Danskin Tri for the Cure - TriathlonSprint

We were the first people ever to swim in the lagoon at California Adventure. The entry was down a metal ramp covered with mats. However, there were a few places where the metal was exposed and that was a little sensitive on my feet, but it wasn't too bad. I stayed towards the back of the wave because I'm a slow swimmer. I actually swam the entire race backstroke because I have trouble swimming free stroke and breathing. It was kind of cool to be swimming backstroke and looking up at the big sun on the Ferris Wheel, the giant orange, and the other rides and sites around the lagoon. I didn't push too hard, I just enjoyed the swim and tried to stay out of the way of the faster swimmers. Each wave was only 3 minutes apart so it wasn't too long before the fast swimmers in the next wave overran me. I actually got smacked in the face (smashed my goggles into my eye) at one point, which kind of hurt. There were two places around the points where the gazebos were where I could stand up. I discovered this when I turned over/around to site and my feet hit the cement bottom. I walked for about 10-15 feet before I turned around and started swimming again. After the first 100 yards or so, my breathing was pretty steady. I don't think I was too out of breath when I got out of the water. The exit was up the same ramp where other waves were still entering so it was tight. My first step was onto an uncovered metal ramp and I almost fell over but they had lots of people helping pull people stand up and get steady on their feet. It was a really cool swim.

I would still like to learn to swim free-style and breath properly but then I wouldn't get to see as much scenery. Hee Hee.

Wow. It certainly didn't seem like I was in transition for 15 minutes. But, I will say that it was a good walk from the swim exit at the lagoon al the way out to the parking lot where the transition area was. So, that probably took a couple minutes. I did not run it, I wanted to save my energy for the bike and run. In transition, I actually told myself to slow down, don't forget anything. Last year, I forgot to put on my bike shorts so I didn't want to do that this year. I remembered to drink some Gatorade, put on sunblock, chapstick, blow my nose, etc. Also, I had to use the bathroom on my way out of transition, so that took a couple minutes.

Obviously, I need to improve on my transition time but I was worried about getting out on the bike course and realizing I forgot something. This was only my second race ever.

The Bike was good. It was mostly flat. The only hill was the overpass over the 5 freeway, which we did twice. I hate hills and I do terribly on them but this was OK. I did slow down but I was able to peddle through them and actually passed another cyclist so that was cool. The roads were all closed and/or blocked off so there was no traffic crossing through our path. That was great!!! I have really been pushing hard on the bike in the gym. A while back I realized that when I'm riding the stationary bike, I peddle continuously but when I'm on the street, I tend to peddle some and coast some. So, for this race, I was determined to peddle the entire time, which I did for the most part. But again, I was really trying to enjoy myself and take everything in. So, when it was safe to do so, I pulled my camera out and took a few pictures of the pack in front of me and the route. I drank Cytomax through out the ride and I felt good and had energy. BTW, I don't do the clip things, I ride in my running shoes. The clips scare me.

Need to work more on hills.

Had some Gatorade, chapstick, cycle shorts off, bathroom again, etc. Could have been faster. Maybe next time.

The tram road was a little boring but it was nicer than running on the street with cars and the tram road segment was short. It was neat going through the back lot areas and it was really cool running through the park, it was not open to the public yet. They had music playing throughout the park, not Disneyland music, but regular workout music, although a few of the songs were a little slow paced. It was still really exciting. The race site said the distance was 2.5 miles but my total run time was 31:50 and they list my pace as 15:55. Therefore, I calculated that the distance must have only been about 2.047 miles. That seems more appropriate because even when I've been pushing myself hard at the gym it takes me at least 37 minutes to go 2.5 miles and I don't think I was pushing at that kind of a rate. But, I did run quite a bit, which was great for me. In my first ever race last year, I had to walk the entire run segment because I was so wiped from the bike and I had tweaked my knee two weeks before last year's race. So, it felt really great to be able to run this time and I was very pleased with my time.

Continue to improve my running ability and time.

I was in the 5th wave since I registered in the 40-44 Age group. My friends registered for the Mixed group even though they are both in the same age category as me. So, their wave didn't start until 27 minutes or so after mine. I still thought they would catch and pass me on either the bike or run leg because last year I took an hour longer than them to finish. However, they didn't catch me. My overall time was 2:01:08 and they finished in 1:48. It was weird crossing the finish line and not having any friends there to greet me. I had to wait for them for about 15 minutes or so. Therefore, I walked around and had a banana, some water and energizing jelly beans. I actually felt like I had some energy left like I could have gone a little farther. Last year, I felt numb and in shock at how hard the course was (in Lake Las Vegas in 107 degrees) and I really couldn't believe that I had finished. This year felt so different. I think the 20 additional pounds I lost since last year made a huge difference. It was fabulous!!! I actually want to do another race or two this fall. However, I will add that I finished the race at 8:13 a.m. and by 2:00 p.m. in the afternoon, I felt comatose and took a 3 hour nap. But, I didn't have any soreness yesterday or today from the race. I'm hoping and assuming that the race will be at Disneyland again next year and I'm definitely going to do it again.


I still have more weight to lose and I think my times will continue to improve.


There were no water stations on the Bike leg and only one on the run. But, I had plenty of water and fluids with me so it wasn't a problem.