 59.
What did i learn? Even the transitions are part of the race and having a perfect race means to be perfect in all aspects of the triathlon....

a beautiful day

well, it is beautiful and the snow is gone! I have been waiting until it is safe to write that! My face is tan- minus the sunglass tan line, and my hands are tan as well! Is that an Alaskan tan vs. a farmer's tan?
Took my bike for a beautiful ride from Indian to Girdwood yesterday. That was the first time I have ridden that trail! It was a blast and BEAUTIFUL! Oh, i said that already... Anyway, had fun cruising and wore my TT helmet to test it out before the race next weekend. I got some pretty strange looks- especially from the little kids out there! A nice head wind on the way back and some riding in the water made it interesting. It was so nice not to worry about cars! I will say though there was some drama with a lady and kid stopping in the middle and wiping out a friend. I felt pretty bad about that. I know I still mess up and ski the wrong direction, etc. but I look at biking as driving- would you stop in the middle of the road??? Oh well! Live and learn. I am just waiting for one of those dogs off the leash to run right in front of me at 20+mph...
Enough negative! GNT is this weekend and I think I mentioned it is a bit crazy of a course this year... I have mixed emotions about the whole thing. Putting pressure on myself to do well and then the other part of me that backs off and says "just go with the flow". The swim is a snake swim- hopefully that goes smoothly, but its only a 300 which means it really comes down to the bike and run. I am hoping my practices on the new bike have prepared me- shifting is a bit different but I feel like I have the hang of it! I just need to move my A$$ on the run! I keep thinking of it as a tune up race but the remember the ER tri date was moved so I am not sure what I will be tuning up for! At the end of the day - my hopes are that it is sunny, that I move quickly through transitions, and I am happy with my efforts! Wish me luck :) Ciao for now!