Danskin Chicago - Kicked Ass and Took Names!!!

It’s hard to believe that the race I’ve been training for, the original purpose of this blog, is now over. It’s been an incredible journey the past five months and when I stop and contemplate ... I am amazed by the differences I have forged in my life in such a short time. The best part is that I now know that I am only getting started in this triathlon journey and I am enthusiastic about the future challenges to come!! So now on to the race report :)

The Danskin Chicagoland is actually held in Pleasant Prairie Wisconsin which is just across the Illinois/Wisconsin border. Luckily Misa (my friend who was racing with me) and I have another college roommate and Pi Phi sister who lives about 25 minutes from the race so we made plans to hook up with her on Saturday and crash for the night. On Saturday, we had to attend the race expo and rack our bikes and Misa and I planned on meeting there since we were coming from slightly different directions. I arrived first and was amazed by the sheer size of the event. A HUGE transition area with what appeared to be a sea of bikes crammed right next to each other

There were women everywhere and lines everywhere. The other thing that caught my eye was the lake. I saw the swim exit and could see the beach on the other side which I assumed was the start... and let me tell you it looks a little intimidating! This is the view from the finish - see that beach WAAAY on the other side?? That's the start!


All I could think was “Wow, we have to swim all the way across that!”

When I got inside the RecPlex building a.k.a. race headquarters, there was a long list on the wall with names, race numbers, and wave assignments. I was 2309 and Misa was 2306 (kindof weird how close they were given we registered weeks apart) and I was happy to see we were both starting in wave 20 because there were lots of waves for our 30-34 age group. The lines to get my registration materials, chip checked, swim cap, tshirt and goodie bags were really short so I had everything I needed in just a few minutes. Misa still hadn’t arrived so I went and listened to Sally Edward’s presentation for first time triathletes. She is a pioneer in the sport and the Danskin spokesperson so was a pretty captivating speaker. Looking around I could see that there were a LOT of people nervous about doing their first triathlon, and a huge variety of women of all ages from trim athletic sorts to some who were quite frankly obese. Right after Sally's talk ended, Misa finally arrived. After getting all of her race materials we picked up the freebies at the expo ... having done only small races before I was impressed even though there were only a few booths.

The next big challenge was to rack our bikes. REI and Trek had stations set up for bike safety checks but the lines were REALLY long so we just went by the tire pressure checkers and pumper uppers and had our tires pumped up. By the time we were racking it was about 3 p.m. (racking had started at 10 a.m.) so of course there were absolutely no spaces near the bike exit. We found the group of racks we were supposed to use and luckily found two spots next to each though they were on the complete opposite side from the bike exit. After racking our bikes we walked the path from the swim exit to our bikes several times to have in our heads exactly where to go. With almost 4000 bikes in transition the last thing I wanted was to waste time in the race hunting for my stuff! Then we went to scope out the swim which kindof freaked out Misa since she only recently learned to swim and her first triathlon had an open water swim which was a really bad experience. We talked to one of the lifeguards and he explained the swim support that would be available - TONS of swim support. There were four docks positioned along the swim with lifeguards, lifeguards would be in kayaks and boats along the way, and volunteer swim angels would have noodles and would swim along if participants requested. You could climb onto a dock and rest, grab a noodle, hang onto a kayak, basically do whatever it takes to make it and it was totally legal. The lifeguard also told her that it was impossible for her to sink in the full length, long sleeve wetsuit she was going to wear which I think eased her concern.

After all of this rigamarole we headed to our friend Liz’s and went out to dinner at a nice Mexican restaurant by the lake where I had 2 - count 'em - 2 cocktails! Screw the whole my body is a temple the night before a race idea!! After we got back to her place there was some goofing around, here Liz a former competitive swimmer in high school was showing me how to put a swim cap on without it popping off and flying through the air (yes this has happened to me in public in front of *real* swimmers). I should mention Liz is 7 months pregnant or she would have been racing with us!!

So we got to sleep around 11 p.m. with the alarm set for 4 a.m. I had a hard time sleeping so I used that time to visualize my race. My biggest concern the night before was racing for the first time in my cycling shoes because it was SOOO far from my transition spot to the bike mounting area. I knew I was going to lose tons of time because there’s no way to run in those shoes with massive cleats. I thought about running barefoot with my shoes in hand and putting them on right before I hopped on my bike, but then I would totally be in everyone’s way who was exiting and I didn’t know if it was feasible to put on shoes while trying to hold onto my bike. I just decided to do my best walking in the shoes and to accept the time limitations.

The alarm went off at 4 a.m. and since I had basically been awake anyway I easily got up which was nice since I'm really not a morning person - just ask my mom. I put on my race outfit and after much consideration I decided on my black DeSoto top and silver DeSoto shorts because I thought they would look more slimming in pictures. I then grabbed some toast with peanut butter and had all of my stuff packed up and near the door when Misa got up about 15 minutes later. I even put on a little waterproof Mary Kay mascara because again, I thought it might look better in race pictures :) Misa had her breakfast and we were out the door around 5 a.m. I should mention that the transition area closed at 6:45 a.m., the elites started at 7 and we were scheduled to start at 8:12. We made great time to Pleasant Prairie then encountered bumper to bumper traffic at the exit for the remote parking area. It seemed like it took forever to get off the exit and get into the parking lot. At the parkin area we had to board school buses which would shuttle us to the race site. The crowd to get on was huge and luckily it only took about 10 minutes to get on a bus and get going because it was already after 6:15 so I was getting a little stressed. When we got to the race site, we had a little over 15 minutes til transition closed so it was a mad dash to get things set up. I had just put the finishing touches on everything when they started kicking us out - there were so many gals behind us at the parking lot and still on the road I wonder what happened to them??

We started walking around the lake to the swim start and were able to see the elite wave take off ... their arms looked like propellers as they were heading across the lake it was pretty impressive!! The next to start was the waves of cancer survivors which was pretty cool then we had about an hour to wait for our wave. We visited with other people hanging out, Misa obsessed a little about the swim, but we had already decided that we would grab a swim angel volunteer before she got in the water and ask her to swim alongside. Then we went to the potties and recall that this is a women’s only race .... so the lines were RIDICULOUS!! After 30 minutes of waiting I was in dire straights so I just decided to go “warm up” in the lake and pee. After I had sweet relief, I swam a little which really loosened me up. After that we only had about 10 minutes so we went to line up with our wave.

SWIM

It looked like there were about 30-40 in our wave and we were assigned hot pink swim caps. We saw the swim angels on the left so we moved that way and Misa started talking to them and a nice gal said she would swim with her and had a noodle she could use. Once I knew she would be taken care of, I turned my thoughts to my own race. Sally Edwards was there starting each wave and getting us pumped up - we were all chanting “I am a FAST swimmer” and high fiving each other - it was pretty cool. Then the count down began and we ran in!! I honestly didn’t think twice about Misa after starting (sounds bad, but I knew someone was watching out for her) I was in my race mode. It was a little crowded the first 100 meters or so and I had a few arms hitting my sides and legs and occasional feet kicking my arms but the group quickly seemed to spread out nicely. I fell into a nice freestyle pace quickly and the water conditions were perfect, just occasional chop from swimmers right next to me. I was sighting every 10 strokes because in the beginning you couldn’t even see the exit on the other side, it was more just sighting to the heads in front of you and the buoys or docks when you could see them. I was really comfortable the whole swim and only switched to breaststroke when there was a near collision that forced me to swim around someone or change directions. About 3/4 of the way across I started seeing some yellow caps which meant I had caught some of the swimmers in the wave ahead of me!! At the last dock, I all of a sudden felt very alone in my swim space and realized that I had veered to the right of the dock so I then angled in left to the swim exit. I literally swam until my arms hit bottom so I only had a very short way to run and headed up the beach - I looked at my watch and knew I was somewhere around 15 minutes and I was SHOCKED and excited because I had planned on around 20-22 minutes and I still felt strong and ready to tear up the bike!!

Swim Distance 1/2mile (800 meters)
My Swim Time 15 minutes 57 seconds
My Overall Ranking: 932/ 3620

We both survived the swim - seriously look how far that is!!

Transition 1

I quickly ran to my spot and found it without a problem. On goes the sunglasses, helmet, gels in the pocket and cycling shoes. Then the long awkward fast walk to the bike start. A few people would plop down right in the middle of the aisle and I actually had to lift my bike over someone sitting down right in everyone’s way but I remembered - first timers, chill out, keep going. Big crowds were yelling at the transition exit and bike mounting area and all I could think was clip in and DON’T fall!! Also, I remembered to check my brakes (thank god) because I had forgot to fasten my front brake the day before when reattaching my tire. I mounted the bike, clipped in my left foot had a few awkward strokes before my right foot got clipped in then I headed out to the sounds of cheering fans which was pretty cool.

Time: 3 minutes 7 seconds

BIKE

After exiting the race site, we were on a county highway and there was an immediate hill - probably the biggest one of the course and then two smaller ones. After we turned off onto the large loop it was pretty flat with a bit of a headwind. As soon as I was off the hills I immediately got onto my aero bars, switched to my big chain ring and decided to push the gears and go for some speed. The course was on nice country roads and really crowded. Though it was closed to traffic, it was still a challenge to navigate around people. Lots of folks were riding way to the left or in big packs so it required a lot of slowing down at times to get around people safely or to give them time to move right so I could pass. Now that I think about it I passed TONS of people, it seemed like all I was doing was calling out that I was passing and trying to give out encouragement to those who looked like they were struggling. I did get passed myself, but not by very many - I’m guessing 10 at the most. I was LOVING my cycling shoes and I felt pretty powerful. There were some rolling hills along the way but I never had to shift to my small chainring or get out of the saddle. I felt really good with my bike handling, cornering (even in aero position!) and shifting. There were some spectators along the way which was awesome, people in lawn chairs in their front yards or at intersections yelling encouragement. I particularly recall two elderly ladies in their huge sunglasses who were clapping and some adolescent boys just yelling out to everybody - very cool!! Towards the end we passed the Jelly Belly factory (mmm jelly beans) and then it was back to the three hills on the highway. I had been checking my watch all along and I knew I was ahead of the pace required to avg 16 mph - so I knew I was doing good. I ate a gel on the bike about 45 minutes into the race and I took water every 10 minutes or so. Near the end of the bike I realized I had to pee and I was really irritated about it because I was racing so well - I’ll even admit that I contemplated just peeing on the bike ... but apparently my bladder is opposed to such ideas because it wasn’t even an option when I tried. Once I headed into the race site I geared down and started focusing on clipping out “clip out and don’t fall, clip out and don’t fall” and though it wasn’t the most graceful dismount ... hey I didn’t fall!!

Bike Distance 20K/12.4miles
Bike Time: 43:59
My Pace: 16.9 MPH
My Overall Rank: 1081/3620

Transition 2

Another painfully long and awkward walk in my cycling shoes to my spot. Even more painful because I had to pee!! I quickly racked my bike,helmet off, cycling shoes off, socks on, running shoes on, grabbed race belt and visor and ran to the portapotties. Luckily I’ve always been quick in the peeing department (women in long lines love me I’m so quickly in and out) so though I was irritated about it, I really didn’t lose too much time - I was only 18 seconds longer at this transition. Out of the portapotty I ran to the exit. Also, I should mention that I did not sit at either transition, and overall I felt pretty fast given the size of the area and the newness of changing from cycling shoes to running shoes.

Time: 3 minutes 24 seconds

Run

My legs felt great when I started the run, much better than in any previous race or brick workout. I almost immediately fell into my normal running stride and I had to go around lots of walkers on the narrow running path. The course went around the lake then a small out and back on a road before continuing around the lake to the finish. At mile 1, I knew I was on pace with 10 minute miles but I slowed down a bit between mile 1 and 2 when I started to get hot and felt winded with some pain in the side. I took water at the first and second aid stations and just dumped it over my head on the third. On the out and back part I saw Misa who was looking strong so I forced myself to kick it up a bit because I didn’t want her to catch me!! I had about 3/4 of a mile to go at that point so I pushed it as hard as I could. I really started to hurt near the end, and even though I could see the finish line, it felt so far away!! There was a huge crowd along the chute with an announcer calling out names - I tried to get out of the pack at the finish because I was hoping for a solo finish picture (remember I’m vain!) and I was totally irritated that they didn’t call my name because they were announcing some winners of a Helzburg diamond whatever .. just say my name dude, even though I know you’ll totally butcher it! Someone placed a medal around my neck and a volunteer cut off my chip. I was feeling a little lightheaded and the crowd of people was just overwhelming so I had to keep walking and get away. I wasn’t sure if I made my 10 minute miles because I completely forgot to look at my watch or stop it at the end but I really didn’t have much left in me so I’m pretty sure I left it all on the course and could not have run one second faster. When I saw my splits I was happy that I met my goal and pleasantly surprised.

Run Distance - 5K/3.1mile
My Time- 30 minutes 41 seconds (5K personal record)
My Pace - 9:54/mile
My Rank 1119/3620

OVERALL RACE

TIME: 1 hour 37 minutes, 11 seconds
OVERALL RANK - 903/3620
RANK IN MY AGE GROUP - 137/379

I walked a minute or two and caught my breath then headed back to the finish area to look for Misa who I knew wouldn’t be too far behind. I never heard the announcer call her name but I heard Liz yelling for her then I saw Misa walk by oblivious with her iPod on. I should mention that Liz is 33 weeks pregnant but came out in the heat and sun with her folding chair to support us - that’s a friend!!! We finally all hooked up and congratulated each other on a fabulous race!! It turns out that Misa swam the whole way across with a noodle and the swim angel by her side - the swim angel kept trying to convince her to try it without the noodle to no avail. She was only 3 & 1/2 minutes behind me at the end so she made up a lot of time on her bike and her lighting fast 24 minute run!!

After the race we took pictures, grabbed our gear then went through the ordeal of getting to our cars, getting our cars to another location where we could ride our bikes to our cars. .... it’s too exhausting to describe and the only downfall to this event. We were lucky to have Liz with us because the line for the shuttle was an hour long, but we cut to the front because she looks like she’s ready to pop out the baby at any time. We convinced a volunteer to let us all on in front of everybody because “she’s not feeling well” while she was holding her belly as I kept my arm on her shoulder ... we could have gotten an academy award for the performance that's for sure :)

Overall this was a fabulous event!! I really enjoyed the female only aspect and the camaraderie that was felt between complete strangers all striving for the same goal. It was also really cool to do the race with a friend and have somebody to share the experience with. On a racing level, I loved the course, especially the swim and bike. Even if I hadn’t been so fast on the swim, it was just really fun to swim across a lake and not have to worry about turning around buoys. The bike was the most fun I’ve ever had on a bike - I wish all of my rides were closed to traffic!! As for my performance, I was really psyched at how well I did. In my wildest dreams, I would have never through I could finish in the top quarter of participants and in the top half of my age group on five months of tri training. It really blows my mind to think that at the beginning of the year I couldn’t even run 60 seconds without losing my breath, I wasn’t able to swim a length of the pool freestyle without stopping, and being on a bike longer than 5 minutes felt like medieval torture. Now I can run 10 minute miles, average almost 17 miles an hour on a bike and swim across a freaking lake!! The best part is that I’m only getting started so who knows what I’ll be capable of next year???

Another cool thing is the medal they gave to participants states "The woman who starts the race is not the same woman who finishes the race" and for me, that is definitely true. Next up is the Rose Brooks Women’s Triathlon in Kansas City on August 12th ... look out world!!!