It has been a while since a real written blog post eh? Well A LOT has been going on. Triathlon training has been out of this world and it all came into fruition yesterday for the Gold Nugget Triathlon. The Gold Nugget is the oldest women's only race in the nation and the camaraderie amongst the top female competitors and the tri newbies is incredible! (for some Gold Nugget tri history check out this awesome article from the Anchorage Daily News.)
So how did my race go? It was rad! Swim was sweet, the bike ride was effortless and the trail/road run was beautiful and fast. Let me break it down!
Swim: Photo above is kind of blurry, but I am in the black swim suit on the right holding my helmet, etc and two my left is my older brother's girlfriend in the two piece. We were lucky to have found each other, I thought she had already taken off but we started roughly at the same time or so.
I do not consider myself a Dara Torres swimmer by any means, but I like to think of her a lot when I am training. She is a bad ass, so visualizing myself as a bad ass Olympian really motivates me. (It's all about visualizing your race right?! ;) ) I warmed in the middle divider lane and my warm-up felt awesome and smooth. My nerves were a bit shaky, but who's isn't? I saw my man-friend Justin and brother Stephen up top on the rail, I mouthed how I looked and Justin yelled, "Smooth and calm!" And that is pretty much exactly how I felt. I felt ready. I proceeded to the swim line with determination, motivation and Dara Torres on my mind. I like to rehearse the words breathe and relax over and over before I get into the water. It really helps. I got into my lane, spaced myself out from the other two ladies in the pool since it was a circle swim and my lap counter counted down, "...5, 4, 3, 2, 1" and off I morphed into Dara.
The Gold Nugget consists of a 500 yd swim, so 10 laps and I felt awesome, calm and smooth. My kick didn't feel to fast or overpowering and my arm movement was tits. I was counting my laps as well and could see my time when I would come up for a breathe. I was on target for a 9-10 minute 500 (which is awesome for me because my first 500 of the season in practice was a 16 minutes...epically slow, horrible form and I did not channel my inner Dara Torres...and I swam in high school for Christ sake...muscle memory was not there my first swim of the season!!) My swim was going so well until I caught up to another swimmer in my lane. I tapped her on her foot to let her know I needed to pass, but instead was accidentally kicked in the face which caused me to swallow a ton of water and lose my bearings just a bit. I was losing my inner Dara. I came up for a couple breathes and repeated in my head, "breathe, slow down, calm down" over and over. I only had two laps left and getting kicked in the face really threw me for a loop. Needless to say, the last two laps were not pretty and cost me some time...too long, but they were an excellent learning experience for me. I was in the 10-15 minute 500 lane and should have been in the under 10 min lane which was the fast lane. Next time. I ended my swim with a time of 11:47, not too shabby but not the best for my athletic prowess.
Bike: I wish I had photographs of the bike leg! I loved the bike route. It was a consistent course with only two big hills and a deceiving "flat road" that actually is a small gradual incline. Justin and I rode the course a ton before the race so I was familiar with the terrain. I never was passed on the bike and passed a lot of Gold Nugget competitors. I am one for sportsmanship so every time I passed a fellow cyclist I always threw out a "good job, you're doing awesome, keep pushing". For some of these ladies it was the first time they were racing and Gold Nugget is known for its awesome respect and camaraderie amongst its participants.
There were certain ladies I saw that were the top competitors and had them on my radar for pacing and it worked. Justin is a very strong cyclist and his encouragement is and has been my rock in biking. When we would bike and train on the course he had me pick out land marks of when gear changing on hills would be essential and we did hill repeats like crazy....I mean like crazy! I actually grew to love and enjoy hills. They are challenging, build strength and I ALWAYS feel so accomplished after I scale a hill then mob down at 30 mph! It feels awesome!!! I think right now the bike is my strong point but I am always looking to improve. (I want to be a top contender for the state of Alaska in triathlons and know that I can do it. I have four more years left in my age group and 25-29 and being a top age grouper is my goal and placing high over all is huge goal as well and I am certain it will happen.)
After the last turn off onto the straightaway towards T2 I opened up a gel and guzzled that down with some water. I was getting ready for the run portion and wanted my legs to know, "Hey you're going to be running next!" All in all my feel that my bike portion was killer, and I mean killer on an awesome way! I felt strong the 12 mile ride and was soooo ready for the 4.1 mile run. Time for my bike was 42:00 minutes. Not bad, happy with it. :)
Run: T2 transition was fast. The volunteers gave me my bag, I changed into my Five Finger Vibrams and off I went! I was a little nervous changing from my clips to my Vibrams because its not like putting on a 'tenny and taking off. I have to put each individual toe into the little separators, but ya know what? It worked and it was fast. Off I went!! I had a tiny side ache on my left side but controlled my breathing and next thing you know it went away. My legs felt pretty sweet, a little heavy but nothing unbearable. They slowly were realizing that they would be running and run they did. This wasn't the usual 5k, this was 4.1 miles. My 5k time has been a consistent 23 minute this spring. I am steadily working my way to improving it to 20-21 min. That would be ideal for me right now. I wasn't exactly sure what I wanted my running time to be so I just decided to go on how I feel and it worked perfectly.
I love running...especially on uneven terrain. It makes it super fun. The first 2.5 miles are so on the Air Force base tank trails which is gravel, a ton of it and it was awesome. I love Vibrams because I like feeling the surface I am running on. Road running can be a bit boring at times so mixing up terrain is tits for me and tits the run portion was for me. I again was never passed on the run and picked up a lot of competitors. By mile 2 my legs were on. I picked up my pace and dug deep. I love professional triathlete Linsey Corbin and I was visualizing her running beside me and pushing me. She is a serious athlete and one I admire greatly. I knew and could tell my pace was picking up. I saw the 3 mile marker and decided at that point to bring my last mile to pretty much a sprint, an all out comfortable sprint. I knew I could hold it, never doubted myself so I just did it. I seriously felt crazy strong running and knew I was doing well when volunteers or spectators were yelling, "Awesome pace 920! You look great!" When I heard the music and saw the balloons at the last turn off I was stoked! I ran strong and hard and finished with a ton of gusto. After I crossed the finish line I felt perfect and was smiling!
Run time was clocked at 34:03. I'm happy with it and know I can improve a ton. Thank god I love speed work! When I crossed the finish line I had a ton of people ask me if I really ran in the Five Finger shoes. I thought about being a smart ass for a quick sec, but was not. "Yes, I will never run in anything else. I love my Vibrams!" and I said it with a big smile. I seriously love my Vibrams and I love love love running in them.
First triathlon of the season was an absolute success and I am hooked for life. My overall time came down to 1 hour 30 min and 48 seconds. Perfect for my first race of the year, and there are always areas of improvement! Tonight is the awards banquet and a well needed day of rest. My next triathlon is in 2 weeks on June 3rd and I am crazy stoked for that. So after my rest today I'll be back in the pool tomorrow morning working on that 500, improving my cycling and speed work! I leave you with my favorite quote that keeps me going! Michael Jordan knows his stuff man!
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