The Gold Nugget

I've been so busy with the kids being out of school that I never posted about my big triathlon, like I promised. I actually tgot something halfway typed up, and never finished it. So, here it is. No, it wasn't this weekend, but I wrote this a few weeks ago:

I finished my first sprint distance triathlon this weekeend.

And it was awesome!

I do have a little experience with triathlons. I have done the Burley Spudman Triathlon twice. My sister, Tiffani, convinced Courtney, Dennis and I to do it in 2001. I floated down the river on my back, borrowed my mom's bike, did the run loop backwards, and consequently got DQ'd. So, I came back to redeem myself in 2005 and did much better. But the Spudman is Olympic Distance (long). The Gold Nugget it sprint distance. Much more fun!

The Gold Nugget Triathlon is a women-only event including a 300 yd. swim, 9 mile bike & 3 mile run. It is the most popular women-only triathlon in the U.S. Registration opened April 1 at 12am and the race was full before noon. 1400 women competed.

There's just something so exciting about doing a triathlon . . .

because you start breaking rules right off the bat. First you run across the pool deck and then jump in the water (no diving). Then, after you do the swim you run through a parking lot barefoot in your swim suit. As intimidating as that sounds, when the time came to actually do it, I just feel like a kid running to my friend's house. I tried to be serious, but it's just so funny to be sprinting to a special place where I'll put on some shoes and go ride a bike. After the bike leg, you come back, change your shoes again, and go running . . . down the side of the highway. I can only imagine what some hillbilly old guys were thinking as they drove past Chugiak and saw a bunch of women running out and back along the highway, some in nothin' but a swim suit and sneakers :) Incidentally, I decided to wear bike shorts with my suit.

In preparation for my first real triathlon, I had to learn a few tricks of the triathlon trade - things that might help you shave off precious seconds without doing any more actual training.

My favorite? The sock trick. Triathletes don't wear socks because it takes too long to put socks on wet feet. So, I tried putting on my shoes with no socks and found that it's just as hard to try to squish wet feet into dry shoes. The solution? Put massive amounts of baby powder in your shoes and your feet will slip right in. What about blisters? They say socks are a myth and you won't get blisters. I was skeptical, but had faith in the millions of triathletes that have gone before me. And it worked like a charm. Why do I pay $6 a pair for biking/running socks?

So, about my race . . .

The swim went well. I'm not fast, but the 2 months of twice-a week 6am swimming made the swim bearable, almost enjoyable. (I hear that it shouldn't be enjoyable because you shold be going hard enough to make it hurt. Maybe next time.) Including the approximaely 20 seconds of running through the pool area, my 300 yd swim leg took 5:39.

Then I ran through the parking lot, soaking wet. It was beautiful and sunny, but at 9am it was only about 55 degrees - brrr. There was a photographer waiting just outside of the pool building taking pictures of all of us with wet hair, no make-up and goggle lines. What a jerk :)

I ran to the bike, put my helmet on, shoes on (no socks), run my bike to the bike mount like, hop on the bike like a flying squirrel, forget to push start on my bike computer, and off I go.

The bike was fun because I'm a good biker and a bad swimmer, so I got to pass all those people that had beat me in the swim. I was a little cold in an interesting way. No shivering or wishing I had worn gloves, but my muscles felt stiff.

Since I was one of the first to start the race (everyone started at 20 sec intervals throughout the day - the last racers didn't start until 2pm) the volunteers were still getting the hang of their jobs. So, one of them sent me down the wrong chute at the end of my bike leg. I realized it pretty quickly when I saw the bike dismount line on the other side of the flags. So, in one very graceful movement :) I ducked under the flags and dismounted my bike at the same time. Just in time to cross the timing mat. Pfew!

Then I ran the whole length of the parking lot, pushing my bike, back to my transition spot! And it's a LONG parking lot! Rack bike, helmet off, bike shoes off, running shoes on, grab sunglasses and race # and put them on while running the whole length of the parking lot again (in the reverse direction). After running at least a quarter mile through the transition area/parking lot, the 3-mile run actually starts . . .

and I realize that my legs feel numb. Triathletes have a word for what your legs feel like after getting off your bike and trying to run - bricks. So technical, I know. That feeling goes away after a couple minutes, but I wasn't expecting the next feeling. I run enough to be fairly familiar with pacing. But even after the brick feeling went away, there was still a complete disconnect between my legs and my brain. I couldn't tell how fast I was running. The only thing I knew was that it wasn't fast enough. But I gave it all I had.

When the announcer told me to flatten my number so he could read it (and correspond it with my name), I was coherent enough to do it. I crossed the finish line through the balloon arch with people cheering and the announcer calling my name - it was so exciting!

Here are my stats. Times: 5:19 for the swim, 27:38 for the 9-mile bike, 22:15 for the 3-mile run, and about 3:25 for transitions (I told you that parking lot was long!) for a total time of 58:31. Places: 208th in the swim, 9th in the bike, and 45th in the run all add up to 15th OVERALL!! And I tied for first 1st in my age group! I was really pleased with my results and my experience with the triathlon . . . but not satisfied. I'm sure that if I could do the race again next week, knowing what I know now, that I could take a minute off my bike, a minute off my run, and 30 seconds off my swim :) Yeah, I'm dreaming, but I definitely see another triathlon in my future!

After my race I went back to the pool to watch the "party wave" start. This is where groups of friends start the race together. Then was the mother/daughter wave. There were mothers and daughters of all ages starting together. It was so cool to see so many people racing. The fastest race time was under 51 minutes and the slowest was just over 3 hours and I think last place probably had more fun than first place. It was fun! Everyone should try one.

I know pictures make blogs much more exciting. The official photographers took three lovely photos of me . . . which I will not be posting.