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 Swim
Comments: There is no way this course was a 1/2 mile. The start was a little rough, there was some roll to the water - and of course people everywhere. It's hard to break the "Hey, this is my lane" mind set!!! I had overheard a conversation in the motel lobby about how choatic the swim was. There are so many first time participants, many of which have never experienced open water. Because of this Danskin has "swim angels" which are volunteers that hang out in the water and will swim with you if you are having a hard time. So, I think chaotic was probably a good way to put it, although I have nothing to compare it to, maybe they're all this way. After what seemed like a long time the speedy swimmers in our wave got out in front and I got ahead of the slower ones. Ahh, some space to swim without crashing into people. I think I now know that if you have a lot of space there is a pretty good chance you are taking a scenic detour. The little detour cost me some time, but I don't think it was huge. The worst part was by the time I got back on course the speedy swimmers from the next wave had caught up to me. I think I made the best of it - I figured they knew where they were going so I just kept my head down and swam and let them do the navigating. What would you do differently?: I guess the answer to this one would be swim faster!!! I really thought the swim would be a much better event for me. Hopefully this experience of swimming through the herd will help out the next time. Maybe (if there is a next one) I will try to start off to the side and stay away from the middle.  Transition 1
Comments: The long T1 is not entirely my fault. Although it was a long a$$ way from the swim into the transition area (including having to run all the way around transition to the entrance which ended up being on the far end away from where my bike was:-). When I finally got to my bike there was another girl there. She had pulled her bike out and was taking her sweet time getting her stuff together. I managed to work around her to get my shoes on and the rest of the stuff I needed, but there was no way to get to my bike until she moved. What would you do differently?: I don't know!!! I'm not going to break any speed records so there's no need to be rude, but.....  Bike
Comments: My bike time ended up being much better than I expected. There was a bit of a headwind on the return so I didn't push it thinking I would save the legs for the run. In hind sight - I think I could have given it a little more and still been fine on the run. The bike is now my new favorite part of the sport:-) What would you do differently?: On this course I could have gone a little harder and still been fine for the run. Unfortunately that is one of those things you don't know for sure until it's over. Transition 2
Comments: All went pretty smoothly here. There is a bit of extra time because I took a gel and washed it down. I probably should have done it one the move. Some times gels don't go down so easily (I have a hard time with stuff that's thick) so I figured it was worth an extra min. or so to make sure I didn't gag - that would not have been a good way to start the run. What would you do differently?: If I going to take a gel maybe I should do that toward the end of the bike instead of during T2  Run
Comments: The run was fine - I didn't even have a bad case of "lead legs" off the bike. I was hoping to be able to keep my HR down a bit for the first mile, but it didn't happen. It was 172-174 the entire run, but that was fine. It was nice to not have any "issues". What would you do differently?: Right now, my run is what it is. I am able to cover the distance without a problem and am happy with that. Post race
Warm down: Lot of hugs and high-fives. Event comments: I think the Danskin series is super for a first time participant. The focus was on getting out there an doing it - and not necessarily about doing it fast. I met plenty of women that had done several tri's so those with more experience don't need steer clear of the series. As a first timer, it was nice to have plenty of company at the swim start all wondering exactly the same thing - "why was it I thought this was such a good idea!!!" It was great to be able to meet a few of the BT'ers that I have chatted with over the weeks of training and put faces with the screen names. Over all I would have to say this one goes down in the books as a success! Last updated: 2006-07-29 12:00 AM
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United States
Danskin
Overall Rank = 1079/1280
Age Group = 45-49
Age Group Rank = 108/120
Got up in plenty of time so I wasn't rushed. I had made arrangements with the Team Danskin coaches from Ocean City (MD) to ride to the race with them. We met up in the parking lot at 5:20 and all was running smoothly. After a couple of wrong turns and missing our exit to the Parkway things were getting a bit shaky. Finally we made it to Sandy Hook just in time to get stuck in traffic. I was in the 4th wave and my scheduled start time was 7:08. There was a lot of speculation in the car that with so many people stuck they would have to delay the start time. At about 6:45 I couldn't take it any more, we were close to a parking lot so I asked if they would mind pulling over and letting me grab my stuff and I would bike in. The other two that were racing decided that would be a good way to do it too. So I put on my silly bike shoes and slung my transition bag on my back and off I went. Check in was a fairly painless process. When I got to the transition area there was no space left on the rack. A big thank you to the couple of ladies that were there and slid their bikes over for me to get a spot. I quickly set out my stuff and ran off to the swim start. As it turns out they were delaying things to allow every one time to get there.
I suppose this part would be the biking in and rushing around. I was pretty warmed up by the time I got to the swim start:-)