Danskin Triathlon--7/8/07

Below is my assessment of Danskin, the first triathlon I did. Each category gets a rating of *s, five *s being the highest.

Swim Route--**** 1/2 The water was warm, the swim a straight shot across the lake (a man-made lake no less, so no huge waves or current), and Danskin provides "swim angels" for the less confident swimmer. A "swim angel" will literally swim with you the whole way holding a noodle, ready to hand it to you the minute you need it. The swim is a 1/2 mile, which is on the longer end for a sprint triathlon, but I enjoyed it.

Bike Route--**** A few monster hills (but then again, every hill to me is a monster hill) on this 12-mile route, but the roads are completely closed off and smooth and the course is relatively straight, so no worries of getting cut off by other bikers or inattentive drivers. There was one water stop along the bike route, but I didn't use it. I like to think I was going too fast, but the truth is probably more like I was too tired to reach out for it. Very little if any shade that I can remember, so hydrate hydrate hydrate.

Run Route--**** VERY flat; a nice little jaunt around the (man-made) lake and into a residential neighborhood on paved sidewalks. There was NO shade on this route and the first water station was at the halfway point (the run is 3.1 miles, like all other sprint triathlons), so that was a little grueling. But they made up for it in the second half of the run with a spray hose and a fire hydrant to run through, which on that (mid-80s) day was well needed.

Accomodations--** Parking was a mess. There was no designated parking on-site; you were supposed to park at a mall about 5 miles away and shuttle in, but from what I heard the shuttles were late and there were problems. We got as close as we could before the roads were closed off and parked at a Culver's and walked the mile or so to the race, which worked out much better. The day before was also very crowded (the line to rack bikes was enormous), but then again, it also added to the excitement.

Goody Bag--***** Lots of great free stuff! And my Danskin shirt is far and away the best race shirt I've ever received. It's a tank vs. a T-shirt, which is a nice variety, and it's a poly blend vs. cotton, so I can work out in it! (The little things get me excited.) I still use my Sport Beans water bottle, too. Oh, and I forgot to mention the stylin' medal they put around your neck when you finish! I felt like a rock star.

Volunteers/Staff/Spectators--***** Very enthusiastic, fun people watching and working the race. Being an all-female race, there was an atmosphere of pride and support all around. Overall it was the perfect triathlon to start.

Sidebar: Erika told me this story after the race was over. She was camped out at the Run Out area (the place where athletes run out of the transition area to begin their run) waiting for me to come through, when an athlete walked by. This wasn't unusual, as many women walk the run part of Danskin. The woman then pulled out her cell phone and dialed. "Yeah, hi, how are you? Yeah, I'm just starting the run part" she said, as she strolled on by. Obviously, Danskin is a very low-stress, low-pressure race.

Wisdom I Gleaned: In the course talk (the talk on the day before the race where they give you little tidbits of info and experience to take with you on race day, not to mention the rules), if they tell you it'll be a hot day and to hydrate, THEY MEAN IT. I kept telling myself I'll start by 8:00 a.m. and be done by 10:00 a.m., so it won't be all that hot yet. That was stupid. I didn't drink enough before the race nor did I drink enough on my bike, and by the time I got around to running I felt like I was going to throw up. I think I was worried about needing to pee, but the truth is, I was so dehydrated that peeing was the furthest thing from my mind. Now I'm all about the hydrating.

So what did I take away from my first triathlon? The bug. I HAD to do another one. This whole time I was training for this one race, never considering that it would be my "first triathlon", not my "only triathlon". But I knew when I crossed the finish line that it was something I'd be doing again.