Danskin veterans - vacation around tri?

Tootall,

How you feel after the race will depend on a few factors. 1)Training 2) Diet 3) Proper Rest.

The most important factor will be your training. Following a regular training plan before your race will be helpful so that you are not sore or extremely tired after the race. Proper training will prevent strained muscles.

Feed your body right during training, race day, and the recovery period. Hydrate.

Do your best to get a decent night sleep for a few nights before the race (you'll want a decent night's sleep on the night before the race, but I challenge you to find someone who slept well the night before the first race--it's like trying to go to sleep before Santa comes).

My experience was that I was good for family activities following the race. I felt ready for bed a bit earlier (7 instead of 9 that evening). The next day I felt great...keep your medal around your neck, it's like Kryptonite!

The race review and clinic the day before is manditory. Also, I find I do better on a race if I can prepare mentally the day before. It helps to visualize the race, imagine yourself going through each transition. I would not be walking around a theme park the day before - even if it is just walking, that is not the best way to tapper before a race.

You might be able to be a tourist the day after the race if you think you'll have the energy. It depends on how hard you will push yourself. It would be a bummer if you were all whipped and couldn't actually enjoy the rest of your vacation. For example, after one particullarlly hot and draining race, I developed a debilitatating migraine the afternoon after the race. I stayed in bed with the lights off the whole day. So just listen to your body and stay hydrated.

I haven't done a triathlon yet, but I have experience with hauling kids around Disney and Seaworld. My advice is to skip the tourist stuff altogether on Saturday and plan to do Seaworld on Monday. Seaworld is a great park: little enough to do everything, lots of sitting for shows, lots of leafy walks with things to see - it works really great with little kids. In fact, it's a lot more fun in some ways than the Disney parks just because it's so manageable. I find a day at a Disney park to be very exhausting and depleting. I found Seaworld to be refreshing.

Another idea might be to do Seaworld over two days - part of Saturday and part of Monday and maybe do some evening things at Disney on Monday.

I'm doing the Danskin in Webster, MA and I'm planning on bringing my 14 year old daughter with me on Saturday and doing some clinics together (she's a high school cross-country runner) and stay in a hotel overnight (I think) and then she'll be my pit crew for the triathlon. That's my plan, anyway... just make it a week-end getaway for just us girls.

Gwendal

I did the Chicagoland Danskin last year. I spent about 2 hours there on Saturday, listening to the course talk and getting marked. I could have done it in less time, but I wanted to hear the talk to prepare myself, and it was helpful. I would hang out at the pool, and maybe go to Seaworld (shows, less walking, lines, and rides) if you really want a theme park the day before. I wasn't so wiped after, just energized, but getting up at 5 and finishing at around 11 took the better part of the day. The next day I was so high on life I would have done anything.

Good luck! It's such a great, motivating race, that I did two more last summer and now I'm hooked!