Gold Nugget Triathlon

Last Sunday was the Gold Nugget Triathlon in Anchorage (500 yard swim, 13 mile bike, 3.1 mile run). I believe it is the largest women's triathlon in the nation. Every year, it sells out faster than the year prior. I think it sold all 1500 slots in 3 hours. Ladies talk about the race for weeks ahead of time and get all excited about it. The variety of women competing is inspiring. The ages start at 10 years old and probably work their way up in the 70's. There are all types of body shapes and sizes from the elite to women walking 500 yards of the swim.

I actually missed the sign up last year, so I haven't done the race since 2008 with Crystal. Crystal did the race with me two years in a row. She is now living in Indonesia with her family, so she wasn't there this year which didn't make it as fun! On the flip side, two friends from Fairbanks decided to come down and do it for the first time, Julie & Sarah. They were champs and both did really well! Sarah and Jon stayed with J and I, so we had a fun weekend hanging out with them.


My friends, Andi, Elizabeth and her daughter, Chasity (first triathlon ever) all had earlier start times than Sarah & Julie, so we warmed up for the race together and started roughly at the same time.

The ultimate goal of this race is to get one of the top 50 slots so that you are "seeded" the following year, which means you get to start early and don't have to share a swim lane with 2 other people. Then, once you are seeded, you have to remember to sign up on time or you lose your spot! No exceptions granted on this race, those ladies mean business!!! :)

I think everyone was satisfied with how they did for the most part. Elizabeth is still not 100% and she had recent blood work that shows she is still not getting better, but she has been working with a specialist that will hopefully get her fixed. I miss my training buddy, we normally spend hours on end together a week! :(




Coach B didn't really want me to do this race and I wasn't so sure I wanted to do it either. I came into the race totally exhausted physically. Thursday before the race, I ran 19.4 miles and the day before the race, I had about 3 hours of biking, with roughly an hour at a pretty decent effort. My expectations for myself were low since my volume of training for the last few weeks had been so high. Overall on the race, I felt like a million bucks. I don't think I have ever felt so good on a race before. I forgot to start my watch, so I was worried that I was taking it too easy since my level of effort never felt that high. The only major blunder of the day was that somehow my brake pad was stuck on my tire and when I went to start on the bike, so I could hardly pedal. I had to jump off and fix the tire and then when I went to get back on, I slipped off and hit the bar and ended up with a nasty bruise on my inner thigh.


I finished 15th overall and 3rd in my age group. I hope I feel this great at CDA, although putting it in perspective, CDA is about 9 times longer than the Nugget. Yikes.

6 Weeks

Holy toledo, thank goodness we only have 6 weeks left until CDA. The month of May is the largest load we have had so far and it put the hurt on. Jason's training plan is a lot more difficult than mine and the last two Thursdays he has ran 24 & 23 miles (I only did about 19 each time and that is a huge difference although it might not sound like it). This past Thursday, he had a really rough day and hasn't really bounced back. He is being really smart and took yesterday off and is trying to recover. He'll bounce back and feel even stronger!

The good news is that he came up with a name for his business, how does Arctic Terra, LLC sound? Terra is the Latin word for Earth & Land. Since he hasn't been working out, he spent the last couple days working on a bid for a project. We are slowly getting things set up for him and I think the list of projects is growing faster than what he might have time to get done.

We also have a new addition to our family until we leave for Idaho. We are renting an altitude machine from Coach B. Mom, don't worry....this machine hooked up to me doesn't mean I'm dying and everything is ok! ;) The idea is that it will help acclimate us to a higher elevation and then when we race (at a lower elevation), we will feel like a million bucks! I hope this thing works magic, because in order to use it you have to hold it to your mouth for 1 hour every other day. That means you are foreced to sit still and do nothing! It absolutely drives me crazy.

What a difference a week makes

It's amazing how quickly summer comes in Alaska. A week ago, we were freezing to death on our bike ride. This past weekend, I was overheated in similar clothing and even ended up riding in a t-shirt!

Our past week was filled with lots of swim/bike/run, but the most fun day is always on Sunday when we meet up with our friends and get outside. Beaker, Brendan, Kris, Joe, Jason and I biked on the Seward Highway again (63 miles for me, 70 for J), followed by a long run (10.5 for Beaker & me, 13.5 for J). The weather was fantastic and absolutely goregous outside. On a day like today, no one ever questions why they live in Alaska.





Between the swim/bike/run, Jason has been busy working on a screening plant to make topsoil with a friend. He has been busy trying to set up a company. We are trying to come up with a name, so if you have a great idea, let us know!


On Saturday, we reunited with some of our friends that had been in Hawaii, Bonnie & Alex. We hung out with them several times when we were in Kona and they came and cheered us on at the Lavaman race. Bonnie made Gavin and Nizoni "Team Kersten" shirts and they had signs as well. Super cute, and such a nice family!

Recovery

Coach B rewarded us with a recovery week after several weeks of hard work. Recovery weeks make you realize what it is like to be a normal person again. They are so nice that I understand why she does not give us very many....we might be on the permanent recovery training plan! ;)

The recovery week started with these.......and I decided they are the motivation to train; otherwise, I would probably weigh 500lbs.

Jason worked part time last week on a job pushing silt out of the port of Anchorage. He's also working on some other plans in the next month or so.


Yesterday marked the end of our recovery. I was supposed to do the Bike For Women race in Anchorage, but wasn't feeling like racing. Beaker, Brendan, Jim, Jason & I decided to bike on the Seward Highway from Indian. Jason and I train there a lot, it is one of the most beautiful rides in Alaska and one of our favorite. But, it also has some serious wind and can be incredibly cold off the water. It makes for perfect Ironman training since everything in your head tells you to quit, you must keep going- a total mental toughness check.

Only in Alaska is there an avalanche on May 2nd that blocks your bike path!!! Check out the photo, we had to walk our bikes over the slide.


Brendan's seat post broke, so they had to quit a bit early and was an adventure in itself. Jason biked about 65 miles and I probably did 55 miles or so (my odometer was broken) and it was a bit longer than I hoped but those winds!!! A brutal headwind the entire way home. I think it was a good idea I couldn't see how slow I was going, I'm pretty sure you could have walked faster. After the bike, Brendan & Jason ran (10 miles) and Beaker and I (9.5 miles).




Finally, time for a burger, fries and a beer! ;) I think we earned it today.....3000+ calories burnt in a single day.