Re: 's Danskin report

[Guest guest]

Long and ramblely or not, that was an awesome report, ! I love

hearing these stories of amazing women doing extraordinary things!!!

Very motivating.

Congrats!

April

[Guest guest]

- You ROCK, woman! Congratulations to you!

Bette

[Guest guest]

What a WONDERFUL report ! It sounds like you had an amazing time.

Sometimes it is precisely when things don't go the way we want them to, that

they go the way we NEED them to. You know what I mean? I was on a triathlete

bulletin board the other day and someone (a man) was mocking all women

triathlons, calling them chick triathlons..., " we do not refer to women as

farm animals " I informed him.

Anyhow, one of the topics that came up was makeup and he started in on how

stupid it was that a woman would put on makeup for a triathlon, or during a

transition (someone had said they'd seen some ladies putting on the lipstick

during the transition and just having a ball). He said that the beautiful

women where the athletic women who were out there putting in their personal

bests. He got a lot of replies, as you can imagine. What I told him was what

I saw all throughout the Danskin on Sunday.

The beautiful woman is the woman who stands at the edge of the lake,

terrified, but jumps in anyhow.

The beautiful woman is the woman who rides her rickety bike along at a less

than stellar pace, but does it with a big smile on her face.

The beautiful woman is the woman in the run who keeps on going and calls out

encouragement to others, despite her own exhaustion.

And the most beautiful woman is the overweight, undertrained, haggard,

harried, non-athletic woman who didn't truly believe she could do it, but

did it. People who have always been athletes will never " get " that

triathlons are about more than times and paces and winning. They are about

setting forth personal challenges and meeting them. They are about doing

things that we never thought we would ever be able to do. Those of us for

whom exercise is a relatively new " concept " win every single time we race

just because we did it.

Did you see the shirts that a group of women we wearing? They had

Bingham's quote on the back, " The miracle isn't that I finished. The miracle

is that I ever began. " I love that quote because it is so true. When I was

having my " I'm just going to go tell Roy I can't do it. I just can't. "

moment I saw someone with that shirt and it actually helped. I just kept

telling myself, " All you need to do is start...the rest will take care of

itself. Just go to the start line and start. "

Next year we'll coordinate better!

> 's Danskin report

>

>

>

> Sunday I finished my 5th Danskin Tri. I really wanted that

> medal!! On Saturday morning I headed down to the expo to get

> my number and register. It was crazy, but considering the

> crowds, it was an organized chaos and it went pretty well. I

> kept looking for my friends who were doing it too, including

> Tory I had 5 friends doing this for the first time! I saw

> other people I knew but didn't know they were doing Danskin!

> That was fun. Including my daughter's teacher she'll have

> this year. I won't be able to go to the " meet the teacher "

> day, so I introduced myself then. After about 30 minutes in

> line I spotted Deena, and right at the same time, the 2 women

> in front of me and I started calling " DEENA!! " Then we

> laughed that we knew the same Deena. She's in Team Survivor,

> just 2 months out of her second chemo for breast cancer.

> From then, the line moved faster! Got marked, looked up some

> other numbers of friends, got my shirt, swim cap and goody

> bag. I didn't get anything at the expo but I did join the

> local bike club. By then I had a headache and just wanted to

> get my bike racked and get home! Drove to the park to rack

> my bike- it was early enough that I got a good end spot just

> between the bike start and bike finish. Came home to a quiet

> house- Tom and the girls had gone with a group of neighbors

> to go river tubing in Leavenworth.

>

> Got my stuff together. That night I could not sleep. I was

> awake every half hour and finally got up at 4. Made coffee

> and my usual pre-race peanut butter sandwich on whole wheat.

> This time I just could not eat it. Saved it for in the car-

> still couldn't eat it, it just made me gag. I picked up

> Deena and we were off. Got to the shuttle area at 5:45. Got

> to the park and got set up. Still couldn't eat my sandwich.

> Found my friend a, who was set up just behind me. We

> walked over to where her daughter was racked up, she's 14 and

> was over by TS. Didn't see Deena or Tory and figured they

> must be down by the swim start already. We got in the

> porta-potty line, double checked our stuff, I tried a bite of

> my sandwich and finally threw it away, and went down to the

> start. It is so exciting. The elites were just about to

> come in- it seemed like they were taking a very long time- it

> had been about 15 minutes since they started, and usually

> they come in much faster, and those buoys sure looked far apart.

>

> Finally it was time for the green group, wave 10 to line up.

> Sally does a great job with the pep talk and the send

> off. Our word was " superb " . I had my eye on the first buoy,

> determined to swim straight! We counted down and then we

> were off. I got a couple big mouthfuls of water, and it took

> me forever to find my groove. That buoy just seemed to get

> further and further away! I forgot to start my watch, but

> it's hard to look at a watch in the water anyway. I just

> kept thinking " swim swim swim " . Finally it was over. I

> tried to run out of the water, but almost threw up. I

> decided I'd rather walk than throw up in front of all the

> spectators who were cheering us in. Got to my bike and sat

> down to put my shoes on. Usually I just stay standing to get

> them on ASAP, but I just sat there for a minute. Got my

> shoes on, tried to eat my Luna bar- lemon flavor but the

> smell of the lemon had me gagging. This is not me, I never

> have a problem eating! I knew I needed to eat because I only

> had water and not Gatorade in my bottles. I could only choke

> down 2 small bites. The water was good though, I drank a

> good amount. Ran over to the bike start and was off. Now

> last week I had done a 25 mile ride at a good clip of 16 mph

> and was hardly winded. So I was not expecting to get on my

> bike and just be out of gas at the beginning! I had to be in

> my easier gear at the beginning. The swim wasn't great, and

> I was counting on making up speed on the bike. a

> started in the wave ahead of me, and I really wanted to catch

> her so that we could cross the finish together. After the

> first mile on the bike, and being discouraged by the low

> numbers on my speedometer, I just decided that my goal for

> the day would be to finish and get the medal. It was a

> beautiful day in Seattle, the race course is very scenic, the

> women are phenomenal, and I was going to be just happy to be

> there. I'm not competitive with my times anyway, but had to

> accept that my personal best for that day was not going to be

> what I expected going in. I was worried about the hill up to

> the express lanes- it is narrow and has a pretty sharp turn

> and is a bit steep. I was having to shift for the little

> tiny rolling hills that I'd not noticed were even there.....I

> expected to have to walk up the hill, but I made it up the

> hill. I was breathing so hard but I did it. Talk about

> digging deep! Once on the freeway, I started looking for my

> friends on their return. I saw Tory, but didn't realize it

> was her until it was too late to get her attention. She

> looked strong and happy! Then I saw a, same thing,

> she didn't hear me either. It's not like I'm loud anyway,

> and I was still barely having enough energy to breathe, let

> alone yell! Plus, going so fast in the opposite direction,

> you'd have to recognize the other person pretty early to get

> their attention. I didn't see Deena or the others. It was so

> beautiful riding across the bridge. We turned around and the

> second half was much easier for me than the first. I made a

> wrong turn coming in so had a nice little tour of the

> transition area looking for the right area. Got the bike

> racked, changed my shoes, remembered to take off my helmet,

> and grabbed a handful of Sharkies (kind of like Gatorade

> gummy bears) and my water. I stopped bringing Gatorade (or

> similar drinks) to races because I found I preferred food and

> water- but now I think I need to have it as a back up! Almost

> got to the run start and realized I'd forgotten my number, so

> went back and got the race belt with the number. It probably

> wouldn't have mattered, but I had to have it! I tried to

> run, but almost threw up again. Walked as I drank my water.

> Started talking to a nice woman who had started in wave 2,

> was a survivor, her son flew up to see her race, and she had

> taken a break to talk to him. We had a great conversation.

> Since I'd already decided that this was just a walk in the

> park when I felt like I could give running another try, I

> decided that I'd much rather enjoy Jody's company. I'd

> already lost any chance of a personal best " time " so I was

> going to enjoy my time. We finally got to the big hill Tory

> mentioned in her report and I knew the end was near. I told

> Jody I'd be cheering her in and took off. I cried when the

> volunteer put the ribbon with the medal around my neck

> (again). Then I saw Deena and we cried again. Jody came in,

> and Deena and I cheered her in. It was great. From a race

> performance viewpoint, this wasn't my best race. In fact, it

> was by far my worst! I had no energy, I felt lousy, I was

> slow! But, from an emotional view, it was probably the best.

> Seeing Tory with her big smile on the bike and knowing what

> she went through to get there, and knowing that Deena was out

> there just 2 months out of chemo fighting stage IV cancer,

> just being in the company of 4000 incredible women athletes

> was just so huge. I can't even put words to it.

>

> This is long and rambly- maybe I should've had my coffee first!!

>

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Great response to the guy on the triathlete board! I really like the penguin

creed too, as well as the one on the back of the Danskin medal: The woman who

finished the race is not the same one who started the race. (don't have it

handy to check, but to that effect!) It is so true about non-life-long

athletes. My friend who offered you her wetsuit, who was a swimmer her whole

life until after college, went to the Olympic trials for swimming and

everything, is super competitive. She registered for Danskin, but didn't train

as much as she thought she should have, so she didn't do it. I couldn't imagine

forfeiting the registration fee, and suggested she just take it slow as a nicely

supported swim in the lake, leisurely ride along and across the lake, and a walk

through the park. She's in shape enough to have handled that just fine if she

paced herself, but she knew that she wouldn't be able to do that- the

competitive athlete in her would have pushed an all out effort and she'd end up

injured. I understand her position, but I think I like my " it's 99% all about

fun " attitude better- it's like I tease my friend Jeanne who is a super fast

marathon runner- she did the Arizona full marathon in less than 3:30, I did the

half in just about the same time- I like to think that I get twice the value for

my money! LOL. Not that I wouldn't go as fast as I could!

hey! I was looking for kid's tris, and decided that the Reebok supersprint on

9/12 was too much for 's first one, but found a tri

http://www.ontherun.com/davidhanestri/ just for kids that will be perfect

first one for both my girls! They are all signed up for Sunday!! I'm not doing

it, I want to be sure I'll be there to watch them, but it will be a good

opportunity to scope out the park- they have lots of tris there. Do you know

about www.trifind.com? Great site!

RE: 's Danskin report

What a WONDERFUL report ! It sounds like you had an amazing time.

Sometimes it is precisely when things don't go the way we want them to, that

they go the way we NEED them to. You know what I mean? I was on a triathlete

bulletin board the other day and someone (a man) was mocking all women

triathlons, calling them chick triathlons..., " we do not refer to women as

farm animals " I informed him.

Anyhow, one of the topics that came up was makeup and he started in on how

stupid it was that a woman would put on makeup for a triathlon, or during a

transition (someone had said they'd seen some ladies putting on the lipstick

during the transition and just having a ball). He said that the beautiful

women where the athletic women who were out there putting in their personal

bests. He got a lot of replies, as you can imagine. What I told him was what

I saw all throughout the Danskin on Sunday.

The beautiful woman is the woman who stands at the edge of the lake,

terrified, but jumps in anyhow.

The beautiful woman is the woman who rides her rickety bike along at a less

than stellar pace, but does it with a big smile on her face.

The beautiful woman is the woman in the run who keeps on going and calls out

encouragement to others, despite her own exhaustion.

And the most beautiful woman is the overweight, undertrained, haggard,

harried, non-athletic woman who didn't truly believe she could do it, but

did it. People who have always been athletes will never " get " that

triathlons are about more than times and paces and winning. They are about

setting forth personal challenges and meeting them. They are about doing

things that we never thought we would ever be able to do. Those of us for

whom exercise is a relatively new " concept " win every single time we race

just because we did it.

Did you see the shirts that a group of women we wearing? They had

Bingham's quote on the back, " The miracle isn't that I finished. The miracle

is that I ever began. " I love that quote because it is so true. When I was

having my " I'm just going to go tell Roy I can't do it. I just can't. "

moment I saw someone with that shirt and it actually helped. I just kept

telling myself, " All you need to do is start...the rest will take care of

itself. Just go to the start line and start. "

Next year we'll coordinate better!

[Guest guest]

No! I didn't know about trifind! Cool! I want to do another one. nne

hasn't decided if she's going to do the swim on the Reebok, so if not maybe

Roxanne is interested. I'd love to, but I only have one pair of eyes so I

should follow doctor's orders.

It is all about having fun...that's why when people say to me, " Oh I could

NEVER do that " I say never say never. It doesn't matter how you do, it only

matters THAT you do. And that feeling when you cross the finish line is like

a drug. I just want to have it over and over again. I find that after a race

I am peaceful the entire day. It's like just being out there with other

like-minded people is so incredible. I don't begrudge the elites their kind

of enjoyment, but like I said to Roy today...I guarantee that there isn't a

single elite who is MORE happy when she crosses the finish line than I am or

any other woman who is there as a personal challenge. In fact, we probably

find MORE satisfaction in it because we know where we've come from and that

we will never place, yet we do it anyhow. That's just too cool!

Now off to trifind to see if I can find at least one more to do this season!