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!

Bad news :(

well, the bad news is in. The Eagle River Triathlon has been moved to August 23rd! I am so bummed! It is by far my favorite event and I always feel like the Gold Nugget tri helps me get things in gear for ER!!! I guess I need to re-evaluate and strategize a new plan for the season...
I guess my first concern is whether or not I can actually make myself train until the end of August! We will see...
Training has been going pretty good. Had a few days off from intervals on the track so I am worried about not working hard enough. Other than that, trying to remember to push myself at my workouts instead of just getting through them.
Not much else exciting here. Hoping that Mt.Redoubt doesn't keep this mess up all summer or it will put a kibosh on visiting family, fishing, and training! That sounds like a recipe for a trip out of state! But then again, you might not get back :)
Happy Sunny month of April! I can't wait to get my bike on the road- MELT!!!!!

Did I jinx Lance?

wow- I guess it's been a while! Spring is flying by and another track season is upon us... Now we just need the snow to melt and Mt.Redoubt to keep from dumping ash on us!

Training is going well. Just wiped out in the a.m. so sometimes I try to skip swimming.... The bike is going well- but I definitely need a new seat!!! OUCH! Sitting on the tri bike is totally different than my old bike.

I am enjoying the challenging track workouts as well and feel like my form has improved immensely! I cannot believe I ran a whole marathon with my old lean back style of running! Now I can finally feel that it is almost uncomfortable to run at the cruise control speed I used to. I sure hope I am getting faster! Now I just have to get those other run days in...

I am a little bummed at the changes with the triathlon season this year. The GNT course was moved to the ER course which is fine but the swim is a 300 :( and it sounds like they are making it some kind of snake swim? Last night I got an email stating that the ER tri date was cancelled because the pool will be closed! Um, I'm sorry but aren't these triathlons making money for the pools? And weren't they just talking about closing pools just last year? Seriously, how many years have they been doing these races at these facilities??? Did someone truly forget that there was going to be a triathlon at some point in the year?

So what if Redoubt blows? I guess this year will have to be chalked up to a training one!!!

On the bright side of it all- at least I am training. On top of that, maybe I will actually train all the way to State :) Oh, a plus--- there is going to be a triathlon in my hometown this year!!! YEAH!!!!!