If this is a sign of things to come, I'll take it.

Sunday was my indoor triathlon at Lifetime Fitness in Dublin. It went really well.

SWIM: Okay, so this part maybe didn't go so well. I managed to get in 15.5 pool lengths in 10 minutes. Le sigh. I'd like that to at least be at 20. I still have like 8 weeks of masters swim to do, and technically I have only attended one full class so far. That means when "real" tri season starts, I should be in much better shape in the water. Overall though, I'll take it.

BIKE: Went GREAT. I found a good cadence right away and just kept with it. My avg mph in the first couple minutes was around 29mph, but by the 5 minute mark, my legs had warmed up after the spin. I was then able to keep a cadence of 32-34mph for the next 25 minutes. At the end the reader showed I did approximately 15.6 miles in 30 minutes. Sure, it's on a stationary spin bike, but I'll take it!

RUN: Also went GREAT. I got on the 'mill, and I just felt strong. I did about one minute at 5.5 to get my legs going, then I cranked it up to 7mph. As the time went by, I just kept upping the speed - 7.1, 7.3, 7.5. I had to turn it back down to 7.2 around the 12 minute mark, but I jacked it up to 8mph for the last minute and a half. When all was said and done, I pulled off 2.34 miles in 20 minutes. That was an 8:32 pace. Hells yeah. I now know that there are NO excuses when I get to the run. I am more than capable of moving my leggies and fast. Sub 9 minute miles, all the way.

Overall - I ended up finishing 5th out 0f 30 women in the "Women's Open" Category. Out of the 87 people that raced overall, I finished 18th. I'll take it. WOOOOOT!

How I pulled out the numbers, I have no idea. But it felt fantastic, and I cannot wait for the actual tri season to begin. The crazy thing though is - I have yet to sign up for ANY tris beyond the Minneapolis one in August. I need to get on that........

How do I register?

Alright, all, I have a logistical question. Here's the deal.

I am about ready to start committing to my summer race season. I know what races I want to do, so now I really just need to register for them. I'll be doing all local races, as the summer is already shaping up to be very travel heavy for other parts of my life. Therefore, local racing it will be.

Here's the dilemma.

As of this morning, my weight was 150.6 on the gym scale. My home scale tells me I am at about 147. I tend to go with the gym scale as more accurate since it probably cost more than $15 from Bed, Bath and Beyond.

For nearly every tri I want to do, there is an Athena category. Athenas are female triathletes weighing 150 pounds or more.

By May, or June, or July, I will probably not weigh 150 or more. Between my continued training and racing, I am guessing that 0.6 pounds or more will fall off before any of my scheduled triathlons. BUT - I have trained for two half marathons before and not lost a pound. I possibly could still be 150.1 or more by my first triathlon.

So how do I register? Competing in the Athena category pits me against women who are definitely more my size. Considering many of your top age group triathletes are probably in the 120-135 range (I would assume), my extra 15 pounds makes a definite difference. But again, I don't race purely to try and win. But it sure would be nice to finally have a top 3 finish at some point in my life. As an Athena, I have that chance. In my age group, no shot in hell.

I wouldn't cheat - if I ended up being 149 on the day of the race, I assume I could alert the race director to put me in my age group, right? Or do I just go ahead and register for my age group anyway and try and push myself to the extreme?

Help?

These are a few of my favorite blogs....

(if you did not read (sing) the title to this blog post to the tune of "My Favorite Things" from the Sound of Music, please go back and do so. i'll wait......)

Anyway, Everymantri.com currently has its "Best Endurance Blogs of 2010" race going on. I point this out because some blogs I especially enjoy are on the list. Maybe some of your favorite blogs are listed, too. You can place your vote by clicking HERE.

I have two real favorites on the roll of nominees. The first is:

Punk Rock Tri Guy

Why? you ask. Well, because not only is his blog pretty funny, he's a man on a mission doing what he loves. I admire that greatly. Not only is he out there racing, meeting lots of other blog peeps while doing so, he also has an awesome gear line (Punk Rock Racing). I was lucky enough to snag a tech tee in a giveaway not so long ago. I have no idea why I haven't posted a photo til now. So here it is:

My face is covered by the phone because I took this photo at about 4:45am before heading out to spin class. No one is pretty at that time of day(night?). So I spared you.

My other fave on this list is:

Steve in a Speedo?! Gross!

If the name of the blog itself doesn't intrigue you, then, well......maybe the blog isn't for you. But I appreciate that Steve is a non stop blogger constantly pushing himself towards new goals - with brightly colored gear almost always in tow. It's also fun to hear about the racing exploits of his wife "Pharmie." Overall just fun reading.

So, go over to everymantri and place your votes!!!