Danskin Walt Disney World Triathlon - TriathlonSprint


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Orlando, Florida
United States
Danskin
70F / 21C
Sunny
Total Time = 1h 02m 13s
Overall Rank = 176/1156
Age Group = 40-44
Age Group Rank = 36/152
Pre-race routine:

Woke up in hotel at 4am, got dressed and tried to put on chip w/ankle band provided, which would have fit my son's wrist, but not my ankle. Decided to head over early and a)get a new strap, and b) make sure I had a bike to ride. Ate some pretzels, a cheese stick, an apple and some tea, plus an Access bar once on site. Found the bike, checked the shifting and brakes and pedals, set up and walked around finding my team and collecting on the beach.
Event warmup:

Of course, Disney scheduled the race start for 6am and will not start the race until it is light out. Like it's hard to figure out when it will get light??? Wouldn't let us warm up in the water even tho' I'd asked specifically and been told we could. So mostly we stood around waiting for the light, Shannon did a prayer for our team, we all sorted ourselves into our waves and Kim and I headed to the ramp for 3rd wave. 6:30 and the recorded Minnie Mouse voice said "10-9-8....1...and we have just started the Women Run The World 15K!!!" Guess they forgot to edit the tape from last week...major mouse faux pas but I'm not sure anyone really noticed. Survivor wave took off (inspiring) then the greenies, then Kim and I moved into the water and splashed a bit on us as Sally Edwards told us our wave's word was FANTASTIC....
Swim
  • 08m 54s
  • 400 yards
  • 02m 13s / 100 yards
Comments:

Had to navigate around a bunch of swimmers with angels and noodles and the occasional kayak, but I seemed to find my way fairly well, and to stay in the middle of the pack, but I did not feel like I got my groove until the very very end. Did breaststroke here and there. Tried a little drafting here and there, too.
What would you do differently?:

do a real warm-up, preferably in the water. Figure out a way to maintain my form better in the heat of competition. Care more about swimming fast. But my time was good and pace ok - I bet the course was short :-)
Transition 1
  • 02m 12s
Comments:

This was the first time with cycling shoes and running shoes. I washed my feet with spare water bottle, which girl next to me liked, so I squirted hers, too. Felt good to be nice. Overall I was fairly quick, most of the time was running in and out.
What would you do differently?:

Not much, T1 felt good - fairly quick but calm.
Bike
  • 29m 3s
  • 9 miles
  • 18.59 mile/hr
Comments:

At a Danskin you can expect to do a lot of passing if you want to ride fast, and that happened. I was a bit more cautious than I would normally be because of my first time riding aero bars. Felt like I spent a LOT of time yelling ON YOUR LEFT, and tried to make myself go faster because I knew that this was where I could do the best. Got passed by a few, tho' I think youngsters from the next wave. I just wanted to keep on riding....Also, on our results they show my pace at 17.5, so I suspect they shortened the course without telling us - darn you BLACK RAT.
What would you do differently?:

Well, it probably wasn't the best idea to ride a demo bike but I think that the unfamiliarity was more than made up for by the speed of the bike - which was amazing. I also felt like I was expected to ride better since I had such a cool bike. I might stick some solid fuel in my pocket in a real sprint, but the Succeed Ultra I had in the bottle did the job.
Transition 2
  • 01m 43s
Comments:

Ran right by the rack and on to the run exit...somehow I had thought there were two entrances from the swim side of the corral so I was looking for the 3rd rack from the 2nd entrance, when there really was only one, so I had to go back and my friend and Coach both noticed. That threw me a bit. ALso had some indecision about whether to take water or not, and hat or not, and had to clean sunglasses.
What would you do differently?:

Next time I'd just make a decision in the morning and stick with it - I mean, not to be inflexible but it did take more time to wonder about the hat than it did to just stick it on my head. And I shamefacedly admit that the main reason I didn't want to wear it was to look good in pictures SHEESH!
Run
  • 20m 20s
  • 2 miles
  • 10m 10s  min/mile
Comments:

You know, I have a lot of miles under my belt, and I know I've improved my speed a bit but I also have a pretty good sense of pace - I know if I took a wheel through there it wasn't 2 miles. Didn't think it was 2 years ago either. Wish they'd just be real about this race course - it's hard to celebrate 10.5 minute miles when you KNOW you weren't running that fast. Also got mad at myself when teammate Kim passed me and I didn't even try to run faster. I finally ran a bit faster for the last 1/2 mile.
What would you do differently?:

Push harder, run faster, trust my training and that I can do it.
Post race
Warm down:

Find my crew, cheer in the others behind me, eat a cookie and some grapes, get DH and DS off the monorail, return the demo bike (sob) and head to the pool.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Mental toughness...kept just enjoying the scenery and experience instead of remembering I was IN A RACE....I had the training and the fitness to do better and I didn't...shame on me.

Event comments:

What made this race amazing for me was the team of women I trained with and our awesome coach and his family, and our families who supported us. While I was not so happy with my own mental performance, my physical performance wasn't bad, and was a great improvement over last time. I am still not happy with what Disney does to the Danskin spirit - cutting courses short and having cutoffs, just so they can get the park open and make $$$$. I'd be much happier if we did the Danskin in another city or venue...it's an incredible program and so inspiring to introduce women to the sport!




Last updated: 2006-02-04 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:08:54 | 400 yards | 02m 13s / 100yards
Age Group: 0/152
Overall: 319/1156
Performance: Average
Suit: none...it was wwarm...
Course: Triangular course in lagoon
Start type: Wade Plus: Waves
Water temp: 0F / 0C Current: Low
200M Perf. Average Remainder: Average
Breathing: Below average Drafting: Good
Waves: Navigation: Good
Rounding: Good
T1
Time: 02:12
Performance: Good
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
Wetsuit stuck? Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike:
Getting up to speed: Average
Biking
00:29:03 | 09 miles | 18.59 mile/hr
Age Group: 0/152
Overall: 74/1156
Performance:
Wind: Little
Course: A very tight Uturn at about 1 mile, maybe less, then along Disney property roads, mostly nowhere, by the sewage smell area, and then a dog leg right with a very tight uturn at the end and back in. One section of single lane sharing which was well marked.
Road: Smooth Dry Cadence:
Turns: Average Cornering: Good
Gear changes: Good Hills:
Race pace: Comfortable Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 01:43
Overall: Bad
Riding w/ feet on shoes Bad
Jumping off bike Bad
Running with bike Good
Racking bike Bad
Shoe and helmet removal Good
Running
00:20:20 | 02 miles | 10m 10s  min/mile
Age Group: 0/152
Overall: 435/1156
Performance: Average
Course: Through the Magic Kingdom, lots of turns and lots of concrete and some really awesome volunteers encouraging us.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Average
Mental exertion [1-5] 3
Physical exertion [1-5] 2
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge Too easy
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? No
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Average
Race evaluation [1-5] 4