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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
    Location
    Seattle, WA
    Posts
    2,208

    Last report for a little while, I swear - Danskin Seattle

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    This weekend I raced with my mother in law at the Danskin Womens Tri in Seattle. I have a sweet spot in my heart for this race, it was my first in 2006, and my mother in law did it the year before which is what got me motivated to say Yes I Can. It's a big race, so I can use it to experiment or race a little differently and know that it's pretty unlikely that I will place in the top 10 AG without another year of pushing on the running.

    So, last year, the race was ran by a different company when Trek and Danskin split and Sally Edwards went to Trek. This year, the race is managed by the same company as Trek, and does almost everything the same. It is the only race other than Ironman I've done where you drop off your bike the day before, I guess with up to 4,000 other people it's pretty rough to do that that morning. Seattle is supposedly the biggest Danskin race, Danskin supposedly the biggest women-only triathlon. All kinds of women do this race, seeing them finish and knowing the courage it took them to start the journey is pretty awesome.

    My mom-in-law (heretofore called "mom" because I don't really discriminate between moms) and I went down to packet pick-up and bike drop-off together. The expo was more sparse than usual, with the typical bare naked granola, danskin and REI booths, and I think there might have been a couple others, but not as big as 2006-2008 or even 2009. They also do body marking the day before, which is kind of weird, but again I guess the numbers make it hard to do the day of. You look up your # in a book (after you figure out that's what you're supposed to do, it took us a bit), go pick up your packet (where they totally didn't look at my USAT card), go to a separate line for your swim cap (they rotate 4 or 5 colors through up to 45 swim waves) and t-shirt (they were out of all but Small and Medium, and a different company made the Large and Extra Large so the Medium was actually bigger than the Large - not a problem for me but a lot of larger ladies do this race). They were also out of race bags, so we supposedly will get ours in the mail (one of those drawstring bag dealies). Bike racking is always entertaining, I am in the absolute wrong age group that is the maximum distance from swim start. I say the rest of us subtract 3-4 minutes from our transition times compared to the elites because there's no way to compare where their crap is to where ours is. The older you get, though, the closer you get, which is neat. Also, it was H-O-T in Seattle, abnormally so - several days at 90-95. I was really hoping to enjoy cooler race weather for the run.

    Because the race is so large, my mother in law and I start about an hour apart. We basically finish at the same time (linear time, not chip time), but her goal this year was to beat me to the finish. She started at 6:54 or so, I started at 8:02 or so. We stayed the night before with the in-laws and carpooled to the race around 5:30 in the camper van, which meant the bikes didn't have to be affixed to the outside of the car on our return (always an adventure with Colby's Small Framed Super Expensive Bike). I had a tasty bagel with PB for breakfast, split with my husband. I had to go to the bathroom before the race, it was just too long to wait... always an adventure in the tri suit. I got to see mom finish the swim (slightly ahead of schedule) and go off on her bike (running around everyone that was walking, go mom!) before I had to get in the water. There were HUGE numbers of people who had never raced before, so I was giving advice before the start - primarily not to panic and to stay calm. The wave starts are every 4 minutes, and I usually push to the front because I'm a decent swimmer.

    I talked it over with my husband and decided to experiment with the wetsuit. The water was 72, so I know I can swim without the wetsuit, but since I race the same course in September with the Trek Women tri, I decided to compare swim performances with/without the wetsuit. For reasons physical (the way you are buoyant? the way you roll? I am not very well practiced at swimming this year?) or psychological (not used to the cold water? thought I'd be slow so I was?), I added three whole minutes from last year. I know the water was more choppy because I could feel the chop compared to swims past, but it wasn't 3 minutes choppy. Maybe 1 or 2 total. Also, people can't swim in straight lines. I always panic about not swimming toward the buoy because it seems like nobody else is swimming the same line as I am, but I can basically sight the buoy, swim toward it, correct once or twice, and hit it dead on. Not so much for the people around me, which always mixes me up. I could tell halfway through the swim that there were too many caps of my color around me for me to be swimming my usual speed, but I kept muscling on. I powered out of the water and to T1 - the timing mats are way out of the water.

    Long, long, long, long jog to T1. Passing people most of the way. I was pretty happy with how I arranged my stuff in transition, it worked well. I made the long, long, long, long jog to bike start and hammered past a zillion people. One or two people caught up with me, so I kept hammering, the usual technique, I'm a pretty strong cyclist. Unfortunately the express lanes were down to one lane each way for part of the ride, and people were not moving RIGHT so I actually had to stop pedaling for a good 30 seconds at least twice to not run anyone over. I did not have to stop to ride up the short steep hill, which was great, though I did have to go really slow DOWN the hill instead of shooting out of it as I'd prefer, it was just not safe to pass. Again, add a 2 minute bonus to the elite racers who don't have to ON YOUR LEFT repeatedly I felt like the bike was a bit windy, but could have been worse, and has been worse in the past. It just felt like a constant "sand in your tires" type thing. Mostly uneventful - I fueled once at about 15 mins in, and once right before the finish. I tried to get more water in me but kind of spaced because I zone out so well (pictures show Race Face in full force). A couple of girls tried to keep up or leapfrog me, but toward the end I definitely had more oomph and they were long gone. Their legs were also 6" longer so I figured they'd catch me running anyway.

    On to T2.... and the long, long, long, long jog. I grabbed my bottle off my bike and put some more water in me, even though it slowed me down a bit. Put on the five fingers, which went on pretty easily. Spaced and strapped them too tight, so I stopped and loosened the straps - maybe I should switch to classics. The run start was also far away.

    The run is pretty flat, with one big hill, and some minor ups and downs. It felt hot. I put water in and on me, and kept my HR in the zone. For the first 1 or 2 miles, I feel like I need to stay around 178, then after that I can power on at 180+ for the last mile to the .1 when I can hit 185+ for the sprint finish. Still working on the metrics there. Anyway, I passed a ton of people, but that's how this race is. I passed a couple of people who looked like real runners (probably not triathletes, or negatively affected by the unusually hot weather), and only got passed by people who were clearly topping their age groups from age groups in/around my own, which means start times around my own.

    At the finish, I heard my triathlon life story. My father in law had chatted it up with the announcer who decided to share. "Here comes Colby, daughter in law of Mom, who just wants you to know she finished a long time ago. Colby saw Mom race in 2005 and went on to race her first Dasnkin in 2006, then went on to finish 3 Ironmans." All I hear is the crowd say "jeez" or "wow" and applaud, Colby's face officially turns red. Someone was trying to ask about my shoes but I was totally distracted by hearing my life story. Dear volunteer, thank you for being so patient with my Zoot timing chip strap, and yes, I love my Vibrams.

    Mom was there waiting for me, we hugged and took a picture together. I have a hard time putting into words what it means to share the experience. She has 2 boys and I am the first "daughter", this is something we share on a level that is pretty awesome. And hard to describe. We went off to find the water and food - bagels with cream cheese and peanut butter (not together), bananas, oranges, goldfish crackers, lemonade, red licorice, probably some other stuff. I got one of each bagel and some other stuff to eat and share a tiny bit with my sherpa/husband. We sat in the shade and chatted for a few minutes, then heard they were registering for next year, so of course we did. Next door were the results, where we found out we finished basically an hour apart - 2:28 and 1:29.

    So, after looking up the results, we'll see how the reverse of the wetsuit experiment goes in September. Of course, I'll probably swim more between now and then, too, which will make all things not exactly created equal. I had the 19th fastest bike time overall - faster than the 2nd place finisher - which makes me really wonder what I would have done with a little less traffic in front of me. I finally made it to 20.0 mph on this race/course. My run time was okay, I really need to go back to working on the run. Swim time was pretty ugh for me, had I not lost time there I would have really picked up a few minutes overall.

    .5 mi Swim 0:18:49
    12 mi Bike 0:35:53 (20.0mph)
    3.1 mi Run 0:28:55 (9:19 min/mi)
    Overall: 1:29:38. AG 22/339, OA 142/3313.

    Last year:
    swim: 0:15:20
    bike 0:37:09 (19.3mph)
    run: 0:29:54 (9:38 min/mi)
    Overall: 1:29:20, 24/374 AG, 151/3500 OA.

    My sprint distance goals for next year are to edge toward a 25 minute run, a sub 15-minute swim, and to keep on the bike pace - at least not lose time.

    Pictures... http://www.asiorders.com/view_user_e...859&LNSEARCH=1

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Posts
    378
    What a great report! Congrats to you and mom.

    I didn't know the story of how you got into triathlons. How perfect that you got to finish while they told the crowd of your fabulous tri accomplishments.

    I will say, though, that the more race reports I read about popular, large, women-only tris, the less I want to do one. Way too much "on your left" "on your left" "on your LEFT!" I can see why this one is special for you, but it had to be frustrating not to be able to actually race.

    Sounds like you have a very long tri season up there. Things are definitely winding down in this neck of the woods. Looking forward to the results of wetsuit vs. non-wetsuit.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
    Location
    Seattle, WA
    Posts
    2,208
    Quote Originally Posted by Alex View Post
    What a great report! Congrats to you and mom.

    I didn't know the story of how you got into triathlons. How perfect that you got to finish while they told the crowd of your fabulous tri accomplishments.

    I will say, though, that the more race reports I read about popular, large, women-only tris, the less I want to do one. Way too much "on your left" "on your left" "on your LEFT!" I can see why this one is special for you, but it had to be frustrating not to be able to actually race.

    Sounds like you have a very long tri season up there. Things are definitely winding down in this neck of the woods. Looking forward to the results of wetsuit vs. non-wetsuit.
    It is a little frustrating - I'm glad it's not the only race of the season for me. I am impressed with some of the age group girls that managed to finish top 10, they would probably rock the elite category if they were in it. It's a great experience, but you have to go into it with a different mindset.

    My last is September 19 in Seattle, there's one more race here in Spokane on September 12. After that it switches to "running season" more or less, which goes through November (or later in Seattle, though chilly and wet).

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    Seattle, WA
    Posts
    1,764
    Colby! I did think about you and the others because it was hot. Yeesh...and that little hill on the run course is not shaded, as I recall. Great race report though

    You're running in Vibrams now? I go away for a few years, see what happens. I've toyed w/the minimalist idea but for now, it isn't for me. Have thought about getting them for around the house and going for walks, might do some good.

    What're you doing 9/19?

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Dec 2005
    Location
    New Jersey
    Posts
    1,940
    What an awesome story. That is so great that you get to do that with your Mom.

    I also think it is great that although you are an IM, that you really enjoy doing the shorter races and blowing it out. Makes me feel better about my recent SNAFU with the HIM.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    Uncanny Valley
    Posts
    14,498
    Way to go Colby. Loved your writeup. What a great experience doing it with your MIL!
    Speed comes from what you put behind you. - Judi Ketteler

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    St. Pete, FL
    Posts
    1,101
    Another great race report and race for you! Awesome race!
    If I could just get the swim part down 1/2 as good as you do!
    K
    katluvr

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
    Location
    Seattle, WA
    Posts
    2,208
    Quote Originally Posted by teigyr View Post
    Colby! I did think about you and the others because it was hot. Yeesh...and that little hill on the run course is not shaded, as I recall. Great race report though

    You're running in Vibrams now? I go away for a few years, see what happens. I've toyed w/the minimalist idea but for now, it isn't for me. Have thought about getting them for around the house and going for walks, might do some good.

    What're you doing 9/19?
    Yeah, only a little of the run is shaded at all where we're running on the right side of the road for shade (sometimes there is shade, we're just not in it! ), and definitely not the hill.

    I wear my Vibrams for daily wear, too, and that's what my husband uses his for. I basically tell people if you like to walk around barefoot, it's like cheating and wearing shoes but feeling barefoot at the same time. Whether you run or exercise in them is another issue entirely.

    9/19 - the Trek Women version of the exact same race

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
    Location
    Seattle, WA
    Posts
    2,208
    Quote Originally Posted by rocknrollgirl View Post
    What an awesome story. That is so great that you get to do that with your Mom.

    I also think it is great that although you are an IM, that you really enjoy doing the shorter races and blowing it out. Makes me feel better about my recent SNAFU with the HIM.
    Selfishly, I'm more competitive at shorter distances, but I think it's the training for longer races that make that possible. Short races are fun and the terrain is interesting - it's nice to push hard over a hill and not have to pay for it at mile 49 or 105 of the bike or mile 10 or 20 of the run I really like the Olympic distance for a bit more challenge than a sprint - a taste of the long course, but not a grueling day, and not pushing into racing the hottest part of the day. I guess I just love racing, but I don't always love training.

    I saw a bumper sticker someone had made, it said "14.6". Awesome.

    Thanks everyone for your kind words. Summer's not over yet!

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
    Location
    Mississauga -a "burb" outside Toronto
    Posts
    648
    As always- a wonderful RR. I think it's fantastic that you can share this with your "other" mom.


    "You can't get what you want till you know what you want." Joe Jackson

    2006 Cannondale Feminine/Ultegra/Jett

    2012 Trek Speed Concept 9.5/Ultegra/saddle TBD

  11. #11
    Join Date
    May 2008
    Location
    Little Egypt
    Posts
    1,867
    How neat that you got to share your day with your Mom. I'm blessed with a great daughter-in-law that I have raced with twice now so I have a feeling how how proud your MIL must be of you---so proud she had to tell the announcer all about you

    Great report and cool pics.
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