ski like a girl survives blue lake tri

Well I did more than survive. I won my age group and came in 5th in the masters. Yes, I am dating myself by admitting that but who cares! I am a triathlete. Here are the race results if you want to take a peek. Blue Lake Results. Before the race family and friends would ask me what my goals were for the race and I would laugh and say "to finish." Secretly my goal was to win my age group and I did!!!

I have a lot of room to improve my times. Especially my run. I was super slow. Really slow, I didn't know I could run a 5k that slow. My transition times were crazy long too. It's like I forgot it was a race at times. One of my transitions was so long I could have squeezed in a spa treatment. Swim, massage, bike ride...?

I'm watching footage from the Kona Ironman as I write this cuz that's just how obsessed with this triathlon thing I've become. The opening shots are of early race morning at the pier in Kailua-Kona. It's so blue and beautiful and tropical and stressful and scary!

Yesterday's swim at Blue lake was easy for me. None of the fear or panic surfaced. I just focused on keeping my breathing even, my legs strong, and taking the next stroke. Remember my earlier fears over the open water swim? It's funny as I watch the Kona race footage my heart rate is higher than during yesterday's actual swim. Here are a few choice quotes from the commentary about the Kona Ironman swim.

• "It's a feeding frenzy out there."
• "It's scary out there."
• "There's nobody out there that's your friend."
• "Slapping your back. Pulling on your legs."
  
• "It's a washing machine, elbows, and arms. Kicking and screaming."
• "It's like a cross between swimming and wrestling."

This last one is my fav.

• "People clawing right over your back and kicking you and that's just the women."

Seriously, that's some scary stuff and that's just the start of the race.

Even Sister Madonna Buder, a nun and 76, gets all agro and wants to pull a guys goggles off because he was repeatedly nudging her during the swim. She's a nun! I'm going to have to toughen up. Finally as I watch, anxiety rising, the swimmers find a line and realize they have 2.4 miles to go. I'm struggling to build up to 1 mile!

I'm watching this as part of my plan to get to Kona. Some sort of sadomasochistic visualization exercise. Watch a stressful situation enough and you'll become accustomed to it. Right?

It's a good thing that I'm going skiing soon or I'd have to change this blog's name from ski like a girl to tri girl. Don't worry my dear ski friends. I'll get back to the ski talk soon. Promise.

Let me know how your doing in the comments. Or if you have any training tips (ski, tri, or anything else) I'd love to hear them. I'm on The Road to Kona! Wanna join me? I could use some training partners.
xoxo
-ski girl/tri girl


My very pink and girly transition area. Can I get anything else in pink? Oh yeah, a new pink race bike!

blue lake triathlon vs. world naked bike ride

Tomorrow is the big day and I'm ready. The Blue Lake Triathlon. A little pre-race jitters but I'm feeling good. I picked up my race packet today and my wave of the race has pink swim caps. Very girly, I love it.

For those of you who have absolutely no interest in triathlons let me offer you another biking option. This month our lovely Portland is home to Pedalpaloooza. Pedalpaloooza is 2+ weeks of biking fun. With 197 mostly free events.

Here are some of the more interesting highlights for this Saturday, June 13th, 2009.

The main event Saturday is the midnight World Naked Bike Ride.

WORLD NAKED BIKE RIDE

2181 NW Nicolai St

11:59pm

Join us in the largest naked ride in North America, and quite possibly the world, as we gently protest against the fossil fuel dependence, and show the world a better, funner way. Click here for more propaganda. The dress code is officially "as bare as you dare". The ride is a loop, starting and ending at the dance party. This is an unsupported ride, meaning you ride at your own risk.

Click here for Very Important Information Regarding Your First Naked Ride

You can also pedal sans bike shorts in the daytime with the WNBR Sunny Nekkid Ride.

WNBR SUNNY NEKKID RIDE

Coe Circle, NE 39th and Glisan

2:00pm

Proof Portland is twice the bike city of anywhere else: we kick it with two WNBR. This one because nekkid in the sun is sublime.

Or another option is the Fig Leif 5k and Off Road Naked Bike Ride. Wow if they would throw in a swim somewhere and this could be the new naked triathlon. And I was worried about the lack of support in my tri suit.


FIG LEIF NAKED RUN/RIDE

Forest Park, NW Leif Eriksen Drive
(500 yards beyond the NW Thurman Street gate)

7:30pm - 8:30pm, Gathering begins 15 minutes prior to the start This is the 4th Year of the Fig Leif 5K with the addition of Portland's first Off-Road Naked Bike Ride. Both events start at the paved section of NW Leif Erickson Road at 7:30pm on Saturday, June 13th. This is the area about 500 yards beyond the entry gate at the top of NW Thurman St hill.

Pick your ride and have fun. You know where I'll be tomorrow.
Keep in touch and let me know how your weekend goes. I'd love to hear from you. If you make it to the WNBR keep the pics to yourself.
xoxo
-swim, bike, and run like a girl